Dirty Balls aren't funny...

Hmmm. Didn't I see something like this before...



Yeah, I thought so.

Cheap laughs and even cheaper jokes. Though this ad may not be the most clever, or had the most thought put into it, it still managed to get an award at this year's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. I can see why though, it's a simple idea that would be understood by the mass public. Everyone understands dirty humour and, like it or not, will giggle at it. During the viewing, a majority of the audience laughed. Solid, audible, undeniable proof that this ad works. Good job, AXE.

I wonder though, if this ad had run years and years ago, when the Alec Baldwin skit was still at its popularity, would the AXE spot be praised or dismissed for its unoriginality?

I had the pleasure of watching it at the Winnipeg Art Gallery this evening and it will be running from Dec. 1st to 10th. Check it out, there were some great spots this year! I will be blogging about one of my favorite picks from this year's batch later on this week.

See ya 'round.

BABIES EVERYWHERE!

Watch this:



I know. Amazing.

Now, I've tried to do some research on this commercial, whether it actually aired or not (I don't recall ever seeing it), and didn't find much. Here's the run down of what I did find:

1) Made by an independent film studio, Turnpike Films, in 2003.
2) Directed by Justin Reardon, whom apparently worked at DDB and also worked on the "Whassup" campaign.
3) Was not produced for Kellogg's, but merely produced to put in their demo reel.
4) Four other, equally as funny and well-produced, spots were produced for their demo reel. Again, not for the actual companies themselves.
5) The spots got really popular on the net, but then Turnpike Films just disappeared.

Why they disappeared? I do not know. The humour used in this, I feel, would bust guts today. It has the off-the-wall humour that a lot of spots try to unsuccessfully incorporate right now. After watching it, I got the message that if I eat Nutri-Grain bars, I will feel great. Really great. The spot stuck with me because I remembered what product it was for, and I remembered the benefit it offered me. The whole package. I wasn't left telling my friends about a commercial and trying to remember whether it was for a energy drink or cereal.

I know I always say this, but a lot of ads today aren't doing their job. Their messages get lost in the creative and no one on either side really gets anything in the end.

Take this for example:



Sure, it's definitely off-the-wall, to-the-max, but what does it mean? I understand there's a new flavour, but how does that make my life better? The only thing that I'm getting from it is nightmares. Terrible, terrible nightmares. After an awkward laugh, which only comes out of confusion, the commercial passes.

Okay, maybe I'm being stuck up. I agree that if watch the commercials objectively, they're both funny. So that's all that matters in the end. I just think that one works better than the other.

What do you think?

PS. If you're interested in their other "fake" spots, check them out here:

Starbucks
Nintendo
Budweiser
Raisin Bran Crunch

My night with Strombo.

Social media works.

I was at school this past Saturday night when, in a moment of procrastination, I logged onto Facebook to see what was up and happening that night whilst I slaved away at an ad campaign. This caught my attention:

Hmmm. I decided to investigate this claim by going over to Twitter to see if anyone could confirm this.

It was then I saw this tweet from none other than George Stroumboulopoulos himself:

The rumours must have been true considering that place looked awfully like the King's Head Pub. I felt as though I needed to offer Strombo some sound advice about the pub:

Minutes later, I received one new tweet:

Huzzah, an @mention from Strombo himself. I felt blessed and burdened. Burdened by the question he posed me. Unsure of myself, I posted the question as my status on Facebook. Within seconds I received 14 responses. Here are some of my personal favorites:





Using my better judgement I decided to reply with this:

Playing it cool, I decided to leave it at that and return to my campaign. After getting nothing accomplished, I felt faint and parched. The cure? A beer at the King's Head. While I was there, I might as well peek around to see if George did in fact take my advice, right?

I strode over a street and entered the overflowing King's Head. Surely this wasn't because of George. Alas, it wasn't. Some band was playing. Anyways, I went up to the bar, purchased a beer, and poked my head around the corner. Strombo and friends. Wait, what? Those are my friends! As I stood, dumbfounded by this coincidence, Esther, Jamie and Liz waved me over to sit. Uh, yes.

"Hey man, are you Mike Choi?" is the first thing he said to me. I watch Strombo Tonight and listen to his radio show whenever I get the chance, so it didn't surprise me that he knew my name without me having told him. A telltale sign of a prepared and professional interviewer: knowing everything about the person you're about to talk to. Turns out they had just returned from an adventure in Churchill, and had one night to kill in Winnipeg before returning home to do the show Sunday.

We chatted about how Twitter was a great communication tool, and the effectiveness of social media in general. He then offered insights to professional relationships and how keeping a positive and cooperative attitude in any work place benefits you in the long run. He also told me that he had touched some polar bears.

I then had an opportunity to speak with Darby Wheeler, producer and video journalist extraordinaire. He was very warm and amiable as well, telling me about his career experiences and offering some great advice. I also learned that he recently broke his tailbone from an incident with his bike which led to him having to sit on a donut at a friend's wedding.

From Twitter mention to having a beer, this story proves that social media works.

Cheers boys!

George Stroumboulopoulos:

Twitter

Website

Darby Wheeler:

Twitter

YouTube

UPDATE: He read my blog

Mad Tunes

Do you watch Mad Men? If you answered "no", please stop reading.

Seriously, you're not going to get anything out of this.

Fine, but I warned you!

For those of you that do watch Mad Men, and maybe some that don't, you'd probably be able to recognize the iconic opening title sequence anywhere.

Here it is for those of you who don't watch it. Tsk.

According to a source (Wikipedia), it was inspired by Hitchcock.

His movie poster for Vertigo:

And the opening sequence for North by Northwest:

I think that one of the biggest reasons why the opening is so good is because of the music. The song is called "A Beautiful Mine" by RJD2, an American hip hop producer. It sets a mischievous tone, making us ask ourselves whether we are about to be hoodwinked a group of chain smoking, whiskey shlucking ad men.

You can listen to the full, unedited version of the song here if you'd like. If you play percussion, you'll definitely appreciate it!

A group of folks loved it so much, that they decided to cover the song themselves. When trying to think of lyrics for it, they realized that a famous melody could be sung over top of the music. So, they rounded up a bunch of talented musicians, a studio, and a full crew to do a full out production of this. It's really something else, so check it out.

Nat King Cole? Yes, please. Hot lady singer with pretty voice? Yup.

Watch Mad Men! Season 4 ended just a couple weeks ago, so now is a great time to catch up!

Dear Captain Long

Dear Captain Long,

You are quite a well-spoken individual. Thank you for approaching me in the manner that you did. If you were to have any other way, I would have probably just deleted your e-mail immediately.

Ba'qubah? I've never been. Do they have donairs there? They're quite similar to the Arabic shawarma or Greek gyro, but with a Canadian twist. If you do find a donair place there, please let me know how it is.

Wow! That sure is a big number. With that kind of money, you could probably eat donairs for the rest of your life! Unless you got married of course. Then you would have to consider your wife's tastes. She might not like donairs.

I am honoured and quite surprised that you want me to help you receive this sum, seeing as I have no experience in handling business relating to crude oil. I deducted that you must have been sitting in your canvas tent in Ba'qubah when the short Halloween radio drama two other peers and I produced, came on your radio, which was coincidentally tuned in to KICK-FM, my college's radio station. You were so impressed with the quality of radio drama, that you immediately stood up from your seat and announced, "I've finally found the man who will help us recieve this sum of money that we made off a crude oil deal!"

Alas, though I am extremely interested, I am a full-time student and am not able to assist you at this time. I'm sorry to hear you cannot "keep this funds", because you are there on "Official capacity". I wish you the best and hope that things go smoothly there.

Respectfully yours,
Mike Choi

PS. This is what I imagine you look like:



You will remain in my prayers and dreams.

"HAHA" was all that there was...

