"I'm Lovin' " this new McDonald's outdoor ad (sorry, I couldn't resist)

I have an IHF for McDonald's for this great interactive advertisement. And not interactive as in online (though there's potential for online photos and YouTube views), but INTERACTIVE as in on the streets interaction from people of all kinds. The advertisement utilizes what "Best Week Ever" described as the "holding up the Leaning Tower of Piza viewpoint," for tourists or just regular citizens and their cameras.



The advertisement is in London's Piccadilly Circus area, a large tourist traffic area.

Gen Y Can't Get Enough Interaction!

Hey kids, I'm baaaack.  School and life caused a brief hiatus in my writing, but I'm back with a vengeance and ready to dive in to the social media scene once again.  So here goes.

Gen Y has an amazing regard for all things social. With hours spent online, Gen Y moves beyond face-to-face interaction and additionally seeks social interaction in a digital sense.  

My generation spends a large amount of time creating an online persona through social media. Facebook and Google recognized the need to add interaction to the mix long ago with their chat functions.  Now, moving beyond IMing and Facebooking, Gen Y is craving even more interaction with their online activities.

Hulu.com recognized this, and stepped up recently with their new friends feature, allowing users to not only watch their favorite shows (mine is The Office) on their own time, but to interact with friends while doing it.  Viewers and friends can simultaneously watch a show and chat about it using the feature.  

They also have the opportunity to shape their online persona even more by creating a profile, sharing opinions, and displaying recent activities.  

Good idea? Not sure until I try it, but all I know is this may increase the amount of "that's what she said" jokes now that I have an online forum as well....

And the Award Goes To...

Not since Wario's Shake It has there been such an awesome use of YouTube: An interactive photo hunt for the Academy Awards (if anyone can tell me the difference between the pictures from the reader, you get a medal. Even after they showed me I couldn't figure it out).



Not to mention a great time-waster. Enjoy!

Any other You Tube examples?

WhatIsTheNewInternetTrend.com

Anyone else notice the abundance of questions as URLs that are popping up across the interwebs? Off the top of my head, I can think of:

http://www.doineedanumbrella.com
http://www.isobamapresident.com
http://www.issarahpalinpresident.com (etc)
http://www.whatcoloristheempirestatebuilding.com
http://www.isiticedcoffeeweather.com
http://www.istheinternetawesome.com
http://www.isitbeeroclock.com
http://www.isitchristmas.com

And some that aren't exactly questions but still single-function sites where the URL explains it all:

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
http://www.thingsididlastnight.com/
http://www.bitchmakemeasandwich.com/

Okay, so the last two are a little ridiculous. But I really like the simplicity of these. The umbrella and ESB sites actually provide a function, and I've visited both of them a handful of times. Our internet is rewarding the simplicity of Google and Twitter while turning away from cluttered AOL and Facebook. Is this new, streamlined experience the future of the web?

Where else do you see opportunity in questions as URLs? Converse was on track with Kissing with Ross, Is Everything Going to Be Okay, etc, but those were purely entertaining instead of functional. Imagine if Starbucks had come up with Is It Iced Coffee Weather or The Weather Channel got behind Do I Need an Umbrella...

Any other one-function sites we're forgetting? Are there any you actually use on a regular basis?

Old music with fresh ears

The latest trend here is a very old one: Classical music

Paul Potts' opera song "Nessun Dorma" was downloaded in record numbers and his album was an absolute chart breaker. Celebrated techno DJs recompose orchestra pieces and mix them with electronic beats. Young Berlin hipsters flock to the coolest clubs in the city to listen to live performances of Händel and Haydn.

The question is: Is this just another see-and-be-seen fad that will soon be replaced by something new? Or will those events create curiosity and a desire for more among classical newbies? And will the existing opera houses, orchestras and smaller venues be smart enough (and willing) to open up to those not-yet-experts.

The Berlin State Opera set a good example with their recent "Staatsoper for everybody" event. To start off the fall season, they installed giant video screens and a stage on the central square in front of the prestigious opera house and star conductor Daniel Bahrenboim and his ensemble performed two shows for free. The open-air opera and concert were a huge success - in fact, the traffic on the neighboring boulevard had to be blocked because 45.000 people came to listen.

Live music is great because you can see and hear and then really appreciate the artists’ passion and skills. It's those wow-this-is-awesome-I-wish-I-could-do-that-moments that make the difference between i-pod and stage. And this is exactly why I think this Cello Challenge website for the Berlin Philharmonic is a hit, too. It's like guitar hero with a bow.

In a playful, yet addictive way it illustrates the fascination of classical music (and interactive). It shows me that I can be there when this guy produces tunes with his bow and strings that I can’t even master with a simple mouse. So, it would be very kind of you if you could participate in the raffle at the end of your personal cello show and then send your free tickets to me, please.

3M Command Strips: Save the Walls Update

About a month ago I posted quick blurb about Save the Walls, a humorous site dedicated to promoting 3M Command Strips to a new market: 19 year old college students. We have received a lot of traffic thanks to some killer search rankings, and also have gotten several comments regarding the campaign and audience reactions. The extra spark of attention and the overwhelming response of  “I can’t believe 3M did this!” got me thinking about the risks established brands face when attempting to target a new audience that is completely different than their core consumers.
Atomic Playpen is the creative force behind Save the Walls and partner John Biondi offered some insight in the comments on this project and the situation that they were facing.

