It’s been quite quiet here lately. The reason is facial hair.
Specifically, I’ve been participating in Whiskerino, a 4-month online contest in which 300+ men shave on November 1st and then grow a beard, take frequent photos, and generally raise havok. Needless to say, it’s taken most of my designated blogging time away from me.
My profile is here if you want to keep track of my beard. And expect things to pick up (at least to the occassional post) again after February.
Apple is running a pretty ballsy online execution on CNET’s Windows Vista coverage page.
Great example of media and creative working together to fire a shot over the bow of a competitor. Well played.
Chances are, if you’ve ever run late one morning, you’ve picked up one of these (or a similar cereal or granola bar). And with a name like “Nutri-Grain,” you might assume certain things about it:
You’d be wrong on both counts. There is less than one gram of dietary fiber in each bar. And the #1 ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup, some of the nastiest stuff you can put in your body.
Just goes to show that you can’t trust brands to name their products appropriately. As a copywriter it sickens me to say this, but when you’re shopping for food the only words you should trust are the ones in the white box with the black border.
(Picture courtesy of Flickr user pgoyette)
On Saturday, Trudy and I marched in the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade. Our costumes turned out pretty good. We went as Death and Zillah from Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Not everyone got the reference (though, surprisingly, many did), but we did get a lot of nice compliments. Here’s a couple of pics of us in the parade–and a bunch at the 5 Spot afterwards:
So, if any couples are looking for a great last-minute, high-concept Halloween costume idea this year, why not go as a rhyming couplet from the Gashlycrumb Tinies? All it takes is an Edwardian-looking outfit (preferably monochomatic), some white pancake makeup, and a few choice props–and boom, you’re Amy who fell down the stairs and Basil assaulted by bears; or perhaps Kate struck with an ax and Leo who swallowed some tacks. If you’re worried people won’t get it, you can bring along a copy of the book–it makes for great conversations.
To collect any other Gashlycrumb Tinies costumes, I’ve started a Flickr pool. Please add yours!
likemind is tomorrow, at Joe’s East Atlanta, from 8am to 9am. Be there or be decaffeinated.
Hype Machine is using an interesting way to build online buzz before it unleashes its revamped version. It’s triggering the launch of the site when, and only when, 10,000 people have a browser window open to hypem.com/new (They’re at 3788 people as I type this). This isn’t a viral tactic I’ve seen used before. It’ll be interesting to see how many people have the attention span to drive it to 10,000–especially once people realize through a comment on Digg that the beta login is so easy (username: hypem, pw: hypem).
Reminder: This month’s likemind is tomorrow morning at Joe’s East Atlanta, starting at 8am. Come enjoy some coffee and conversation with, you know, people like you.
After watching this gorgeous trailer for Sigur Ros’s new documentary, Heima, I can’t wait for it to come out.
So, I twittered about this last week, but just so everyone knows, Friday is my last day at Cartoon Network. I’m taking the long weekend to decompress and then tackling a new challenge at IQ Interactive, an interactive agency based here in Atlanta. I’m excited by the energy of the place, the talent of the people, and the ways they’re pushing the limits of online technology.
Of course, this week’s been a little hard. The ritual of it all. The packing up of tchotchkes. The goodbyes, the exchanges of email addresses and cell phone digits. Wrapping up projects, collecting samples. It all makes it sink in that the ride’s almost over. And I’m going to miss a lot about Cartoon – in particular, many of the talented people I worked with.
Bryan Mon, one of our talented illustrators, drew me this caricature as a farewell gift:
Every day, you just turn a new page and start writing.
In the last few weeks, I’ve seen this billboard around Atlanta that has just flabbergasted me, but I haven’t had my camera with me. Luckily, my friend V.J. had his and posted a pic on his blog.
It’s for an HIV drug called Atripla, and yes, two-thirds of the board is covered with legalese, or what’s known in the pharma-vertising world as “fair balance copy.” You know the 30 secs of side-effects added to pharma TV spots? That’s the same rule that’s in effect here: if you make a positive claim, you have to provide the negative effects of the drug too.
What I can’t figure out is why on earth someone would approve this layout. I mean, come ON. Why not just use the billboard for branding instead of making a claim? Like, say, the much more effective and eye-catching Rozerem billboards? See? No claim = better outdoor.
As is, they should have just burnt the cash they gave Clear Channel.
