Random Culture

YouTube Doubler

Why enjoy just one video of a baby laughing, when you can enjoy two? YouTube "Doubler" allows you to embed and play two YouTube videos side-by-side.

The Internet? Bah!

In 1995, Clifford Stoll used his Newsweek article to tell the world exactly how he felt about this new fangled thing called the "Internet"... His prophetic vision included the following:

"After two decades online, I'm perplexed. It's not that I haven't had a gas of a good time on the Internet. I've met great people and even caught a hacker or two. But today, I'm uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community. Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic.

Baloney."

Poor Clifford... he'll be getting flack about this article for years to come. Read his complete 1995 LA Times article here.

Do You Know About The "Rick-Roll"?

Have you been rick-rolled yet? If you don't know what that means, then click here.

This article from The Guardian explains:

"You're innocently browsing an apparently useful website and see a link to something else that might be of interest, but when you click through to that destination you instead find yourself confronted with Astley's boyish smile, his manly croon, his awkward 1987 dance-moves."

Yes, that's right... Rick Astley. Now get to rick-rolling!

Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle

Simplicity can be wonderful. Barack Obama is a nice guy, so what better way to pay homage to him than with a website that talks about all the nice things he does...

Visit BarackObamaIsYourNewBicycle.com and learn about all the nice things Barack Obama does for you.

Bill Gates' Last Day at Microsoft

As you may have heard, Bill Gates is leaving Microsoft to focus on his charity work. So as a part of the keynote for CES this year, the folks at Microsoft put together a video about his preparations for leaving. Watch the video here, chock full of cameos.

Homepage Hijinks: Spirit Airlines

Pay special attention to the homepage promotion. Is this a joke? Or is someone's job at Spirit Airlines in serious jeopardy...

The World's Saddest Cubicle

Wired has posted the winners of the "World's Saddest Cubicle" contest. The winner, David Gunnells, is an IT guy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. According to Wired:

"His desk is penned in by heavily used filing cabinets in a windowless conference room, near a poorly ventilated bathroom and a microwave."

Yikes...

Cadbury Dairy Milk UK

Who cares if you don't know what an ad is about? This, quite simply, is advertising GOLD!

Link via Adthropology.

Friday Fun: Clark and Michael

Riding the wave of press for the upcoming movie "Superbad", Michael Cera, of Arrested Development fame, is starting to get some recognition for a CBS online series called "Clark and Michael." You can watch all 10 episodes online at ClarkandMichael.com.

The videos have also been uploaded by CBS to Youtube. Check out one below:

3D Email: Hoax, or Worst Idea Ever?

Tired of the same old boring inbox? Why not use Second Life to read your email? Well, if this trailer is any indication, because it's an awful idea...

Not sure if 3D Mailbox is real... but I sincerely hope it isn't.

Link via TechCrunch.

Friday Fun: Prairie Dog Drama

See, not everything on the Internet is pointless...

Great Cat Ads

It's been a long weekend, and after pouring through volumes of email, you deserve a break. Therefore, I bring you the greatest cat commercials ever made.

Ricky Gervais PSA Spoof

Check out this PSA spoof from Ricky Gervais from Comic Relief 2007 in the UK.

Link via Adfreak

Meh. Use it.

Finally, someone writes an article about "meh." If you've never heard the expression, stop spending your free taking walks and going out with friends... surf the Internets. Read the full Guardian article on Meh.

Link via Fimoculous.

Mini: Hammer & Coop

Mini has launched a new website, Hammer and Coop. It's basically a parody of shows like Starsky and Hutch, mixed with a bit of Knight Rider influences. Definitely worth checking out. I also noticed that the actor who played "Ogre" in Revenge of the Nerds also appears... 80s anyone?

Link via Adverblog.

Super Deluxe!

Super Deluxe is a new broadband comedy site from TBS. The site includes original series and shorts produced for the web, as well as user contributions. Definitely worth checking out.

