I wrote a review on Super Bowl ads in my previous post. It's really long, and you may be totally uninterested, but feel free to check it out and maybe comment on what the best/worst ads were.
I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend back home in Grand Rapids, so my family could see my fiance's new ring, and my roguish goatee. But getting there and back was half the fun! Northwest had the pleasure of being our discourteous carrier, canceling our connector from MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul), re-routing us through DTW (Detroit), and being generally rude and unhelpful. On the way back to SLC yesterday, our brand new and modern looking CRJ-900 left the gate, taxied out, but then got called back to the gate for being "overweight for MSP". So the plane was perfectly fine to take off from GRR, but would have been too heavy to land in MSP after burning off thousands of pounds of fuel? Shouldn't they, like, check this before booking/loading/taxiing? Instead, they asked 6 people to leave the plane and get on another plane bound for MSP, which was fortuitously sitting in the adjacent gate due to being late.
After hearing the landing gear drop on the approach to MSP, we suddenly bolted back up in the air and circled around. Once on the ground, our plane took a painfully long route to the gate, and then sat there, waiting for some alien breed known as "jetway operators" to actually connect us to the walkway. Our friendly captain informed us that "When it rains, it pours", explaining that we couldn't land the first time because we were approaching too fast (maybe due to the lack of weight?), and then there were no jetway operators because we were so late (DUUUUUHHHH!) Throughout the ordeal, flight attendants and friendly captains continued to "sincerely apologize" for their complete lack of planning- er, for the unfortunate weather and airport circumstances which were nearly unavoidable.
After all this, our 1 hour and 20 minute layover had been reduced to 0 hours and 2 minutes! We followed the MSP signs to the tram, which was to take us to gate C9, only the tram's digital marquee informed us it was "OUT OF SERVICE - PLEASE USE MOVING WALKWAYS ---->" Somehow, we made the connection (because it was late departing) and arrived back in SLC safe and sound. Our luggage even made it.
It was great spending time with family and friends back home. On Saturday, Annie and I had lunch with my old work buddy JJ McSparty at a new downtown joint called HopCat - pretty cool place and a wild beer menu. Then we checked out his condo at Union Square and sat chatting with him and his wife Jujube. Onward to my nephew's 2nd birthday party at my sister's place. We had burgers on the grill and some tasty ribs. Later that night, we hit up Jr P's place for some awesome Wii action (my first!) and to catch up with friends. Annie killed me at Wii boxing, but I did well at bowling and tennis. My arms still hurt today.
Then I got pink eye, again, in my left eye. Seriously, it happened while sitting in front of the computer watching funny videos with the guys at Jr P's house. Disinfect your mouse, Yoshii! And don't rub your eye...
Sunday was spent cleaning my gross eye and putting tons of eye drops in. I blame my predisposition for this ailment on all the people telling me how pretty my eyes are all my life. If I'm going to get a big ego about this eye thing, well, God'll show me what some mucus and dry irritation will do! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!
At least we got to watch a super-entertaining Super Bowl, and some more cousins and friends came by to my parent's house for food and fun. Monday, we caught a great lunch at Rose's in EGR with Bradley, and then headed to the airport for all the fun and excitement of cross country travel.
This morning, I woke up with pink eye in my right eye, and both eyes extremely red (pink?) So I'm going to the doctor this afternoon, which means I'm now home writing blogs. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up from the weekend. And yes, I'll make sure to use the red-eye reduction feature.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Super Bowl XLII ad review
Well, the Pats disappointed, but not nearly as bad as the ad world. Does Hollywood's writers' strike somehow affect Madison Avenue? Seriously, I've seen better overall creativity in those local ads on cable - you know, the family tire store ad where the barely literate daughter of the owner is reading a line about quality and service, and then gives a toothy grin and thumbs up? We've all seen it.
If you want a truly professional ad review, read Bob Garfield's on Adage.com - he's the best. It's raw, opinionated, and fairly jaded by his years in the business. I'll put the link below (and link to the ads themselves), but first, try and stomach my amateurish thoughts.
