The Pop-Culture Periodical

Freakin' Genius

2007-11-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is pretty damn good. It's not Smirnoff viral good, but it's good.
When I first saw this I thought it was another Smirnoff viral video (like Green Tea Partay). But this one's for Dr. Pepper, and it's friggin' hilarious. Love it.

Moving a Nation

2007-11-26T15:11:00.001-07:00

Why So Serious?

2007-10-31T14:48:00.000-06:00

Now, this is how you promote a damn movie! First, the site featured a Wanted poster for The Joker along with an incomplete police report.

That went down.

Then a couple weeks ago it was replaced with a pumpkin. A pumpkin with the Batman logo carved in it and a flickering candle inside. One side of the pumpkin slowly rotted over the two weeks.

Now, this is what's up: a national scavenger hunt to reveal a message. Ingenious.

Clown Around

Holiday Inn UK

2007-10-23T16:22:00.000-06:00

The UK chain of Holiday Inn hotels actually offers something unique that I've never heard of a hotel doing before. The offer a pillow menu. Five different types of pillows (from super soft to plush to hard) that you can choose to ensure a good night's sleep. Pretty cool. And more proof that it's the little things that matter to people.

Help Disarm Your Clients

2007-10-22T11:45:00.001-06:00

The most difficult part of selling, any salesman will tell you, is handling objections and questions (which often border on the absurd). Here's a site that takes some of the most common hurdles thrown up by clients and presents possible ways of leaping them.

Ideas on Ideas

Make Skin Cancer Fun!

2007-10-15T14:59:00.000-06:00

This actually is pretty cool. And good for people who aren't ready to commit to a real tattoo. Besides, let's face it, just laying out in the sun is pretty boring; this gives you a reason to keep on not moving...

Body Art That Fades with the Season!

Fffound

2007-10-09T11:32:00.000-06:00

Fffound is a fffun site. Great site for inspiration, images, cool shit. Really whatever your heart desires.

Awesomeness

Awesome Lil' Ad

2007-09-18T15:55:00.001-06:00

Believe the company is called StumbleUpon...could be wrong about that...

People Still Read Long Copy...

2007-09-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

Great self-promo for OgilvyInteractive out to prove that not only do people still read long copy, but they read on the Internet too, contrary to current prevailing theories.

Are You "Illiterate"?

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium Cake Ad

2007-09-04T11:50:00.000-06:00

An ad promoting the family-friendly fantasy film, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," that will run next Sunday in the L.A. Times will smell like cake. This serves as a nice reminder that while we're all well aware of the newer, better scratch 'n sniff technologies (among other advertising gimmicks) it is still largely an unknown to the general public. So much so that this news was a Top Three item on imdb.com. But maybe it's just a slow news day.

Here's the imdb news clip:

A "scratch and sniff" ad for the upcoming movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium that will appear in next Sunday's Los Angeles Times will feature the aroma of frosted cake embedded into ink used in the ad, the New York Times reported today (Monday). Fox Walden, which produced the movie, says it spent $110,000 for the ad, about double what an ordinary full-page ad in the Times would cost. "This was interesting because it ties in so perfectly with what the movie is about, a toy store where toys come alive," Fox Walden marketing chief Jeffrey Godsick told the Times. "It will increase the time people spend with the ad and the pass-around factor."

VW Leaves Detroit, Along with Hope and a Future

2007-08-23T10:40:00.000-06:00

You see those ruins from ancient civilizations, you know the once thriving port cities and towns along trade routes from the Persian, Greek, or Roman Empires, and you think to yourself: What happened over the years? What could turn a thriving city into an abandoned ghost town with nothing but crumbling ruins?

Well, now we have an answer, everyone please turn your attention to the city of Detroit. Yes, a thousand years from now, the archaeologists of some advanced civilization will be digging through the ruins of the crumbled American empire and they will find Detroit. They will say, hear is this once thriving city, home to industry and innovation. Arguably once one of the most important cities in all the world! And here is it's ruin. What happened? How vast was this city at its peak?

Think it can't happen? There was a city, whose name escapes me, on the mediterranean coast of northern Africa. One of the largest ports and cities in all the Roman empire. An emperor even hailed from there, the first African-born emperor in Roman history. A large, bustling, important, historically significant city. Somehow lost for hundreds of years until archaeologists stumbled upon it. This once rich city now just a collection of wind-blasted columns and sandy paving stones.

Maybe that's an extreme conclusion to draw from this article, but Detroit's been circling the drain for a couple decades now. One more straw on the camel's back.

Sure it may just be one foreign auto maker and about 1,000 jobs. But these losses pile and pile and pile.

VW/Audi Leaves Detroit

Levi's Ad Switcheroo

2007-08-21T13:26:00.000-06:00

We've probably all seen the new Levi's commercial where the guy pulls a pair of jeans on and the street level magically rises to his apartmenr (or vice versa). This MSNBC article talks about how that ad has two versions: a gay and a straight one. One is made to air on regular television, while the other will air on specifically gay-targeted programming and channnels.

I agree with many things in this article, from "who still uses a phone booth?" to Levi's marketing VP, Robert Cameron, who says this idea shouldn't be a big deal. He's right, it shouldn't be but it is.

I, for one, look forward to the day (to badly paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr.) when people don't look to the color of someone's skin or their choice for a lover, but rather the content of the (pick one) character/story/idea. But we've a long way to go.

Click once for straight, twice for gay

P.S. I always thought the woman in this ad was hot, but that her ass, as seen in the shot at the end when they're walking off together into the night, seemed a little...lacking in female attributes... I'm just sayin'

Adam Espinoza

2007-08-21T09:09:00.001-06:00

Local guy + bad-ass reel = me linking it here to help get the word out.

Animate Me

The Latest Trend in Camo

2007-08-17T10:41:00.001-06:00

Me, personally, I HATE camouflage as fashion. Always have, always will.

However, my colleague Mr. M. Miller, opened my eyes to the really long, interesting history and progression of camouflage from a evolutionary survival method for animals to today's fashions and everything that's happened in between (from camouflaging boats to Warhol's final paintings). Really cool stuff.

The point is that while I hate it as fashion, the reasons why have nothing to do with camouflage itself.

And none of that is the point here!

What is the point, is this awesome new technology called Kameraflage. Some weird-ass technology that renders certain patterns invisible to the naked eye. They don't show up as visible to us until we're viewing them in a pciture. Freaky cool huh?

Reveal the Hidden Message

The Lives of American Vagabonds

2007-08-15T09:53:00.001-06:00

These photos are fantastic. I mean, great photos in and of themselves, but also a great essay on American homelessness. All the homeless photographed here are young (well, most of them) and they obviously have money for alcohol, cigarettes, tattoos, etc. Which would lead one to believe they're just lazy. Who knows.

I will, however, echo the sentiments of the Denver Egotist and point out that most of these really look like they could be from a fashion shoot which begs a larger question about where we're at as a society. Dig the Banana and Tobasco breakfast...and...Marsupial, it's what's for dinner...it's like a Mugatu campaign (that was a Zoolander reference for all y'all that ain't up to speed).

Derelicte!

Sidewalk Sale!

2007-08-08T10:46:00.000-06:00

Really cool article about a creative agency in Madison that had a sidewalk sale for all their old, never-sold-in creative. Not only is it a creative idea, it's a heck of a way to get your community caring about your success...or at least knowing who the hell you are.

Also, I found this article at The Denver Egotist and if you don't know that Web site yet you should. And shame on you.

Slightly Used Concepts for Sale!

McQueen: The Future of Viral Marketing?

2007-07-20T08:21:00.000-06:00

Most of you know who Alexander McQueen is, but for those that don't a quick primer: a celebrated British designer who takes inspiration from the everyday, the anti, the rebellious, the anarchical, the punk, the underground and churns out runway worn, groundbreaking fashions.

Now he's breaking ground in a new way with MySpace. He handpicked 35 under-21 MySpace members to be a part of his marketing campaign for his younger-skewed McQ line. They were invited down to his studio (in London) and charged with creating ads for his upcoming campaign.

Could this be a new wave in marketing in this age of social empowerment? Those most-receptive to and most-responsible for viral marketing being given the keys to drive corporate campaigns?

Perhaps. In my personal opinion it depends on the industry, in the highly personal, or tailored if you will, industry of style it could pay huge dividends because it's an industry that directly allows people to express themselves. Maybe that wouldn't work as well for, say, beer or batteries or tourism, but it will certainly be interesting to see if more companies in this industry and more companies who target the highly coveted teen/young adult demographic will follow suit.

Don't Let the Music Die!

2007-07-02T12:55:00.001-06:00

Music is in serious danger! The big music companies in conjunction with MTV and Clear Channel have been trying to kill music for years, opting instead for attempting to sell people on pre-packaged, processed, interchangeable pop. However, real music was still able to survive and thrive on the independent circuit thanks, in large part, to streaming Internet radio.

Well, on July 15 a new rule goes into effect where Internet stations will have to pay a royalty for each time a song is streamed (as opposed to the old system where, essentially, a station paid royalties that could never exceed the equivalent amount of US record sales). What does this mean? It means most of these stations will be put out of business! Take, for example, a web-based sation in San Francisco. In 2005 they paid $20,000 in royalties, under this new rule that number will jump to $600,000!

It's pure unadulterated greed on the part of music companies. An attempt to extort money in order to stem the flow of so-called losses in record sales. You can't expect me to have sympathy when a CD costs $20 and the reason for it is the label gave the band a $70 million, 4 record deal. Not to mention the fact that the companies are operating with an obsolete business model. You simply cannot take terrestial business methods and apply them to the Web, it doesn't work. Yet they stubbornly refuse to evolve or die, and our government, acting as if these companies have a God-given right to exist bail them out time and again. Call it the Divine Right of Big Business. If King George were alive today he'd probably be head of one of these music companies.

But this goes beyond that. This goes to the very heart of the American dream. Big business in so many industries is so in control of the system that small businesses quite frankly have absolutely zero chance of survival. With the enactment of this rule, this will certainly be the case with radio.

But it is not a foregone conclusion! We still have a chance to stop it. Write your senator or congress person and tell them how this displease you and how they should take action against it. Support the cause of listener supported radio. But first, and above all, educate yourself. Check out these sites below and then do what you think is right.

KEXP Article

Tell Them Public Matters: A PBS Forum

Save Net Radio

The US Senate

House of Representatives

Car Sharing

2007-06-21T16:11:00.000-06:00

Ever heard of car sharing? I hadn't either until getting the latest TerraPass newsletter in which they talk about a company called Flexcar. Flexcar is a company that owns a fleet of cars, all of which are fuel efficient and 30% of which are hybrids. The way it works is you pay an hourly fee (usually $8 per) to use the vehicle. That's it, there are none of the typical costs associated with owning or operating a car.

From the TerraPass blog: "The U.S. Transportation Research Board reports that each car-sharing vehicle takes up to 15 private cars off the road. Seventy percent of respondents in a 2005 study said they postponed buying a car because of car-sharing. Half of those interviewed said car-sharing enabled them to sell an existing second car....This arrangement should encourage drivers to eliminate unnecessary trips, and indeed, surveys show that roughly half of Flexcar drivers report driving less after becoming members, with an average reduction of almost 40%."

Of course, TerraPass isn't talking about Flexcar just to talk about them. No. They've announced a joint partnership where Flexcar users can buy a Green Membership for $9.99 and they will aid in taking a billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere.

The idea of car sharing isn't just unique and original, it's revolutionary. Who knows if it will catch on nationwide but they already have a significant presence in many cities including Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Hopefully soon they'll come here and we'll get to try them out.

More info:

Flex!

TerrPass Blog Post

Vertical Farm Update

2007-06-21T14:03:00.000-06:00

Now Iconoculture has caught on to this (you may remember I posted and talked about an article I read on the vertical farm concept a couple months back). Here's what Iconoculture has to say on the subject:

"Consumers living in large metropolitan areas may be struggling with the desire to buy locally grown produce and the lack of availability. The creative solutions, whether a complex skyscraper design or simply a small indoor garden, will likely connect with those looking for a way to lessen their impact on the planet."

Also, Toronto is bandying about the idea of building a Sky Farm downtown, the building's 58 floors would have nearly 3 million sq. feet of floor and 8 million sq. ft. of farmable surface, or growing area.

Pretty cool. And personally I think it would be great to have a cluster of three 35–40 story buildings in Denver that were vertical farms. Not only would it make it easier for people here to buy locally grown produce but it would be great for the economy in terms of our exports. How often do we hear of late frosts (or other bad weather) severly hampering our crops of corn, cherries, peaches, apricots, etc.? A climate controlled environment could guarantee that a certain amount would always be available. Plus, by making the buildings not only green but a source of renewable energy (recycling rain/snow water as well as turning sewage into gray water) we're aiding the health of our own local environment.

Cool Wall Art

2007-06-12T10:21:00.000-06:00

OK, this ain't exactly new as this was put up before last year's World Cup. However, it's the first time I had seen it and I thought it was pretty cool. This is some mural art Nike did in Berlin promoting its involvement with soccer.

The Future is Here! (almost)

2007-06-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

The two latest technologies revealing that the future is right around the corner:

Releasing this fall from Microsoft is a kind of revolution in computing, or at least in interfacing. For those of you that have watched, as I have, shows like Star Trek or Minority Report and said to yourself, "That'll be the day! When computing can be done with your hands, just you interfacing directly with the computer." Well that day is (almost) here. And the product's name? Surface.

The Surface Site

Web site of the Day!

2007-05-25T12:09:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Sean Miller for pointing this bit of brilliance out to me. I don't fully understand what it's all about yet, but I love it nonetheless.

Snuggle with Crap!

Coming Soon!

2007-05-22T13:15:00.001-06:00

Airport Secutiy Bin Advertising!
Which begs the questions: Would this be a boon for business or a boondoggle for advertisers?

Chime in with your thoughts!

Your Ad Here!

The Gen Y Revolution

2007-05-18T09:58:00.000-06:00

Interesting article from CNN Money about the new Gen Y workforce (including myself, thank you) and, basically, how awesome we are. At least that's how I interpreted it.

Gen Y Revolution

The Celebrity Backlash

2007-05-11T15:05:00.000-06:00

The Cult of Celebrity has always had its heroes and villains, but probably most prevalent in this subculture are the celebrities once celebrated that people turn against. I don't know that Paris was ever celebrated, she was more of an amusing punchline, but it's obvious now that her shtick is wearing thin with John and Jane Public.

Case in point: The two petitions I have run across just today being sent to Gov. Schwarzenegger to jail Paris Hilton and refuse her clemency. Some people even call for her execution as she (and I'm paraphrasing here) adds nothing to humanity and her continued existence is a drain on valuable resources such as air and water.

Jail Paris

While this is amusing and I do agree she should go to jail I think people are missing the larger picture here. This is, after all, a person who's famous for having no talent. Honestly. As a model she only has two looks. As an actress she adds nothing, not even sexuality to a formulaic slasher flick in which you know she'll die but not before getting it on with her boyfriend. Carrying a toy dog in a purse does not count as being an animal activist. She can't sing. And, from what I've seen of her sex tape, she's a lousy lay. Unless, of course, you prefer women who answer their cell phones mid-coitus. The point is this woman should not be a celebrity in the first place, and if she weren't a celebrity this wouldn't be a news story.

Celebrity's a funny thing, and I'm not sure what should qualify for such a dubious mantle. On one hand you have entertainers, people who are naturally in the spotlight and by the nature of their occupation are strangers that people feel some sort of connection with (and in the cases of stalkers a little too much of a connection). Entertainers at their best provide more than entertainment, they provide an insight to the human condition that can not be matched and they act as a social mirror to the times we live in, the times we made it through, and the times that may yet come. So why should they not be venerated (and alternately destroyed) for taking on such a noble profession, or at least a profession that was once noble?

On the other hand, they are not teachers. They are not the leaders of society, nor are they those charged with educating tomorrow's leaders. And shouldn't those people be the celebrities? My argument for that is if teachers wanted to be celebrities they'd get a TV show, or have sex with a student.

Of course, another worry that this petitions signify is a serious concern that we are devolving to a Running Man sort of mentality as a society. A new Roman Coliseum in which you don't need a ticket in order to get a first row seat to all the bloodshed the Republic sanctions as mindless entertainment. No, for that privilege now you need only a cable box or a satellite dish. Our choicest Gladiators are celebrities, our Lions the predators of Vice and Public Opinion.

The public is as much to blame for the Paris Hilton sentence being a news story as the media or the airheaded heiress herself. And these kinds of intrusions into the areas of real and actual news will continue until we, as a public, demand a higher standard for celebrities. These petitions are either the start of that, or the start of something much worse.

Sister Agency in the News!

2007-05-10T09:24:00.000-06:00

Sister agency Karsh/Hagan had a nice little article about them appear in the Rocky Mountain News this morning, thanks to some new McDonald's commercials. It's actually an interesting example in the case study of how viral is going mainstream and playing a vital role in the influencing of decisions being made by all marketers, not just small or fringe ones.

Also, can I say that having been in Karsh's main conference room, they have a pretty sweet Mickey-D's drive thru mocked up in the room. The only thing that would've made it cooler is if I could've actually ordered food from there.

Wakabayashi Speaks!

NOTE: I do not actually know Dennis Wakabayashi. I know of him through mutual friends, but the only reason I mentioned him above is that his name is just as fun to type as it is to say.

476ad

2007-04-26T14:02:00.000-06:00

Now I can only speculate as to why the Web site is called 476ad but the first thing that comes to mind for a history geek like me is the fact that the year 476 A.D. marked the fall of the Roman empire. Visit the site and draw your own conclusions.

476ad is like Last Night's Party except for two distinct advantages. 1) It's not firewalled by Integer. Yet. And 2) Unlike LNP anyone can upload photos of their own shindig. As the site says it's a phot blogging revolution.

Romanesque Debauchery Meet the Photo Diary

Now, according to Iconoculture here's why we should care about this aside from the fact that it's really cool—and I'm talking cooler than in the 5th grade when Phil Roth got the new BMX, tore it up on our homemade dirt track, and was king of Naper Carriage Hill for like a week and a half—aside from that here's why we should care:

• Millennials, among scores of others, are into low-level voyeurism. "From personal blog-scoping to full-fledged Facebook stalking to see other people's party pics, the urge to check out the sometimes banal aspects of peers' lives is in full effect."

• Party-pic sites are popping up to cash in on the popularity of Mash Creativity (SM).

Iconoculturelyze! (That's Iconoculture Analyzes mashed together...see, that's clever)

Never Grow Up. Never Stop Learning.

2007-04-26T12:49:00.000-06:00

People are no longer content to have little dreams or hobbies left unexplored. No longer content to take a job and turn it into a career. People want to, in the words of New Belgium's wildly popular print campaign, "follow their folly." Passion for what they do and the happiness that comes with doing what you want are becoming the barometers of success for some. For others it's merely exploring a long nagging interest. Whatever the reasons people are going back to school in record numbers, not to pursue another degree but just to take one or two classes. A literature class here, a music appreciation class there. People are using continuing education to further their hobbies, enrich their lives, and give themselves a sense of fulfillment.

These people cross age, gender, and race barriers, twenty-somethings to baby boomers are doing it. Occasionally a trend comes along that seems to defy demographics and this is that trend for this time. This is now how people sate their wanderlust, not just through travel but through education and stimulation. These are the people determined to not grow up, to not stop seeking out lessons, and to not stop following their follies.

CNN Reports on the Trend

Sidebar: Speaking of New Belgium, they currently have what is unquestionably the best advertising in the beer industry. The first beer company I've seen in, at least, the last 10–15 years to really understand their consumer.

New Belgium on the Boob Toob!

Vertical Farming

2007-04-21T11:45:00.000-06:00

Vertical farming? Sounds crazy, right? Straight out of science fiction. Well, maybe not. According to this New York magazine article a Columbia professor believes it's not only feasible, but also inevitable and our only-best chance to curb global warming.

A New York with Farms

I first read about this in todays Rocky Mountain News. A writer for RMN must have stumbled across this article and began thinking about the possibilities of vertical farms in Denver. A possibility that, if these farms are proven to be efficient and doable, I see as very real. That led me to the Web site, which is very interesting.

