I’ll admit that I don’t know much about SpongeBob Square Pants outside of stumbling upon an episode here and there and reading about it on the Nick website:

SpongeBob is a sea sponge who lives with his pet snail, Gary, in a fully furnished, two bedroom pineapple in the town of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob’s dream in life is to be the ocean’s ultimate fry cook, and thanks to his job flipping Krabby Patties at the Krusty Krab, he lives that dream every day. SpongeBob is as optimistic and earnest as a sea-dwelling sponge gets, but he can’t seem to avoid getting himself, and usually everyone else around him, into trouble. While trying too hard, he tends to do things wrong…really wrong…which usually spells “disaster”. However, SpongeBob’s always looking on the bright side of life; his enthusiasm and curiosity about the world make him downright irresistible or completely annoying.

One of the latest clips from CP+B and Burger King, who brought in Sir Mix-A-Lot, added some controversy to the ad community: Burger King SpongeBob Ad Too Sexual? (via MediaPost)

From what I understand, the commercials never ran on children oriented programming.

The 30 second version:

Extended version (2:23)

Technorati Tags: SpongeBob, children, advertising, TV, pop culture, Sir Mix-A-Lot

There is a story today on Ad Age about Pepsi’s new logo.

For a brand as large as Pepsi, the article raises a valid point: it costs big money to roll out a brand as big as this:

For Coke or Pepsi, when you add up all the trucks, vending machines, stadium signage, point-of-sale materials and more around the world, it could easily tally several hundred million dollars, the expert said.

Brand New, which is a great source of the inside scoop for branding changes (thanks Paul), has posted several times on Pepsi as the changes have rolled out for Pepsi, Mountain Dew (now Mtn Dew):

• Pepsi, New Bottles
• The New Pepsi Challenge: Guess the Smile
• Pepsi, Revealed. Sort of.

There is one comment from Andrew on the Brand New blog that stuck with me:

Something about these logos has lost the longevity that the originals seemed to have.

If you walk through the comments, the general consensus is overwhelmingly negative.

Technorati Tags: Pepsi, soda, logo, drinks, pop

If you haven’t visited Ads of the World before, I highly recommend you checking it out, especially if you are in advertising or marketing. I subscribe to the RSS feed, but there is so much content posted that it’s difficult to keep up. It helps keep your mind fresh when you see things like a creative Milky Way ad at the checkout of a grocery store.

Keep in mind that global cultures vary widely, so be sure to visit the site with an open mind and check your political correctness card at the homepage.

Internationally, pretty much anything goes.

One of the ads that I stumbled upon, which wasn’t an award winner, but I saw it on the site when I was reviewing some of the awards, was an ad that utilizes escalators.

I’ve posted about escalator ads before, as I think they aren’t overused too much yet here in the US.

The railing, which appears to have plates of sushi on it, is avoided by most people until they figure out what is going on, but it definitely gets your attention.

Without further ado, I present the Sushi Train:

Technorati Tags: escalator, advertising, sushi

[via]

Another interesting one is where a guy had his initials in binary tattooed on his arm:

[via]

Technorati Tags: tattoo, html, nerd, binary

Has creative dried up? I don’t think so, but the idea of casting a social net to bring in some new creative is a novel idea.

Will it revolutionize the agency model? I don’t think it will be that dramatic, but it will have an impact, especially for organizations with a very small budget (like a nonprofit) or a very big budget (Fortune 500).

Why the two budget extremes?

I believe the small organizations will benefit from the program generating interest about the organization itself, just as much as the award winning ad.

For big organizations, I think they will invest enough in promoting the contest and offer a big enough incentive to get some quality submissions.

But, here is where I find the rub. Any brief that you publish is out in the open. Going to launch a new project or change strategy? The last place you want to announce it is out in the open. You expose too much to the competition.

But, I believe that organizations such as BootB and Zooppa will be another resource in the advertising tool belt.

I have been tracking Zooppa for quite a while now. Here is an overview:

Zooppa originated from the idea of creating a space for social advertising through user generated content.

It is committed to the vision of real people and real companies conducting business in a creative and rewarding viral context. This means stimulating the creative talent of those who have no voice in the traditional advertising setting.

Zooppa partners with international companies to sponsor their brand through Zooppa’s competitions. Based on the briefs the companies provide, users are invited to create their own commercials for that brand. Participation in a Zooppa contest can take many forms: designing an animated sequence or creating a print ad with the company logo, writing a script or concept for a potential ad, or actually shooting their own video.

For each company that Zooppa partners with, a new contest is launched for users to compete in.
Users are also encouraged to create their ads using concepts or scripts posted by others. As an incentive to share one another’s creativity, Zooppa rewards this type of collaboration with a Bonus Team Prize.

Once users have uploaded their contributions, it is up to them to decide the winners. Users rate the ads and it is based on these ratings that Zooppa awards the cash prizes.

What makes Zooppa unique is how the winners are rewarded. Each Zoop$ that users earn are equivalent to real US dollars. Once users have accumulated a minimum of 1.000 Zoop$, they can convert their Zoop$ into a real cash pay out.

Zooppa is, therefore, a new advertising model based on the Internet and the possibility to connect people from all over the world by putting them in contact with another.

Whether in fact, the companies that sponsor the contests are interested in using the posted materials in future advertising campaigns on other mediums, Zooppa plays an important role as an intermediary between the authors of the content and the companies. In this way, Zooppa guarantees a pricing range from a minimum to a maximum value, in which the interests of the two parties (the users and the companies) can be satisfied.