Let's start with the perennial overblown contributor: Bud Light. While not particularly original, the fire breather was funny, and the neanderthal-tire spot was okay too. I don't understand why they drop in the 2-second final scene after the logo/tagline - the scene is generally worse than the main ad and leaves me with a bitter beer taste. Best laugh: Will Ferrell as Jackie Moon. How long will his modified Ron Burgundy voice and personality keep us laughing? It still works for me.
Nice to see that CocaCola can still make warm fuzzy ads. Who'd-a-thunk Charlie Brown would star in this year's ads? I enjoyed trying to verbalize Stewie the balloon's thoughts as he fought for the Coke with Underdog; "Blast it all, you mangy mutt!" The political-pundit ad was lost on me, but why do I find two guys on Segways so amusing? (Aside): Yesterday, at SLC airport, we saw two cops rolling around on Segways near the baggage claim. Their machines had custom side-mounted storage bins and "POLICE" stickers all over them. Ooh - menacing. My guess is they filed a boredom complaint (it's the SLC airport) and were given the scooting podiums for amusement. Bonus! It's the citizens who are most amused! I compare this phenomenon to the fat twins on mopeds from the Guinness Book. Remember?
Dell, which has done some memorable ads, had a major flop. It was embarrassing actually - they're partnered with the (PRODUCT)RED campaign which supports the fight against AIDS in Africa, and the best they can do is a guy being worshipped for carrying his Dell laptop around town? Huh? Also, the Bridgestone ads with people/animals/Richard Simmons getting in the way were idiotic.
The ad that created the most visceral response for me was the Godfather-inspired Audi R8 ad. The cut from the front-end-in-the-bed scene to the firing engine and futuristic headlights of the new R8 was exhilarating. That car looks awesome. Bonus props for using the phrase "put on notice".
Enough with GoDaddy's sex sells pitches. Yes they're direct, but we get it already. I'm disappointed that Danica Patrick goes along with this stuff - I thought she'd stick closer to her sport. Instead, she's going the way of Kournikova.
Best line: Cars.com's "Plan B" spot with the stone circle death match: "You should definitely step outside the circle..."
Babies are cute, we know. Somehow, E*Trade still got it right with their baby videos. It makes the point well (ease of use), makes us laugh, and capitalizes on the recent trend of YouTube baby clips being emailed around by your aunt. Also, acknowledging clown creepiness never hurts.
The FedEx carrier pigeons were a good sight gag and that's about it. "Here's a great new (absurd) idea! No? Okay maybe not." Sort of the same concept as the Bud Light fire breather / flying ads. Bob Garfield calls it "the 'what if/never mind' comedy genre", which sums it up best.
Memo to Doritos: At $2.7 Million per :30 spot, you might want to re-think putting half your spend on a girl with a guitar named Kina Grannis. Good luck measuring that ROI. I'm sure she'll really stand out from the other refreshing, folksy, granola-eating ladies cramming that genre. And notice what they eat: granola, not Doritos chips.
On to the other beverage behemoth, Pepsi. I hate admitting it, but the Justin Timberlake spot was one of the better all-around ads of the show, complete with a clever gimmick, interactive website, call to action for free MP3s, and an Andy Samberg cameo to boot. "Multimedeoric" if you will. I should coin that term, whatever that means. Diet Pepsi Max must be doing some effective advertising in general, because I knew that would be the product featured in the head nodding/bobbing ad before we actually saw it. In this case, however, the "celebrity" appearances - Chris Kattan the only exception - were cheap and unnecessary.
One of, if not the best ad was the "Silence the Stain" spot from Tide. The sheer annoyance you felt watching and listening means it was effective. Watch it again, and tell me the stain's blabbering is not reminiscent of Steve Carell's anchorman character toward the end of this Bruce Almighty clip.
All of the vitamin/life/flavored water ads are generally weird. Once you accept that, you can enjoy the Thriller-dance lizards for SoBe Life Water. Come on, we all wish we could do that entire dance in our living rooms, and although we often try, we can never get the shimmy-shimmy / feet together / clap overhead part right. I'm talking about other people, not me. But this ad begs one question: Does Naomi Campbell really matter anymore? Really? Nao- forget it.
And finally (we hope), the culmination (we hope) of the Charles Barkley + Dwyane Wade "Fave 5" ads gave me some chuckles. Two points: He really spells it "Dwyane", that is not a misprint. And "Chuckles" is a nickname often used for Charles Barkley, so... The best moment of the ad was seeing Chuckles in front of the double-wide refrigerator. For those hip to the sports scene, Mr. Barkley is generally regarded as not slim. And Mr. Wade should keep his day job, which is flopping all over the ground drawing cheap whistles, while scoring lots of meaningless points for the worst team in the NBA.
The rest of the ads were either too idiotic to mention (SalesGenie.com), or I did not see them (___). For a professional and well researched take on the ads, see Bob Garfield's column here. If you missed any or all of the ads, be thankful, but feel free to watch them here.
If you want a truly professional ad review, read Bob Garfield's on Adage.com - he's the best. It's raw, opinionated, and fairly jaded by his years in the business. I'll put the link below (and link to the ads themselves), but first, try and stomach my amateurish thoughts.
Let's start with the perennial overblown contributor: Bud Light. While not particularly original, the fire breather was funny, and the neanderthal-tire spot was okay too. I don't understand why they drop in the 2-second final scene after the logo/tagline - the scene is generally worse than the main ad and leaves me with a bitter beer taste. Best laugh: Will Ferrell as Jackie Moon. How long will his modified Ron Burgundy voice and personality keep us laughing? It still works for me.
Nice to see that CocaCola can still make warm fuzzy ads. Who'd-a-thunk Charlie Brown would star in this year's ads? I enjoyed trying to verbalize Stewie the balloon's thoughts as he fought for the Coke with Underdog; "Blast it all, you mangy mutt!" The political-pundit ad was lost on me, but why do I find two guys on Segways so amusing? (Aside): Yesterday, at SLC airport, we saw two cops rolling around on Segways near the baggage claim. Their machines had custom side-mounted storage bins and "POLICE" stickers all over them. Ooh - menacing. My guess is they filed a boredom complaint (it's the SLC airport) and were given the scooting podiums for amusement. Bonus! It's the citizens who are most amused! I compare this phenomenon to the fat twins on mopeds from the Guinness Book. Remember?
Dell, which has done some memorable ads, had a major flop. It was embarrassing actually - they're partnered with the (PRODUCT)RED campaign which supports the fight against AIDS in Africa, and the best they can do is a guy being worshipped for carrying his Dell laptop around town? Huh? Also, the Bridgestone ads with people/animals/Richard Simmons getting in the way were idiotic.
The ad that created the most visceral response for me was the Godfather-inspired Audi R8 ad. The cut from the front-end-in-the-bed scene to the firing engine and futuristic headlights of the new R8 was exhilarating. That car looks awesome. Bonus props for using the phrase "put on notice".
Enough with GoDaddy's sex sells pitches. Yes they're direct, but we get it already. I'm disappointed that Danica Patrick goes along with this stuff - I thought she'd stick closer to her sport. Instead, she's going the way of Kournikova.
Best line: Cars.com's "Plan B" spot with the stone circle death match: "You should definitely step outside the circle..."
Babies are cute, we know. Somehow, E*Trade still got it right with their baby videos. It makes the point well (ease of use), makes us laugh, and capitalizes on the recent trend of YouTube baby clips being emailed around by your aunt. Also, acknowledging clown creepiness never hurts.
The FedEx carrier pigeons were a good sight gag and that's about it. "Here's a great new (absurd) idea! No? Okay maybe not." Sort of the same concept as the Bud Light fire breather / flying ads. Bob Garfield calls it "the 'what if/never mind' comedy genre", which sums it up best.
Memo to Doritos: At $2.7 Million per :30 spot, you might want to re-think putting half your spend on a girl with a guitar named Kina Grannis. Good luck measuring that ROI. I'm sure she'll really stand out from the other refreshing, folksy, granola-eating ladies cramming that genre. And notice what they eat: granola, not Doritos chips.
