doych

Mom doesn't know my name * weeping *

If you're one of my 3 friends reading this, you know I own iPawz.com, essentially a blog for all things pet. My good friend with an active blog on all things brand often complains about PR companies sending non-personalized releases. I get many for iPawz, but now, I feel there's nothing lower than mom not even knowing my name. PR peeps, don't use generic greetings, Bill and I will make fun of you.

Hi !

I was searching for pet care bloggers when I came across BLOG NAME {uhm, my blog name is iPawz}. We know how much a pet is a part of the family and you want to buy them all you can – but that extra cost can add up fast, especially when you’re on a tight budget. If you want to keep on spoiling your pooch and pampering your cat without breaking the bank… look no further than to the Coupon Mom Show! In the episode airing next week (Thursday February 25^th), Coupon Mom shows her viewers how to spend smartly on pets so that the WHOLE family gets what they need without putting the family in the financial doghouse.

As a pet blogger, I thought you might be interested in learning about and sharing this episode with the readers of BLOG NAME {uhm, my blog name is iPawz}...  yadda yadda.

"Let's just be friends"

It's not every day I'm compelled to take a picture at the Shop Rite. But now I know what to serve for breakfast if I ever wake up (with bed head) next to a strange Asian man. Never mind a woman I might share the same lipstick color with. Note in the contents on the right package, I am, literally, able to eat a "blossom."

Thank you, Kashi, for putting awkward packaging on what could really be an awkward morning situation.

How to get beyond the message

Found a great conversation starter on Edward Boches' blog. He asks his creative audience to watch this video showcasing an idea to launch Discovery Channel's upcoming season of Most Evil.

After viewing it I thought - Absolutely brilliant. But with projects with these my left brain goes into overdrive with my right brain - I'd stress forever on userflows, and that perfect moment to reveal the show. Is there a perfect moment? Does it matter? Can the experience keep going on until each user finds their own unique "dead end" to the experience - ok, pun sorta intended but sorta not...

I smiled in the video where it says "after a while this happens to your screen..." No one seems to be able to define that perfect "while" moment for best impact on a broad audience.

Still wish I thought of it.

Rickshaw Attacks

With my Blackberry always in hand, I peered out my Madison Ave window to see a rickshaw operator's butt almost bitten. I took a quick pic, wondered who the hell wanted to ride in one that was so silly and attention-getting. Never mind the obscured view.

The light turned green, the operator impressively sped off while my ECD and I read the back of it and yelled through the glass "Oh my god it's shark week! Cool!"

Doesn't take much to distract us. Nice placement, Discovery.

Preparing for the Papal visit

This cover art for nytimes.com said enough:

Social Polski

A few days ago I sat in on a lecture by Susanne Altmann, an Art Historian and Independent Curator. Based out of Dresden, she presented many exhibits she curated - mostly dealing with contemporary art and issues of society.

A name of an art group she worked with drew my attention simply because they were Polish and their works all boldly displayed their URL. I committed the name to memory and looked it up the following day. (If I wrote it down, I'd feel confident I had the information and would then proceed to lose the paper.)

twożywo.

Easy enough. With the aid of Google I landed at http://www.twozywo.art.pl - a site representing artists who seem to master the use of public space as a field of social communication. Beautiful typography, thoughtful phrases (if you look at the English version or use Systran) and a wonderful project on a character called Kapitana Europy.

After I spent quite some time on their site, I saw a little piece on Kapitana Europy that made me laugh and say WTF? I soon realized that I was watching what I thought to be a twożywo billboard chasing after me in my dreams.

Look for yourself - Turn on your sound, take a brain break and go directly to SZYBCIE — spieszmy się kochać ludzi bo czas to pieniądz.

These brilliant designers make me proud to be a Polock Pollok Pollack Polak.
 

Dylan gets a Facelift.

Sorta. For all the Facebook freaks out there, Bob Dylan now has his own app where you can type in any message and have it loop. Not sure if this makes Dylan look cooler or you older for referencing, um, Dylan.

(Via fabric of folly.)

Smells better than the Marlboro Man

He's dusty and dirty and pictured just the way women want him. Stetson's newest man, Tom Brady, says on the website "Stetson does a great job of reflecting the guy who's unafraid to tackle the unknown, get involved and be his own person-that's how I live my life, and I think that's how men who wear Stetson approach theirs."

