On The Ground Looking Up

Monday's Questionable Advertisement

I guess things were more fun than I thought in the 50s. Yes you can even buy it on ebay.

Take My Life, Please!

How can you measure the life of a woman or man? So sang the cast of Rent in their closing number. Well it would seem that one Ian Usher wants to answer that question. He is auctioning off his entire life to the highest bidder on EBAY. You get it all, the house, the car, the motorcycle, some friends, a chance at one of his old jobs and a few other odds and ends. I wonder if he has set a reserve? Oh wait, he did. Take his life for a starting bid of AU$36.

The bidding does not start for another 83 days (interesting that it takes that long to 'prep' to sell ones life - that is like 327 years in the media lifecycle) which seems to me just a ploy to maximize media exposure. In fact the whole thing seems a little too PR Stunt for me. I wonder if there is something more to this than meets the eye. It seems like this type of idea came and went during the latter dotcom years but I guess nothing ever really goes away, it just moves to Perth, Australia.

Top Shockvertising

Adrants points us to this link featuring the top 50 Shocking Ads of all time. I think there are some missing and some that should never be there, but there are some interesting creative executions here and some things to avoid whenever possible!

Would You Go To A Bar That Charged You Based On Your Looks?

Yuppies pay extra for beer. Hippies and activists pay extra for organic soda. The homeless get a discount on cafe cortado. Gay couples who French kiss for 30 seconds get a discount on apfelschorle. Immigrants, asians who speak Danish as well as blacks in company of whites get various discounts.

So writes Guerrilla Innovation on the new bar Karriere in Copenhagen. It is actually an art piece about the relationship between social status and price, but in a social world, may be a possible revenue model.

Nuff' Said

New Media Channels Open To New Forms Of Sabotage

UPDATE: It seems the boards were not hacked, but were rented. Which makes mr Skullphone much less Alternative in his media activity.

As media companies spend more money to develop new products, they have to start taking into account that those products become targets for people who may try and exploit them. Take Clear Channel's new digital billboards in LA. 10 of them were hacked by an artist named SkullPhone who replaced adverts with his signature image all across southern California. It seems that more people are taking it upon themselves to "improve" current advertising. 12 Monkeys anyone? Thx to the Cowboy for the tip.

Future Of Gaming?

Coming on the heels of the incredible drawing program Phun, comes Crayon Physics Deluxe, an etch-a-sketch type game that uses the physics of shape and gravity to clear levels by drawing your own objects and catching a star on screen. The background paper feel and classic crayon lines also make it feel reminiscent of childhood and should be an easy transition for kids once the bugs are worked out.  I feel like this is the coming form of gaming, using real world knowledge and nature to influence in in-game play. I can't wait to play with these types of programs...if only they made them for a mac.

Atari Ads - My Lost Youth

I am loving these Atari Ads that Adland dug up. Just seeing them makes me shed a tear and pushes me to want to dig out the old Atari 400 with the wipe-clean keyboard.

Lunar Lander anyone?

More Atari ads here.

Portrait Of A Presidential Candidate As A Tasty Breakfast Food

Now that's branding.

Of course, you can buy it here on ebay.

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The World's Most Innovative Companies

Fast Company has a list of the world's most innovative companies. Some usual suspects and a few surprises for me. I wonder on a few about their actual innovation and the perception of innovation. Still, it is an impressive list and I look forward to working with all of them :-)

   

The World's Most Innovative Companies