I love how much fun Google has with itself. Try googling “world cup” and you get this:
Archive for the ‘Random’ Category
Google has world cup fever
Thursday, June 10th, 20103 ads we love: Olympic edition
Sunday, February 28th, 2010There were some fantastic ads during the Olympic Games. Here are three of our favourites. First up – Fantastic animated ad that appeared on the BBC to promote the upcoming Olympics:
And of course, the “Destiny” ad that Nike ran – very powerful:
And I couldn’t find a good embed for this, but if you click the photo you can see the truly excellent Rona ad done by Bos Montreal. The simple tape measure concept shows the diversity of our country’s landscape and the coming together of a nation to put on the Games. Great spot.
What were your favourites?
That purple mohawk looks good on you.
Thursday, December 17th, 2009If the person in front of you was suddenly replaced by somebody completely different, would you notice? Well, in the case of this experiment on change blindness, 75% of participants failed to notice the switch. See for yourself:
So if we don’t even notice when one person suddenly turns into someone else, why are we so confident someone is going to notice our ads?
This little glimpse into human perception and behavior gives us all the more reason to make the investment in something that stands out. If Guy #2 had purple hair, I bet the 75% who failed to notice would have dropped to almost zero.
The lesson for marketing? Don’t settle for safe, average advertising. Instead, take a few risks and embrace the advertising equivalent of a purple mohawk. It’s the only way to get noticed.
Via Boing Boing.
Oh the weather outside is frightful
Thursday, December 10th, 2009The weather today reminded me of this absolutely fantastic ad. Can you figure out who he is?
It’s not easy to vanish these days
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Fascinated by stories of faked deaths and odd disappearances, writer Evan Ratliff at Wired magazine decided to try it for himself. Evan “vanished” on August 13th, 2009 but there was a catch: Wired readers were offered a $5,000 bounty to its readers to find Evan within a month. According to Evan:
Nicholas Thompson, my editor, would have complete access to information that a private investigator hired to find me might uncover: my real bank accounts, credit cards, phone records, social networking accounts, and email. I’d give Thompson my friends’ contact information so he could conduct interviews. He would parcel out my personal details online, available to whichever amateur or professional investigators chose to hunt for me.
It is a fascinating read, both to learn the lengths Evan went to to avoid detection and the ingenious ways his stalkers chased him. Social media played a huge part, and it’s a little chilling to put yourself in Evan’s shoes as he watches people dissect his personal life online, share tips and theories and effectively track him like a hunted animal. He quickly discovers that starting a brand new life can be intolerably lonely, and he wrestles with the unexpected emotions that arise as he is stalked by an online community of readers. Technology is pretty amazing, but it’s your worst enemy when you are trying to vanish.
Canadian Cancer Society’s Fight Back Campaign. Wow.
Monday, November 30th, 2009Check out this spot below for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Fight Back Campaign, done by DDB. It’s gritty, powerful and honest. It uses real cancer survivors and their families, and you see their rage, their heartbreak and their determination as they speak to cancer as if it were a person.
There’s a great companion site too – fightback.ca where people can see all the stories in depth and share their own stories. Very empowering and beautifully executed.