From the Bottom of Everything

Steal This Idea: #1 - Smarter Cars (and everything else)

2009-07-06T09:09:00.001-06:00

You know all those crazy ideas you have? The ones that are really cool and maybe even revolutionary, but you would never be able to do anything with them. Maybe they're for an industry outside your own or an industry or company that doesn't really solicit or care to hear new ideas. We'll normally I'd just file them away in a lonely corner space of my idea file but now I have a place to let them free. So go ahead, take these ideas and make them happen, I dare you.

My car has one of those sensors on it that automatically turn on the lights if it senses "darkness," maybe yours does too. Trouble is, often this "darkness" isn't really darkness, it's just me sitting at a red light under an overpass. Or my car being parked in the carport. But hey, what are you gonna do, it's just a stupid little sensor, right?

Here's what I'm thinking: my car has enough information to make a better decision, it just doesn't currently use it. There's a clock in my car, probably yours too. My car's clock currently doesn't know its am from pm, but I'm sure a small and inexpensive upgraded part could. Now, armed with the ability to know what time of day it is my car could make a much more informed decision about turning my lights off or on. Perhaps between the hours of 9am and 5pm my car could require five minutes of darkness before turning on the lights rather than the current 30 seconds or so. That would take care of most all the shade you would encounter and still allow the sensor to preform the safety function it was originally set out to do.

This also got me thinking, what else out there could be making smarter decisions if it was using all the information at its disposal?

When Democracy isn't What the People Want

2009-07-05T19:03:00.002-06:00

Recently I've given Jelli.net to see if it lives up to its promise to be the future of internet radio. The difference between Jelli and, well, just about every other internet radio is that Jelli opens up the playlist to its users and lets them vote on what is next from anything in their catalog. At first thought, this seems really cool. The thought that (for now) it's just you and a few dozen other users sorting through the catalog and pulling out and voting up the best of the best is pretty appealing. Ideally this would be a great way to discover new music. Sort of like sitting down with your BFF of Music and sharing iTunes libraries on a rainy afternoon.

In reality, Jelli is like that point in every party where everyone's had six too many and wants to hear THEIR favorite song. So every 30 seconds someone else is grabbing at the ipod "No, dude, you gotta hear THIS!."

And this is where Jelli fails. You'd be hard pressed to put three people in a room and have their musical tastes match up, let alone dozens of random people from all over the net. What happens is lots of crap you don't want to listen to (at all, not just stuff you've never heard before) mixed with the occasional track you love because you sat there and voted it up and rocketed (each user can send a track to the top, called rocketing) and generally spent 10 minutes voting down other songs to finally hear what you want.

But it's not all bad news. I think there's hope for Jelli if they are willing to segregate people out a little bit. Make separate "rooms" for various genres, thus semi-guaranteeing that you are surrounded by people with similar musical tastes. This eliminates the Metallica fans from having to deal with the Celine Dion fans and visa versa. Yeah, maybe that limits your exposure to diverse music, but there's a reason I (and presumably you) don't listen to the Adult Contemporary / Top 100 FM radio station - you know what (specific) genre you like and you want to hear a few hits you know and some new stuff you don't.

Another use I could see is traditional radio stations (that already have their niche / genre set) adopting the Jelli platform for requests and determining their playlists, even if only during a certain time. 105.3 FM in San Francisco lets Jelli control its playlist every Sunday night from 10-midnight. With Jelli's integrated chatroom and constantly updated voting it'd be a great way to re-engage listeners and you could easily display some ads (like what you would normally hear) alongside the music to keep the revenue coming in. And unlike other net radio sites, Jelli encourages you to keep watching its page since it constantly is updating.

It'll be interesting to see where the future takes Jelli, perhaps a larger user base will make it better as the crowd ebbs and flows with support for various genres / artists. In any case, it's a good step forward for internet radio. For now I'll stick with my iTunes library, but I'll keep half an ear on Jelli just in case it turns into something worth listening too.

The Real Laptop Hunters

2009-06-19T06:18:00.000-06:00

Funny or Die spoofs the MS "Laptop Hunters" campaign from CP+B with some hilarious results:

Laptop Hunters: Jake - watch more funny videos

Do you REALLY want to hear from me?

