It's a bird, it's a plane. No it's.....

I recently found this ad from Cole Vision Corporation out of Quebec for Sears Optical. I originally found it on the adforum website. It shows a lady on a park bench looking up in the sky. She slowly reaches for her umbrella, opens it and places it over head. Shortly after, bird poop falls from the sky and lands on her umbrella. She closes it and puts it away. It is a great ad; it uses humor while clearly getting its point across. Anyone can understand the message being conveyed; the scene resonates with the audience. The idea of getting shit on is nasty and creates a strong emotion of disgust and discomfort with the viewers. The fact that her vision is so good that she could see the poop coming and prevent the whole ugly scene is very smart and creative. You should check it out. It is a short ad that readily and easily defines its message through the execution. I know adforum closes off access to videos after a week, so I will also link to another site that is currently playing the ad. Enjoy

By the way...sorry this is a little late, it has been a crazy week of projects and living at the library.

This read is easy to digest!

Recently, I discovered that Readers Digest doesn't just do magazines. In fact they do a lot of stuff, but my new favorite thing is their select editions. It is a series of four condensed stories in one book. You can sample four books in the time it may take you to read one. It allows for you try out new authors you have never heard of, but at the same time authors that have been selected for their adept story telling. These books also feature well known authors such as Marry Higgins Clark and Nicholas Sparks. The authors are often surprised at how well the story stays true to form despite the amount of information that was removed. Nicholas Sparks comments, "The editors of Reader's Digest Select Editions continue to work their magic. Their treatment of my novels couldn't be better." For instance, I just read the book Whiteout by Ken Follett. If you read the book in its entirety it would be 396 pages long, while the story I read was only 165 pages. At first I was skeptical, if I want to read a story, I want read all of it, find out all of the character idiosyncrasies, and the get to experience all the details of the story. But as I read it, the story moved quickly; it was suspenseful and interesting. I didn't feel like anything was missing. When I read reviews of Whiteout, people said it was a mediocre story that moved too slowly. I was surprised to hear the review, but it makes you realize that Readers Digest took out all the extra information that can drag down a book. But we've all been there; where a good story can drag on and on because extra details and information impede the flow of the story. There are just so many great books out there, and never enough time to experience them all. These books offer such a great solution! The books are short in pages to begin with, but the way they are edited makes them fast paced and quickly/easily read. I would recommend these books to anyone who feels like I do..."too many books, not enough time."

What's your footprint?

What's your ecological footprint? I found this interesting quiz that measures your consumption of the earth's resources. It asks questions about how you live day to day and determines how much land and water is needed to support your lifestyle. The biological capacity with 6.2 billion people allows for 4.5 acres per person. According to the quiz my consumption is 18 acres, and if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.2 earths to support my type of lifestyle. Even more surprisingly was that I was below average. The quiz gives you a comparison of how you rate to other people in your country. The average person in this area needs 24 acres to support their way of life. This number is crazy! Especially when we are allotted 4.5 acres. Once you take the quiz, and realize how much energy and resources you consume, they encourage you to follow up on it. Learn about how to improve your lifestyle and live lightly; they want you to join in the effort to make people around you aware.
They have a great website that lets you learn more about the cause and quiz. It answers questions about how the quiz rates you. It lets you see how your food choices, where you live, and the population of your city affects your footprint. It offers suggestions and ideas on how to change your lifestyle. The whole idea is interesting and gives you a measurable number to represent your demand on the environment.

Zunes Tunes

Microsoft launched their new media player, Zune, on November 14. It is definitely some competition for the well established iPod. It features a 3 inch 320x240 pixel display which is larger than the 2.5 inch screen on the iPod. Zune comes in black, white and brown and at 5.6 ounces it is heavier than the 4.8 ounce competition. Overall Zune is a larger product than the iPod. Zune is only available in 30GB where as the iPod offers a variety of sizes up to 80 GB. Zune features the ability to share music between people with the same media player, and they have made sure they didn't miss the opportunity to make this well know. You can send or receive information over a 802.11 b/g connection when you are within 30 feet of each other. The detail that they aren't making as well known is that it is only good for three days. You can share your music, but if they want to keep the song, they have to go out and get it for themselves. The Zune is not yet compatible with Vista, and somewhere deeply embedded in their website they have disclosed this information, but it is another glitch that is not well known. Both players are equally priced, but I think if Microsoft wanted to strongly compete, they should have made the price lower than the iPod, given Apple's strong market share. Microsoft has historically not done too well with hardware, so it will be interesting to see how this venture fairs. May the best media player win!

Christmas in October?