Spare us the speech. Woman only want to look at your photos. Men only want to date your woman.

Nice pics, Stetson, but personally, I prefer your 2004 man:

Went to OMMA

Overall a good show. The general session keynotes and panels were more interesting to me than some of the session tracks. It always comes down to how well the speaker can battle the distraction of people pouring in late from another panel that ran late.

I stuck my head into a Widget session for about 8 minutes. It was more worth the walk over for the pack of gum branded by TheEggnetwork.com. Now that's handy conference swag. Once I heard the word "Facebook" in the widget session over 33 times I knew it was time to head to "Leveraging Online Video to Drive Conversational Marketing." Saw some great examples by Coca Cola's Director of Global Interactive marketing of creating experiences through conversation, not just commercial pre-roll.

Sat in on the luncheon where James Lipton interviewed David Verklin, the CEO of Carat Americas. I think the crowd was more interested in interviewing James Lipton. That and the lovely chocolate pie dessert.

My favorite lines for the day:
JWT's Ty Montague claiming he's never seen the LowerMyBills banner eye sores. But to his defense it was presented to him as the "green alien banners" when I think they're better known as the "rooftop badonkadonk banners."
Tim Hanlon on the media panel saying "the difference with a bigger company... is that they're bigger."

Stick to iPod

Follow this link and read the product name as a sentence. (also in pic to left)

Copywriter needed: PC need not apply

Hooray San Francisco!

So I wasn't exactly in Jamaica and I wasn't drinking Red Stripe beer - Mojitos were getting me into trouble at the Starlight Room in the Sir Francis Drake.(Wednesdays really are the best - beautiful people everywhere).

This was one time I didn't mind the need to usability test population samples around the country. I was in Evoc's hometown for a few days last week, watching high cholesterol patients interpret a website. It was great to get out of the balmy NJ weather and into the cool high 60's in San Francisco. As much as I hate the touristy shopping area of Union Square (there's a GAP or Banana everywhere, people) I admit I put down $200 in the Levis flagship store. Every girl needs a new pair of jeans that come with a hole already in the butt. And the sales woman tipped me off to a great thai restaurant.

So on my second trip out there, I once again had 2 very productive work days fueled by a healthy mix of time out on the town.

Banner ads going for the throat

Here's a banner ad that Michael Vick might design.

Hit the smash button, start a dog fight? Luckily during the "smashing" 3 minutes I'll never have back in my day, I only witnessed: evil elf-men smashed open a dog cage; dog mauled the evil elf men.

Hmmm. Maybe the ringtone is Vick voicing over "Face your dogs!"
The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. Nice detail on the top right - "Participation Required."

The 2012 London Olympics logo is here!

And it just may be historically, Olympically—yes it’s a word—um, the oddest thing I’ve ever seen. Olympic logos generally have to appeal to a global audience while still retaining some uniqueness, some universal connection if you will. This one however, has people more than a little perplexed. That it represents the numbers 2012 is a graphic stretch to say the least. It’s sad that in an effort to appeal to the broadest of audiences, it ended up being so generic and devoid of anything special.

Technorati Tags: 2012 London Olympics logo

Thank you, come again!

7-Eleven will soon cater to the real life Homer Simpsons in light of The Simpsons Movie due out in July.

It sounds like there may still be final ink to lay down on the deal, but 7-Eleven plans to refit 11 stores across the US to resemble the front of Kwik-E-Mart, the convenience store in The Simpsons cartoon. They'll supposedly offer product based on the cartoon items - Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and even iced Squishees (still containing the original Slurpee).

McDonald's missed the boat. Forget the Lion King action figures. Imagine promoting Pulp Fiction: Simply rename the Quarter Pounder to the Royale With Cheese, and have all the employees hand it over yelling "Here's your Mother F**kin Burger!"

And don't forget the signage in the windows:
"Hamburgers. The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast."

Exceptional packaging

I bought this whole wheat pasta not only as a health choice, but because the package flat out told me what to expect. If faced with several  unknown brand choices, I'll throw my $2.99 at such a bold statement. It lived up to its expectation.

Nice copy line, Bionaturae.

Tee-hee-hee look at these JB's on me!

I snapped this on my cell while boxer-brief browsing for JBs with the BF.

I guess wearing this underwear makes you men so very gay happy.

