Where is the left?

Okay, I need to know. How do they get away with it?

First, Gore concedes in the first election. Then, Bush takes us to war under false pretenses. Then we stay at war after declaring it mission accomplished. Then, they win an election? The leak of the CIA operative. Invade Iraq but not Iran or North Korea? The Hurricane Katrina debacle. Now Cheney shoots a friend.

How does all of this happen without somebody... anybody... stepping up and really calling them out?

What people want

What makes us so sure we know what consumers want?

If you are in this business (marketing or advertising) you probably know what I am getting at. I mean what makes us so high and mighty, that we can declare an understanding of society? And yet we do it all the time. I do it, creative directors do it, account executives do it.

I heard something somewhere where a creative director walked around with a shirt that had blazen on it "I am not a 45 year old black woman." I think the back said something like "And neither are most people in this room."

All we can hope to do is engage people with a story that is entertaining and interesting. Something that speaks to an emotional level of truth about a product/service.

I know what consumers want... for us to stop assuming we know so much.

Most Banks are kNowingly rAping us of money

I've always known that banks are out to get you, but it seems they are trying to be even more deceptively clever these days.

I first noticed this when I needed a certified check from my bank. I found out that it was going to cost me $25-30 (I can't recall the exact amount) just to get the check. They already had my money. The cost of printing the check can't be nearly that much. What gives? Apparently if I had more than $15,000 or so in my bank account they'd be happy to give me a certified check for free. What do people with that kind of money sitting in the bank need with a certified check?

I just got an e-mail from my credit card company that sounded terrific - and thus was too good to be true. I've always wondered in this electronic age, why it still took so long for purchases to post and payments to be scheduled? It used to take two days to schedule a payment, electronically, from my bank to my credit card company. Well, now my credit card company - the grand MBNA - is offering me a same-day service. Thank goodness... until you read a little further.


Did you read that? 12 dollars?! So lemme get this straight. I now have to pay you for the ability to pay you? The kicker is that Bank of America has my checking account, and they now own MBNA, so I know it's easy for the payment to go through - it's the same bank. Anyone else think that this is simply ridiculous?

iOlympics

Did anyone else note that the snowboarders (like Shaun White of the U.S.) in the half-pipe competition were almost universally sporting iPod nanos in their jackets? Does tis mean we'll see some black, silhouetted figures performing 900s and backside fakies? It wouldn't be the worst direction for the campaign to go in.

Blizzard of '06

Snow is the reason I tolerate winter. And this "winter" the Northeast has had a severe lack of snow. Well, no longer. Now we have a bunch. I thought it was interesting to see what my Dashboard's weather widgets looked like this morning. A whole bunch of white (apparently it was foggy in SF).

There was at least a foot out there, and it was beautiful. Dee and I stayed inside and took advantage of the day. It's really great when you have nothing to do but wait out a storm. You only worry about the most basic things and simplify the day. The only major goal was digging out the cars for tomorrow.

The snow can really relax you. It softens the sounds of our modern life. It transforms the visual landscape. It harkens back to youthful excitement.


It scares me that we haven't seen snow in a while. It scares me that we have temperatures in the 50s during the months of January and February. I can't recall an average winter, spring or fall these past few years. It could be a climatic anomaly, but what if it isn't? What if this is becoming a trend? What if we only know typical weather by freak storms and weather patterns? I have no doubt that nature will persevere... but will we?

Super Bowl XM

I'd be remiss in my blogging duties if I didn't comment on the recent Super Bowl in Detroit. Here are my 3 cents.

The advertising was predictably okay to less-than-good. I have said it before, but I'll state it here again: we have jumped the shark in Super Bowl advertising. The clichés and lowbrow humor have taken firm grasp on our expectations, and thus we are still waiting for someone to zag within every brands attempt to zig. From monkeys to middle-aged-men-seeking-humor-in-their-maturing-lives, it was all there. I will note there seemed to be far less in the way of car commercials, which I can't say is a bad thing. Overall I'd say there were few surprises and my personal favorite goes to the Budweiser wave - but don't put too much in that.

The game itself under-delivered big time. This should have been a fabulous match up and it turned out to be a penalty-ridden, ho-hum affair. Both teams seemed to be distracted. Maybe it was Aretha Franklin's ear-popping rendition of the Star-Spangled banner... maybe they all secretly wanted to be in the Rolling Stone tongue at half time... either way, Seattle lost the game more than Pittsburgh won it, and the refs were a big factor.

Seattle had 50 more yards of penalties in the game - surprising for a team with the least number of penalties in the league all season. A lot of those penalties negating great punt returns and/or big passing plays. The refs blatantly blew two plays (Big Ben's touchdown and Hassleback's illegal block/tackle - what the fuck was that?!).

But Seattle definitely didn't do what it takes to win - execute. Pittsburgh did just enough to get two big plays and that's all it took. If you look at the statistics, you'd say Seattle won. They only came up short in one category - third down conversions. Congrats to Pittsburgh for playing well on the way there (minus one Bettis fumble - thanks Ben!).

Other than that I'd say the best thing to come from the Super Bowl was that they sold me on watching Grey's Anatomy, and it was worth it. Except for that woman from Sideways. She is really annoying. I probably have two more episodes in me before I become completely bored by their patient neglection.

Sweet!

Idolatry

Well, I'm not sure if it's sadder that I have been watching American Idol or the fact that I actually want to comment on it.

First, I am surprised that the ratings of the show are reported to actually be going up. Is it possible that the show is universal enough in it's appeal that it actually has brought back people who weren't watching before? It doesn't seem they needed to change the formula, either. The show is almost identical to previous seasons.

The thing I really want to comment on is how obvious the production control is on the show. I couldn't find an image to illustrate this, but every time there is a really outlandish or horrid singer, you'll see every judge look to their right (camera left). With their eyes they ask everyone in the production crew, "Can we shut them up?" And you can imagine the director giving them the hold signal, hoping to get 2 minutes of excruciating coverage to leverage against the winners. I'm not surprised that this happens, but I guess I am surprised at how obvious the judges are at showing the camera their anguished glances to the crew.

Park it here for a bit

Here is a tremendously cool idea: Take a parking spot in any urban area. Rent it for a day. Install grass, trees, a park bench, and offer it up as a place to park for a while.

The premise that I like so much is rethinking the parking space. If you think of a parking space as a place to park a car, then it's boring. But think of it as your ability to rent a certain amount of square footage downtown at a rate of 25 cents or 50 cents an hour, and you can do all sorts of things.

This idea has some serious legs for a client out there that wants to communicate their relationship to resting or tranquility or escape. Imagine putting down sand and a kiddie pool as an ad for a travel company like Expedia. Set up a disco ball and water bar for an energy drink. Plus, I just love the idea of this disrupting a downtown's regular flow.

Kudos to rebar on a terrific notion, and thanks to Veer for the direction there.