Vote756.com

Marc Ecko, founder of the hip-hop brand Ecko unlimited and creator of the viral video Still Free has launched a new microsite. The purpose? To decide what to do with Barry Bonds' record breaking home run ball (number 756 for those of you who don't watch Baseball).

A few weeks ago, Ecko bought the ball at an auction for around $750,000. Instead of putting the ball in his private collection or donating it to Cooperstown, Ecko has decided to let the people decide what to do with it.

On the microsite, users have the option to vote on one of three scenario's:

1. Send the ball to Cooperstown

2. Permanently brand the ball with an Astrix and give to Cooperstown

3. Send the ball on a rocket into space (the Banish it option)

In an interview, Ecko says that he wants people to share their opinions and have a say in what happens to the ball. The cheating debate has been going on for a number of years now and instead of leaving it to the baseball folks to decide, he's letting fans choose.

You might not agree with this contest, but I doubt that many $750,000 campaigns have generated this much buzz in a long time.

The Next Viral Sensation...Maybe...

If you work in marketing or advertising, you've certainly heard of something going "viral." According to Wikipedia, "An object, even a non-material object, is considered to be viral when it has the ability to spread copies of itself."

We've all heard of the latest viral phenomenon. Whether it's Dove Evolution or Still Free, many people are searching for that next piece of content that captivates the Web 2.0 audience - even if it's only for a minute or two.

But how do we know what the next "viral" video / story is before it hits the masses? Rather than wait for something to gain steam, a new site - Viral Video Chart - measures the hottest viral videos on a day to day basis. As videos get tagged and more talked about on the web, they are assigned higher values and move up the chart.

The site is categorize in a number of different ways - from top viral ads to Celebs, Games to Movies. Featured in the latest edition of the Wired blog, Viral Video Chart is a simple tool to help you find what people are interested in - right now.

The number one ad right now? Alicia Silverstone going naked for PETA.

GoPotato TV

A friend sent over a link to this hilarious site today that is well worth checking out. GoPotato has a mission to provide some of the most entertaining broadband and mobile content on the web. Although they are just starting out, they have a few shows that are certainly work checking out.

My favorite is a segment called "Morning After with Owen." The short clips show Owen with various women who he's hooked up with and they're pretty hilarious.

As the web continues to grow as the main destination for content, it will be interesting to see sites like GoPotato pop up. Almost like a TV channel that shows a very specific type of content - the only difference being that if you don't like what you see, you'll probably never go back.

Thanks to Snowden for the link!

Sex? Or Would You Rather Be Online?

A study today from agency JWT found that 1 in 5 people sacrifice sex in order to spend more time online. Yes - you did just read that correctly. The study goes onto some key statistics around the web;

- 48% of people believe the web is as essential as their cell phone, feeling disconnected and incomplete without it.

- 28% of respondents admitted that they spend less time face-to-face with friends because they want to spend it online.

Is this a sad state of affairs? Or does it simply articulate the growing force that the web is becoming? I wonder if 1 in 5 people would sacrifice sex to listen to the radio...

Link from Valleywag -

Sorry Baby, Mom Wants Me Now

Wilkinson did a great job taking the category insight further - yes, great razors will make your skin feel soft. Guys (but more importantly, girls) love soft skin. But who owns soft skin? Babies. Everyone knows how soft a baby feels. Why not leverage that with a razor but take a funny slant on it?

Currently, this video has over 180,000 hits on YouTube and is allegedly being talked about all of London. The microsite is well worth checking out (although it's in French) and it's nice to see a fun campaign that pokes fun at all the razors out there.

Thanks to Lauren for the tip!

An Exciting Stock Exchange?

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

Found this neat spot on AdGabber, which was also featured on AdRants today. It reminded me of the Coca-cola Happiness spot because of the animation, however the narrator made it feel a bit different - almost a warm feeling for something that is traditionally cold and boring; the stock market.

That being said, this is an interesting approach for a dry category. People who don't use the stock market aren't interested, but they might like a neat ad that helps to educate them on how the market functions. It might not drive them to invest tomorrow, yet if they ever considered it, the NYSE would probably be the first place they'd look.

Mazda, what were you thinking?

This ad sucks. I watched it this morning, shook my head, threw up in my mouth, laughed and then considered blogging about it. Thankfully I got really busy then I read what Adrants had to say about it. A perfect post from Adrants:

Mazda Still Makes Cars? Well, It Sure as Hell Can't Make Ads
Imagine the music you'd hear at a gay strip club. Is your pelvis gyrating yet? Good. Add graphics from Japanese ninja porn. Toss in a green car for good measure.
You know what you get?

This ad for Mazda - which, to be frank, has given us (arguably) worse ads in the past. We can't think of a slogan that beats "Fitness comes as standard," though. If you can, congratulations.

JWT Dusseldorf, why have you forsaken us?

Halo 3 Museum - Watch it in order

Agency Spot for web:



TV spot



Consumer Generated Spot. They took a 90 sec trailer slowed it down and added their own music selection.



Only 5 days into the campaign and consumer generated ads are already populating Youtube. Pretty impressive.

And the Emmy goes to....Ellen??

American Express walked away with the Emmy for best commercial on the 15th. I disagree but I understand why the voters would support one of their own (Ellen). I truly believe that the only reason this spot won is because it features a well liked TV actress.

It definitely was not the best commercial of the year. I am not saying it is bad; just not the best.

Regardless of my point-of-view congratulations to O&M, American Express and Bryan Buckley.

At Least He's a Great Golfer...

Most Annoying Ad of All-Time?

Blog of the Week - Valleywag

Starting this week, we're going to feature our Blog of The Week. We read quite a few blogs and are always looking for new ones. If you read any that you think we'd be interested in, please forward them on and we will feature them next week.

The first blog we'd like to feature is called Valleywag. Valleywag is one of the most popular blogs on the net. It focuses is on all the latest gossip in Silicon Valley - from who Facebook's hiring to how the Google guys are spending there money. The blog is edited by Nick Denton (who also founded Gawker media). Denton has a number blogs (that are highly visited) and his estimated worth from his blogs is approximately $280 million.

Valleywag is a great read not only because of the number of posts per day (around 25-30) but because the gossip gives regular readers an inside scoop into what goes on behind the major (and minor) technology companies. It frequently showcases new sites and discusses what Venture Capitalists are putting their money into.

Add it to your RSS for the latest news, gossip and trends.

AXE Vice - Nice Girls Turn Bad

A new mockumentary webisode from AXE. Nice girls start to go crazy when they smell guys wearing AXE. It's worth watching - a bit funny (especially the last 45 seconds) - but not half as good as the AXE Ravenstoke, Alaska video that was created a few months ago.



Ravenstoke, Alaska

Cell Phone Ad Pokes Fun At Holocaust

Bell Solo Mobile a Canadian Cell phone company is in the process of removing several advertisements across the country after the undertones of the campaign execution were revealed. A button poking fun at Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp.

The ad demonstrates an advertiser's negligence and extremely poor taste. The Solo Mobile ad, which is hung high above the crowds inside Downsview Subway Station in Toronto depicts a tearful woman wearing a series of buttons, one of which reads "Belsen was a gas," a reference to Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp used during the Second World War.

Who is to blame? A ingnorant wardrobe assistant? A creative who thought they could slip one by the client and Canadians or just a consolidated group of clients, creatives and account people who were too busy pushing another execution through to realize what they were doing. I am guessing they grabbed a bunch of buttons for the shoot from a bucket in a store for $1 each and picked their favourite colours - not takign time to digest the messages.

I wonder how many people will take a fall over this one.

Link to the news story from Toronto's city TV.

Naked News Gone Bad

BikiniZero is a website featuring all of the latest tech news from start-ups to applications delivered by Bikini clad ladies. The content is quite good besides the awful sexual innuendos, the women are alright, the music is horrible and the site design is quite tacky.

All-in-all I am interested to see if this takes off.

Bud light - Marriage

I felt like sharing an old spot that always makes me smile.

Thanks for reminding me J-Nich.

Link of the Day - 50 Most Influential Bloggers

Found a great article on Digg today about the 50 most influential bloggers. For people who have just got into the blogosphere, it's a great read about who to check out on the Web. Some interesting choices and some definite additions to your RSS feeds.

Check all 50 out here.

Ad Quote of the Day

"Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals."
David Ogilvy

Clocks that will amaze you

Poodwaddle.com isn't just a great name, it is a site filled with extremely interesting and unique clocks.

These clocks tell time and more. For example you can view a clock that tracks US crime statistics:

This world clock below is amazing. I click the now button at the top right before I make or join any conferences calls that I am not looking forward to. After the call I look at how many people around the world have died, become ill, imprisoned or injured and I think to myself, "Hey, the last 20 minutes could have been worse".

