Saturday, February 28, 2009

Crazy/Brilliant

The best ideas always are.











Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam
Executive Creative Directors: Jeff Kling, John Norman
Creative Directors: Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy
ACD/Copywriter: Betsy Decker
Art Directors: Anders Stake, Ayse Altinok

dubs. out.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Now That's How You Write Copy

We worked on the X-Games brand last year. Very cool assignment. Very tough assignment.

Before we got started, the Martin Agency showed us some past X-Games work. One of the campaigns they showed (from 2006, out of the LA-based shop, Ground Zero) stood above all the others, and was the all-too-familiar dual punch of being both intimidating and inspiring.

Not just beautifully put together, shot and animated, but surprisingly, beautifully written. (ACD/CW Kristina Slade, ACD/AD: Rodrigo Butori)



COPY: Would the world look different if you had the eyes of Paul Rodriguez? Would ledges and rails that have faded in the background secretly reveal themselves to you? Would you have the vision to liberate them from the architect's intentions? And if you did, would this view of the world change you? …Or would it change the world?



COPY: You can see it in a smile like Rob Machado’s. Just look at the man and you know you’ll never see anyone so happy to go to work. He’s got that inborn style that only happens when true talent is motivated by sincere pleasure. You can see it between him and the wave, how he surfs in harmony. And those long, soulful lines he carves are the love letters he leaves behind.



COPY: He may not look like the nicest guy, but Brian Deegan’s got heart. The kind that gets on a motorcycle and tries to make it fly. The kind that believes physics can be tamed. That you can soar upside down with a motorcycle above you and the ground closing in. The kind that knows that only the desire to win can overcome the fear of consequence. Brian Deegan’s got that kind of heart.



COPY: If you could pick any superhuman power, it should be Dave Mirra’s focus. With it you could fly. You could leap tall buildings in a single bound. You could win more X Games medals than anyone in history. And you could be in last place, with only one chance of redemption, and walk away with a gold medal around your neck and a stadium full of hanging jaws. You could, if you had Dave Mirra’s focus.

I suppose great copy is made greater by the peerless voice of Alec Baldwin.

dubs. out.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Quote of The Week, Barrett - 2/22/09

I've always thought optimism in the face of pessimism was a great response. As long as an advertiser has something to be optimistic about, of course. People are hearing from enough places that times are tough. For advertisers it's a chance to be a positive antidote.

-Jamie Barrett, CD, Goodby

When everyone else zigs, now more than ever is the time to zag.

People are looking for something solid to believe in and hold onto. Maybe a product as trivial as a can of Pepsi can be made into that something.

dubs. out.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Notes From Chris

Our speaker today was Todd Lamb, a 2000 graduate of the Adcenter. After working at Weiden, Goodby and then Mother, he's now a freelance writer/director/maker.

Todd's speech was entitled, "The Importance of Making Shit," in which he showed us around two dozen random things he has created in the last decade. One thing he showed was a series of crude posters known as "Notes From Chris," in which a fictional man writes public, asinine notes to New Yorkers. It is, without question, one of the wackiest and most pointless--yet smartest and funniest--things most of the audience had ever seen.





To check out more of Todd's work (including some awesome Cane 10 Rum spots), click here. To check out his blog, click here.

dubs. out.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

This Is Fantastic

From the author/illustrator/designer Christoph Neimann:





Click here to see the rest.

dubs. out.

Monday, February 16, 2009

It's Funny


The gigantic project is over.

We have entered into this tiny window known as "the longest point from when our next batch of craziness happens all over again." We have at least a week to let our past efforts sink in. Enough time to take off and not worry (or, at the very least, worry only nonchalantly) about upcoming assignments.

Enough time to relax.

And yet, for the ambitious ones, this tiny window is an opportunity to drive forward at even faster speeds. For those who don't know how to stop, now is when the work begins.

dubs. out.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Quote of The Week, Sarkissian- 2/15/09


Advertising is a tax levied on unremarkable products.

-Patrick Sarkissian, SarkissianMason

Patrick Sarkissian spoke to our school last week, and while he had a lot of great things to say, this one sentence stuck out to me.

When you really think about it, many of the best brands and products in the world don't advertise. They rely on PR, on making their products the best they can be, and on the words coming out of people's mouths saying how great these products are.

The best products shouldn't need to advertise. Consumers will do it for them.

dubs. out.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

What's The Lesson Here?


Don't do weight-loss competitions with roommates.

dubs. out.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Johnnie Walker - Android

I know this is a couple years old, but I rediscovered it a few nights ago and felt compelled to show it. Great script. Brilliant execution. Stirring message (all from an alcohol brand).



This spot and others like it is my argument against anyone who says all ads are indispensable. I could watch this thing for years.

dubs. out.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Quote of The Week, Costner - 2/8/09


You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance.

-Kevin Costner, Bull Durham

I'm pretty sure Costner was talking about baseball. But I think it can apply to the business of advertising/branding/design/communication as well.

Life, too.

dubs. out.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Google Latitude


Lets mobile phone users share their location (either exact, or citywide) with close contacts like significant others, friends and family.

Why it's a good idea:


dubs. out.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Scary Big

and only getting bigger.


Click here, then hit refresh a couple times and notice the change.

A dozen babies are being born every second.

dubs. out.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Quote of The Week, Fitzloff - 2/1/09

Ads can be about the brand itself rather than borrowing from culture or being about independence or freedom or some other aspirational thing. Coke can be about Coke. It can be about the sound or the bottle… An iconic brand is when you accept who you are, and people will love you for that sort of honesty.

-Mark Fitzloff, ECD, Wieden + Kennedy Portland

Why doesn't anyone make ads about the product anymore? It's always about something deeper, less tangible. I suppose it's this way because over time, people have run out of things to say about a particular brand, but that doesn't mean there isn't something yet untapped.

dubs. out.