“… We (Atomic Playpen) had to care enough about the work to cast a strategy that was right for the audience, and then stick to our recommendations even when it got tough. It also took a handful of key people on the client side you bought into our theme and its tactics and fought for the ideas with us.”

That being said, I know that we’ve all worked with difficult clients, but Atomic Playpen's persistence and planning is commendable. This campaign could not have been better for the target no matter how unlike 3M it may be. I’m not exactly sure if this campaign will stick as well as the product, but it’s getting people talking, sharing, and laughing – which are all good metrics if you ask me.

Save the Walls 3M Command Strips

3M just came out with a new microsite called Save the Walls for its Command Strips. I'm a bit surprised that 3M went as far as this, but I think it's a fun use of video and improv. The sketches towards the end are my favorite. Go check it out! Also, a co-worker of mine also used to do stand up with the Abercrombie lookin' dude in Minneapolis!

AAIBYY (13 points)

Cable subscribers in the city of Minneapolis might not be aware of the hidden gem that awaits them on Tuesdays at 11:00pm on MTN 17. Sandwiched between Black Economics and Red Cross Heroes Breakfast is Totally Scrabble Tuesdays, a show that pits the city of Minneapolis against its host, Hamil, in a Triple-Word-Score fight to the death. Viewers battle against each other to be the first on the line (yes, one phone line) to challenge Hamil but can converse and plot their next moves at defeathamil.net (obviously not standing much of a chance with a .net domain). Hamil is relentless with his knack for double- and triple-word scores on words like "quiz" (22 points) and "kex" (14 points). Totally Scrabble Tuesdays, in all its poorly lit, fuzzy quality glory, combines two of our favorite branding techniques: local and true interaction.


As we've mentioned, TST is impossibly low-budget. But I bet Hamil could make a few bucks--and advertisers could gain a few very attentive viewers--if he opened the show up to ultra-local sponsorships. Not cheesy ones, like getting a free coffee if you spell "Caribou" for 14 points, but more along the lines of Doritos' Stephen Colbert partnership. But even if the Minnesota Twins don't have Joe Mauer make a special guest appearance or Stub & Herb's doesn't provide Hamil with free beers-of-the-month, we'll keep tuning in.

Technically, according to the MTN handbook , public access isn't supposed to be ad-supported. But their definition of "advertising" is pretty loose, and mostly just doesn't want to include brands that do not "further the noncommercial message of the program." Let's face it; there's a brand name pretty prominently displayed right in the title of the show...and regular viewers would agree that topics on TST range from Michael Jackson to LOLcats on a regular basis. It wouldn't be impossible to imagine a brand or two sneaking in.

So kick back, grab a piping hot bowl of Hamburger Helper and an ice cold Keystone Light and check it out.

The art of shaving, kissing and microsites

I wish there would have been microsites back when I was middle school. I could have just forwarded this link to Simon, aka. the Tongue Twister. And to Stephan, the Throat Digger. Oh, and to Chris, the Wet Whirl.

To beard or not to beard, that is the question

BBDO created a fairly entertaining and educating page for Gillette. A middle-aged guy and a couple of attractive ladies offer lessons in love to men in need. The message is that a clean-shaven face is the first step on the path to the perfect kiss. Guys who prefer a little stubble can only learn how to shake hands in about 500 ways. Maybe my early experiences would have been more pleasant after some virtual tutoring for the above mentioned boys. In their particular case, however, the benefit for Gillette would have been rather marginal. They hardly had any facial hair yet, apart from eyebrows.

To be precise, the microsite is for the Gillette Fusion safety razor. Fusion seems rather appropriate, considering the viral videos that two of Gillette's competitors have released way earlier. An advergame and related trailer from JWT Paris for Wilkinson stars a baby and his daddy fighting for mommy's kisses. When the dad finally figures out that the toddler's competitive edge is his soft skin he simply shaves. Now the son has to come up with new ways to get his mother's attention and rival his father.

Would you kiss this guy?

A Phillips microsite with hilarious videos (in the "body" part, warning NSFW) features a grown-up fratboy, who talks and sings about the change in his life after he started using the Bodygroom razor. The creative campaign increased the razor's sale beyond expectations and earned Tribal DDB New York tons of awards. Props to Phillips for having enough balls to run the racy site!

As a girl, I might not be able to compare the actual product benefits of the different razors in questions. However, I still know about shaving: My legs are much longer and generally less hairy than most male faces. And as the shaving results on some boy's cheeks and chins show as well, the right tool is not enough. It also takes talent for smooth skin. The same is true for a smoth kiss by the way. Luckily for us girls (and for Simon, Chris and Stephan) both skills can be learned.

museums have it going on

contrary to a couple of bogus judges' opinions, i still think museums are going to be the next big place for advertisers. Reasons being:

1. We crave experience. But oil is $4 bucks a gallon, and Pearl Jam tickets are $300 a pop. So we will look for cheaper alternatives to fulfill our cravings for experiences.
2. These aren't your dad's museums. Technology makes every exhibit an interactive experience.
3. All this techy stuff is EXPENSIVE and museums will need the help of advertisers to finance all these super cool exhibits.

With that said here is a cool example of an interactive exhibit being shown at NYC's Museum of Modern Art called "I Want You To Want Me." Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar constructed this beautiful exhibit using profile content from online dating sites across the globe. Vistitors use interactive touch-screens to navigate through people's self-expressions. They can see what people say about themselves and what they are looking for in a partner.

The nerd in me thinks that this is such an awesome use of data. But don't trust my opinion, check it out for yourself: