I guess there is really only one way to sell alcohol, through promises of naked women and oral sex in bathrooms. Or maybe it is just Cabana Cachaca (More eyecandy here) and Belvedere Vodka who dare tread in this heretofore unexplored territory. Yeah sure.
Cabana Chachaca via Adrants.
Agenda hipped us to this exhibit at the 1998 Gallery in Los Angeles that features the work of Peter Gronquist. In the show, he blends luxury brands with weapons in various and interesting ways. Considering what the DOD pays for it's weapons, it is surprising that brands have not thought of this before.
More Here.
So I walk out of my home today to take my daughter to school and on the way I notice 3 blocks of downtown Court street blocked off for movie production vehicles. Always feeling the need to be up on pop culture I look for the no parking MOFTB signs that indicate what production it is for. It turns out it if for The Taking of Pelham 123. For most, this may not issue a second glance, for me, I had to do a double take. The reason being that The Taking of Pelham 123 was one of those movies I remember from my childhood with extreme fondness. Robert Shaw, Walter Matthau, Jerry Stiller, gritty NYC. It does not get better than that. And to see it being remade, along with all of the other horrible remakes of classic movies from my childhood (Fun with Dick and Jane!!) just gets me all riled up. At what point do we just let something be what it is. Remaking this movie is not necessary as the original is so good it stands on it's own. Watch it today and you will be transported into what NYC looked like when I was growing up. The heat, the dirt, the drama, the outfits. I do not see how John Travolta or Denzel Washington are going to update what is good enough as is. With recent talk of remakes of Karate Kid, Revenge of the Nerds, and anything else they can get their hands on, it just speaks to me with the question of where is the creativity? We need original thinking and storytelling in our entertainment, not just regurgitated versions of classic originals.
Contrast that with Iron Man, which I saw over the weekend. This was a great example of good moviemaking with solid storytelling. They did not redo an existing story, they used a well known cultural figure (Mr. Stark) and used that as the impetus to create a new, up to date story around him. Yes, it is still simple eye candy and does not make a difference in the top 100 films of all time, but Favreau and Downey Jr. were able to deliver on the promise of what that story could be about a familiar character, which is much different from simply lifting from what was already successful.
I relate it to the creative process. Often I hear people comment that so much of what could be done for a specific client has been done already. My interpretation is not that we have to re-invent the wheel in creativity, but we have to change it and create it enough so that it reflects what our mark will be on it, not simply an updated version of something that has already worked.
Wait, what am I saying, I am in marketing after all...
Well it seems that Adweek picked up the story of corporations in the classroom that was started by that other troublemaker with the same last name as me. There certainly is a bigger issue here about transparency and honesty regarding corporations and education that needs to be discussed and I am glad that it was picked up by a trade with importance to our industry.
LINK: Adweek: The True Story of a Bogus Blog
One issue that I was thinking about today was that the very nature of the social media, especially digital video, lives on in perpetuity. If someone has a rant, whether the classic Comcast tech sleeping on your couch or the AOL cancellation nightmare, that stuff is always there and will still come up in searches and links (and marketing wank blogposts!). It is yet another reason that brands have to get it right the first time and do their best to avoid generating the ire of the consumer. Brand experience and communication is no longer only in the hands of the brand.
The Adidas Left Right Project. 2 giant sneakers, painted by artists and then trucked to Venice Beach and displayed to the public. Pretty cool idea, I would have liked seeing more of the shoes across the country. Footprints across America anyone?
I caught this interview with Sara Corbett of the NYT who had recently written this interesting article on how the cell phone, and particularly text messaging is changing the world. And here is a hint, it has nothing to do with the iPhone.
