Story Of Water

I first came across The Story of Stuff while doing a course on sustainable business in Uni, the short documentary about the one-way life cycle of material goods and consumerism really struck home with me. I always find myself thinking back to it when Steve Jobs announces the next generation Nano.


Annie Leonard, the environmental activist behind the short animated clip, which has been shown in schools and universities across the globe, has now come up with this; The Story of Water...









Ja, I think it's a about time you bought yourself a re-usable bottle... save yourself cash and do that tiny bit to help the environment. Carrying a bottle of branded water has reached the point of being a fashion statement, but so was smoking 5 years ago. Then people realized it killed you and was a waste of money. Same vibe here.


I'm quite a fan of these.

Happy Halloween

With the 30th of October just around the corner a deluge of Halloween ads and themed store fronts have been popping up everywhere. Both of these ads for Levi's 501's are from AboveGrey and are written and directed by Ezra J. Stanley.

This video was the winner of Best Commercial Award at the 2009 Burbank International Film Festival.



This ad won the same award this year. It's got a similar vibe, but different ghouls. Again he uses contrasting sounds really effectively.

Stand Up If You Love Fig Rolls

Jacob's have started an humurous ad campaign for their Fig Rolls (not to be confused with McVites Fig Rolls) which involves men and women dressed in skin tight red shiny full-body suits, supposedly representing 'taste buds'. The ad revolves around the taste buds referring to each other as 'buds' and each of them vying for a bit of Fig Roll- which makes their taste buds stand erect...

Taste Buds

Here is the ad...




Jacob's have taken to promoting this campaign under the line by getting groups of people to dress in the taste bud body suits and run around certain busy areas of Ireland promoting the fig rolls. This was caught on Friday on Henry Street, Dublin.



I reckon this is a top notch complete campaign. After I captured the video of 'Stand Up If You Love Fig Rolls', I went back to the office and told all of my colleagues about the unusual awesomeness I had just witnessed. They had all seen the ad on TV and we all immediately started talking about Fig Rolls. This led to one of the girls running off to Tescos to by a pack of fruity biccies. Although they were McVites and not Jacobs.

I think the whole ad strategy is very effective, particularly as it is slightly off the wall which is good for WOM. However, special emphasis needs to be placed on the fact that they are Jacob's rolls and not McVites. It's not clear enough, and a bit confusing. The last thing you want to be doing is spreading WOM for your competitors. Perhaps some more distinct Jacob's branding is needed?

Kit Kat - Catch a Recession Break

This was spotted in the bus stops around Dublin (Ireland; where the Celtic Tiger has been hit harder than most other economies by the recession).

I think it's a unique angle to go for, which actually fits in with the brand's positioning: take a temporary break by chomping down on a Kit Kat choc and stand the chance to catch a permanent break from all your recession-accumulated debt. It's not too exciting, but let's face it everyone turns to a bit of chocolate during hard times.

Crap New Gap Logo

Yesterday standard US clothes supplier Gap unveiled this entirely new logo...

As you can see, it's crap. And the rest of the world tends to agree; with designers and fans everywhere expressing their collective disapproval of Gap's new logo. So much so that there is already a mock twitter account, user-genreated logo competitions and even a Crap Logo Yourself webiste. 

The people (social media) have spoken, and Gap seem to be listening, last night they updated their Facebook status asking for users to submit their own take on a new logo for the company.

So in less than 24 hours Gap have announced a new logo, received a truck load of backlash, and called for a user subtmitted logo's in response- all through power of social media. Impressive.

(Source: Mashable)

Black Music

I snapped this while cruising a mall in Mallorca, apparently in Spain they classify music according to race. I wonder where Bloc Party would fit in? or the Beastie Boys? or Prince?

 
I don't think that would go down to well in Musica in the good old Republic of SA.

Arthur's Day

17.59 , Thursday 23rd September - "To Arthur!!", could be heard throughout the streets of Dublin as people toasted to the great  man who discovered Guinness. 

Last year to celebrate 250 years of The Black Stuff, Guinness hosted a series of music events throughout the city. Tickets were a reasonable 10 Euro and this gained you admission  into 1 of 28 venues, ranging from small pubs (Pygmallion's) to designated gig venues (The Academy, St James Gate). The catch - you have no idea who is playing at your venue, its a complete 'surprise'. The line up was great, including The Kooks, Calvin Harris, The Roots, Ok Go, Razorlight, The Magic Numbers, David Gray and the Wombats. Basically wherever you were, you were guaranteed a top class show.

Riding off 2009's huge success Guinness decided to do it all again this year. While it wasn't quite as big and successful as last year's, everyone who got involved had a grand crack.

Here are some pics of the event...

251 years of Bovril flavored alcoholic protein shakes!!

Social Media for Good in Dublin

This is the front page of the daily Dublin Metro Herald....

Several Irish skobies  were seen two nights ago forcing a lit firework in a dogs mouth, which blew the animal's lower jaw off. Consequently the dog had to be put down. This is disgusting and unacceptable behavior, and the Irish public (including myself) are rightly outraged. In response a group has been created on Facebook calling to give up any information regarding the incident that will lead to these men being found and charged.


 Previously bringing this scum to justice would be the sole responsibilty of the Garda, however now with social media tools the public are able take a stand and actively make a difference.


Please sign the petition on this link....
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/find-and-prosecute-the-thugs-who-killed-the-dog-in-dublin-with-fireworks/

Awesome Urinal Art

I caught this over the weekend while taking a leak at a pub in St Georges street, Dublin. There was no branding or marketing attached to the picture. Just the bar going for a cheeky vibe. Lag.

Samsung N210 Netbook

So here is my little baby I just got today, and I mean that in the most literal way possible. This 'netbook' is smaller than your nether regions after a dip in Clifton 4th's icy Atlantic water during June.

Basically this is where the magic/action is going down... (placed next to protein shaker for complete perspective)

I must confess I originally opted for the Sony M Vaio, alas when I got to Argos in both the Jervis and Ilac centres they were all out. The closet I got to getting my hands on one, was a pink display model in the Sony Centre. While I am completely comfortable in the knowledge that I could have pulled off the pink netbook look; after reading up a few reviews and ratings online it turns out that the Samsung has a higher resolution screen and a stiffer more responsive keyboard, AND has a battery life of 12 hours as opposed to 4.

So here I am the proud new owner of a cute little Samsung N210.