Trying to reclaim my youth

I ordered a skateboard online this weekend to use around the office. Don’t ask me why – I know I’ll bust my ass as soon as I get on it! Our slate floor is nothing like a plywood half pipe.  I wish I were more creative and could think of another mode of transportation around the shop (other than walking – I’m a lazy bitch).

Speaking of skateboarding, the site for the upcoming XGAMES is very well done – tons of energy and great flash work without long loading times. I love the weird avatar-looking thing they did with the athletes’ eyes.  There’s lots of hidden stuff on the site – check it out when you have a chance.

(via Favourite Website Awards)

Peeping Tom, Part 2

Now I can be a Peeping Tom and not have to watch stupid ass web cams like Trevor’s. This viral rich media site for HBO’s Voyeur Project is fucking brilliant – don’t know what agency did it, but fabulous, fabulous job (UPDATE: site done by Big Spaceship – thanks, Evan). You could spend a long time on this site and not see it all. The shot list probably took weeks to put together. When you’re done looking around, be sure to click on “learn more” at the bottom – even more goodness there.

Lip Synching Is Not Dead

LOVE this video Connected Ventures did to Flagpole Sitta. I wanna work in that office. The most fun our shop has is…oh. We don’t have fun. That is if you don’t count the anonymous emails I send to the office whore with links to STD testing services. Check it out – the second link is to a contest site where your agency can do their own send-up.

 

 

I’m So Over Second Life

For months our agency has debated whether or not to open shop on Second Life.  We bought an island, built an aspirational behemoth office, but never went any further than that.  It’s just a waste of time in my book – even the big brands who are on Second Life aren’t getting any ROI from it and I’m positive it doesn’t have any useful brand attraction. And it just sucks to use.  So when I saw this viral piece by DraftFCB on AdFreak, I realized it was time to bring the virtual demolition crew to our piece of crap island and close for good. Great job by Draft.

Mentos, what art thou doing?

I love, love, love pink Mentos. Possibly my favorite candy in the entire universe. However, this streaming interactive microsite featuring “Trevor the Intern” is making me question their marketing department. People love these types of sites – like the one Diesel did and to some extent Subservient Chicken – but Trevor just doesn’t do enough. He sits behind a desk. Calls people. Sings. Makes noises. You can ask him to do work and he’ll do it. Supposedly. I asked him to bite the head off a bunny, but he ignored me. Try it tomorrow between 9 and 5 EST when it’s live again and see for yourself – but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Typical Female Driver

I got a new car yesterday because my 4Runner just wasn’t cutting it to take clients out (read: kiss their asses by taking them to expensive 3 hour lunches). I pulled out of the dealer feeling important in my snazzy new vehicle and curbed the first corner I came to. I no longer feel cool – in fact, I want my old car back – German engineering means nothing when you suck at driving.

Maybe I should have watched the videos on BMW’s new microsite first (creative by GSD&M in Austin). The design’s Spartan, but that’s good – the videos are the highlight. Great casting – I’m totally enamored with the step-dad guy. Very nice job on the click-through site as well.

Flavored Vodka is for Pussies

I posted a couple of days ago about the Reyka Vodka site, which I adore, and now I’m bestowing upon you the equally cool video banner EyeWonder and Special Ops did to drive traffic to the site (thanks, Ryan). Good scriptwriting, as well. I’m going to throw away that bottle of pear vodka I have in the freezer now. Who am I kidding – I’d never throw away a precious gift from god.

**Update: mistake earlier. Apparently Dead As We Know It did the creative and EyeWonder and Special Ops made the banner happen. See comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus and Vodka

Take a look at the new site for Reyka Vodka – nice use of green screen on the “Watch TV” section.  And really funny – the Jesus/vodka thing might anger some fundamentalist Christians, but eff them – they shouldn’t be visiting a site about liquor anyway.

Head Like An Orange

Karl Pilkington’s new site is genius. The simplicity, the illustrations, the seamless video, I love it. Interactive agencies keep trying to outdo each other on how many bells and whistles their site has, and it’s getting embarrassing. I mean, look at the hot mess of a site Dunkin Donuts is doing for their iced coffee push. The K-Man’s got the right idea, as always.

4 Donuts = Upbeat Client Presentation

I just totally nailed a pitch to a client and I’m positive it’s due to the four chocolate cake donuts I ate an hour before. Everything that poured out of my mouth was liquid gold – almost like cocaine with the added 1000 calories. The client literally told me I could up our estimate by $300k. I peed in my Hudsons a little at that point.

With the bonus I’ll get from this, I’ll trade in my car for a Volvo. Hah! I’ll do that right after I buy my summer wardrobe at Lilly Pulitzer. But the new Volvo video-rich microsite is pretty neat (Forsman and Bodenfors) – check out when the guy is giving the speech at the beginning and points to the movie screen. When I clicked on the Joyride section, I had a flashback, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

On a shoot today..

So I won’t be posting a ton. One question though: why do all gaffers wear jean shorts? Is acid-wash a secret trend in their industry? The director on this shoot is a megalomaniac and I love him! The talent asked if we needed her to enunciate more and the director says, “that’s what we’re paying you for, isn’t it?” – it was the highlight of my day.

This Tanqueray viral piece featuring “Tony Sinclair” on YouTube has inspired me to stop by my friendly neighborhood liquor store after the shoot for my favorite crispy beverage. Screw it, I’m not waiting until afterwards. This would be much more fun drunk.

The Naked Truth in Advertising

Just found out that one of our agency partners (and by that I mean another agency to which we farm out work) is involved with marketing porn on the web. This is after we told our biggest client how fabulous and well-respected they are. So the client Googles them and finds stripping dwarves and smoking ponies in the results. Of course, I had to Google it when I got back to my office. You have to broaden your horizons.

Don’t know how Sprint is marketing this, but the site itself (below) is pure viral genius. The Connectile Dysfunction Treatment Center is totally video-driven – almost reminds me of the MGM Grand site with the cut-throughs. Site by Publicis and mekanism.