The Stupidist Product Ever Made... Ever

Yikes... this is perhaps the strangest commercial ever made, for what can only be described as the stupidest, creepiest, weirdest product ever invented. The WowWee Alive Robotic Chimpanzee Head... Watch the commercial here.

And yes, folks, you can actually buy this thing.

The Most Coveted Demographic

It's Friday, you're probably busy finishing up work and getting all your shopping done... but you shouldn't forget that the most coveted demographic is out there, waiting for your attention.

For all of our sakes, The Onion has written about them.

Nintendo Wii PS3 Spoof

Great ad for the Nintendo Wii, spoofing the Playstation 3 commercials currently running on TV.

Nike Golf: Juice

Nike has launched a simple, but fun website for their "Juice 312" golf balls. It includes videos "ala" Edgerton, with golf balls impacting everyday things like birthday cake, jello and cantaloupe. I only wish they had more of these videos.

New Demetri Martin Website

Comedian Demetri Martin has launched a new website. You may know him from his "trendspotting" segment on the Daily Show. The site has some great content, including video. Oddly enough, is sponsored by Windows Vista... go figure.

Link via Zach Klein.

Web 2.0 Logo Redesigns

Yay Hooray has a great gallery post going on where designers give logos we're all familiar with a "Web 2.0" makeover. Of course, this means lots of reflections, 3D and abbreviations of names. Most of these are REALLY well done, and it's worth checking out. Heck, some of them are actually much better than the originals.

Remixing Ads as Music Videos

What happens when you remix a commercial to make it into a music video? Well, you get something like this "music video" featuring Wilford Brimley.

Here's the question... should Liberty Medical be happy about this? Wilford should be. This remix could relaunch his career.

Folgers Happy Mornings

This commercial for Folgers from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York is awesome. Even if you're a morning person, this will make you want to punch your computer screen.

Another Honda Choir Parody

You may have seen the 118 118 spoof of the Honda Choir ad, but somehow I missed this one from the folks at TheDailyPie.com.

Link via AdLand.

Friday Fun: Robin Williams at E3

Check out this great 10 minute video of Robin Williams demonstrating the "creature creation" portion of the much anticipated video game "Spore."

You can watch a full 40 minute video of this at Joystiq, including exclusive interviews with the creator of Spore and Robin Williams. Just follow this link.

Philips Bodygroom: Shaveeverywhere.com

Philips has launched a funny new site for their Bodygroom shaver: Shaveeverything.com. The site is definitely taking the "Axe" approach, or at least, using the raunch factor to its fullest.

There's a ton of video integrated into the site, and more than enough bleeps to go along with it. Watch what the "host" of the site's mouth is saying when they bleep him... He's not faking it. All in all, this one is getting a lot of laughs. Make sure to check it out.

Thanks to Frances for the link.

Sony "Lo Def" Commercial

McKinney created this hilarious commercial for Sony HDTV, centering around the NCAA, and filmed in cutting edge "lo def" format. Enjoy...

The Greatest Advergame... Ever

As a promotion for the anime show Samurai 7, IFC has created one of the greatest advergames I've ever seen, Samurai Kittens: www.samuraikittens.com.

Link via Adverblog.

Funny Commercial, Funny Parody

Ad Blather points out a funny commercial for 1-800-Got-Junk. Watch the commercial here.

In a nod to all the recent horror stories about consumer generated advertising gone awry, it might be a good thing that they didn't select this consumer generated advertisement as the official commercial.

Veer: Build Your Own World

Veer has launched a really fun "Build Your Own World" contest on their site. Visitors can build an isometric "world" online. It's tied to the promotion of their March 2006 catalog, which showcases many of the same assets. This one is definitely worth a look. Make sure you peruse the gallery!

Superbowl Commercials: Addicted to LOST

Sure I'm biased. I have a podcast about LOST, so I'm a huge fan. But I loved the "Addicted to LOST" commercial. It was one of my favorites in the 2006 Super Bowl.