Baby photos and nose blowing

Kleenex brand thought is wasn't pretty enough to simply disguise cardboard with varying floral designs... they're now offering personalized kleenex tissue boxes.

On MyKleenexTissue.com, you can upload a pet photo, baby photo, family photos... any kind of "family safe" photo. Add text, clip art, pick your colors... choose all those predictable customized options.

I thought Kleenex could use a little "jb" branding help, so I wasted a good 18 minutes of my life creating this lovely tissue box sample - one that'll make you Let it Out® with every glance - hence, selling more Kleenex for the Kimberly Clark company.

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

I caught the newly edited version of the GM robot spot this weekend - can't remember what time slot - maybe during the Knicks' usual 4th quarter beating, but I'm sure it's now "safe" for kids to watch.

Most of us (ad peeps) have heard by now that the suicide ending depicted in the Super Bowl spot was criticized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which had demanded that the ad be pulled and that GM issue an apology.

I'm wondering if it's from the post-game uproar or simply crappy/depressing weather season - In the past few weeks, every time I've been in my car I've heard an ad or two for a suicide helpline. And I'm a chronic station changer since NY radio sucks.

I guess it's not at all politically correct for those ads to attempt some cheering up with "Need a Moment? Try a Snickers!"

Ladies, start your engines...

  ...But you may have to keep it idling for a while.

Harlequin (that familiar leading publisher of romance novels) has partnered with Nascar for some extra "brand building." Harlequin has already published three Nascar-theme books, including one in which the heroine, an ex-kindergarten teacher, falls in love with a Nascar driver after first being hit by his car and then driving his enormous motor coach from race to race.

Keeping in mind that Nascar is a "family" brand, Harlequin writers must abide by some rules: no drugs, no alcohol, and no... sex. These books are guaranteed to have hours of engine idling and zero climatic clutch-popping, therefor making it sound about as exciting as watching cars go around a track for 3 hours.

This is Mellencamp Country

As tired as we are of hearing John Mellencamp's "Our Country" backing Chevrolet Silverado commercials, he's sick of hearing from his fans that he's "sold out."

The songwriter pleads his defense here in an interview with The New York Times.

You can fit a Heiny anywhere

I stumbled upon a Dutch blog moments ago - I love when I chase a rabbit trail that only leads to a stranger beast. I have no idea what the written words are exactly saying, but this blog looks damn interesting. Enough so, that I attempted to translate the whole page in Systran with some luck.

The words I read look smart. Must be the extra vowels. They're accompanied by interesting photos and sidelined by links to such blog subjects as Film, Boeken, Filosofie, Architectuur and Schilderkunst. Thanks to Systran I learned of an art opening in The Hague called "Sixties!" and based on, what else, the 1960's.

I also learned about new Dutch postage stamps which will - get this - have mini Heiny's on them! Ten icons were created for the new 44 eurocent stamps to "represent" the Netherlands, including the Heineken Longneck, Philips spaarlamp and Bugaboo pram. And seems typical Dutch to include a smoked sausage (sponsored by UNOX).

I guess when weighing the popularity of an image of the queen over smoked sausage... well we know what won.

One icon I didn't see was a nice healthy marijuana leaf. If not, maybe a plate of hash brownies?

What drives an 8 year old to drink

Maine officials banned this beer label because it may appeal to children. Sure I once loved the guy, but from what I recall it was a time when I craved chocolate milk, was hooked on the Muppets, boys had the cooties, and my sister's candy cigarettes tasted damn good.

OMFG

"Official Meeting Facilities Guide"

Why... what did you think it meant?

It's the horrible name of this publication, and probably the phrase the photographer was thinking when he/she was wondering how the hell they'd color balance that guy's blue suit.

Oh my god, I, like, totally like this!

You must speak valley girl while surfing this site: Like.com.

It's so pretentious that material girls everywhere are wasting their company's time spending their lunch hour surfing for black pumps like Angelina Jolie's, watches like Orlando Bloom's, handbags like Mischa Barton's, and must I go on...

Like.com's superficial displays are what they call a "visual search" site. It uses what I admit to be an impressive Likeness™ technology by Riya. They have thousands of celebrity photos with visible accessories for you to search by that accessory's "likeness." I hate the fact it starts off with the in-your-face-look-at-hot-celebrity-now-and-shop-so-you-can-look-like-them attitude geared towards the low self esteemers and teeny boppers. But I love how once you're in the search results, you can continue likeness searches on any item.

