So Google+ is all the rage.
Or is it?
I wouldn’t know. Haven’t received an invite. Which got me to thinking, why does Google always require an invite when they roll out a new social media platform?
Are they trying to make it seem exclusive? In which case, that sort of defeats the whole purpose of social media, no?
Are they trying to create buzz? I suppose. But don’t they risk alienating those who don’t get invites early on?
Or are they simply trying to avoid overwhelming the system? Which, if true, would really make …

Head on, apply directly to the forehead! Flo, the Progressive chick. Those nutty Metro PCS guys. Those crazy iO Digital Cable ads (watch a lot of channels, whenever you’re able). Pretty much every ad Swiffer has ever put on air.
You’ve seen these spots. You’ve probably hated most of them.
But there’s a good chance you like at least one. Someone’s liking ‘em, or else they wouldn’t still be running.
So fess up. What’s your favorite?
Me? I have to say I’m kind of a “Flo” fan. I know she’s a total dork and …

The power of a great story is the one thing that has endured all time, and it’s the one thing that we can be sure will always endure. Surely, the last breath, of the last person, will be in struggle to utter, “told you I was sick.”
Like people, brands have a story. When brands get in trouble, it’s almost always because it has been challenged, and in that challenge it has lost its personality, its center, the way it has always defined itself. Remember Goldman Sachs’ tagline, “Our Client’s Interests …

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the latest State Farm campaign.
No, not the one with the beady eyed douchebag spokesperson.
I’m talking about the one that seems to present State Farm as some sort of purveyor of the black arts.
You’ve seen this one. Group of girls’ car breaks down. They sing the little State Farm ditty and suddenly their agent appears. But it doesn’t stop there. Apparently, getting speedy roadside help isn’t enough. These ladies have strong libidos and they need their agent to be hot. And sensitive.
Or how …

The streets of Bangkok have what photographers to refer to as “texture.” Wherever you go, you’ll witness legions of pedestrians, steaming food carts, the sing-song calls from massage parlors, the whine of tuk-tuks, gilded temples, stray dogs, and relentless heat. But, there is one thing that is most ubiquitous of all, and that is the face of the King Rama IX.
In 2010, Forbes estimated Bhumibol’s personal fortune to be US$30 billion, consistently placed at number one in the magazine’s list of The World’s Richest Royals. In the heart of the city, you …

All things possess certain definable intrinsic values. Charles Nelson Riley, Love, and a brand new can of ice-cold Coca-Cola all hold certain values that can only be attributed to those things. These qualities exist in and of themselves, outside of the world of perception. If a Coke is opened in a forest, and no one is there to drink it, it will still make that sound.
Perception, on the other hand, is that malleable conglomeration of values that we attribute to that object or person. One person’s appreciation for Charles Nelson …

Diet Pepsi introduced a new can recently, called the skinny can. Seems like a reasonable marketing tactic. Diet drink, skinny can. I get it.
But apparently, people are up in arms about it. They feel it is reinforcing societal pressure to be thin.
To which I say, great!
We could use a little pressure to be thin in this country. Have you looked around? We are a bunch of fatties. Everywhere you turn, you see someone stuffing their bloated face with some oversized, fat-laden garbage.
Ever calculate how many calories are in a typical …

You ever have a conversation with one of your favorite brands?
No?
I didn’t think so. So why does everyone in our industry keep insisting that you do? You read this kind of crap all the time. “We need to stop talking at our customers and start having a dialogue.” “People don’t want commercials, they want conversations.”

Do they?
Remember now, you’re a person too, just like these mythical consumers we always talk about. Do you really want to have a conversation with Cisco? Or Verizon? Or Tide?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve …

So apparently the green revolution is over.
People seem to have lost their taste for it. The cleaning products make you work a little harder, the cars look a little dorkier and, god forbid, the bags are too damn loud.
But hey, we gave it a shot right?
I mean, we’ve put, what, 2 maybe 3 years into this and we’re still not out of the woods yet? Whatevs.
Let’s start pulling all those fancy looking green colored bottles off the shelves. Lets build engines that suck up every last drop of oil and …

So you may have heard about this little oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Anywhere from 5,000-1,000,000 barrels a day spewing into the sea (the pinpoint accuracy on these estimates is amazing) and no end in sight.
It’s one of the greatest unnatural disasters in our hemisphere’s history.
And, perhaps just slightly less important, it shows that advertising doesn’t mean squat if you don’t actually practice what you preach.
I remember when the BP-Beyond Petroleum campaign launched. I loved it. The ads looked great. The copy was on point. The new logo …