I didn't just like this commercial because I'm a LOST fanatic, I loved it because this type of "mashup" is something that speaks directly to an Internet audience. It's not the same old advertising...

Mini Dominatrix

Crispin Port... who? Mini Canada launches on their homepage a showcase of how the car "dominates" winter conditions. Created by Taxi.

Link via Adverblog.

The Onion vs. Stealth Marketing

"I'd Love This Product Even If I Weren't A Stealth Marketer" is a hilarious story from "The Onion", about a fictitious product called "Mountain Dew True Blue". From the article:

Honestly, this awesome beverage packs such a punch, you'd practically have to pay me not to pretend to talk about it on my cell phone when I'm in earshot of consumers in the coveted 17-34 demographic.

Link via the WOMMA Newsletter.

Mountain Dew Energy Soda?

The idea of an "energy soda" seems kinda like an oxymoron to me. I thought Mountain Dew was already pretty juiced up in the caffeine department? Whatever the case, Mountain Dew has launched a new "energy soda" called Mountain Dew MDX.

The website, Benocturnal.com, could use some work... but the spots made me laugh out loud. The combination of singing animals and Lionel Ritchie is unstoppable.

Link via Adrants.

The Ad Conceptor

Check out the Ad Conceptor, a site that will automatically generate ideas based on your selection of product, tone and target. The site is self-promotional and created by Deutsch, although no one seems to be really sure what this does for them...

I think it's to show they can do interactive. They can create the next "Subservient Chicken", which is what every company is now asking their agency for.

Link via Adrants.

Buddy Lee Viral

Lee Jeans has released a new Buddy Lee viral campaign. The site, BuddyLeeGuidanceCounselor.com, features some funny videos of people visiting Buddy Lee to ask him for career advice. The site also features some other things, such as career tests that are really flash games, and interview tips. It's worth checking out...

Comedy Central Blog

Wow... a blog from a company that doesn't suck! Comedy Central has launched CC Insider, a blog about all the latest and greatest stuff happening on their shows. It actually launched halfway through July, but this is the first I've heard of it. One of the things I like about the blog is that It includes a good deal of links to videos.

Although there are a few issues in terms of execution, the content on the blog is great, and worth visiting.

Discovery Channel Viral

The Discovery Channel has launched a couple funny viral videos to promote a few shows, as well as the Tour de France sponsorship. The videos look like the Robert Smigel cartoons that air on Saturday Night Live... I'd be willing to bet that the same people are responsible for these videos.

Link via Adrants.

KFC's "Hottest" Product

My friend and old roommate Eric has been living in Japan for a few years now, and every so often he sends some pictures of funny things he finds. Well, he sent a new email this last week, and I thought one of the photos was worth sharing here...

Behold, KFC's "hottest" product in Japan.

Machinima Fun

Are you familiar with machinima? It's basically a word that means "machine cinema", and typically uses video game engines to create original video. Gamers familiar with the video game franchises will find these hilarious. I'm surprised this hasn't been used for marketing purposes yet. They're definitely huge branding vehicles for the games that are used. I happened to have run across two really good ones today, and thought they were worth sharing.

Machinima #1: A Few Good G-Men
The famous courtroom scene from A Few Good Men, rendered using the Half-Life 2 engine.

Machinima #2: This Spartan Life
A talk show set in the Halo video game universe. There's a great post on the if:book blog about this particular machinima. Link via Fimoculous.

iPod Flea

The iPod Flea is a great iPod parody from Scott Kelby, who unveiled the spoof in the keynote of his recent Mac Design conference.

Applebee's Viral

Applebee's has created a great personalized viral site, the Applebee's Dunktank. Users can customize the face of the "dunkee" from uploaded photos. You can find the site at: www.thedunktank.com.

Frog Marketing

Jamster, an online store for mobile content, is cashing in on the success of their ridiculous mascot, Axel F. He's a crazy frog whose latest "music video" and "single" have hit the top of the music charts in the UK. According to the Lycos 50 Blog, the frog "is so hot that it prevented Coldplay's new single from entering the number one spot on the UK singles chart." Seriously... check out the UK singles chart.

That's a serious accomplishment for Jamster...

If you'd like to subject yourself to an earworm for the rest of the day, visit the official Axel F site and watch the video.

Update: There's more... Another site that appears to be a new single remixing the one above. And if you hate the frog, this may be the game for you.

Onion Radio News

The Onion has a new Radio News area.  I love The Onion, but something is definitely lost when read aloud.

Huffington Post Redux

The Huffington Post is making waves even in its second day of publishing. In my earlier post I was complaining a bit about the new site... and the complaints just keep on coming.

Remember Hilary Rosen? The chair of the RIAA and the scourge of music downloaders everywhere. Here's an article to refresh your memory. Well, she's on The Huffington Report griping about the digital rights management on her iPod... Here are some of her exact words:

"...keeping the iTunes system a proprietary technology to prevent anyone from using multiple (read Microsoft) music systems is the most anti-consumer and user unfriendly thing..."

Furthermore, she advocates the following:

"If you are really a geek, you can figure out how to strip the songs you might have bought from another on-line store of all identifying information so that they will go into the iPod. But then you have also degraded the sound quality. How cruel."

That's all she's worried about? The sound quality?

Guess what she does now? She's a talking head on TV... Like I said, less empowerment of the talking heads is what we need.

Link via business2blog.

Target Pets

Target has launched a microsite to promote their pet products. The site is fun to play around with, as it allows you to build e-cards in a flash interface, customizing the card with different dog and cat breeds, as well as actual target pet products. Worth taking a look.

Future of Online Dating

Wired has a great article about the next frontier in online dating... HighJoy. The founders of HighJoy believe that people are looking for more intimate encounters online, so they've created a service that blends together online dating and cybersex, by allowing users to remotely control sex toys...

Friday Fun with Mr. T

Don't forget that Mother's Day is just around the corner... And Mr. T has something to say about it.

Link via Octopus Dropkick.

Burger King Game

Need For Feed is the latest from Crispin Porter & Bogusky for Burger King. It's a flash game where you feed people in an office breakfast food from Burger King. They also allow you to customize the game by uploading photos of your actual coworkers, or whomever else you'd like.

Link via Agenda Inc.

When Companies Attack

Adrants posts a story about the latest marketing effort from Vodka maker 42 Below, as a response to an irate bar owner who banned the product from his shelves. The site 42 Below set up is an advice column of sorts from their American president, James Dale. The site is entitled "I'm James Dale So Fuck You."

Wow... Not many companies would have the guts to put something like that up. Although, when alcohol is your primary business, you sample the product from time to time.

Kung Fu Hustle Site

The website has been launched for the upcoming Steven Chow movie "Kung Fu Hustle." Make sure to watch the trailers and play the flash games.

The Captain Blogged Here

You know blogging is mainstream when The Captain has a blog: www.thecaptainsblog.com

Link via Adfreak.

Hell Freezing Over...

I hate to ruin your day, but it looks like Rosie O'Donnel has started blogging. I'm assuming this isn't a joke because the NY Times is reporting on it, and I'm pretty sure they do fact checking.

The blog is entitled "formerlyrosie" and the URL is: "http://onceadored.blogspot.com."

The question is... what the heck is Rosie doing? Gawker editor Jessica Coen says in the NY Times article: "I don't know if she is doing some form of haiku or a terrible Faulkner imitation."

This is certainly not the way to get adored again.

Link via Micro Persuasion.

Anatomy of Viral: David Chu

Ever heard of David Chu? David Chu is an eBay employee who's now found himself as somewhat of a celebrity... for no real reason.

If you want to see how things spread virally on the Internet... listen to David's story.

Link via SiliconBeat.

