Bic prank rant

Apparently Bic pens sell everywhere like hotcakes- except for Germany. So Bic hired the much hyped and super creative agency Jung von Matt to change that fact.

Here is what they did: In a series of so called virals they ask so called celebrities to sign a so called autograph for them. But the stars actually sign things like a marriage agreement with a stranger, a job application as a store detective or a press release that they'll dedicate themselves to Austrian folklore. According to the videos this proves: "With Bic you'll sign everything".



In my view this just proves that no one is impeccable - celebrities are not and great ad agencies aren't, either:

First, don't preemptively call your videos "viral". Online plus video does not automatically equal viral. The very thing about virals is that they evolve because users like what they see. You can't decree virals. If your most watched video has 8.000 views, I would hesitate to call the whole series viral. Especially after you have advertised it on a popular student website.

Second, if you want to improve sales in a country via online tools, at least do your homework and provide a homepage for that country.

Third, the videos could have been really funny if they would have showed the reaction of the stars after they signed the fake autograph. The funniest part about a prank is usually when the victim realizes they just got punked. Without that, all we get to see is a gleeful presenter with a blurry sheet of paper. Unless the stars watch the video they'll never realize that they did something special with a special pen.

And fourth, the message - Bic is such a great pen that you'll want to use it at any price - does not work that way, either. The stars don't know what they sign, they don't care. They don't sign the fake stuff because of the great pen, but because somebody makes them believe it is a boring autograph just like the hundred other ones they sign every day. With Bic you don't think about what you write?

The core idea is still great, however. With or without celebrities: Show Steve Jobs as he signs a receipt for a PC. Show a punk signing a contract for a Wall Street Journal subscription. Show a Democrat signing an "I <3 Bush" flyer. You get the idea... (PS: Yes, Jung von Matt if you get the idea as well: I would be available for a job as a creative consultant with your agency. I would even sign the contract with a BIC pen).

What do you think about the Bic prank?

Moving mystery

I am sorry to report to you, my dear loyal guessers, that unfortunately nobody was able to solve the Guess What Easter edition.

Umm... okay, okay, I plead guilty. It was an auto ad again. Far out for anybody except maybe engineers, race car drivers and experimental biologists. This time the ad was for BMW with the subline "This is why we don't have front wheel drives".



There you go! Now you finally know: BMW doesn't construct front wheel drives cause nature doesn't, either. Only Photoshop does. The print series also features a deformed horse and an immobile frog, but unfortunately no kangaroo or T-Rex. Well, at least you got to see a cute, handicapped bunny.

For this week's Guess What, I thought we'd try something new. No car ad and not even a print ad. Instead, I cut off the last five seconds of a very beautiful, artistic spot from Great Britain. New medium, same question: What does it advertise?

Cool city

Thanks to Alicia for sharing this image video about yaybia's great home town of Minneapolis.



Lovely. Now I am homesick (not that I am not homesick the rest of the time, this just didn't help).

They just forgot to mention that those "climate-controlled" skywalks are not only there to shield all the dynamic business people from the burning sun. Now, if you want to attract visitors and investors it's probably NOT a good idea to hush up the very fact that everybody associates with your city in the first place. Winter? Non of our business! Let the Florida people deal with that while we ride our bikes in our evergreen city. Yeah, sure very convincing...

C'mon you urban marketing folks, who do you want to fool? Be proud, but also be self-depreciating and funny and above all, be real.

Minneapolis is in fact a great place. But at times it is also a cold place. Everybody knows that anyways, so just tell potential visitors that they can still do all the exciting stuff they can do in every major city plus all that extra cool stuff they can only ever experience in an extra cool city. That certain chiliness is the very thing that makes Minneapolis and its inhabitants special. And I know from experience how very special they are! Anyone can act cool in a sunny place, but it takes a lot to be hot when your city is cold half of the year.

Also, they forgot to mention yaybia in their video about all things great from Minneapolis. Somebody should definetely shoot a realness remake to set the record straight.

Internet, this is the situation. The situation is this.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.