The possibilities excite me, but more than that I think responsible civic leaders in this day and age have a responsibility to research any and all alternatives to farming, waste, pollution, and conservation. The vertical farm is certainly one such alternative. I appreciate that the conservation movement is starting to gain momentum as the threats and effects of global warming become more real and present, but our overall attitude is still too passive. We must be more aggressive in our efforts to create a new consciousness in our culture, and a new, greener world for our kids and grandkids. If these alternatives, like the vertical farm, can in fact meet these needs (farming in the city not only creates less waste and lower prices on produce it could also allow some farmed areas to return to their natural state, be it plain or forest) then I see no point or logic in idly waiting for someone else to try these methods, or waiting for some magic potion that makes it all better. And we don't need to spend tax dollars to do this. Create incentives for the industry to take charge on this, I don't care if the sign above the entrance to the farm says "City of Denver," "ConAgra," or "Starbucks." Corporations can dig into their pockets, as can philanthropists—after all this is a capitalist society, make it a capitalist initiative. Put dollars and sense behind these methods and make it impossible to not attempt.

Put aside thoughts of global warming for a second and just think how we're all environmentalists. There's not a single person alive who doesn't enjoy the beauty of a warm and clear spring day when the trees are in bloom and the grass is green. No one likes seeing a polluted river or a brown sky. And that is why we need to be proactive in our thinking and aggressive in our actions, if not for the future of the world then just for our own pleasure.

Still need more reasons? The majority of those who are intensely overweight in this country reside in the lower half of the income bracket. Why, you ask? Very simple: junk food is cheap, good food is not. Next time you're at the grocery store compare the cost of some junk food (say a bag of Oreos) to something healthy (a pound of apples) and see A) which is cheaper and B) which lasts longer. More than likely you're answer to both questions will be junk food. However, in a vertical farm environment not only is all food grown locally but it's grown year round. Making it much cheaper to produce and distribute, which would mean that suddenly those with tight budgets don't need to sacrifice to eat well. Now, of course, with all things being equal whether or not someone chooses to eat well is not something we can control beyond education. But the more I think about this the more I'm convinced that something like this needs to be done by someone and soon.

So bring on the ConAgra, WhiteWave, and Fresh Express vertical farming skyscrapers! I already got some good plots of infill land picked out.

Vertical Farm

Despicable Practices?

2007-04-17T14:16:00.000-06:00

Is it just me or does this make anyone else kind of sick?

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The New York Times and "Inside Edition" are among those sponsoring Google key-word searches for the phrase "Virginia Shooting." While many mainstream media companies solicited user-generated media for early coverage of the grisly scene at Virginia Tech, others are now ensuring they're the go-to source for news. In another development, NBC's "Dateline" has set up a FaceBook group seeking out friends of the shooter.

I'd say from now until...at least some later time I will be boycotting the New York Times. I would boycott Inisde Edition too, but you expect this from a fourth-rate sensationalist program like them.

The Slash-Proof Hoodie

2007-04-16T14:09:00.000-06:00

An interesting idea, truly, and we'll see it could be hugely successful. I mean, who wouldn't want to wear clothing that helps them be a little more safe?

I do have some questions about its viability though. First, they say that these hoodies are for kids who live in more dangerous neighborhoods. Yet numbers support that if your 'hood's dangerous it's likely also poor, and at $130 a pop (or £65) it's unlikely that the hoodies intended audience can afford them. Secondly, just because it's slash proof doesn't mean it can prevent someone from jacking you for your slash-proof hoodie. And lastly, there's the question of even if this does take off in Europe could it ever make it's way to the States? Because slash-proof definitely doesn't equate to bullet proof.

Prevents Stabbing And Is Machine Washable!

On a slightly unrelated topic: in light of today's tragedy in Blacksburg could someone in Washington please, for the love of God, renew the gun control debate? It's time to tell Charlton Heston and Ted Nugent to f- off. I'm not saying abolish guns, that would be absolutely impossible, but it should nearly impossible to obtain a gun and law enforcement needs to crack down on the black market for these weapons. Then maybe a slash-proof hoodie would make some sense in this country.

Indy 4 Rolling Like a Giant Boulder

2007-04-13T09:33:00.000-06:00

Since this is the Pop-Culture Periodical I feel compelled to share this article from USA Today. It's been known for awhile that Indiana Jones 4 is a go, but this film has had false starts in the past. However, this time around there is a script that's been approved by Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford, every key member of the cast has been locked up except Sean Connery, and they're actually in pre-production.

Now the USA Today officially reports what Ain't It Cool News first uncovered two weeks ago: that Shia LeBouf has been cast in the film. Some speculate he's just a sidekick, some say he's Indy's son, all that's known for sure is that he's in it and this film is hitting theaters in May 2008!

No time for love Dr. Jones! We gotta go!

OK, so why report this here? This isn't a trend, right? Well, it is news about one of the most important and successful film franchises in history. You take Star Wars, Indiana Jones and a host of 80s films like Risky Business, Fasttimes at Ridgemont High, Breakfast Club, Goonies, etc. and what you have is Pop Culture. Specifically pop culture that defined a generation. And to see that it's not only kept alive through nostalgia and VH-1, but is actually still a viable product should tell you something about the influence that pop culture has had on our society as well as where we're at today, and perhaps even where we're headed.

This article also serves as an indicator of that because it does mention that Shia (a 20-year old actor who wasn't even alive when most of this stuff came out) is also the star of this summer's live action Transformers adaptation of the popular 80s cartoon series. Some say it will be the biggest movie of the summer. And it very well could be, but it doesn't even compare to another chapter in the Indiana Jones adventure.

Step-It Up!

2007-04-11T15:46:00.001-06:00

Organized by 6 college grads this is a protest event on a massive scale. The interesting thing is it's also completely local and do-it-yourself. The goal? Get the government to pass legislation committing to cutting carbon emissions 80% by 2050. The method? A series of local, do it yourself events and protests scheduled for this Saturda, April 14. All you have to do is go to the Web site and find the event going on closest to you. How easy is that? Overall this is pretty ingenious AND there are over 1,300 events set up nationwide.

Unfortunately I have to be in a wedding on Saturday, but protesting has never been easier!

Step-It Up Here!

Basketball Shoes Come Back to Earth

2007-04-05T09:07:00.000-06:00

I never thought I'd be saying this but, Thank God for Stephon Marbury. He has started a sneaker line called Starbury. The idea behind this is to make cool sneaks affordable for everyone. He remembers what it was like growing up on Coney Island, the 6th out of 7 children, in a family that could only afford hand-me-downs. Sneaker prices are creeping upwards of $175 for "top of the line" shoes, and what child outside of gated communities can afford that?

So Stephon Marbury created the Starbury line of sneakers: sleek, comfortable, affordable. Currently they're only sold at Steve and Barry's®, but they retail for $14.98. Yep, $15. And Ben Wallace of the Chicago Bulls has since gotten on board to have his own line of Starbury sneakers. Other NBAllers are also in talks to create their own Starbury. People are hoping these are successful to bring sneaker prices back down to earth. I'm hoping it's successful to make the sneaker industry competitive and honestly priced, two things it hasn't really been since the first $100 pair of Air Jordans hit the shelves.

Chuck Taylor Eat Your Heart Out

Springfield is in...

2007-04-03T13:10:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting bit of marketing from 7-11, most importantly I think it shows that they're finally embracing their place in the pop culture and showing an ability to laugh at themselves. Now, this rumor's not been confirmed by either the studio or the company (at least not to my knowledge) but this has come to me from multiple sources so I feel comfortable posting it.

7-Eleven is set to turn a number of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts in conjunction with the release of The Simpsons Movie. Not only will the name on the outside change but inside they will sell products from The Simpsons universe, such as Krusty-Os cereal, Buzz Cola, and squeeshies.

Absolutely brilliant.

Rock the MoPod, Turn Japanese!

2007-03-27T10:03:00.000-06:00

Here's an article from Iconoculture (and thanks to Gene for sending it my way) about a new mobile phone gadget that's all the craze in Japan. It's called a MoPod and they're quirky charms that can attach to your belt, keychain, bag—anything within three feet of your phone. When your phone rings or vibrates these things light up and start dancing. According to Iconoculture this falls under the Funster macrotrend, but I think if they created charm devices like this that weren't so kid-oriented I could see this attracting targets that aren't so laid-back.

Personally I think this is pretty sweet. If I were a Japanese school girl I'd totally want one! Of course I'd also spend a lot of time wearing my school uniform and staring at myself in the mirror, but that's beside the point...

Giggle Like A School Girl

The Spin Cycle

2007-03-27T08:36:00.000-06:00

Here's a perfect example of an agency in full spin mode. Now, reading this article printed in today's Rocky Mountain News (3-27-07) you might get the impression that Morey Evans is an up-and-coming downtown Denver agency. While the article details their new Vehix.com TV campaign (and how they film most of their spots in Denver) they also mention what should be an impressive roster of clients for a boutique shop: the aforementioned Vehix.com, Good Times, and Metro Brokers. Maybe if you're a young college grad looking to get a foot in the industry you might read this article and decide this is a good place to start.

That's the perception.

Here's the reality. Their client roster used to be more impressive boasting Qdoba Mexican Grill in addition to three notable clients listed above. They used to be a growing office with a stable of talented young people on both the Creative and Account Service sides. Past tense. Most of the talent that I knew, or knew of, at Morey Evans is long since gone, tired of bureaucratic games, double talk, and back stabbing. Qdoba is gone. And, I heard last week, that Morey Evans is slashing all benefits to their employees and asking them to "go part time."

Doesn't exactly sound like a place I'd want to work for. And that's why this article is a perfect example of the PR machine in full-blown spin cycle. I mean you never saw an article about their TV with their old campaign for Vehix, or Good Times, or when they ran a very successful on-line promotion for Qdoba. Never heard about them when they were healthy, but now that they're critical they're calling in all the best spin doctors. Apparently someone's still working full-time over there.

The Morey Evans Spin Cycle

Wii a Surprise Success

2007-03-23T10:11:00.000-06:00

Face it, you thought Nintendo was done. They should stop making consoles and focus solely on video games. You thought that, you said it to other video game fans. Said their time was over, they needed to step aside for the likes of Microsoft and Sony. You said it, and so did I. And then the Wii came out and at first I thought Nintendo had finally nailed their market: children. Then I saw the Wiimote, the wireless motion sensor controller, and my interest piqued. But to be tapping into a market that no video game company has ever come close to reaching? Absolutely unbelievable.

Go ahead and read for yourself, Nintendo is attracting retirees...

People who bombed Hiroshima apologize 60 years later by playing tennis

Geico TV

2007-03-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting bit of news pulled from the I Watch Stuff Web site (www.iwatchstuff.com):

"ABC has announced that they are developing the popular "Caveman" series of Geico Auto Insurance commercials into a half-hour comedy project, or, if you prefer, a thinly-disguised infomercial series. The ads have gathered a following for their jokes about prehistoric men fighting prejudice from the modern world, much in the way hobos fight the prejudice of me and my "hobo stick."

Strange as is it seems, this won't be the first time a commercial has made the jump to a series, as Baby Bob, based on dot-com ads, did the same thing in 2002. It also won't be the first time a caveman stars in a regular sitcom, with Ted Danson having played a caveman bartender on Cheers and a caveman doctor on Becker to mixed results."

Pretty interesting. I certainly love the commercials but as a show will it really have enough material to produce 22 episodes a year? We'll see. Also they do make a good point about Baby Bob, that was utterly terrible...and they even brought him back for Quizno's which was even worse! Let's not forget that CP+B has announced their intentions to take the King out of BK and beyond video games—into TV and movies. A move that I think will be disastrous and forever ruin what is currently a great marketing tool. But it's not like Crispin Porter has a track record of taking a gimmick too far or beating a dead horse. Oh wait.

Anyway, keep an eye open (and an ear as well) for more information on this Geico series. I think it'll be disastrous but I love the cavemen so I hope I'm wrong.

Omnicom Legal Snoozer, er, Seminar

2007-03-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

In the interest of actually preserving my job here at The Integra...Interger...Integger...oh INTEGER Group (seriously, how is it a difficult word?) I will reserve my feelings on this bit of mandated industry education. Though if you've walked by my cube in the last few days you've likely read the rant I wrote on my wall. What I will say is this: There are many methods a company can use to inspire their creatives, to get more out of the idea bucket (some call it a toilet), and Integer has used a number of those methods in the past.

However, having a corporate lawyer come tell you to keep in mind while ideating all the unpredictable and frivolous lawsuits brought upon advertisers over the years is NOT one of those ways. Yes, I understand the importance of having a lawyer come speak to the employees, but the kinds of lawsuits he talked about that we have to watch out for fall into two buckets: 1) Sheer stupidity and 2) Unpredictable frivolity. The first being lawsuits brought against companies for things like trademark infringement and, honestly, you have to be a certified moron to commit some of the infringements he talked about. Avoiding these types of lawsuits isn't hard if you act intelligently and ethically (i.e., come up with a somewhat original idea and don't steal). The second bucket is, as I say, unpredictable. So many humorless individuals and overly-sensitive and, in my opinion unnecessary, special interest groups sue or threaten to sue nowadays for the most ridiculous of reasons. Two recent examples: Snickers being told their men-accidentally-kissing ad was homophobic. No, you morons the ad was making fun of homophobes! And the other was the GM ad where a robot dreamed of losing his job and committing suicide which incensed a suicide prevention group saying the ad was insensitive. Of course where was that prevention group that purports to fight for the people when GM cut thousands of jobs? Certainly that's more insensitive to the depressed and suicidal than a commercial about a robot who has a nightmare.