For instance, when I click on "shoes", this search allows me to pinpoint and click on what I like - a heel, a toe, a platform, and the results are visually close to what I must add to my Fall collection like. You can specify the sensitivity to price, color, shape and pattern. Whoa.

Of course some of my shoe likeness results include a $358 pair of Stuart Weitzman, or the $292 Via Spigas, but there's some reasonably priced items as well. I've only spotted a handful of retailers including Zappos, Amazon, 6pm and Yoox. So far there's no blatant advertisers other than the offering retailer, and the site does not offer clothing items.

I'll continue my search as I, like, personally, want to look just like Scarlett Johansson, so maybe these earrings will do the trick.

Do these pixels come in petite?

After recently catching Opie and Anthony's new and honest TV commercial, I think that maybe HP can save some money on slimming effect filters and headache on the negative outcries they're getting by doing one simple step - load that O & A commercial onto every camera. Let the masters of verbal assault tell it like it is to those in need of some pixel pressing.

Howdy partner, looking to nail something?

Thanks to "Carpenter Dan" who is currently installing a tile floor into my first floor entrance, I've seen some liquid cheesiness on the packaging of the popular contractor's staple, Liquid Nails®.

Meet Liquid Cowgirl®. She is so purty I just had to add this to The Random Logo Project. She is darn happy, almost over-smiley as she sports her caulk gun - cocked and loaded. Love the matching toolbelt and hat.

Blue collar boys: be careful. She's a hot one, but a bit clingy.

Mom always said to use Dawn® on the penguin

Dawn is tough on the grease - but mild on fur, feathers and skin.

While sleepily channel surfing last night, I realized I had stopped at an odd visual: A pair of hands were washing - oh so gently and yet thoroughly -  a helpless little penguin.

The voice kept saying "Dawn dishwashing liquid." Ok. Now I was awake, looking closer at what I thought was a penguin in a kitchen sink in an ad selling dish soap. It was! But it wasn't a kitchen... it was an animal rescue team, cleaning the penguin of oil and waste that almost killed it, then sending it back to its natural home where it cuddles up with a fuzzy penguin baby.

Yes the end is a bit Hollywood but it made me go "Awww." The voiceover got my attention: "Dawn® dishwashing liquid has been helping to save wildlife for over 25 years." Hmm, it must be true -  they made a web site about it.

Commercial ends its identity as Dawnsaveswildlife.com. Being an animal enthusiast, I had to visit. Check it out. They have a page dedicated to ways you can help save the environment and make a promise to do so. It's a great way to promise. They don't ask for an email or name, or to even pass it on. It just encourages you to read the page. And promise.

The new potty mouth of advertising

Children -  Stop reading.
The word "ass" is safe to say on network TV. BUT (pun intended), there's a sh*tload of new TV ads that are now using the word shit - cleverly or not. It's beeped, it's thrown to a logo, it's muted. But maybe like the word "google" entering the dictionary, that bad word "shit" will soon enter teenagers' vocabulary as acceptable language. Of course only Webster and GE can determine that one.

Some of the latest sh*t out there:

Safe Shit: VW has it. At the end of the Jetta "safe" campaigns - car crashes, cut to person saying "Holy Sh.. [cut to logo]"

Fast Shit: Comcast has it. Man washes dishes in "high speed" mode, cut to woman who says "Holy Sh.." as if she's afraid her grandmother is on set.

Cell Shit: Amp'd mobile has it. Strapping young man explains all the features of his calling plan, then explains how his package comes "with all that sh..t" or maybe he says "that's a lot of sh.." or who cares since the actor is built like a sh*t brick house.

Full of Shit: Well, make that "Full of Sit." Burger King has its new Dr. Angus character claim its new Angus burger will make you sit down while exclaiming "Buns up. Buns down. I’m full of sit, you’re full of sit, we’re all full of sit.”

No matter how hard these advertisers try, there will never be anyone who says this word as well as Isiah Whitlock, Jr.  His role as Senator Clay Davis on HBO's The Wire brings us many memorable conversations in which he adds his "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet."
It's music. I think he held one for a good 3 seconds in episode 4.

Now that's some funny shit.