Sit down, brace yourself, or do what it is you would otherwise do when you’re about to receive shocking news.
Ready? Good.
Psssst. The Holidays are upon us.
Awww. C’mon. Think that was a letdown? Well, let me make it up to you.
This Holiday Greetings video was emailed to me today and it’s too good to be left languishing under the tree in my in-box, so enjoy. It’s a 2005 effort from TBWA\Vancouver.
Normally if I had updated information on a blog post I’d just edit the entry and be done with it. This nut-crushing update is a special case, however, because so many people have been visiting the original entry. (I’m not quite sure how it happened, but the Doritos Japan Nut-crushing Package Design became the most popular post ever here on Adverb.) So I just couldn’t let this one go with a simple edit.
Most of the traffic is being generated from my new blogging friends over at Pantherhouse’s “The New Shelton Wet/Dry” blog and it is from their efforts I’m able to tell you what the package says, give you some context and show you more examples.
The New Shelton folks are good.
It appears my detecting a “slight, joyful smirk” on the crush-ee’s face was no hallucination (I have been known to hallucinate, just not about this). The Japanese characters on the far right of the package read, “denki anma,” or “revived by an electric nut-grind!” A phrase, it turns out, that comes from the crazy world of Japanese porn.
The chips themselves are black corn, chili-taco flavored and are part of a line called “Tights-kun Doritos,” or “Buddy-boy in tights Doritos.” Mr. Buddy-boy in Tights is a popular (adult) cartoon character in Japan and having a rotating stable of illustrations appearing on Doritos packages has caused people to begin to collect them. You can see a few of the packages in the image at the end of this entry.
That’s perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about “Revived By Mr. Buddy-boy in Tights’ Porn-derived Electric Nut Grind, Chili-Taco-flavored, Black Corn Doritos (from Japan)™,” but I’m sure you think it was worth it. (And thanks again to the nice folks over at “The New Shelton Wet/Dry Blog.”)
You guys make Fark’s outflow traffic look amateurish.
Back in 2003, when Adverb first hit the blogosphere, I learned a quick lesson: when in need of adverblog content, always look to the East. It’s pure gold.
Take this for example: the image you see– and you can click on it for a larger, much less knocked-out view– is a Frito-Lay “Doritos” bag from Japan. How seeing a nut-crusher-of-death illustrated helps sell corn chips is beyond my marketing prowess, even if the nut-crush-ee doesn’t seem too put out by it.
In fact, I detect a slight, joyful smirk on his face. Now that’s advertising.
Found on the not-safe-for-work photography art blog, “Tokyo Undressed.”
How do you top a post called ‘Doritos Japan Nut-crushing Package Design’? With a Nut-crushing Update.
We’re in the middle of editing a spot for one of my group’s clients, Chiquita Banana, that was shot in Miami when I was in the middle of my whole I’m-having-a-baby thing. Except for the overages caused by a weather day, and the problems with the production company, and the problem with the director and the… I’m sorry I missed the shoot.
Half sorry is more appropriate. There’s no way I would have/could have missed out on the screaming throes that come with new Daddy-hood and, even though I’ve never shot in Miami, this would have been my sixty-something’th film production and “been there, done that” has taken on a whole new meaning.
Still, you pay for it on the back end. Our agency closed for the Holidays at 2:00 P.M. yesterday, which, because of the editing, meant I was home by 7:00. Good times.
And that’s my Thanksgiving Holiday Stuffing.
Happy Thanksgiving, all– at least those of you who are here in the U.S.– and I hope everyone else has a safe weekend that sees you spending quality time with your families.
See Wal-Mart. See Wal-Mart come under fire for keeping downward pressure on employee wages… and health care… and paid leave… and even lunch breaks.
See Wal-Mart hire mega-P.R. firm Edelman to handle the problem.
See Edelman create “Jim & Laura,” two bloggers who were supposedly traveling across the country and parking their R.V. in Wal-Mart parking lots.
See Edelman being outed as having created, almost whole-cloth, “Jim & Laura” as part of Wal-Mart’s P.R. effort, under the guise of “Working Families for Wal-Mart“– a breach of WOMMA ethics.
See Edelman not register the “Working Families for Wal-Mart” domain name.
I’ve made my opinions on Consumer Generated Content pretty clear. Specifically, I’ve made my opinions clear on unfiltered consumer generated content and on, well, off-brand consumer generated content. (And even on stupid positions taken to advance the consumer generated warwagon.) And I have to admit that, when I made those posts, I felt somewhat alone in the wilderness, surrounded by the glowing eyes and strange hooting of the Marketing 2.0 monkeys invading the ad jungle.
So it’s nice to see the conversation has begun to balance somewhat.
I’m speaking about the AdAge article, “About Consumer-Generated Ads: Have We Gone Mad? Why Our Agency Has Decided to Pass on This Fad,” by Marc Brownstein, an article that’s made even more interesting by the flood of comments it’s generated.
Now I have a feeling of community. I just don’t think it’s the community the Marketing 2.0 drum-bangers had in mind.
(Click on the image to see the cartoon in a readable size.)
I’ve just returned from a quick trip to Washington, D.C. I was there for a new business thingy and it was a speedy out-there-and-back trip. (If you’re in the area, I should be back there on the 12th of December.) Fourteen hour days– where seven of them are spent on a heaving jet that was obviously mated with a bucking bronco at some point in its past– aren’t the most leisurely of ways to spend your day, but at least I am able to sleep in my own bed this evening.
Assuming the Wee Monkey allows us some sleep, that is.
Following in Russ Davies’ footsteps, a few of us gathered last week for a Coffee morning, lunch with barely any coffee™ (now trademarked by Paul McEnany– your royalty payment is on its way).
Paul did a terrific job talking about what we did (talk) and with whom (ad, marketing and PR bloggers) and whatnot, so just go visit Hee-Haw Marketing, already, and read all about it.
A good time was had by all. Let’s do it again soon.
Zune’s hard launch is today and I saw my first broadcast advertising for it yesterday (two spots so far).
To keep you abreast of my predictions for the brand and for the product, this from my original post back in July:
“So here I am, a male aged somewhere between 18 and 24, and I walk into a Starbucks. Suddenly my Zune lights up, receiving a wireless feed from the T-Mobile hotspot inside, asking me if I’d be interested in learning about their wireless Internet rates while I’m drinking my coffee.”
Would the Zune ever be able to connect to the Internet? Could someone walk into a Starbucks and use the connection there to download a song?
Mr. Lee answered without hesitation: ‘Probably, one day.”
Also, this from my original prediction:
“It seems to me the Zune, X-Box and the X-Box Live Marketplace are to Microsoft what the iPod, iTunes and the iTunes store are to Apple. Replace the X-Box with a computer accessing a particular website and you’re reaching a truly mass market, but for now, let’s stay focused on the X-Box.
The X-Box serves as the “master control” for Zune, ordering the playlists and whatnot and the X-Box Live Marketplace serves as the clearinghouse of music and multimedia products for purchase– all communicating wirelessly between devices.”
And this from a November 7 article, again in the New York Times, on the introduction of new XBox multimedia offerings:
Microsoft said last night that it would offer movies and episodes of television shows for downloading through its Xbox Live online service in the United States, starting Nov. 22.
In between becoming a dad, locking myself out of my own blog, moving offices, and working on producing five different television spots and a smattering of radio, I somehow managed– along with our Executive Producer, John Costello– to wind up in print. As in newsprint.
It is there this quote will forever be immortalized: “They bring their ideas, we bring our ideas, we sit around, we brainstorm [and] we come up with a mash-up of ideas from both camps. But once they’re on the page we just turn them loose, because we’re not going to buy a dog and then start barking ourselves.”
Ok. So Adverb is an ad blog. It’s here that I talk about, um, ads and ad people and all the other things you’d expect to find in an ad blog. Oh. Almost forgot.
I talk about monkeys, too. You can’t go wrong with monkeys.
But now I have a new daughter and I can already tell it will be difficult to keep Adverb from becoming a babyblog.
I must… resist… the temptation.
Fortunately, the Wee Monkey is a genius and, after I discussed my concerns about Adverb with her, she leapt at the chance to design and run her own blog.
So problem solved; she’ll have her space, I’ll have mine. Even better, a friend of ours has registered “weemonkey.com” and my little girl will eventually be able to mirror her site there.
Until then, you can keep up with the comings and goings (and the poo-ings) of the Wee Monkey over at her new blog, “Carson’s Crib,” located at carson.macksimpson.com (you can also find an icon at the bottom of Adverb’s right-hand sidebar that points to her blog).
EMT-Man: makethelogobigger isn't really correct. The protocol changes every year based on your level of certification, and whether you are working on...
michel: Glad to hear you, know you have been busy!!! Enjoy the Pubs and see ya when you get back!!!
Sit down, brace yourself, or do what it is you would otherwise do when you’re about to receive shocking news.
Normally if I had updated information on a blog post I’d just edit the entry and be done with it. This nut-crushing update is a special case, however, because so many people have been visiting 
We’re in the middle of editing a spot for one of my group’s clients, 
Ok. So Adverb is an ad blog. It’s here that I talk about, um, ads and ad people and all the other things you’d expect to find in an ad blog. Oh. Almost forgot.