Below is some information on BootB via Martin Lindstrom’s Weekly Video Reports (click through to see the video):

New Online “Pitch Engine” Connects Marketers and Creatives
BootB Circumvents Traditional Agency System
PARIS (BRANDFlash) — Launched in December, BootB.com is having a go at revolutionizing the way marketers and creatives connect with each other. It calls itself a “pitching engine” and its goal is to eliminate the middleman between marketers and creative ideas. Marketers post their requests for marketing concepts, and creatives anywhere in the world can respond and compete for the work with their own ideas. Here, Martin Lindstrom interviews BootB CEO Pier Ludovico Bancale about his new online idea auction. Among the marketers that have so far posted idea requests are Auchan, a French-based supermarket chain with stores through Europe, China and Russia; Ferrero, the Italy-based chocolate company; Lego Holdings, the Denmark toy company; and Peugeot, France’s top-selling automotive brand.

Technorati Tags: BootB, Zooppa, advertising, social, creative, idea, ad, marketing

I would like to create more movies in the future, and my digital camera has a movie feature that seems to work well enough to capture the moment without carrying around a whole bunch of equipment. In this particular case, it was pretty windy, and the microphone isn’t the greatest so I got a lot of wind noise. Also, a mini tripod wouldn’t be a bad idea. I had my other hand full with some stuff we picked up from the event, so I shot it one handed. A few things to keep in mind for my big video shoots in the future.

Originally written by Bob Dylan, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is one of the classics when it comes to a cover song played by everyone from Eric Clapton to Roger Waters to Avril Lavigne, made popular by Gun’s N Roses in the early 90′s.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/Sg9Mrzy_WDA]

So, sit back and enjoy my first iMovie, compliments of a bluegrass band at the Lousiburg Cider Mill Ciderfest.

Paul, this ones for you.

Technorati Tags: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, bluegrass, iMovie, Apple

“The Web site at MightyGiants.com features a program that teaches kids healthy eating habits and exercise through an interactive game. It also includes an area for parents with links to other educational sites for children.”

They do a good job of trying to make the task of learning about healthy eating fun for kids by including games, exercises, videos and fun flash navigation.

“Studies show that 96% of children don’t eat the minimum recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, Green Giant said.

The Green Giant Vegetable Habits Survey of parents and children ages six to 10 by Kelton Research found that three out of four children (73%) don’t eat vegetables with dinner every night.”

Good job, jolly green.

Now if we could only get adults to eat right and set a good example, that would be another move in the right direction.

Technorati Tags: Jolly Green Giant, Sprout, kids, games, healthy, eating

I’m not a Flash expert by any stretch, but I have to say that I did encounter several snags when converting a project from Flash 7 to Flash 9.

I won’t bore you with all the syntax details, because, unless your doodling with Flash CS3 Professional yourself, you probably don’t care about the proper way to traverse an XML tree or dynamically load content from the server into a movie clip.

For what its worth, I have some great Flash MX books (Flash 7 / AS2) such as Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 for Server Geeks by Nate Wiess.

But several of the top Flash CS3 books via Amazon just aren’t cutting it for me. O’Reilly came through with Essential ActionScript 3.0 and Flash CS3 Professional Advanced for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide (although its not really an “advanced” book) are both good.

One of the items I was surprised with was that some of the books didn’t even go into ActionScript 3.0, one of the main enhancements with the latest version.

That’s like picking up a book on tuning up your car and getting content how to wax it. Nice, but not really helpful.

Flash CS3 has been out since March. Please someone come out with some more good ActionScript and advanced movie clip creation content.

Got some good Flash CS3 material? Drop me a line.

Technorati Tags: Flash, CS3, ActionScript, book

As part of promoting the upcoming Simpsons Movie, several 7-Eleven’s around the country have been converted to Kwik-E-Marts.

According to the Denver Business Journal, there were around 12 or so stores converted in New York; Chicago; Dallas; Seattle; Burbank; Los Angeles; Henderson, Nev.; Orlando; Mountain View, Calif.; Bladensburg,
Md.; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Check out one of many Squishee Flickr accounts for more pics.

According to Yahoo, 7-Eleven is shouldering the costs (in the single millions) for the campaigns at the 12 stores they are converting, which will stay that way for the next month or so.

I think the campaign is great and has potential to show a good return. Just writing about it makes me dream of Squishees.

Technorati Tags: Simpsons, Movie, Kwik-E-Mart, promotions

Seems to be a fair amount press around vodka lately, especially from Reyka Vodka, Iceland’s first and only premium vodka. They were featured in an e-mail from AdCritic.com as well as several posts on Adrants.

My favorite line, especially as flavored vodkas become more prevalent in the US:

In Iceland, we like to drink vodka because we like the taste of vodka.
Some countries like to drink the flavored vodka.
But here in Iceland, if you want the taste of banana, you just eat a banana.
The only flavored vodka we make is vodka flavored vodka.
Thanks Iceland.

According to a Washington Post article called “Infused with the Flavors of Russia”
“The American mentality is that vodka should have no taste,” says co-owner Aaron McGovern. “But in Russia, they do.”

The only flavored vodka I like is Absolut Citron mixed with lemonade. I can’t imagine vodka with cinnamon.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE44u4gkx24]

“Stolichnaya” aka Stoli sells $2 billion a year worldwide. Will Reyka make a dent in that? Probably not, but they probably don’t need to in order to be successful.

I appreciate their creativity and I may need to reward them with some of my own funds and give it a sample for myself (it runs about $25 for a 750 ml bottle).

Cheers.

Technorati Tags: Reyka, vodka, Iceland, Russia