On to the other beverage behemoth, Pepsi. I hate admitting it, but the Justin Timberlake spot was one of the better all-around ads of the show, complete with a clever gimmick, interactive website, call to action for free MP3s, and an Andy Samberg cameo to boot. "Multimedeoric" if you will. I should coin that term, whatever that means. Diet Pepsi Max must be doing some effective advertising in general, because I knew that would be the product featured in the head nodding/bobbing ad before we actually saw it. In this case, however, the "celebrity" appearances - Chris Kattan the only exception - were cheap and unnecessary.
One of, if not the best ad was the "Silence the Stain" spot from Tide. The sheer annoyance you felt watching and listening means it was effective. Watch it again, and tell me the stain's blabbering is not reminiscent of Steve Carell's anchorman character toward the end of this Bruce Almighty clip.
All of the vitamin/life/flavored water ads are generally weird. Once you accept that, you can enjoy the Thriller-dance lizards for SoBe Life Water. Come on, we all wish we could do that entire dance in our living rooms, and although we often try, we can never get the shimmy-shimmy / feet together / clap overhead part right. I'm talking about other people, not me. But this ad begs one question: Does Naomi Campbell really matter anymore? Really? Nao- forget it.
And finally (we hope), the culmination (we hope) of the Charles Barkley + Dwyane Wade "Fave 5" ads gave me some chuckles. Two points: He really spells it "Dwyane", that is not a misprint. And "Chuckles" is a nickname often used for Charles Barkley, so... The best moment of the ad was seeing Chuckles in front of the double-wide refrigerator. For those hip to the sports scene, Mr. Barkley is generally regarded as not slim. And Mr. Wade should keep his day job, which is flopping all over the ground drawing cheap whistles, while scoring lots of meaningless points for the worst team in the NBA.
The rest of the ads were either too idiotic to mention (SalesGenie.com), or I did not see them (___). For a professional and well researched take on the ads, see Bob Garfield's column here. If you missed any or all of the ads, be thankful, but feel free to watch them here.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Fake instruments
So we bought Rock Band for PS2. I became fairly adept at the fake guitar while unemployed, playing Guitar Hero until my left hand fingers cramped into a permaclaw. But oh, the joy of FAKE DRUMMING. If you know me at all, you know I'm a rock 'n roll drummer at heart - my dream of thrilling arenas full of people with ear shattering fills and big finishes unfulfilled only because my Mother never bought me that drum set that I had on my Christmas list for like 15 years. (I love you, Mom, it's not really all your fault.)
Rock Band comes in a bundle with wireless guitar, 4-head drum kit with bass drum pedal and Ludwig drum sticks, and a microphone for the singer. The guitar is a bit heftier than our Guitar Hero axes with a softer feel - I like it much better. The drums are 4 rubber heads, sort of like the drum pads that you practice with if you take percussion in junior high. The plastic kick pedal is weighted well, but it feels like it will break if you kick too hard. The day Annie bought it, I was playing drums on the Medium level within 4 minutes of getting home from work.
[Flashback: end of 6th grade, band tryout day. An array of instruments in the library includes various brass and reed instruments on tables. No xylophones or snare drums to be found, but I'll check out some of the horns. I try out several, settle on the trombone. Unknowingly, I am now committed to trombone in the band. Later, I found out the kids who did get into percussion, like my friend Travis, simply told the teachers "I want to be in percussion", and were granted said wish. Fastforward 3 years, I am a freshman in high school, 1st Chair trombone ahead of 2 seniors, and in no way did that make me a huge geek. I quit at the end of the year and joined the choir. And in no way did that make me...]
My point is, if I had been a more assertive youngster, my future may have involved much longer hair and way more bus trips and ruinous addictions. As it stands, I can accept my 3 year stint with the slide T-bone - we did have a sweet marching program freshman year - music from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Anyhoo, we now have a fake family band. Preston is really good at the drums, which makes me insanely happy but privately bitter, and Zoey loves to sing into the mike, but only to Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive. She struggles reading the scrolling words on the screen, but she knows just enough to keep the game alive. Heh - get it? Annie is a dual threat on mike or guitar, doesn't really care for the drums it seems, and me, well - I of course can rock them all. Oh, I forgot - I won a Yamaha keyboard at a work luncheon raffle, so we have a fake piano, too!
The song selection in Rock Band totally sucks, but that doesn't really matter. Playing fake drums and fake guitar and doing karaoke through the TV is pretty much the coolest fake thing ever. I'll drop in some pics of us jamming soon. If you're lucky enough to come to our house (Is anyone ever going to visit me in SLC?) we can give you a demo. Maybe I should call it a "session".
Thanks to my parents for reminding me of one of the best and funniest reads of the year: Dave Barry's Year in Review. Here's a snippet:
"In other show-business news, the surprise contestant on American Idol is llama-hairstyled Sanjaya Malakar, who, with the support of millions of viewers, all apparently deaf, manages to reach the late rounds of the competition before being eliminated by a blowgun dart from Simon Cowell. Upon being revived, Sanjaya is signed by the Miami Dolphins."
He also has some hilarious coverage of the political races. Check it out.
Rock Band comes in a bundle with wireless guitar, 4-head drum kit with bass drum pedal and Ludwig drum sticks, and a microphone for the singer. The guitar is a bit heftier than our Guitar Hero axes with a softer feel - I like it much better. The drums are 4 rubber heads, sort of like the drum pads that you practice with if you take percussion in junior high. The plastic kick pedal is weighted well, but it feels like it will break if you kick too hard. The day Annie bought it, I was playing drums on the Medium level within 4 minutes of getting home from work.
[Flashback: end of 6th grade, band tryout day. An array of instruments in the library includes various brass and reed instruments on tables. No xylophones or snare drums to be found, but I'll check out some of the horns. I try out several, settle on the trombone. Unknowingly, I am now committed to trombone in the band. Later, I found out the kids who did get into percussion, like my friend Travis, simply told the teachers "I want to be in percussion", and were granted said wish. Fastforward 3 years, I am a freshman in high school, 1st Chair trombone ahead of 2 seniors, and in no way did that make me a huge geek. I quit at the end of the year and joined the choir. And in no way did that make me...]
My point is, if I had been a more assertive youngster, my future may have involved much longer hair and way more bus trips and ruinous addictions. As it stands, I can accept my 3 year stint with the slide T-bone - we did have a sweet marching program freshman year - music from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Anyhoo, we now have a fake family band. Preston is really good at the drums, which makes me insanely happy but privately bitter, and Zoey loves to sing into the mike, but only to Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive. She struggles reading the scrolling words on the screen, but she knows just enough to keep the game alive. Heh - get it? Annie is a dual threat on mike or guitar, doesn't really care for the drums it seems, and me, well - I of course can rock them all. Oh, I forgot - I won a Yamaha keyboard at a work luncheon raffle, so we have a fake piano, too!
The song selection in Rock Band totally sucks, but that doesn't really matter. Playing fake drums and fake guitar and doing karaoke through the TV is pretty much the coolest fake thing ever. I'll drop in some pics of us jamming soon. If you're lucky enough to come to our house (Is anyone ever going to visit me in SLC?) we can give you a demo. Maybe I should call it a "session".
Thanks to my parents for reminding me of one of the best and funniest reads of the year: Dave Barry's Year in Review. Here's a snippet:
"In other show-business news, the surprise contestant on American Idol is llama-hairstyled Sanjaya Malakar, who, with the support of millions of viewers, all apparently deaf, manages to reach the late rounds of the competition before being eliminated by a blowgun dart from Simon Cowell. Upon being revived, Sanjaya is signed by the Miami Dolphins."
He also has some hilarious coverage of the political races. Check it out.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Got your back wit' da sweets
Yo, check it. Some of yous may be wondering what I do at me job. Well, sample this little jingle I scraped together:
TOTALLY JOSHING - I had nothing to do with it, but it is outstanding work, and free marketing. Which is the best kind.
