Saturday, December 5, 2009

Music makes everything better

I'm currently studying for my exams next week. While I'm attempting to cram a couple months worth of information in my head, I'm listening to a handful of bands that all coincidentally have the names of animals. I'll link you to a YouTube video of them for you to check out while YOU procrastinate your studying!

CARIBOU

GRIZZLY BEAR

FLEET FOXES

And the newest addition to my animal list: BOWERBIRDS

You could say that these bands are my ANIMAL COLLECTIVE.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Milk: Now able to stick to ceilings

***This post is about ad. If you want to skip the long, poorly written intro, please skip ahead to colourful picture. Thank you.***

On my morning commute to school this morning, I sat down at the back of the bus on those double seaters that face each other. Sitting across from me was a red-haired gentleman listening to his iPod. Not a very interesting sight to say the least but please, let me finish. He was also bobbing his head. Still nothing? Fine. In his possession were drum sticks that he was waving wildly about. I gazed at him mesmerized by this spectacle. He raised his arm high up in the air and whipped it back down at the invisible snare drum in front of him. Right as the wood of the stick made contact with the skin of the perfectly transparent drum, he looked at me. Eye contact was made and the verdict was that I was the one who was inappropriately staring. I snapped my head to the back of the bus, trying to play it like I was never looking at him.

Looking straight back at me was an older fellow with long white hair and a beard to match in both appearance and length. His stare was friendly but intense. He was invading my soul. I smiled and slowly turned my head to the front of the bus.

The back of someone's head was right in my face. Ugh. I looked down. My feet and the dirty floor of the bus. Great.

This is when I looked up and saw this:



I always look at the various ads and poetry posted on the space right above the windows but this was the first time I've ever seen an ad placed directly on the ceiling of the bus. Way to take advantage of blank space! I don't know how many buses they have done this on and how much more it costs to do this but it is a great idea! It differentiates itself from all the other ads on the bus and it certainly catches your attention.

The bus is basically an advertisement on wheels. On the inside, there are ads on the wall and now on the ceilings for commuters to read during their ride. The sides and back of the bus are also available for rent for businesses to advertise on so other drivers and people walking on the street can see them. It's also not unheard of for people to put ads on TOP of a bus. Abbott Mead Vickers slapped on message on the top of a bus and drove though London's financial district. The message was from a business magazine called The Economist and said, "Hello to all our readers in high office". Another was "Look before you leap". Clever eh?



If people in creative keep finding new places to put ads in old place, the next time we step on a bus, we'll see a logo tattooed on the driver's forehead.


(I know, I know. I totally took the Abbott Mead Vickers example from Whipple. But hey, at least I'm reading the darned thing!)