Try it - it works.

When Agencies Go To Far - 9/11 Ads

Today marks the 6 year anniversary of 9/11. Everyone remembers where they were on that day and the images that were shown over and over again.

Many bloggers have have written about 9/11 today from a number of different perspectives - from American foreign policy to Seth Godin's analysis of how to change the American communications strategy for the better.

One of the topics that hasn't been covered as much (except on Copyranter) is the issue of companies and agencies using 9/11 imagery in their executions.

This image is from a French an organization called Defi Pour La Terre.

The organization, in English, is called "Challenge for the Earth" and the lower caption of their execution reads: "For Nature, Everyday is 9/11."

According to Copyranter, in 2005 MTV launched a TV campaign that used imagery of the Twin Towers burning down to promote their social awareness agenda. Stills of the TV spot (and some alterations) have been posted below.

The TV spot was said to have only aired once before the US Government had it pulled (not sure if this fact is true but PJC and I cannot remember ever seeing or hearing about this campaign).

Despite the specifics around each of these campaigns, the fact remains that they have leveraged tragic visuals in an attempt to strengthen their own campaigns.

Do these executions help to drive forward issues such as poverty, environment and HIV? Or do they simply shock the viewer into looking at the execution (most likely wondering how / why a brand would want to use images like this to promote their own goals)?

Using images from a tragic event (however iconic) with the hopes to tie them back to your campaign is simply a horrible idea. That, coupled with the copy on the MTV executions, downplays the tragedy of 9/11 based on the number of people who were killed in relation to other social issues. (2,863 vs. 824 million, for example)

Iconic and captivating advertising is something that all agencies strive to do (we think). But using a polarizing and emotional charged event like 9/11 is just plain wrong.

To some, executions like this are provocative. To others, appalling. You may feel differently about these executions and we'd love to get a lively discussion going around your thoughts.

Please feel free to post .

Save The Text Save The Word

The narrator (or H725 from the year 2059) claims that in the near future, all references of letters, texts and words will disappear altogether with the emergence of a new technology called Bright.ly

The video uses an interesting method to show us what Bright.ly can do - essentially transform any space into a full motion video and audio message. Why use the written word when you can shape your communications in hi-definition video and remarkable audio.

It seems that this viral is a tease to a yet-to-be-released product. H725 also has a blog that helps to continue the "Save The Text/Word" cause. Highlighting different techniques to ensure that we remember how to use texts (through sign language) and other methods.

Overall, it's hard to evaluate this creative approach on the merits of entertainment (or the campaign objectives). At first glance, it showcases a new technology that is alledgedly revolutionary - potentially a new screen or retail application. The work is strange and convoluted, however the emergence of a blog that continues the dialog (and mystery) will only help to stimulate this viral method.

Hopefully this product pays off the amount of work that has been done from this tease. We will keep you posted when we find out what it is!

Ad Quote of the Day

"I welcome and seek your ideas, but do not bring me small ideas; bring me big ideas to match our future."
Arnold Schwarzenegger

The New Celebrity - INTERNET PEOPLE

The internet has provided everyone in the world with a stage to catapult themselves into a new class of celebrity. This video encapsulates that world.

Andy Warhol being a man of incredible genius is proving to have been a man wise beyond his years. A few quotes of his below really make sense after watching the video and considering its content.

In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Andy Warhol

An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them. Andy Warhol

Thank you to these "artists" who produced viral videos, danced like fools, made a mess, fell over, rapped about George Washignton and brought countless smiles, laughs and email forwards into my life.

Internet People I salute you. Dan Meth & Micah Frank I thank you.

Create NASA's New Slogan

Wired has a great contest going on right now to help NASA come up with their new slogan. The current slogan - "Explore, Discover, Understand" - is going to be replaced over the next couple of weeks. NASA's proposed new slogan?

"NASA explores for answers that power our future"

Could we do better? Probably. Some of my current favorites include:

"NASA: Actually this *IS* rocket science"

"NASA: Tonight, We dine, In SPACE"

and current number one: "NASA: All your space are belong to U.S."

Stay tuned for the winner.

One Giant Waste of Money

I would love to know what Gillette paid to have Tiger, Federer and Thierry Henry appear in the same ad. This spot is crap.