TOTALLY JOSHING - I had nothing to do with it, but it is outstanding work, and free marketing. Which is the best kind.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Ring-a-Ling: A Christmas Poem
I haven't attempted poetry since 10th grade creative writing class, so be warned. I wanted to summarize a story that many of you will ask me about, and what better way than a Christmas poem?! And begin...
Christmas arrived with nary a sound
A bit of snow on the ground, no kids to be found
Just me and my girl and our bright Christmas tree,
and Disco the Kitty with her new “busy-bee”
We’d planned on relaxing ‘til round about ten
Then family and presents would call us to them
So coffee in hand and a movie on queue
We cozied the couch for “The Godfather: Part II”
As Michael and Fredo in Cuba did play
I tried to conceal my jitters that day
For under the tree lied a gift of great meaning
Twas meant for my love and would soon leave her beaming
But how to convince her to open that one
Without letting on to the trick that I’d done?
Like a child I said “I wanna open a present,
So let’s pick one out for each other” I meant
I knew to go first, so I dove to the tree
She pointed way back to a box marked for me
With hands a bit shaky I tore through the wrap
For a warm winter coat, very nice one at that
Then her turn, “Which one?”, I pointed out a long box
With silver paper, a bow, much too large for a rock
Inside, a hiking bag - a meager fanny pack
“Gee, thanks” said she, I thought she might give it back!
But then, in the pack she could feel something else
I watched as she opened and looked for herself
Another box, quite small, with a jeweler’s mark
A treasure of sorts, but will it create the true spark?
As she opened the ring, I let a few moments pass
“Do you have a question for me?”, no patience, this lass
I leaned in on a knee, and spoke four famous words
And after a kiss, her reply was heard…
“Of course I will." She said the right thing!
Relieved, we looked at her shiny new bling
A marvelous ring, let’s hope it will fit
And barely it did, after sticking a bit
So that’s my story of Christmas this year
A morning engagement with mobsters and tears
Romantic? Maybe not, but memorable, yes
Suffice it to say, we feel truly blessed
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend time with family and friends. I miss my family and everyone back home, and I hope to see you all soon – with my fiancée!
Love,
Steve
Christmas arrived with nary a sound
A bit of snow on the ground, no kids to be found
Just me and my girl and our bright Christmas tree,
and Disco the Kitty with her new “busy-bee”
We’d planned on relaxing ‘til round about ten
Then family and presents would call us to them
So coffee in hand and a movie on queue
We cozied the couch for “The Godfather: Part II”
As Michael and Fredo in Cuba did play
I tried to conceal my jitters that day
For under the tree lied a gift of great meaning
Twas meant for my love and would soon leave her beaming
But how to convince her to open that one
Without letting on to the trick that I’d done?
Like a child I said “I wanna open a present,
So let’s pick one out for each other” I meant
I knew to go first, so I dove to the tree
She pointed way back to a box marked for me
With hands a bit shaky I tore through the wrap
For a warm winter coat, very nice one at that
Then her turn, “Which one?”, I pointed out a long box
With silver paper, a bow, much too large for a rock
Inside, a hiking bag - a meager fanny pack
“Gee, thanks” said she, I thought she might give it back!
But then, in the pack she could feel something else
I watched as she opened and looked for herself
Another box, quite small, with a jeweler’s mark
A treasure of sorts, but will it create the true spark?
As she opened the ring, I let a few moments pass
“Do you have a question for me?”, no patience, this lass
I leaned in on a knee, and spoke four famous words
And after a kiss, her reply was heard…
“Of course I will." She said the right thing!
Relieved, we looked at her shiny new bling
A marvelous ring, let’s hope it will fit
And barely it did, after sticking a bit
So that’s my story of Christmas this year
A morning engagement with mobsters and tears
Romantic? Maybe not, but memorable, yes
Suffice it to say, we feel truly blessed
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend time with family and friends. I miss my family and everyone back home, and I hope to see you all soon – with my fiancée!
Love,
Steve
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