Meanwhile, on the subject of phones. I will be moving over to an iPhone, but only in April when they should have sorted all the crapness out.
The Steve Jobs "reality distortion field", (as we knew it back in the day when he was a client), is still so powerful that it turns journalistic brains to mush.
So...
There is no point to a good browsing interface unless you have 3G. Therefore the iPhone, right now, is nearly pointless.
Never buy V1.0 Apple products, unless you enjoy being both ripped-off and a guinea-pig.
Link: Hofstadter's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The recursive re-statement of time management in complex environments. When you are a member of a team in an unstructured consensus environment this is especially problematic.
You often experience it at the end of pitches; it's called:"Hurry up, and wait".
"Pitch socks" whilst nasty, are harmless in comparison - this is psychological.
Full of adrenalin, 9/10ths of panic; you have to do something. You're ready; but you don't, can't, won't act. There's no direction. Your pitchbuddies are feeling this as well, but no-one will mention it. They're all too busy. That's the first rule of HUAW.
Tick follows tock, and the minutes,hours and even days drift by. Waiting is the most exquisite torture.
I'd always admired the positioning of Playstation 2 as "The Third Place". I still think it's great, but am feeling disappointed that it's neither original nor creatively translated (from what must have been a well-read planner's insight).
Silly of me really, this problem has been well explored before. I wanted to quote Wilde's "genius steals" line but the provenance and phrasing are wooly, and I don't have my ODQ to hand.
It was nailed in the OT anyway...
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that
which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing
under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 KJB
More than one of my friends has a "Dirty Burger" habit. This photographic journey into the sad , disappointing world of actual fast-food speaks volumes.
Nothing we didn't know already but beautifully captured. The lack of commentary is really poignant.
The Whopper is spectacularly rubbish - life can be so cruel sometimes.
The review of Wendy's Baconator reminds me why I don't eat them but I applaud the "fuck it anyway" positioning - a useful reminder that life is for living; nanny-state-ninny-thinking needs to be challenged.
JWT France has made a
three minute advert that tells the story of a frustrated cubical clerical and how he finds salvation in a Kitkat. By eating the product he leaves his mean boss, smug executives, conspiratorial cow-orkers and the office "skirt" behind. Through a series of cinematic references, especially, The Crimson Permanent Assurance we learn that his life is utterly transformed and a new universe of opportunity awaits. As noted elsewhere, "Eat our chocolate and meet God" is one hell of a promise, but it works. Gloriously hubristic.
It's the front end of a campaign to "Win a trip into space" and other significant prizes. The CTA is to visit the website and enter a promotional on-pack code.
What's good about this is the beauty of the production and the charm of the characters. It brings to mind the best of Pixar, but its homage not rip-off. I like the way they refrain from VO's, clunky explanations of their positioning and other detritus of the typical 30s spot. Instead they let the characters and plot do the selling without too much forcing of the issue. I feel engaged, I'm leaning forward, I want to know more. It's a shame that the user experience starts to break down at this point.
At the end of the clip, it's hard to read the URL fast enough. They've not bought supporting search times so it didn't Google easily. Even the blurb on the clip, published by the agency, omits the URL. Frustrating. Furthermore there's no mobile site, so even though SMS plays a big role they've not joined the dots on this one. The site itself is a bit thin and uninvolving, clearly the production values of the film have not travelled this far down the line. Pesky line. In the context of a beautfiul film and an exciting prize they just can't help themselves from banging on about the quality of their biscuits. Half-pregnant again as my old pal Goeorge would say.
it's a great campaign, but clearly most effort has been concentrated on the film. It's a case of not being able to see the trees for the wood. The big picture thinking is excellent, but we can see their bra-straps on the digital detail. A slightly more balanced approach to budgets and resources could have made something great even better.