2009-06-17T20:34:00.000-06:00

Busy night for me and @CeramicErin so we picked up some take and bake pizzas from Papa Murphy's. I noticed something weird about the included coupon sheet.

On one side was the suggestion to give them feedback on your experience and get $1 off.

On the other was a $2 off coupon. No work required.

I wonder which one most people do?

We live in an age where feedback is more valuable than ever to corporations. Every day thousands of consumers interact with them through new mediums like twitter and thousands more through more traditional means like phone surveys. Corporations should realize the value of those willing to reach out to them and reward them for their time. Rather than give me the lowest value coupon they offer for taking five minutes of my time, Papa Murphy's should offer free breadsticks or similar side with my next order. By giving me a side item like that they can give me greater value (worth $3.99 or whatever) that probably only costs them half of that. Now that's a win-win.

The Cactus Bike From Work Bash

2009-06-12T14:30:00.000-06:00

Be there, June 24th. Proceeds benefit Wish for Wheels.

The gap between ability and taste

2009-06-01T07:52:00.000-06:00

Ira Glass of NPR's This American Life talks about the battle young creative people have between their ability and their taste. What a great insight.

The Odell Brewing TwitterBrew

2009-05-27T23:40:00.001-06:00

One (of the several) projects I've been working on lately that is consuming my life (in the best way possible) is brewing a beer via twitter for Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, CO.

After having the idea back in January, I worked with Reel Motion Media to pitch the idea to Odell's. In April we finally began bringing it to life and the rest is well documented history (search for the hashtag #odelltwitbrew to see the history on twitter.)

If you're reading this before 7am MDT on 5/29/09 go vote for your favorite label design for the beer.

And now it's all culminating in the release of the beer, Blackbird, this Saturday May 30th at the brewery in Fort Collins. You can see details on Upcoming or Facebook.

I'd love to see you at the event. If you find me and tell me you read about this on my blog I'll buy you a pint.

I'll be sharing more learnings from this project in the future when I have time to reflect on it. Stay tuned.

The Death of Mediocre

2009-05-24T11:51:00.000-06:00

I'm not interested in about 95% of everything Hugh Macleod (gapingvoid) publishes. Ironically, it took him publishing an article about how 95% of advertising is dreck to get me to realize that. The 5% that I am interested in is so powerful that I wade through the other 95% to find it. But I'm not here to discuss the merits and pitfalls of following Hugh, well actually, I am, in a way.

There's a fascinating video in Hugh's latest post with Clay Shirky discussing "Gin and the Cognitive Surplus" at Web 2.0 in San Francisco. And this is what really got me thinking.

(read the transcript here)

What Clay is talking about is the shift from media as consumption (i.e. watching TV) to media as producing, sharing and yes, still consuming but to a lesser extent. He estimates that Americans spend 200 billion hours watching TV in an average year. If the whole of Wikipedia represents 100 million hours of human thought then all that TV watching is equal to 2000 Wikipedias being created each year, if all of that time was shifted to something else. Of course, all of that time isn't being devoted to other projects, but even a small shift can create big changes. Think of all the things you see on the internet and wonder "Where did they get the time?" Well, there's your answer.

So back to Hugh, and his 95-5 "dreck intolerance" principle. If we take and combine it with Clay's thoughts, what do we get?

We get people moving away from TV due to the fact that 95% of it is shit, or dreck. We get people moving into other realms, for example the net where 95% of it is still shit, but it's a much bigger pile overall. I don't believe that anyone can claim to even have read 5% of the net. You'd be hard pressed to have even viewed 1% of all of the sites that are out there. Compare this to the fact that most of us have seen 95% of the channels offered on TV (even the obscure cable ones.)

What you get is the internet as a giant filter. There are so many sites you can possibly go to, you can only possibly go to a small handful.

Therefore, you only spend time going to those that interest you.

And thus, the internet filters out the dreck, the boring, the mediocre, even the very good for the most part (look at all those Youtube videos with 10 views.) That is the shift that Hugh is talking about when he discusses what is really killing advertising (as we have known it.) Watch TV for a few hours (as Hugh mentions) do you think any of those ads you saw would garner more than a few thousand views on Youtube, where people have a choice in their consumption? Most likely not. And yet they are still produced because too many people in too powerful a position still believe that the public is a consumer waiting to be force-fed.

Those who understand that every eyeball has a choice, that every input must pass through a filter, that people want to share and interact with what they consume and that modern media consumption is no longer a well-balanced plate but rather a limitless buffet of choices, those are the people who will prosper in the future.

The producers, whether they be ad agencies, bloggers, or something else, who continue to survive on mediocre output will find that their days are numbered.

Mediocre is dying a slow death.
Thanks for taking the time to filter through the dreck and find this post.

Justin McCammon Portfolio Update

2009-05-22T13:07:00.000-06:00

A new, updated portfolio reflecting some of my more recent work.

Justin_McCammon_Portfolio_April2009.pdf

My First Radio Spot

2009-05-13T22:55:00.000-06:00

I've been working on the public service campaign for Denver's Ad2 club a lot lately. Like a lot, a lot. Here's a little sample of some of the work coming out of that campaign, a 30 second radio spot for Wish for Wheels that I wrote and produced. Big thanks to Coupe Studios in Boulder for helping us get the spot recorded, mixed and sounding awesome.

Art & Copy

2009-04-30T11:37:00.000-06:00

Should probably be on every ad-person's must-see list:

ART & COPY trailer from Baldwin& on Vimeo.

Welcome Egotist Readers / Despisers

2009-04-28T11:32:00.000-06:00

If you read / hate / worship the Denver Egotist you might have seen me in the "please, please, please hire me. someone, anyone!" section. Welcome, feel free to browse around the site.

You can find more samples from my portfolio here.

You can see some of my favorite posts here.

You can contact me at justinmccammon [at] gmail.com

Jimmy Dean Entertains, but Will it Sell?

2009-04-27T05:02:00.000-06:00

I'd been looking for this spot for a few days now. Finally it popped up on Adpulp. I love the quirky, "I Heart Huckabees" atmosphere they're creating with this campaign:

But then Adpulp has to come along and point out that the above spot sells the category, not the specific product.

Well shit. I have to admit they've got a point there. But it's just so damn entertaining to me. Let's look at another spot from the campaign:

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. We've got a benefit, albeit a vague one, but Jimmy Dean will make you full. That's at least something they can lay their claim to.

Now here's another spot:

Ohhhh. So now Jimmy Dean makes you happy. Happy Breakfast. Maybe that's a new saying, sorta like "Happy New Year." In any case, it's all coming together for me now. Jimmy dean fills you up, keeps you full, and gives you a happy breakfast. That sounds pretty good.

And the campaign continues with lots of similar commercials.

I like that there are so many variations on this one concept of the sun and cloud / planet / moon cast. It's great. So few brands have big coherent campaigns like this anymore. So many are doing a little something here then jumping to something else over there and then to something different.

There's also a few webisodes of interviews with the sun, moon, cloud, etc. Looks like they were added a couple years ago. Is this campaign really that old? Maybe I'm just out of the loop.

Shooting yourself in the foot

2009-04-19T06:22:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week the people behind The Pirate Bay were convicted of piracy crimes in Sweden and sent to jail for a year. Of course, the media industry is calling this a big win over illegal piracy of their precious copyrighted materials. I call it delaying the inevitable.

The RIAA, the MPAA, the whomever thinks they should sue the fuck out of their customers next group, you are all sorely short-sighted.

Bottom line: Piracy will continue until legal alternatives are actually useful.

I could drone on about all the bullshit that has gone on with copyright infringment in the last decade or so, but I think we all know the story by now. Instead, I'll try to offer some insight.

Example of the problem:
One of the few shows I watch regularly on TV is Rescue Me. It is easily one of the most well-written and thoroughly interesting shows to be broadcast in a long time, but I digress. I choose not to pay for cable, so I have to rely on streaming internet sources for my Rescue Me fix since it plays on FX. Turns out that some dumbass at the network decided that the streaming episodes on Hulu should come out eight days after they play on broadcast TV.

Eight days.

Now if I'm an avid fan, and I have friends who are avid fans and I want to discuss episodes with them you have completely broken down my means to do so in a timely manner.

So what do I do? I bit torrent the episodes the next day. It takes about 20 minutes to download and I can watch them in HD without commercial interruption. I'd gladly save myself the hassle and watch them on Hulu with commercials, but they aren't available when I want them. So they lose.

Solution:
Make the episodes available online at the same time it is broadcast. Build in a chat room functionality. Get me engaged with other fans. Maybe get advertisers to sponsor special promotions to engage us during the normal broadcast commercial breaks. Make it a community.

Remember how CNN and Facebook teamed up to stream the inauguration with a live chat with your FB friends next to the streaming video? Bring that sort of engagement to TV shows. Let me crack jokes alongside SNL. Let me use your networks so you can more accurately gather stats about who watches your shows (and make nielsen families a thing of the past.)

The alternative is that the big networks drive more and more fans away in seach of better solutions. There is no reason why the big networks shouldn't implement something like what I'm suggesting. In fact, it's in their favor to capture and grow these online communities now before consumers form habits of getting their media fix from someone else.

Think long term solutions. Offer your fans what they want, when they want it.

Obsolete yourself before someone else does.

Odell Brewing Brews up the First Twitter Beer

2009-04-16T17:25:00.000-06:00

Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, CO has decided to brew up the first "Twitter Brew." The beer's style, ingredients, tap handle, etc will all be chosen by followers of Odell's twitter. A few people have pointed out that 21st Amendment Brewing in San Fran did a twitter brew this spring, but it would seem to have been a twitter brew only in name, not in the way it was produced as the Odell version will be. Pretty cool stuff. From the press release:

A Twitter Taste in Your Mouth

Odell Brewing Releases First Twitter Community Brew

On May 30, 2009, Odell Brewing will release the first Twitter community inspired brew.

Followers have until April 19, 2009 to tweet their suggested beer styles for the first Twitter Brew poll. Subsequent polls will be conducted to determine beer qualities like color, strength, body, and hop character. Twittering beer lovers can also tweet ideas for beer names and tap handle designs.

The voting will end on May 8, 2009 and brewer, Jeff Doyle will then brew the Twitter Brew on Odell Brewing’s Pilot brewing system. “There are so many people who are interested in brewing but don’t really have the means to do it,” said Doyle. “The Twitter Brew will give them the chance to get involved with the whole process.”

Twitter brewers can try their beer at the brewery’s Tap Room during the tapping party on May 30, 2009.

Odell Brewing is a proud sponsor of the Cicerone Certification program and an award winning brewery, nationally and internationally: 2008 North American Beer Awards – gold medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale. 2008 World Beer Cup® – gold medal for IPA, silver medal for Double Pilsner, silver medal for Cutthroat Porter. 2007 Great American Beer Festival® – gold medal for IPA, silver medal for Easy Street Wheat, bronze medal for Extra Special Red. 2007 Stockholm International Beer Festival – bronze medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale. 2007 Australian International Beer Awards – silver medal for 90 Shilling, silver medal for Cutthroat Porter, silver medal for Easy Street Wheat and bronze medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale.

Adidas Knows How to Party

2009-04-09T07:45:00.000-06:00

In the US, sitting through a two minute commercial means having to watch a hooker-beating douchebag peddle some miracle cloth that can soak up all the shit you're constantly spilling on your floor. In some places, some mystical, magical, advertising wonderland, a two minute ad is revered and respected by advertisers and viewers alike. This is the result: something beautiful, something I want to watch.

(via Dear Jane Sample)

The Need for Pure, 100% Not-From-Concentrate Talent

2009-04-05T21:15:00.000-06:00

The advertising industry never ceases to amaze me. The talent. The timeless ads. The fucking bullshit.

On a tip from Adpulp I just read this Newsweek piece on Peter Arnell. You know, Tropicana (and Pepsi) re-branding dude. Or maybe douche is more appropriate.

This quote from Arnell (single out on Adpulp as well) pretty much sums it up:

Arnell also can't understand the kerfuffle over his work for Tropicana. "Can you imagine such mishegoss over a freaking box of juice?" he says. "I can't believe that for the rest of my life I'm going to be known as Peter 'Tropicana' Arnell." He says Tropicana overreacted to complaints. "I have my own perspective on it. But it's not my brand. It's not my company. So what the hell? I got paid a lot of money, and I have 30 other projects. You move on." (Neil Campbell, president of Tropicana North America, says Tropicana will continue working with Arnell.)

If the Newsweek article is half true (and I believe it's more than that) then Arnell is a prime time asshole. But it's not really my place to berate Arnell, I'm sure he has his own not-a-fan club that will take care of that. Rather, this brings me to a plague of advertising: great minds getting recognized and paid for their greatness and then slipping into a coma of douchebaggery.

I have no doubt that Arnell is a fairly smart guy, you need to have a pretty good head on your shoulders to run an organization like his. I have no doubt that the countless other CDs and CEOs and other C-level executives that have risen to similar postions around the world are talented as well. But why do so many have to turn into ass-clowns?

Is it the money that corrupts? The power? The corner office?

I don't have an answer to that question.

But I do have a solution.

Bring in the juniors.

That's right. Let's give those who have no resonable claim to fame or fortune the chance to attain it. Let's re-inject the passion into the system. And let's make it a booster shot straight to the heart.

But, you might say, won't the juniors just become old douches in a few years?

Yes, some will. It is inevitable. But we must continue to flush the system of inpurities while gulping down a nutrient-rich double dose of high energy, fresh idea spouting youth.

I believe that deep down, most people are good. Even most people in advertising. I've run into far more immensly talented, genuinely caring souls than I have asshats in my brief ad career.

So what are you waiting for? Clients, juniors, seniors, and everyone inbetween or outside, I'm calling on you to boycott the bullshitters and champion the pure, passionate individuals around you. Flush out the old, move up the truely talented in the ranks and backfill with juniors.

Ummm, you taste that? That's pure, 100% not-from-concentrate talent. And it will do this industry some good.

Sunday Morning Philosophy

2009-03-29T11:55:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning I read the superb article "The Quiet Coup" by Simon Johnson in The Atlantic regarding what sort of advice the IMF would give the US about our current crisis if the US actually gave a shit what the IMF thinks. While the article is worth a read for its look at the causes, the current plan and what ultimately must be done in a way I've yet to see articulated, I'll do it the great injustice of paraphrasing: some really tough decisions must be made and the future of the US / financial system will not look anything like the past (if we are to be prosperous again.)

Which brings me to every other industry right now that's crying "Save us! Bail me out too!" This includes advertising. We've all see the layoffs, from varying degrees of intimacy. Surprisingly enough, it was harder for me to watch eight dedicated people get their walking papers one afternoon and be asked to leave the building than it was to see 300 people be told their areas would be shut down by the end of the year.

But here is where I feel The Atlantic article's advice meets the advice that everyone, from Timothy Geithner to your local ad shop's CEO, needs to hear: some really tough decisions must be made and the future of your organization cannot look like it has in the past if you intend to be successful again.

I think that's the hard truth that few are embracing right now. Sure, you can make layoffs and cut costs here and there and limp along until "this thing turns around" (if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that I'd have enough to turn this thing around.) Or you can act boldly. Act offensively not defensively. Instead of reacting to the pressures of the outside economy create your own success.

This gets to a personal mantra of mine, a pet peeve in a way. Anytime someone says "good luck" I'm always tempted to say "I hope luck has nothing to do with it." That's because relying on luck is a really shitty way to go through life. That basically gives you an excuse for anything that happens to you and absolves you of all personally responsibility for the course of your life. Bullshit. I believe we create our own luck. When you work your ass off, suddenly you seem "luckier" you know why? Because you are creating new opportunities for yourself rather than sitting back and hoping that by some cosmic occurrence you get exactly the outcome you want.

And it is from this belief that I offer this advice to agencies or business or individuals everywhere who are willing to listen: go forward boldly.

Take risks. Fail boldly. Succeed boldly. Reinvent yourself. Do not remain static. Do not recoil into the fetal position and hope this all blows over. You will not emerge stronger on the other side if you emerge that same as you went in.

There is a need for [insert your service here] but that need is not fixed. It's dynamic and ever changing and so you must be as well. If you're not obsoleting your own business model every few years you should be very afraid. Because someone else will.

And there you have it. My Sunday Morning Philosophy for you. Let's hear your take in the comments.

I'm a PC meets I'll give you my Mac

2009-03-27T13:49:00.000-06:00

There's a new video in the I'm a PC campaign from Microsoft (and CP+B I'm assuming) where a young lady gets $1000 cash to buy whatever computer she wants. After visiting an Apple store and finding they only have one model under $1000 she visits another store and gets an (apparently) amazing HP model for $700. Yeah, PCs are cheaper for the same hardware!

Even in this economic climate, is price really the biggest deciding point for someone looking at a mac vs a PC? Sure, it's a consideration (and the reason I'm not typing this on now) but it doesn't erase or even dismiss the lust some people have for macs. In fact, it might even encourage mac lust. "If I only had another $500 to spend I could get what I really want, a mac."

But I understand where the spot is coming from: emphasizing price when everyone is more price conscious.

Let's face it, price is a hollow arguement in the end. It says nothing of features or usability of the hard / soft ware. It says nothing of performance (other than hardware specs.) In my mind Microsoft shouldn't try to compete with Mac's OSX, but rather focus on its own features. Find its unique functionalities. The ways it can improve your life or your business. Tell me why I want Windows not why Macs are expensive.

And on a side note, what happens when a devout Mac fan offers the actress "Lauren" from the commercial his personal macbook for free, just so she can compare and see which computer is truly better?

ps- this post written on a pc running Ubuntu Linux so as to be as impartial as possible. Oh, and because Windows ran like shit on this machine and I can't afford a mac even though I'd like one.

Cursive Rocks Letterman

2009-03-18T05:49:00.000-06:00

You might remember my post about my recent order of Cursive's latest album, Mama I'm Swollen and how their record label, Saddle Creek totally exceeded my expectations. Well, now we have Cursive going on David Letterman and totally rocking socks.

(via Stereogum)

You'd better believe my ass will be at their show when they come to Denver. Wait, their current show schedule doesn't show a Denver date. Hey! Saddle Creek! Cursive! Come to Denver!

Government Spoofs Freecreditreport.com

2009-03-11T05:57:00.000-06:00

The FTC has decided to spoof the already spoofy (and scammy) freecreditreport.com commercials with their own (and actually free) annualcreditreport.com.

I love this. Not because the commercial is amazing or anything, although it is amusing. I just love that the government has actually decided to fight fire with fire and stick it to the douchebags that try to scam people into buying their credit reports when they can, by law, get them for free.

Now if only we can get the government to spoof the snuggie....

(via RedTape Chronicles where you can see another gov't commercial)

Miami Ad School's Twitter Commercial

2009-03-10T22:48:00.001-06:00

Miami Ad School of San Francisco (that's a little confusing) made a commercial for Twitter. I can't decide whether I like it or not. What do you think?

Saddle Creek Tries to Single-Handedly Save the Music Industry

2009-03-05T19:58:00.004-07:00

Saddle Creek Records is not a member of the RIAA. How do I know this? Well, instead of trying to sue me, they tried to delight me. And guess what? It worked.

Let me start from the beginning:

I'm a pretty big fan of most every artist on Saddle Creek records and one of my favorites, Cursive, has a new record coming out March 10th. Seeing this, I went to the Cursive site where I found they were running a promotion. Beginning March 1st you could buy the mp3 version of their new album "Mama, I'm Swollen" for $1, then $2 on March 2nd, and so on until the 10th when it would reach its regular price.

But that's not the part that delighted me.

What delighted me was what they offered for those who wanted to buy the physical CD. Not only do you get the physical CD (sent to you before it's on sale) but you get an instant mp3 download (instant gratification), a card with a code for downloading bonus material and videos, and the liner notes which aren't just credits, but rather the scanned in notes (or paper plates as the case may be) that lead singer Tim Kasher originally wrote the songs on. Now that's some good incentives.

But it didn't stop there. As you can see below, my package included a hand-written note from Courtney at Saddle Creek thanking me for my order. A nice touch indeed!

So what's the lesson here?

Free is easy. And instant.
I could have easily downloaded the album via bit torrent and it would have been mine in a matter of minutes for free. Having the instant mp3 download of the album available helps to satisfy my need for instant gratification even when I have to wait a few days to get the actual CD.

A CD can't be just songs anymore.
With digital distribution (both legal and not) there is little value in a physical product. In fact, some could argue a physical product is at a disadvantage: it takes up room, is easily scratched, lost, stolen, etc. So in order to get me to buy a physical product you have to offer me something more than just the songs. Saddle Creek offered me the bonus download card which for serious fans (who are the only ones considering purchasing a CD anyway) is a great bonus, along with the liner notes that give an insight into the creative process.

Surprise me at every interaction
I didn't expect a personal thank you note. But I certainly appreciate it. Instead of serving me with a lawsuit like the RIAA, Saddle Creek decided to remind me why they value their customers and in turn I will reward them with future business.

Oh, and by the way: the record is great. Cursive delivers another excellent album that Cursive fans and those who are Cursive-Curious will not be disappointed by if they pick up the album in any of its forms. (for those of you looking for a softer side with all the same lyrical punch, check out Tim Kasher's other band, The Good Life)

Ad2 Denver Bowling Event Friday, Feb 27th!

2009-02-22T21:58:00.001-07:00

Announcing the Ad2 “Strikes for Bikes” Charity Bowling Tournament

Do you like to throw a few back and knock a few down…all while doing something for a good cause? If you answered “yes” then this event is right up your alley. Announcing the Ad2 “Strikes for Bikes” Charity Bowling tournament, benefiting Wish for Wheels.

All event proceeds will go to this year’s Ad2 public service client, Wish for Wheels, a non-profit dedicated to providing new bikes and helmets to kindergarten children living in poverty. With your help, Ad2 will be helping to ensure that this year even more students receive a brand new bicycle and helmet through the efforts of this very special organization. So break out your bathrobe and order up a round of White Russians because this event is going to be one to remember…dude!

When:
Friday, February 27^th from 6-9 pm
Where:
Elitch Lanes
3825 Tennyson
Denver, Colorado
Registration Info: All participants will bowl in teams of 5-8 people. Participants may register as a team or individually. (Individual registrants will be pre-assigned to a team.)
Cost Per Person:
Ad2 Members $25
Non-Members $35
Cost includes event registration, shoe rental, 2 hours of bowling, FREE food, AMAZING drink specials and all the fun you can stand!

There's Two Sides to Every Story

2009-02-21T22:31:00.003-07:00

In one corner we have Denver agency Pure, with its ad for Cessna that defends the CEO's right to private jets...

And in the other we have JWT pitching Jetblue to all of those same CEO's who might be thinking of heeding to the public outcry for them to fly commercial...

Which do you find more effective?

Personally, I'm drawn to the Jetblue ad. I like the tone, lighthearted and poking a bit of fun while not insulting the very people it's trying to attract. Sure, maybe it reads more to the common man than the CEO that it's aiming for but they aren't that different from us, are they?

The tone on the Cessna ad, while probably spot on for who it's talking to (CEOs) is, in my mind, dragged down by some of the word choices. I understand Pure trying to use "fancy words" to speak to the highly astute CEO, but "timidity?" Something about using such an uncommon and fairly awkward word right off the bat makes me stop and say, "what? Is that even a word? Oh, yeah it is. Now what were you trying to sell me?" And has anyone ever thought about their own timidity? Have you ever heard anyone, even those highly educated CEO types, use the word? Somehow I think they overshot the idea of using more sophisticated language and landed in the realm of English snobbery. Oh, and ditto for "tempestuous." Don't get me wrong, I know what it means, but I don't really know what it means here. It just seems like, as an old English teach of mine used to say, a thesaurus was used but it hindered rather than helped get the point across.

But of course no critique is complete without a how I would do it better / different, so in this case I'd look into what sort of language CEOs actually use to describe the core idea here: timidity, cowardice, hesitation, weakness, however you want to say it. Maybe I'd try to speak to some CEOs (or at least read an interview) and see what CEOs are saying about the private plane crackdown.

To counterpoint myself, I must say that the rest of the Cessna copy is great. But those two words, which to me are fairly pivotal to the point being communicated here (you could summarize this ad by saying "Timidity has no place in tempestuous times") just throw me for a loop.

What do you think?

(images via Agency Spy and Denver Egotist)