Idiot Spotting. This is why we need The Onion.

Juli 21st, 2010 • 1 comment We like
Tags: Cool, Funny, the onion, Viral, We like, World

There are a million reasons why planet Earth needs America’s finest satirical magazine ‘The Onion‘. For example because of this hilarious report, or this, or that.

But one of the most important reasons is – for quite some time ‘The Onion’ helps us identifying 100% irony free idiots. I think, in this regard it is, in a way, very related to Ed Hardy wear. But this time a report by the magazine was even more effective than usual.

What happend? Just recently an old Onion satire video from 2007 resurfaced that – well – reveals a ‘diabolic’ Martial Law plan by the evil U.S. central government which is all but transparent. This is the Onion’s video.

After popping up, this video spread like wildfire among gun loving teaparty-freaks of the midwest. Simply because they did not understand its humor and expect their pot smoking communist nazi president to be behind ‘the plan’. What a bunch of morons!

Follow the trail of insanity (click on the pic below to zoom in).

Read more »

Nike Air. Where the Magic comes from.

April 4th, 2010 • Ads, Brands
Tags: Ads, Brands, Cool, Creativity, Funny, Ideas, Nike, Nike Air, Viral, We like

The description ‘Viral’ for a commercial on Youtube did always suck.

Face it, it’s a commercial in the first place. And it can trigger a viral effect. But it’s not viral simply because it’s on Youtube for God’s sake. So, if we put this stupid term aside, I find it quite interesting to see how cool advertising can be if it does not have to comply with mainstream TV ad slots. Let’s please do one thing and call these little clips ‘Web Commercials’ instead of Virals. And Nike is once again demonstrating how to entertain in advertising. After the brilliant Paul Rodriguez commercial comes now the secret behind Nike Air.

Thanks to Sascha for the link.

Absolut. NY-Z.

März 26th, 2010 • Underway
Tags: Absolut, Brands, Cool, Event, Facebook, Jay-Z, Lifestyle, Live, Madison Square Garden, Music, NYC, Social Networks, Underway, Viral, We like

There are only few brands in this world to consistently communicate and cooperate on such a high level as Absolut. Actually stuck in a low interest market with a completely generic product But it manages to bring the Arrr back into Marketing. Its success formula is simple: Intertwine local places and artists and stage the brand as enabler in the background. For its current sponsorship of Absolut’s Concert Series (in tandem with TBWA\Chiat\Day), the brand is cooperating with the notorious Jay-Z.

This week ABSOLUT Concert launched “NY-Z”, a 17-minute online film and lovechild of director Danny Clinch. Through a partnership with Madison Square Garden and Jay-Z, the brand follows the hiphop star in the days leading up to his 9/11 benefit concert. He reflects on his life in a candid, Sinatra-esque way that kind of reminds us of “Fade to Black,” the documentary film Jay-Z did in 2004 during his “The Black Album” tour. (via Culture-Buzz)

The mentioned video is the highlight feature of Absolut’s Facebook page. And yes, it is exclusive, cool and stages the brand more than well. Plus I really like the video personally since I had the pleasure to see Jay-Z at Madison Square Garden NYC last week as surprise guest for Alicia Key’s concert. A convincing presentation and well tuned interaction of story and platforms. Cool, Absolut NY-Z.

Web Videos. Mike, Bud and the LOL Thunderdome.

März 24th, 2010 • Brands, Social, We like
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Experimental, Funny, Ideas, LOL, Presentation, SXSW, video, Viral, World

Yes. Certain things simply had to be said one day:

None of us are ever more than one click away from looking at Kitten or Porn. And that’s a really, really tough challenge for brands.

This quote by Undercurrent’s Mike Arauz during his and Bud Caddell’s presentation at SXSW is one of the most beautiful pieces of digital marketing wisdom ever. But even beyond these words of clear, brilliant truth their video-supported presentation rocks (as usual). Web Video Thunderdome tries to identify success factors of webvideos…simply by watching and analyze some good ones. Check out the funny and brilliant Presentation. By the way, the ‘Pants on the Ground‘ video, which the guys mention, is just awesome.

Halo 3 ODST. Sometimes war is a video game.

September 23rd, 2009 • Games, We like
Tags: Bungie, Creative, Games, Halo, Lifestyle, Microsoft, Motion, video, Viral, visual, We like

For years Halo is among the few Game titles which kept up a very high level of creative excellence in marketing communication. Almost two years after the third sequel from Halo was published, Halo 3: ODST got into stores. The first-person shooter video game, developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft, was released on the Xbox 360 exclusively on September 22, 2009. Players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3.

Now watch this trailer by Bungie, pulling the Gamer into a Halo sequel presented like a classic war movie. Stunning! (Thx to Fubiz)

Nike SB. Today was a good day.

Juli 20th, 2009 • 4 comments Brands, We like
Tags: Ads, Cool, Music, Nike, Skateboarding, Sport, Viral

On days like these I feel like a granddaddy talking to his grandparents about the music back in the days. Nike SB has just published a very, very cool short clip for the launch of Paul Rodriguez‘s third shoe Zoom P-Rod III. It features skater god Rodriguez, his shoes and…Ice Cube. To all kids younger than 28: Ice Cube was a gangster rapper (a musicial style which was pretty popular in the mid 1990s) back in the days. His 1993 hit ‘Today was a good day’ was cut to make it fit into prime time TV and his short appearance gives the skater story a nice twist.

Well done, Nike. You made me think of the good old days when we still sang songs about dough, bling and AK-47s. So romantic!

(via Freshngood, Athadi, Tautoko)