The point is if you insist upon your creatives to curb their thinking, to dull their wits, in order to avoid these latter types of scenarios then what you're asking for, quite honestly, is shit creative. And the majority of American advertising is already shit. We, and our clients, should pride ourselves on being fearless—not shocking—and remaining true to the brand identities and consumer followings that we create, perpetuate, and facilitate. Instead it seems as if we are being told to appeal to the lowest common denominator which, in the end, really appeals to a minority if anyone at all.

What I will take from the seminar is this: there's a lot of really weird, overly sensitive people out there with no senses of humor. I already knew that we lived in a society that is so cravenly PC that it long ago lost the ability to laugh at itself, but it's still disheartening to be reminded of it every now and again, just when you start to gain hope for the future. The point is I know we live in a sue-happy society, people think it's their easy route to a big payday (and thanks to greedy lawyers and their astronomical fees dissuading companies from fighting these lawsuits these people are usually right), and I know that we have to be careful. But I also know that in a lot of situations there's nothing you can do because these people are unpredictable. But I will keep in mind that we are part of larger, publicly-held company. The problem is that might actually inspire me to be edgier, and I'm not sure that's what they want. But trust me it'll drive up the stock price.

Green Integer

2007-02-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

I know that here at Integer we're working on conducting a green audit of the company, one of many ideas for advancing this company that was born out of the Iconoculture trip in October. One of the things that helps us in our efforts to be green and promote sustainability is where we work: Belmar. They already promote wind-powered street lights and solar-powered parking meters. And now, according to today's Rocky Mountain News we may soon have solar-powered parking garages.

Contiuum Development is planning on placing solar panels on top of the parking garages here in Belmar. These panels will provide enough power to run 350 homes each year, but will only be used to power the parking garages with the rest of the energy being sold back to the grid. This part of Xcel's aggressive plan (demanded by voters) to make more of the states energy come from natural, renewable resources. In general, it's a good idea and a good sign that as a city and state we are becoming more and more conscious of the problems of pollution and global warming (don't think that it's only auto emissions that create our brown cloud). In specific, it might be a good idea to figure out how Integer can get some of this energy, after all our building is linked to one of the garages.

Speaking of links click below to read the story from the RMN:

We still need more bars

I Love the Commander

2007-02-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the title of this post is an inside joke that maybe only one person reading will get, but I don't care. I think it's funny. Moving along...

Below is a link to an article from this morning's AdAge. The article basically says that Jeep (owned by the Chrysler Group) is inviting agencies to come pitch, and among the agencies invited is their current AOR (and Omnicom bretheren) BBDO Worldwide. The's the gist, you want the details then click on the link. Oh and I don't know about you, but I had no idea that the former Dodgers skipper was the CEO of Jeep now. Crazy.

Detroit Still Sucks!

The Future of Advertising Has Arrived

2007-02-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

We've seen it in science-fiction films for years, haven't we? Video billboards advertising to people? But never could this be done in reality, it would be far too expensive to treat video installations like outdoor boards! But if the technology allowed us to imbed a video chip in plastic and treat it like a poster? We'd jump all over it, right? Well, prepare to jump...

From Posterwire.com:
3D Movie Posters
Full Color Hologram One-sheets
XYZ RBG offers high resolution scanning services for film, television, video game, and other media companies. The company has worked on films in The Matrix series, Lord of the Rings, and King Kong. Through the company’s XYZ Imaging, it also offers holographic printing services. A hologram is defined as: “A three dimensional image; unlike regular images which are usually two dimensional, a three dimensional image, or hologram, appears to “pop out” of the media on which it is printed or illuminated from.”

The Ottawa Canada firm has created technology that allows eight seconds of video to be manufactured as a paper thin three dimensional hologram movie poster:

The film industry is the first target for what XYZ RGB bills as the next-generation movie poster. The company can place a short clip right in the poster, giving people a chance to view a scene without going into the theatre.

The technology is turning heads around the world. When he heard about it, Titanic director James Cameron couldn’t believe the 3-D posters were possible.

“He said to me, ‘if you have discovered imbedded video in plastic, you have discovered the holy grail of advertising,’” said Jan-Erik Nyhuus, vice-president of business development for XYZ RGB Inc.

The company demonstrated this printing technology by producing a custom made three dimensional Terminator 2 movie poster and presenting it to director Cameron. The claim is that this hologram movie poster is more advanced than past lenticular movie posters (such as the recent Spider-Man 3 lenticular poster).

Go to the

article

Wanna see some awesome examples?

Animate Me!

Check out the soccer poster for the best example of the technology!

Marketing Personalization

2006-12-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

With today's consumer personalization is huge. It not only helps them wear their badge of individuality with integrity but it's key to attracting them and making sure that your product is in their cart. Personalization and individuality are issues that fall into many macrotrends present in the marketplace today and in, at least, the near future.

Here are a couple of examples I've recently come across.

My M&M's. Now people can order personalized M&Ms online, you can put a name or message on the tasty little candies. I like this idea a lot, but I'm curious to see how successful it is seeing as how price is still a barrier for most people even in this improving economy. And with a required minimum order of 4 7-ounce bags at $11.50 each this personalization don't come cheap.

Get Your M&Ms

Here

Classic Titles That Are Definitively Yours. Penguin Publishing is releasing certain classic novels with blank covers and letting the buyers design their own cover art. This is currently only available through the British arm of Penguin Publishing, and seeing as how the Brits (and Europeans in general) are usually well ahead of us Yanks when it comes to adapting marketing techniques we should probably keep an eye out for it here in the near future. The idea behind this is that the reader gets the classic book they love but with a cover that's uniquely theirs, making it a personalizable classic that will have more intrinsic value to the buyer. I like this idea and I think this could be a good way of attracting younger audiences to reading. Hopefully this is successful.

Penguin Classics

Keith Olberman: The Beginning of the End

2006-10-19T13:08:00.000-06:00

What could be more current, and potentially impactful to our popular culture than this?

YPAAC Kicks Off!

2006-08-23T18:54:00.000-06:00

I said I would never use this blog for personal purposes but this is important to me and it's for a good cause. So...

Finally! It's been a long time coming, but we finally formed a board for the young professionals division of the Alzheimer's Association, determined a name and logo and are now ready to have our kickoff event next Thursday, 8/31. So mark your calendar's and please come on down. Learn more about the disease if you don't know much about it, learn how to get involved, or just buy some drinks to help us raise money!

Here's the details:

Memories Under the Stars

An evening brought to you by the Young Professionals Alzheimer's Association of Colorado.

An estimated 64,000 Coloradans have Alzheimer's disease, and in just 15 years that number is expected to grow by 124 percent to 140,000. In response to the impact Alzheimer's disease is having on all generations, Denver's next generation of business, civil and community leaders have come together to create the Young Professionals Alzheimer's Association of Colorado (YPAAC).

