2010 NHL Winter Classic Can’t Miss, Commercial Does
Posted on December 7, 2009 - Filed Under Advertising, culture | Leave a Comment
Last week, I wrote in Ad Age about the coming third annual NHL Winter Classic and how it’s become a very important brand for the league. The consensus among U.S. ad buyers, NBC execs and the NHL itself was that the game had put hockey into a lot of business conversations that it previously hadn’t [...]
Read More..>>Marketing and ‘Where The Wild Things Are’
Posted on October 24, 2009 - Filed Under Advertising, culture | Leave a Comment
This week, AdAge published my piece on the various marketing efforts behind “Where The Wild Things Are,” particularly those involving or influenced by the film’s director Spike Jonze. I was disappointed not to get in touch with Capt. Jonze himself, but had some great conversations with Girl Skateboards co-founder Megan Baltimore, artist and designer Geoff [...]
Read More..>>Soundville: Creativity at its best, but will it sell you a Sony?
Posted on October 7, 2009 - Filed Under Advertising, culture | Leave a Comment
Let’s just begin under the obvious assumption that 99% of advertising is utter bile. So, any criticism leveled at Fallon London director/creative/wizard Juan Cabral must be taken with the proverbial bucket of salt. Cabral is the guy responsible for some of the best Fallon creative over the last few years (also the worst, read: Trucks), [...]
Read More..>>When Vice is Virtue
Posted on March 29, 2009 - Filed Under Advertising, Creativity | Leave a Comment
When Vice is Virtue
The kings of cool take on big brands
by jeff beer
When a trio of self-proclaimed drug addicts and welfare cheats from Montreal launched a free newsprint tabloid called Vice in 1996, they wanted nothing less than to change the way media portrayed and spoke to youth culture. Over the last decade, that tabloid [...]
Bathing in the Tub Gin…
Posted on November 13, 2008 - Filed Under Advertising, Creativity | Leave a Comment
I had an unfortunate introduction to gin back in 1993. It involved me, my friend Jay and a half gallon bottle. Suffice to say, that evening did not end well at all. In fact, it took until about ‘99 for me to even whiff that pine forest hooch without wretching. But since then, moderation and [...]
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