• GoDaddy.com Ads - Classic GoDaddy commercials. They’ve stuck with what thier known for, and it works. Still think last years one was the best though.
• Pepsi Mcguyver Spoof - FAIL! I cringed. And “Pepsuber” failed in the ad plot, getting blown to bits. So… Pepsi = Fail? That’s what I got.
• GE Wind Energy - Cute, creative, funny in that warm fuzzy sort of a way. Gets the message across. Loved it.
• Hulu with Alec - LOVED IT! Fun, creative, kitschy, communicated off the key value propositions for Hulu, ended with a great line and directed the audience to the product. Well done. Definitely a top pick.
• Vizio - Simple but effective. Made great key points on value and engaged the viewer individually by using an arrow to point to thier TV set’s logo. Well done. But I heard they failed on the follow through, when thier site coundn’t stay up
• Taco Bell: Overrated - Cute, awkward in purpose, but got a clear message across. Taco Bell serves up fast.
• Cash4Gold - WHY @MCHAMMER WHY?!?!?!??!!?? *That is all.*
• GE Scarecrow - Visually cool, but ultimately forgettable.
• Budweiser Clydesdale Ads - Ok, so I opened my big mouth on Twitter and questioned why there had to be more than 1 Clydesdale ad, and openly wondered its relevance and message in regards to teh brand. Budweiser = horses?! Well apparently, so. I understand it appeals to the old american tradition, and it was Budweisers O.G. mascot, but is it still relevant now? A few people said yes, to middle america, and those that have grown up with horses, it reinforces that old town american nostalgia. I would argue that there are better ways to appeal to middle america. Especially without alienating East and West states. @natashawescoat put it best by saying “because of those horses, I always associate budweiser with country guys. like farmers or country men would drink it” but when I asked if that was stil appealing? “hell no.” Granted I am definitely NOT the target demographic, but I just thought that if you were going to spend so much money making multiple commercials, I’d think of better ways. The Budwesier frogs were classic, and come to mind as a better concept.
• Dennys: Thugs- AWESOME! The gangsters were kitschy cool, the message was great (reminds me of the Hungryman commercials aka “real meals “) and the free breakfast sealed the deal. But fail on follow through with keeping thier site up. See @chiropractic’s post
• Hyundai: Contract - Classic car commercial. What made it work was the actual offer and call to action. Especially relevant to the current market.
• Kellogg’s: Plant a seed - visually cool, great idea to engage users to vote for local playgrounds/fields to be built, great cause, great message., BUT could’ve played up the call to action to the website to submit your community more, made if more expplicit/clear.
• Coke: Heist - Classic Coke Animation, visually awesome, and fun. Definitely worked in associating the brand with fun and creativity.
• Careerbuilder: Tips - I got the idea. The repetition gave me a headache after the first 15 seconds. No need to add the rich guy. The point came across way before you got to it.
• Monster: Need a new job - Well done, funny creative, didn’t give me a headache like Careerbuilder did.
• Bridgestone: Hot Item - Another one of those over the top CG fests that only Coke can consistently pull off. Dancing moonmen were cool, and i get the tires were the “hot item” but I thought the whole thing was so flashy that it detracted from the marketing message.
• Coke Classic: Avatar - ONE OF MY FAVS! Definitely well done in being relevant and playing on techno/social trends. I loved the part where the one small avatar keeps walking into the door until someone opens it, and how the ogre atthe end turns into a female. Any gamer will relate and get the subtle jokes. Whoever creted it, really knew the audience. Also I love how this Coke commercial targeted a very specific audience while the Hiest commercial was more general classic Coke. THIS is how to do multiple commercials and stay effective.
• Universal Studio Parks: Inner Hero - Very similar to the recent Universal ads lately, but I like how this one focused on a single person, rather than hordes of different people. Tugged on the heart strings and communicated a sense of rediscovery of the “childhood inner hero” which I think is a great association to the theme park. You don’t sell the park, you sell the emotional connection and experience that it brings.
• Priceline: Negotiator - Love Shatner, and love that they played on of his infamous speech style. Classic Shatner/Priceline. Works every time.
• NBC: Heroes - Creative “What If” Scenario. Fun and I’m sure the fans loved it.
• Sobe: Lizard Lake - I cringed, and kept cringing. At first I thought I was watching some homoerotic Underarmour commercial, then “WTF?!” Lizards? Sorry, watching gyrating football players don’t make me want to drink Sobe. I doubt they connected with the football audience either. They took essentially a hyper-masculine image and totally emasculated it. It was like being visually neurtered. It hurt to watch.
• Cheetos - I love the evil cheetah ads. And i love the creative integration of the product. Clearly says “Indulge.” I don’t even like Cheetos, and I feel like indulging in them.
• Teleflora: Talking Flowers - I get the point, but OUCH! I’m sure many women cringed at some of what was said. Also, whats with the “Get her thorny.” web ads? Do you want a “thorny” woman? Big FAIL to both.
• Etrade: Talking Babies - Cute. Babies always make you go “aww”. And talking babies? well, who can hate that.
• Gatorade: Tiger - Inspirational, and starkly emotional. Communicates strength, dedication, ambition. And “Thats G” at the end brings it together nicely. Different than thier raw sweat ads, but much more refined and classy. I like.
• Bud Light: Swedish - So THIS is a better Bud commercial. Take a well-liked personality Conan Obrian, take a funny cultural spoof, and mix in comedy. Definitely memorable and entertaining, not clear what the brand message was though.
• NBC: LMAO - Unlike Coke’s Avatar ad which subtly, humorously and intelligently engaged with the new cultural zeitgeist, this literal take on LMAO left me cringing. If the goal was to communicate that NBC shows were funny, it instead made me feel like they were painful.

So those are my thoughts. All the ads are on Hulu, so if you missed any, check’em out here: http://www.hulu.com/superbowl

What did you think of the Superbowl commercials this year?

There will be 5 contests, here are the rules for contest #1:

PRIZE: 2 Digital Family Reunion Tickets

HOW: Step 1: Visit http://www.digitalfamilyreunion.net/ and watch the video by @shiralazar. Step 2: Post a video reply to her question using Seesmic. Step 3: Twitter an @ reply to me at @mikeprasad with the link to your video post, be sure to include the #DFR2008 tag in your tweet.

CRITERIA: 1 ticket each will be awarded to the top 2 video replies, judged by @kurtyd and myself, tomorrow morning (Saturday December 6).

Good luck!!!!!!

In anticipation of the new Bond movie, I decided it was time to throw a big tweetup, so I reserved 50 of the best seats at the Arclight Sherman Oaks for the November 13 midnight release showing and started tweeting out the news. The plan was to get as many people to dress up Bond-style, and get dinner + drinks at the Cheesecake Factory then proceed to be shaken, not stirred by the awesomeness that is “Bond, James Bond”.

All of this was especially tricky for me because at last minute, a few days before, I decided to go to Vegas for Pubcon for a day with @THFmartin, and we were flying back to LA just 2 hours before the Tweetup. I managed to pull it off with the help of @AndrewSeely and we grabbed @Nikolez and made it in time as people started to arrive. On a side note: Why the hell won’t Cheesecake Factory take a reservation when it’s for FORTY people? Corporate policy my ass.

All in all, we had about 45 people show up, and quite a few of them dressed the part. Dinner & Drinks at the Cheesecake Factory totaled about $812. I heard everyone there say they had a great time, so it looks like I’ll be doing it again…. now just to decide which movie? Suggestions?

Here are some pics from the event, including the infamous “Bond, Andrew Bond” pic of @AndrewSeely.

More pics and attendee list to come!

Hey guys,

So @alexandramokh @nikolez @andrewseely and myself (@mikeprasad) were heading back from the 007 Quantum of Solace Game Launch Event in West Hollywood, when a secret source tipped us that Gears of War 2 could be obtained at certain 7-11’s. So naturally, being the gamers we are, we set out on a 2am quest for find it. 5 and a half 7-11’s later, we scored our prize. GEARS OF WAR 2, a full 3 days early. Here are some pics of us rockin’ our shiny loot, to prove it DID happen (tips after pics):

@alexandramokh

@nikolez

@mikeprasad

@andrewseely

Lastly, a few late night gamers called us and we gave’em some tips on scoring thier own copy. So far, 2 of them were able to purchase the game. Here’s a few pointers:

• Most late night staff don’t know not to sell games by certain dates.
• You’ll usually have to ask them a few times to get video games, and you’ll always have to ask them to check in the back.
• Since games are “in the back”, so you need to get a late night manager or someone with a key.
• Daytime staff typically know not to sell games before certain dates, not worth trying, IMHO.

“In the online space, Mike Prasad and Alexandra Mokh recently launched beta testing for GirlGamer, a community created specifically for female game players. To the uninitiated this might seem like a small target market, but Mike and Alex realized that 40% of gamers were female who didn’t have a place to socialize. If you’re thinking “anyone can launch a website,” Mike was CTO of a public company at the age of 20 and previously launched Bullspot.com.”

I truly appreciate the kind words. It really is all about being passionate about what you’re doing and sticking to it. I do have to disagree a little when he later suggests that “college is meaningless”. It isn’t. It’s just not right for everyone. At the minimum, it provides a great baseline opportunity to explore and learn without having to deal with all the consequences of the “real world”. That said, I believe most college students fail to utilize it to its full potential, but that’s a whole other story..

Anyway Francisco, you old-timers don’t need to worry. We won’t be putting any of you out to pasture any time soon.. We still have lots to learn from you guys with the experience. Besides, you wrote a freakin’ book! Now that’s rockin’ it legit, old school style. Very impressive.

Update: I decided I’d try for 24 people in the series, with 2 defining photos each. One face/portrait photo and one non-traditional/body/non-face photo. Hmm, this could get tricky….

Alexandra Mokh of GirlGamer.com

Francisco Dao of Fast Company Buzz & The Killer Pitch

Andrew Seely of GirlGamer.com

So those are it! What do you think?

So you guys that have been attending and following me on Twitter @mikeprasad know I’ve been doing tweetup’s for the last few months. Well, I’ll have to post a recap, but this Sunday is Tweetup11 (already i know!). I can’t believe we’ve done so many. Thank you so much to everyone for attending and supporting my events. Here’s the info for this weekend, should be the best one yet!

A casual lazy Sunday Brunch in Malibu, because even us techies need a day off. Come hang out, breathe fresh air, eat good food, and meet good people. Thinking of hitting up the California Strawberry Festival after ( http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/473053/ ) or the beach…

RSVP requested, but not required, at Upcoming at http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/651442/

For more info, DM me at @mikeprasad on Twitter, and be sure to follow me for the latest updates.

So I’m a bit behind on setting up this blog, but rest assured it will be done soon. Until then, check out my current projects and find me at the sites below.

Current Projects

• www.girlgamer.com - An online female video game review and community site.
• www.bullspot.com - An online stock community with blogs and message boards.

Find me at:

• http://twitter.com/mikeprasad
• http://upcoming.yahoo.com/user/131353/
• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=502360341
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/mprasad

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