Tonight was the second and final night of CreCommedy. 21 of the greatest and funniest CreComm minds came together to perform five minutes of stand up to an audience of 100+ people at the King's Head Pub.

All I can say is: WOW. I can't believe how proud I am of everyone! It already takes a lot to stand up and speak in front of people, but to try and make a group of people, who are expecting you to be funny, laugh...well, that's a whole different story!

During the day, my heart was constantly beating as if I was walking up flights of stairs all day, and my right eye was twitching something fierce. I felt uneasy. Sick. And it was because of the anticipation of being unfunny.

In ad class, we had to make a quick presentation on why a specific ad was bad/ineffective. During my presentation, I was calm, collected and concentrated on trying to convince my peers of my opinion. But, as soon as I was finished and my mind got to thinking about stand up again, I started hyperventilating. What a terrible day! And I can confidently say that other comics that went up tonight were just as wrecked as I was.

Fast forward to 8PM.

Everyone got up there and killed it. Jokes were told, and laughs were had. All the insecurities and feelings of uneasiness were left at the bottom of our empty beer glasses. All six of them...

Anyways, I just wanted to give kudos to everyone who went up!

Alexa Lacroix
Michael Fleischman
Tiffany Lachuta
Chase Gouthro
Aggie Semeniuk
Jerrad St. Germain
Jennifer Hanson
James Hawboldt
Jessica Cable
Kevin Hirschfield
Jeremie Wookey

Jeremy Giacomin
Steve Dreger
Jeff Ward
Caitlin MacGregor
Adam Smitzniuk
Berea Henderson
Maeghan Heinrichs
Sean Angus
Jeremy Williams

Also, a big thanks to Dan Verville and Cara Lytwyn who headlined both nights, and everyone who came out and helped with set up, or just came to laugh.

Thanks!

Check out Kenton's YouTube Channel for videos from both nights!

Here are some personal favorites (though everyone was fantastic!). The three Jeremy's!

Jeremy Williams

Jeremy Giacomin

Jeremie Wookey

(PS. Here's mine if you're interested...CLICK)

Me Good Words. What?

Sometimes I have to write things. Even now, I am writing things. I mean, can't you tell? You're reading my blog things right now, you dummy!

Sometimes I'm bad with words. Sometimes, I use the same words too much and my things seem really amateur. This is when I consult the online Thesaurus.

It makes you feel a little bit sad to find this funny, eh?

Please, let me restate what I meant to say before, but a little more eloquently.

Ahem.

Occasionally, I have to compose written materials. Even now, I am formulating information. I purport, can't you recognize this? You are deciphering my web log at this moment, you ignoramus!

I am intermittently ghastly with letter combinations. Recurrently, I employ like words most copiously, thus my properties appear to transform me into an abecedarian. This is when I beseech the sacred digital tome of alternative written fricative and vowel amalgamations.

(I almost died writing that)

Of course, I'd never ever write like that. Word barf to the X-treme! But I do use the online thesaurus every so often, as should you! If you are every luck enough to visit the website and see this, you have been blessed by the touch of advertising in new media.

80% off AND fun little illustrations? Yes, please.

Pretty fancy business eh? Like I've said time and time again, ads are sneaking into every nook and cranny. Don't even try to wash between your armpits, it's useless!

So this is obviously an ad. Blatant promotion for CS5 that takes up an entire page. But, is it distracting? Does it block and obscure what you came to the website for? Nope. It's just kind of in the background doing its own little thing. Admire it if you want, or don't.

Compared to YouTube ads that get "all up in your grill" and won't let you watch your baby drummer video unless you invest 15 or 30 seconds of time to ignore an ad first, this is fantastic. It's taking advantage of the new ad spaces that people are selling without annoying the people you're trying to get to like you.

There's also a strategic element to this too. Students and teachers alike use a thesaurus to sound smarter. And what's this selling? Student and teacher editions of CS5! Smart. Very smart.

Anyways, I'm going to stop writing things (D'oh) because I know all you're thinking about is that baby drummer video I talked about. Here it is:

Enjoy...you ignoramus!