Please join us in our kickoff event, Memories Under the Stars, on Thursday, August 31. Proceeds of the event will go to YPAAC's fundraising effort and operations.

WHERE: Five Degrees
1475 Lawrence St .
Denver , CO 80202
(303) 260-7505
WHEN Thursday, August 31
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
WHAT Light appetizers and drinks. $1 from all
drink purchases to benefit YPAAC

What is YPAAC?
YPAAC is group of professionals who have come together to help the Alzheimer's Association of Colorado raise Alzheimer's disease awareness. Bringing together their unique blend of professional talents, the YPAAC looks to increase Alzheimer's disease awareness within its member's peer group while supporting the Alzheimer's Association of Colorado's greater mission of eliminating Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; providing and enhancing care and support for all affected; and reducing the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.
For more information about the YPAAC, please call the Alzheimer's Association at 303-813-1669

Kooky Krauts

2006-08-14T13:16:00.000-06:00

Two university students in Germany have created the "smart" beer mat, which can sense when a glass is nearly empty. It sends an alert to a central computer behind the bar so waiters know there are thirsty customers.*

New Scientist Article

*cnn.com, September 30, 2005.

Mobo

2006-08-07T09:48:00.000-06:00

Mobo is short for "mobile order," and is a way for Manhattanites to order and pay for food ahead of time. All a person has to do is use their mobile phone, or a computer, to text an order to a restaurant from a selected list and pay with a linked credit card. The restaurant sends a text when the order is ready and they even have a special Mobo counter for pickup. As Iconoculture says, "Hyper lives demand maximizing all of the gadgetry at our fingertips. 'Fast Food' doesn't mean the same thing it did even five years ago, and consumers expect businesses to keep up."

Yet another example of how we're using technology to make our lives not easier, but even more hectic. The quicker we can get things done, the more we can fit into a day. Our lives are being lived faster and faster, and people are taking less time to pause and actually enjoy life.

All in all, this is a pretty cool service and I would definitely take advantage of it. But every thing has its dark side, in this case it's another luxury that will aid certain people in obtaining even higher stress levels which, of course, will lead them to go to their doctors and demand better medication. So you could say that Mobo, if successful, will be a boon for the pharmaceutical industry. Or maybe I'm just being cynical.

Denver Advertising

2006-07-13T12:36:00.000-06:00

An article in today's Rocky Mountain News featuring an ad campaign by local shop Sukle. It's for the city of Denver and it's all about water conservation. I think they came up with some pretty cool ways to get the message across in an engaging way without making it sound as if they're proselytizing or speaking down to the viewer/reader.

Click it here

Mars Fires Snickers Chief

2006-07-10T08:52:00.000-06:00

Mars has watched Snickers sales plummet recently which led to them quite unceremoniously firing the Snickers chief, a 20-year company veteran. I wonder what this could mean for us, if anything? What is up with Snickers anyway? Anyone know? Anyone? Bueller? Personally I think this is good for us and TBWA, the company's efforts to turn around its snack division began sometime ago and included shifting the account from BBDO Worldwide to TBWA. I think this move will only strengthen the partnership between Mars and TBWA. The question is how can we take advantage of that? Hmm, how indeed.

Here's the full article:

Snickers Unsatisfied

Denver Making Noise

2006-06-28T10:03:00.000-06:00

Denver's finally starting to make some noise on the national scene, and I bet this has Jay Roth so happy that he's probably peed himself twice today. With local PR/marketing/advertising agencies grabbing more and more big, national and international clients other firms and companies are starting to look more seriously at Denver. And it makes sense, after all we are a marketing oasis in the high desert, and the largest media-services market between LA and Chicago. Geographically we're pretty much in the center of the country. Thanks to technology, a strong International airport, and a healthy local economy we're starting to be looked at as a truly viable playground even though we are not home to that many Fortune 500 companies. And with Crispin Porter + Bogusky opening an office in Gunbarrel (Boulder) things seem to only be getting better for the Denver/Boulder area.

Here's an article from today's Rocky Mountain News that sparked this blog post, it pretty much says in two pages what I said in one paragraph but hey it's still good reading.

Creative Agencies Mark New Era

High-Fashion for the Masses!

2006-06-23T08:36:00.000-06:00

This is a trend that's been a long-time coming: big time fashion designers creating reasonably-priced lines for the everyday consumer. The trend really kicked into high gear with Target with their designer lines of clothing and home accessories which all bore price tags that ten years earlier would have made designers choke on their fizzy water.

This is a trend that fits right into the Lush Life(SM) macrotrend. People want luxury and they want to feel like they have some of the finer things in life, even if they're on a near-beer income. This is a macrotrend that crosses a few generations, most notably Gen Xers and Millenials.

Now the trend is taking a turn to the artistic. It's beecoming a subtle kind of high-style with a high degree of supposed individual epxression. Of course, for real individual expression you'd have to design something yourself. But artistically-expressed styles can still allow someone to show off a lot about who they are without ever saying a word.

The latest in this trend comes to us courtesy of Puma, which has a new line of shoes designed by Alexander McQueen. McQueen was asked why he would designer a line of trainers and he replied that it's because he's addicted to them. He said he "easily (has) 450 pairs" at home. He is also a big fan of anatomy and it shows, he referenced 19th century anatomical drawings of the foot when designing his line and you can see it in the shape of the shows and, most notably, in the tendons that connect the toes to the back of the shoes on the soles.

To see more of his line (and find out where you can buy your own) click it

here

More examples of expressionistic- and designer-fashion styles can be found in the shoe industry, from Adidas Originals to Reebok, who has gone after the hip-hop culture with lines endorsed by such stars and moguls as Sean Carter (aka Jay-Z) and 50 Cent with his own G-Unit line. Reebok has also gone after the artist though with their Basquiat shoe. And, of course, other examples of this are abundant in our culture nowadays, but with shoes being one of the most diverse ways someone can express themselves without drawing too much attention to the fact we can expect the shoe industry to continue to be on the cutting edge with this trend.

Preppies Hold Candlelight Vigil, Shed Tears

2006-06-06T09:13:00.000-06:00

Fashion purveyor to the preppy elite and preppy wannabe alike, Ralph Lauren, has announced that it is discontinuing its Polo Jeans line citing that the line had become "run-down, a bit over-promoted and over-distributed." However, the company also announced that within the next year it will launch a premium denim line for both men and women. They will be known, respectively, as the Lauren brand for women and the Polo Ralph Lauren brand for men.

What does this mean for the designer denim market? My guess is not much, the Laurena nd Polo Ralph Lauren brands will replace Polo Jeans. Actually, I think they'll actually lose a little bit of ground, at least at first. Polo has a limited audience, more so than other designer labels, at least in my opinion. It is still a bit of a shock to the system though for the...jean market...which will continue to be dominated by DKNY, Diesel, etc.

Click it here for the full Ad Age article!

Get Your Own Bobble!!

2006-06-05T14:13:00.000-06:00

A recent retail trend observation that capitalizes on the young-adult markets yearning for identity and desire for personalization reveals this new company, Whoopass Enterprizes, to be primed for a big leap in consumer's conscience.

The down-low from Iconoculture:
“'Whoopass Enterprises was formed in 2003 to market products that were conceived while drinking Schlitz,' reads the company website. So, what’s the boozed brilliance? How about custom bobblehead dolls. For between $60 and $190, customers can have their own head – or that of a pet or loved one – made into a bouncing resin tchotchke. As with make-your-own action figures and toys, Whoopass customers simply send in their headshots and then pick out the doll’s clothes, colors, accessories, and body styles. Whoopass even recommends fooling around with that last part. Putting a human head on an animal body never gets old for office pranksters, apparently.

Sure, a minibobblehead you may be a tad creepy, but it’s also customized. And lately, there’s no sweeter marketing word than “customizable.” For 20somethings tired of the same old same old, a nodding-noggin mini-me is personalized novel fun.

A custom bobblehead runs anywhere between $60 and $190."

Transformational Marketing in the Auto Industry/Fuel Editorial

2006-06-01T11:21:00.000-06:00

From Advertising Age:

Jan Thompson, VP-marketing of Nissan North America, recently spoke at the Automotive News Marketing Seminar in Los Angeles, where she scolded the automotive industry for their new-media timidity. Nissan, she said, has extensive relationships with three big Internet sites, Yahoo, MSN, and Google, which they now recognize as "networks in their own rights, able to deliver audiences comparable to prime time." Appparently this isn't obvious to the rest of the auto industry, as automakers account for 25%, or $17 billion, of the nation's annual advertising spending.

In the past 20 years auto advertising has increased by 1,378% while new-vehicle sales increased by only 17%. As a result Nissan has seen the need for change in its advertising, adopting an approach that Ms. Thompson calls "transformational marketing." This new form of marketing includes measuring the impact and mix of communications; adapting faster tthingsgs that measurement shows are not working; and "getting rid of silos at ad agencies, media outlets and in client organizations."

For the full article click on the following link:

Advertising Age May 31 Article

Image Source: Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times

This article from Advertising Age drew correlations for me with something that's been on my mind recently: the oil crisis. Or rather how this crisis was completely avoidable were it not for a combination of factors including the oil industry's corporate lobbying of our government, lining corruptible elected officials pockets, and us, the American consumer. How are American consumers at fault? Quite simply, we are extremely slow to adapt to new technologies. For a country founded on the fundamental of change we are surprisingly afraid of it. For the past few years now mobile phone users in South Korea have enjoyed live, streaming telecasts beamed directly to the screens on their phones. So why is that technology only starting to creep over here? Because we are not early adopters, it takes us a long time to warm up to the idea of a new technology, and, after we warm up to it, it still takes the more courageous among us to test the technology and sing its praises before the masses are willing to give it a shot.

I believe this, in conjunction with our government's refusal to move away from oil, has directly led to the current crisis. The American public seems to forget that we in fact control everything. If we put pressure on businesses and on the government they have no choice but to listen to us, after all it's our dollars and our votes that keep them around. But we have not been vocal enough.

Witness Brazil, the fifth-largest nation in the world, according to CBS News Brazil will completely free of dependenceance by the end of the year. Not free in 10 years, or 20, but this year. Brazil is completely switching over to sugarcane ethanol, the cleanest and most-efficient of all ethanol types. But this did not come out of the blue, Brazil's program began 30 years ago during the oil crisis of the 1970's. They were forward thinking, we were not.

And don't believe the auto industry's hype when they try and tell us that it would cost billions of dollars to switch the cars over and that infrastructure would have to be built to accomodate it. Ask yourself this: if that is indeed the case then how can Brazil afford to switch over to sugarcane ethanol? Because the automotive technology already exists. Three years ago the "flex fuel" engine was introduced in Brazil. An engine designed to run on ethanol, gasoline, or any mixture of the two.

Experts in Brazil also say that sugarcane ethanol will remain competitive as long as oil stays above $45 a barrel. HowevBrazilianlian officials and business executives say the ethanol industry would develop even faster if the United States didn't levy a tax of 54 cents per gallon on all imports of Brazilian cane-based ethanol. Which begs the question, why are we taxing something that could lessen dependenceance on oil, help clean our skies of vehicle-produced pollution and (perhaps most importantly) save us a whole lot of money? Kind of makes you wonder what Senator pushed for the passage of that tax.

President Bush has finally embraced, as the New York Times put it, the view expounded by Henry Ford nearly a century ago, when he predicted that "ethyl alcohol is the fuel of the future." One hundred years ago that was known, yet we don't embrace it until petroleum reaches $65 a barrel. Here in the states we're looking mainly to corn-based ethanol, for the same reason that Brazil went to sugarcane, it's what we have the most of. However, sugarcane offers advantages over other forms of ethanol, particularly corn. "For each unit of energy expended to turn cane into ethanol, 8.3 times as much energy is created, compared with a maximum of 1.3 times for corn, according to scientists at the Center for Sugarcane Technology here and other Brazilian research institutes."*

It seems to me that weÂthe American publicÂneed to turn the heat up on our elected officials and force them to take action. Sure, President Bush in his State of the Union address backed financing for "cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but wood chips and stalks or switch grass" with the goal of making ethanol competitive in six years.* But is that really enough? Have we not dragged our feet on this issue long enough? We can devote even more federal dollars to a program such as this, but that would of course mean making congress stop voting themselves raises and lining every bill with personal projects (for example, a bill recently signed in to donate billions more in aid to rebuilding New Orleans. The problem? Over half the money is actually going to pet projects like teapot museums and bridges in states like Alaska, Arkansas, and South Carolina.).

*Source: "With Big Boost from Sugar Cane, Brazil is Satisfying Its Fuel Needs," Larry Rohter, The New York Times, April 10, 2006.

Read more on the Ethanol Revolution in Brazil with this following links, including the two articles I pulled most heavily from for my little editorial, the New York Times and CBS News.

The New York Times April 10 Article

CBS News Report

Core 77 Boards

New Scientist: Types of Energy and Fuels

We've Gone Digital!

2006-05-25T09:10:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Pop-Culture Periodical, often referred to simply as the PCP. The purpose of this blog is to be a research tool for my fellow coworkers and other curious, nosy, double-mouse clicking, Internet browsing, layabouts. Posts will begin appearing—I hope—and e-mail notifications will be sent out periodically.

In the meantime, if you have downtime, you can have some fun checking out the following blogs and Web sites:

The Sethtronic Listening Booth

Official Shrub.com Blog

Don't Shoot the Messenger (The Blog of the Original Becky)

I Watch Stuff!

Metropolis Magazine

Pandora–Find New Music You'll Love