Viral That Really Works

MINI has launched a new viral campaign: www.counterfeitmini.org

The folks at CP+B created this website for a fake organization called the Counter Counterfeit Commission. The genius of this campaign is that it manages to do what quite a bit of viral marketing cannot do... It actually educates the user about the product!

What's more, they're selling an instructional DVD on the site... This means that MINI could actually be recouping some money on the campaign...

Someone at work tells me that there are commercials running around this idea as well.

Link via Adrants.

Virgin Valentine's Viral

Virgin Mobile Australia has launched a viral campaign for Valentine's day, called Dr. Date. Send date cancellations via SMS or email, and get pointers on faking phone conversations to bail out on bad dates.

Link via Armchair Media.

McDonald's Live Journal?

Screenhead points to a fairly disturbing Live Journal site entitled "A Day In The Life of Miss McDonald."

Although it would be pretty scary if this was the product of a marketing department somewhere, it appears that this is just a really disturbed young lady with a thing for McDonalds. Wait... now I'm having trouble deciding which scares me more.

Original post via Metafilter.

Heard of the Big Shocker?

If you think the Go Daddy ad was the most shocking part of the Super Bowl, think again. While the NFL was trying to keep advertisers in line, and wooing the baby boomers with Sir Paul... Our beloved troops slipped under the radar. Gawker has a great post that explains the "big shocker" to those who don't know.

You can view the "big shocker" Super Bowl cameo here. And learn more about the "big shocker" by visiting the official website.

The Angry Leprechaun

You'd better listen the Angry Leprechaun.

All this censorship means he won't be appearing in the Emerald Nuts commercial during the big game...

www.angryleprechaun.com

Cheeseburger Seduction

I am not a fan of the McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. Although I find the campaign's attempt to be "cool" amusing, I kinda find them insulting at the same time. Isn't there a commercial with people playing basketball while on rollerblades???

So it's not suprising that the writer who came up with this latest ad has no idea what "cool" is either. In fact, this writer may not even know what the words actually MEAN.

Here's a description of the ad currently running on ESPN2:

Frame 1: A man contemplating a cheeseburger, with the words "Double Cheeseburger", and a picture of said cheeseburger.

Frame 2: (Here's a screenshot from the ad)

wow.

...That must be one sexy cheeseburger.

Link via Adrants.

Pepsi's Learning Disability

Remember the Pepsi/iTunes "bottle cap" promotion that could be cracked by a simple tilting of the bottle, to see if it was a winner?

It seems that Pepsi wasn't paying attention... They're re-launching the same promotion! I think that Pepsi should get a Darwin award for this.

Link via Adrants.

Crossfire... 1986

First there was John Stewart...

Wait, it was actually Frank Zappa. This video clip shows Frank facing off with the folks on Crossfire. It seems to me that Crossfire used to be rougher.

Link via Octopus Dropkick.

Kalashnikov: Guns and Booze

Arming the revolutionaries of the world with his guns wasn't enough, so Mikhail Timoveeich Kalashnikov now has his own brand of Vodka.

Link via AdPulp.

Ad Age is Smoking Something

There's nothing funny about smoking crack, and that's why our hearts go out to the folks at Ad Age. It's the only possible explanation for them naming McDonald's Corporation as "Marketer of the Year." Ad Age praises McDonald's for "innovative" and "breakthrough" strategies.

I mean seriously... "I'm Lovin' It?"

What a load.

Link via AdLand.

HP: Colonial Marketing

Via Engadget: HP sending digital cameras to Papua New Guinea to steal souls of isolated tribespeople

This is serious... as Engadget says, HP is sending products to Papua New Guinea to "prove once and for all that HP’s digital imaging products are so easy to use that even an isolated tribesperson unfamiliar with the ins and outs of modern civilization could use them to take digital photos and start their own photoblog."

Here's a link to the article in the Seatlle Times.

William Safire is a Dillweed

I really hope that no one uses this William Safire article as a guide to market to young people. I was too busy being embarrassed for him to laugh.

Link via Kottke.