The Discovery Channel - I love the World

What do you love?

I love that The Discovery Channel somehow has unbelievable budgets...

Nike Football - Take it to the next level

Something tells me this would have been difficult to shoot.

Toyota Driver Has Gas

And I thought the dealer billboard posted yesterday was bad... apparently this whole fart jokes concept is apart of a Toyota strategic initiative.

Ladies & Gentleman - I have gas



Source

How the US got into this sub-prime mess

A very simple and entertaining cartoon strip that simplifies the "how" behind the sub-prime disaster.

View the entire strip here.

Papa John's surpasses $1 billion in online pizza sales

"It's pretty amazing not to hear a phone ring on a busy night," said Freitas, an operating partner with the largest Papa John's franchisee in the Washington, D.C., market.

The nation's third-largest pizza delivery chain
trumpeted the $1 billion milestone Wednesday, noting that its U.S. online sales have been growing at an average clip of more than 50 percent per year. In 2001, the chain's online sales totaled $20.4 million. Last year, its online sales approached $400 million.

"It took us seven years to reach our first billion in online sales, and at our current pace and growth rate it will take us less than three years to hit our next billion," said Jim Ensign, vice president of marketing communications at Papa John's.

Other chains in the fiercely competitive pizza industry are tapping into the technology craze to give customers ways to order pies other than through the standard phone call or trip to a restaurant.

Dominos Pizza Inc. put its own twist on online ordering early this year by introducing a "Pizza Tracker," which lets customers keep tabs on the progress of their orders. Consumers can find out when their pies are in the oven, when they're on the way, and even the first name of their delivery person.

Domino's also lets customers place orders from Web-enabled mobile devices.

Pizza Hut said it's online orders have grown sixfold in the last three years. Company spokesman Chris Fuller said the online segment is a significant part of the overall business, but he wouldn't give specifics.

Pizza Hut, the nation's biggest pizza chain, also allows customers to order via text messaging and mobile Web. The unit of Yum Brands Inc. soon will unveil a new method for ordering pizzas, dubbed "Pizza Hut Shortcut," that it says will be the fastest in the industry. Customers will be able to download a "widget" onto their computers that will let them place their favorite pizza orders with just one click.

Since launching its Web-based ordering in 2001, Papa John's said it has invested more than $15 million in online ordering technology. Customers can place online orders up to 21 days in advance. Another function lets consumers repeat their most recent orders with just one click.

Papa John's said more than 20 percent of its sales come from online or through text messaging, an option it introduced last year. The company said text sales are meeting expectations, but it didn't provide specifics.

Source

Dove Real Beauty - Not so real....maybe

Attention surrounding Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” just got kind of ugly.

Photos used in the self-esteem building initiative may have been airbrushed, according to an article in the May 12 issue of The New Yorker, posted online now.

In the article, airbrush artist, Pascal Dangin of New York’s Box Studios, is quoted as saying he retouched photos used in the Campaign for Real Beauty ad, which featured pleasantly plump women in white undergarments.

“Do you know how much retouching was on that?” asked Dangin. “But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone’s skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive.”

The entire “Real Beauty” campaign is based on the idea that woman should feel positive about their natural bodies and not be overly influenced by mass media and advertising which sometimes use technical tricks like photo retouching to create unattainable portrayals of beauty. The creative positioning promoted a wider and more realistic definition of female beauty, and was developed after a 2004 global study conducted by Dove found that only 2% of women consider themselves beautiful.

Two years later, Ogilvy & Mather Toronto created “Evolution,” a viral video that showed how beauty-industry advertising manipulates images of women.

The self-esteem building effort translated into marketing and award show gold for the beauty brand—including an unprecedented two Grand Prix at Cannes last year.

“We are unsure right now what he did,” the Ogilvy spokeswoman told Ad Age. “He works with Annie Leibovitz, the photographer. And we don’t have any record of him actually working on any of the Dove campaign.

“There was no retouching of the women,” she said. “If there was a hair that was up in the air, that might have been the kind of retouching that was done.”

See the previous adjoke posts about the campaign here, here, and here .

Social Working for the rich

aSmallWorld.net

Members: 320,000

Perks: Chit chat with the ultra-rich on the site's forum about the best hotels in Monaco, buy a yacht from a member on the Market Guide, scour the luxury travel guide or browse the social calendar. This is by far the most active and well-known exclusive social networking site on the web … but competition is biting its heels.

Getting in: Members, who pay no fee, induct newcomers on the basis of education, profession and their network of contacts. If you don't know a member with invite powers, you're out of luck.

ASmallWorld, by far the most well-known and well-attended site for digital A-listers, was launched in March 2004 by former Lehman Brothers banker Erik Wachtmeister. Born into a diplomat family (his father was the Swedish ambassador to the U.S.), Wachtmeister started networking at an early age.

"I realized there was an existing community of people who are connected by three degrees of separation: They stay at the same resorts when they travel, frequent the same restaurants and have similar lifestyles. They needed a platform to share and receive information--it was a huge untapped opportunity," Wachtmeister says.

ASmallWorld has grown to include 320,000 members globally (Facebook boasts 40 million, by contrast) with 65% of the members in the U.K., Italy, Germany and France and 20% in the U.S. The rest are sprinkled throughout the Middle East and Asia. Wachtmeister's site has been even called "MySpace for millionaires" by the Wall Street Journal. But Wachtmeister maintains that aSmallWorld is a niche community that doesn't allow self-promotion or aggressive networking.

source

Created for the curious

The "next blog" button found above was created for the curious and is one of my favourite ways to kill time on a rainy Wednesday night. You never know what you may find on the next blog...some treasure, some trash but always entertaining. Tonight it is even more entertaining the the in-depth look at the Russian President Vladimir Putin that I am watching for no apparent reason on TV.

A few things I learned tonight from clicking "next blog":

- The Spanish love to blog
- Gardener's love to share the growth of their tomato plants
- Engaged couples think the world gives a shit about their wedding plans and countdown to the big day. (Note: we don't)
- People like to cheat at video games... and share how on blogs

Why do Auto dealers create thier own ads?

Another prime example of why Auto dealerships should not be allowed to create their own ads... related post here.

I Pass Gas is actually Trademarked...ouch.

Apple Parody hidden in GTA IV

I guess the makers of GTA IV aren't huge fans of Apple. The have put the following images on a computers in an Internet Cafe within the game.

The Fruit Phone.
No buttons.
No reception.
No storage Capacity.
All Ego.

Think Simple.
Think Minimalism.
Think Overpriced.
Think Fruit. Think.
You are not thinking hard enough. Maybe you are a tosser.

Source

GTA IV - by the numbers

With Wednesday's revelation that Grand Theft Auto IV has topped $500 million in worldwide sales, we realized that the numbers generated by the game since its launch last week are simply becoming too numerous to manage.

To help alleviate that problem, we've compiled a list of the most important milestones reached by the title so far. We hope this helps clarify exactly how successful the game has been.

• Total worldwide sales (units): 6 million [Source: Take-Two Interactive]
• Total worldwide sales (revenue): more than $500 million [Source: Take-Two Interactive]
• Total budget estimate: $100 million [Source]
• First-week U.K. sales: 926,000 [Source]
• First-day U.K. sales: 609,000 [Source]
• Copies of Xbox 360 version sold in United Kingdom: 514,000 [Source]
• Copies of PS3 version sold in United Kingdom: 413,000 [Source]
• Damages sought by Take-Two after GTA IV ads were pulled from Chicago buses: $300,000 [Source]
• Xbox Live popularity rank: 1 [Source]
• Gamefly rental popularity rank: 1 (Xbox 360), 3 (PS3) [Source]
• Steps included in official fix for PlayStation 3 issues: 12 [Source]
• Current Metacritic rating: 99
• Restraining orders filed against the game: 1 [Source]
• Achievements unlocked in one day: 2 million [Source]
• Gamerpoints awarded as a result: 15 million [Source]

...but Halo has still created more google searches
From Wired

Fresh to the ad world - help is below...

A list of all the articles, ideas and tools for people just starting out in ad agencies. Compiled by the always informative and helpful advergirl:

• Resume makeovers
  • General advice
  • Makeover 1
  • Makeover 2
  • Makeover 3
  • How to write a cover letter
• Getting and winning interviews
  • How to build a professional network
  • Interview tips
  • Questions you (the candidate) should ask in an interview
  • What to do when you're offered a job
• Getting started at the agency
  
  • Meet your new boss
  • Four rules for career success
  • Advice for getting started at an agency
  • Three pillars of success at (nearly) any ad agency
  • Seducing the Boys Club: Advice from Nina DiSeso
  • Be as valuable your fifth year as your first
• Advice just for AEs
  • Your real job description
  • Interactive toolkit for AEs: part 1
  • Interactive toolkit for AEs: part 2
  • Two completely relevant and totally shameless tricks for AEs

Coca -Cola - Happiness Factory II

This time the factory runs out of happiness...which apparently grows on trees.

3 minutes and 30 seconds of animated genius.

50 greatest commercial parodies of all time

Check out the list of 50 greatest commercial parodies as compiled by nerve.com.

"In this feature, we've assembled fifty of the best. Unfortunately, many of SNL's most infamous are no longer available online, due to NBC's copyright-enforcing blitz a while back. But we did manage to unearth a surprising number of classics still lurking in the corners of the internet, along with plenty of timeless bits from Chappelle's Show, MADtv, In Living Color and SCTV. This list is an assemblage of our own personal favorites, and we encourage you to take us to task in the feedback section over what we missed."

One of my favourites as a kid was SNL's Crystal Gravy.....

The Wire - As referenced on Stuff white people like

My favourite new blog is "Stuff white people like" - below they discuss what was the best show on television - The Wire:

Though white people have a natural aversion to television, there are some exceptions. For white people to like a TV show it helps if it is: critically acclaimed, low-rated, shown on premium cable, and available as a DVD box set.

The latter is important so that white people can order it from Netflix and tell their friends “they are really into and I watched ten episodes in a row in the weekend. I’m almost caught up.”

If you attempt to talk about an episode they have not seen yet, they will scream and cover their ears. In white culture, giving away information about a film or TV series is considered as rude as spitting on your mothers grave. It is an unforgivable offense.

Recent series that have fallen into this category include The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and most recently The Wire.

For the past three years, whenever you say “The Wire” white people are required to respond by saying “it’s the best show on television.” Try it the next time you see a white person! Though now they might say “it WAS the best show on television.”

So why do they love it so much? It all comes down to authenticity. A long time ago, someone started a rumor that when The Wire is on TV, actual police wires go quiet because all the dealers are watching the show. Though this is not true, it seems plausible enough to white people and has imbued the show with the needed authenticity to be deemed acceptable.

The popularity of this show among white people has create a unique opportunity for personal gain.

If you need to impress a white person, tell them you are from Baltimore. They will immediately ask you about The Wire and how accurate it is. You should confirm that it is “like a documentary of the streets,” the white person will then slowly shake their head and say “man” or “wow.” You will be seen in an entirely new light.

If you are not from Baltimore but the white person you are talking to is, they might start asking you a lot of questions. In this situation, you should just say you left when you were young but you still have a lot of cousins there but you don’t like to go back to visit. This will remove all doubts and they can go back to telling you about how John from Accounting needs to “stop snitching” about their two hour lunch breaks.

The Internet - making everyone an expert

“Wil Shipley, a Seattle software developer, uses his iPhone at the Whole Foods fish counter to check websites for updates on which seafood is the most environmentally correct to purchase. He quizzes the staff on where and how a fish was caught. Because he carries the Internet with him, “I can be super-picky,” he said.”

Excerpt found on the blog, "Stuff white people like"

Necessity is the mother of invention

Thanks to Brooks for the video.

HALO STILL WINNING