Isn't it a little ridiculous to see holiday decorations before Halloween? Not according to Lowe's who launched their seasonal set up a full week before October 31st. They claim consumers are starting their shopping sooner and need to accommodate the demand. Holiday decorations and shopping used to commence the day after Thanksgiving right? Doesn't anyone remember "Black Friday?" AdAge blames Wal-Mart, who in 2005 started their holiday campaign November 1st, a full three weeks ahead of black Friday. This year the strategy has been repeated, but with many companies following suit. Even Best Buy had print ads in October issues of magazines. $457 billion is expected in holiday shopping this year (Adage) so it is no wonder companies are trying to tap into that as soon as possible. As a consumer there some issues with this: how often do you promise yourself you are going to get done early, and you do. But then sometime between being done and the actual holiday you find more things that you know your family or friends would love so you get those things too. This is why starting early never works, you just end up buying more gifts!!! And of course this is great for the companies. Who doesn't want to end up selling more than intended? But there is also a fear that a company could offend their consumer. The ads and holiday excitement quickly grow tired. People get sick of seeing the holiday crap, while others get irritated that the company is pushing the hype on them so early. Home Depots Chief Marketing Officer is well aware and said "We want each holiday to have it's time. We thought going before Halloween could backfire on us. We want to maintain the integrity of each holiday. If you go too early you can violate the sensibilities of the public and people can sometimes resent that." There is something to be said for this. Aren't companies losing some of their profits by skipping holidays? And he's right, I don't want to start thinking about Christmas before the Holiday season actually starts. Although, I know on some level it must be working because I actually saw a Christmas Tree in someones window the other day. How sad...

Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused is a magazine in the UK published for young adults. It is a strong, successful independent magazine that has been running for 12 years. The creators were working for another magazine in the early 90's and realized that the company was oblivious to the talent and creativity that was emerging all around them. They branched off and created this magazine that went beyond the sacred trinity of fashion, music and film. They broadened their scope to include art and literature as well as social and political issues in the community and worldwide. Their stories include underground youth movements, young up and coming talents, new trends, interviews and inspiring stories with journalistic quality. They review new technologies and cover campaigns and overall try to educate and inspire youth. Dazed has an artistic edge; they are always featuring bold new designers, captivating photography, and new trends in music and fashion. The magazine often holds contests and presents awards to their readers, which often kick starts careers for these young people.

During a time when many magazines are struggling, Dazed and Confused has had five years of continuous growth. It is one of the most successful independent publications today. It's a great magazine focusing on art, culture, upcoming talent, and poignant issues.

Kirstie Alley a Bikini Model?

Today on Oprah, Kirstie Alley was brave enough to show herself in a bikini; she paraded herself on stage in a maroon robe and bathing suit. Now we all know the power that Oprah has, and her loyal following, but I know a lot of people tuned in specifically to see the "fat actress" show her stuff. I guess the question is who really cares? I didn't tune in personally, but the chatter before and after the show demonstrated the fanatical interest in seeing a Kirstie's transformation.

Since last October we have seen a different television ad every month showing Kirstie Alley stating her progress and promoting Jenny Craig. Of course it is a big accomplishment to lose 75 pounds; I can see Jenny Craig using her as their spokesperson, but as for the bikini, there was a lot of hype for Kirstie's 10 second flash. First of all, she isn't exactly what I call bikini ready. She had to wear "stripper hose" in order to hold herself in...that's a bit much. Here's another thing, she said she started off at 220 pounds and lost 75, which would make her 145 pounds. I'm sorry but a 5'8" woman does not look like that when she is 145 pounds. I am 5'2" and I once weighed 145 and I was half the size she is; I'm sorry, but there is just no way she is 145 pounds. So either she hasn't lost 75 pounds or she was heavier than 220 to start with...a much more likely option. If you look at her at her heaviest she was a BIG woman, and with her height, 220 is a bit low.

I think she deserves a big congratulations for how far she has come, but I also think she needs to come a lot further to get the kind of media attention she received. I just don't believe it was that important to see a still obviously overweight woman feel uncomfortable and awkward on stage. If you do care, Kirstie has a blog that you can read to follow her weight loss journey.

Bob Barker Come on Down

On October 31st, Bob Barker announced he will actually be retiring in June 2007 after 35 years of being host of The Price is Right. He said he's "decided to retire while I'm still young" and at 82, he's just a spring chicken. He felt it was an appropriate time to retire because he will have reached two important anniversaries, 35 years on The Price is Right, but also 50 years in television overall. He says he will miss it a great deal, and hasn't retired any sooner because it has been so much fun. The Price is Right is the longest running daytime game show in history. Barker started his game show career with a show called Truth or Consequences, followed by the short lived The Family Game only to be replaced by the infamous The Price is Right. Barker has won 17 Emmy Awards as well as being inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2004. They have already been looking for Bob Barker's replacement for two or three years, knowing this day would inevitably come. There is no way he will ever truly be replaced; he is one of the most well known and loved personalities on television.

So what will Bob be doing with all this extra time on his hands? He wants to sit down for a couple of weeks to find out what being bored feels like, then who knows. He knows he wants to continue working for animal rights, especially his own DJ&T Foundation. He will also consider movies, but he wants it well known that he "refuses to do nude scenes. These Hollywood producers want to capitalize on my obvious sexuality, but I don't want to be just another beautiful body," he says jokingly. Well at least he still has his morals.

We will miss our silver haired sweet talker come June, but just remember "help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered."