Pinterest

Friday 30 March 2012

Blondie deconstructed

I've always been a fan of Blondie. Here's a brilliant documentary on the making of Heart of Glass courtesy of Tim from work. It pulls apart the song and shows you how different tracks such as the drum machine and real drums, or Debbie Harry's lower range and upper range were recorded and then put together to give a unique and revolutionary sound. Very clever stuff! Enjoy.

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Elephants need mobile phones too

To advertise the Samsung Galaxy Note The Viral Factory have turned to a rather unusual casting - elephants! Peter the elephant obviously wowed enough to get past the casting couch and here he is playing with the touchscreen. He seems to like it. What I'm really amazed about is how delicate an elephant's trunk can be. It's like a finger! It really makes you think about how clever elephants are too.

The Viral Factory tells us the footage is all real, with "no film trickery, post-production or hidden cuts," and the company's even uploaded unedited clips to help you decide for yourself.

See the viral video here and one of the unedited clips below:





I don't know who the girl is but her reactions to the elephant are gorgeous. Nicely captured.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

A softer cow for a softer butter

Thanks to my friend Thomas again for these funny little ads. They look like they were plucked straight from a student book - but they are pretty damn cute.


Pinterest - Pointless?

Last week I was invited to join Pinterest. Of course being a media whore and working in advertising where you need to maintain on top of these types of trends I accepted. Pinterest, if you haven't joined if a social networking site centred around images. You can either upload your own or re-pin images you like from people you follow. To start you off Pinterest gives you there usage policy and some recommendations of who you might like to follow based on your interests. This means you're instantly able to find images and get involved. The negative side is that, unless you are an originator, all you're doing is duplicating images and the whole thing becomes a bit circular. The other thing is rights management. I have a lot of pictures I've collected over time only for them to sit unloved on my desk top. But where did I get them? If I can't call out who's they are should I even post them?

Well in any case I've had some fun on Pinterest and I've found some really nice ideas too. Like this poster. Sums me up really.


Wednesday 7 March 2012

Jeremy Deller - and his telling of the miner's strikes.

I'm a girl from Wales. I'm a girl from Kent. I'm a girl from Derbyshire. I'm a girl who's background is interwoven with mining communities. So today when I went to see the Jeremy Deller exhibition at the Haywood Gallery in London, I was greatly moved by his piece on "The Battle of Orgreave (An injury to one is an injury to all)". It was about the 1984-5 miners strike and violent conflicts with police. It was about the bullying of the trade unions and Margaret Thatcher's biggest legacy: the way she really changed working class Britain, communities, lives and the landscape of our country.



http://www.jeremydeller.org/

I have grown up with these stories told from a working man's point of view. How the BBC betrayed them and lied to the public in the service of the government. But I didn't know that Sun printers actually refused to print headlines which slandered the Union. That makes me proud. And sad that they were even asked. It was a dirty civil war.

It's interesting in light of recent demos against the new Conservative Government by students and Union members which were portrayed in a similarly sensationalist and biased way. I saw police intimidation with my own eyes and hear reports of children being kettled for 10 hours in the cold by police. That didn't appear in the news did it?

I went to see "The Iron Lady" with my family at Christmas. I found it told a very sugar-coated version of Margaret Thatcher's life. What an amazing woman it said. Look at how she's just a poor old lady now. Maybe we should pity her. What the film skirted over was how hated she still is. It didn't show the communities left with nothing, the social problems she created. The way that working class has become a dirty word denoting benefit scroungers.

That is her legacy.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Scientologists Capture a Copywriter

5 years ago I was struggling down Goodge Street two A2 advertising portfolios in hand. It was dark cold and raining and it was a year to the day that my Mum had died. Head down I noticed a sign. "Free stress tests" it said. I stopped to adjust my portfolios, coat and handbag. "Excuse me. You look pretty stressed. Would you like a free stress test?" said a kindly concerned voice.

I was vulnerable. It looked like a health centre. In fact, I'm not really sure what it looked like. I was an emotional wreck. I didn't care. Besides he sounded like he would help me - sort me out - give me a cup of tea. Anyway, like Hansel and Gretel, I went inside.

They sat me down and gave me electrodes to hold connected to a dial. Then they asked me to think of people in my life. First I thought of my boyfriend. The needle on the dial twitched. "Looks like there's stress there?" observed the kindly man.

"Nope I said", everything is great.
"Think of someone else", suggested the helpful man. I thought of my Dad. The needle swung to the right.
"There's a lot of stress connected to that person", said the man. "Why?"
"He's on his own. I worry he's lonely. I want him to be ok but I know he's hurting", I said.
"Think of someone else", the man said. I thought of Mum. The needle swung to the very end of the dial.
"Wow, there must be a lot of tension in this relationship", said the man.
"She's dead. She died a year ago today" I said. And then I burst into tears. And that is how Scientologists persuaded me to buy their "bible" and why 5 years on I still get text messages from Charlie at the Dianetics centre inviting me to events and to come in and talk. 5 years!!! These people do not give up. And no. I never read the book anyway. Mum's biggest fear in life was that I would join a cult. Heaven knows why. All I had to do was go to a Carol service in my college and she'd be all a tremble. So Scientologists listen up. It ain't gonna happen. Give up. Save yourself the cost of a text.

Thursday 1 March 2012

3 Little Pigs: The Guardian and Lynx

Thought this was a very fun and clever advert - a whole mini film in an ad with twists and turns of journalism. I love the way you are led into one emotion and then quickly find you are wrong. It's a bit of a comment on less good newspapers I think. Innocent until proven guilt, morals and standards of investigative journalism.



Watching TV this week I also saw this ad by Lynx to promote their new his and hers body sprays. Again it plays on the news. It was quite interesting to see an ad masquerading as a news report. Fiance and Sister (who is now living with us) seemed unimpressed though.



Here's a question...does anyone over the age of 18 wear bodysprays? Everyone I know wears a deodorant and perfume. No girls that I know wear lynx body spray. What's their demographic?