Archive for June, 2011
Nightsurf
Posted on 09. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Cause everything is just better in the dark.
[thanks Nick]
3-Way Street: How streets resemble a loaded weapon
Posted on 08. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
When it comes to city streets and traffic intersections, it seems that no matter where you are in the world [other than Switzerland or Perth] people magically transform from polite, law-abiding citizens – into selfish maniacs when they need to move about in a city.
We blame modern media and prescription medication, but city planning and design could have a lot to do with it too.
Rules, cops and regulation just seems to add to the problem rather than making it better. Surely there has to be another way?
Shot for a visual art student’s master’s thesis, “Three-Way Street” shows cyclists riding against traffic and onto sidewalks; an 18-wheeler making a dangerous U-turn, and pedestrians endlessly trying to off themselves by walking in front of fast-moving objects of all sorts. via
Maybe all street signs and rules should be taken away and let’s see what happens then. If crowd sourcing works so well for the web – why can’t it work to organise traffic flow in real time?
McDonald’s interactive billboard
Posted on 07. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
In Sweden, McDonald’s installed a giant pong game that feisty Swedes could play and win stuff from McDonald’s.
Seems simple enough – Pong, burgers and Swedes. Wonder whatever happened to Stefan Edberg? He’s probably as fat as a house by now.
Epic ads: Nike ‘Chosen’
Posted on 06. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Clearly the growth in the world of sporting apparel lies in the fringe extreme sporting activities. The kind of sports that in the past kids who were addicted to crack used to do.
Long forgotten by the likes of Nike – it’s now the focus of an epic ad campaign.
Nike focuses on action sports in a night-time setting with its new global ‘Just Do It’ campaign, The Chosen, featuring 25 athletes including skateboarder Paul Rodriguez, surfer Laura Enever, snowboarder Danny Kass and freestyle BMXer Garrett Reynolds. The ad was shot over the course of two years at seven locations – Whistler, Aspen, Bali, Hawaii, Florida, New York City and Los Angeles – at night, with pyrotechnics and stunts reminiscent of a rock concert.
Alongside the ad, Nike is running a video contest via Facebook inviting skaters, surfers, BMX riders, snowboarders and skiers to submit a video of their crew. The winners, selected by fans, athletes and Nike, will have the chance to travel with the Nike team while getting access to exclusive Nike products and experiences. via
It’ll be interesting to see if their strategy works, ’cause street is all about the unbranded, non-commercial nature of the sport. Rich kids that pitch up at a night time skate park wearing brand new Nike takkies are going to get their faces kicked in.
It’s a bit like a Slipknot concert being sponsored by Old Mutual. Nike should perhaps stick to tennis and golf.
On that note however – how’s this skate park that resembles a giant pinball machine?
[Thanks Ian]
Jack Daniel’s branding: How many changes can you spot
Posted on 03. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
New look Jack
Jack Daniel’s have for what ever reason decided that the label on their bottles needed a refresher and have released an image of what a bottle of Jack will look like from now on.
Old-school Jack
Thing is though – it makes just about as much sense as the city of Cape Town deciding that Table Mountain needs a fresh new look and sending ten thousand artisans up on the slopes to chip and craft a new look with chisels.
There’s no need to mess with perfection. The raw, unedited, slapped-together graphic look of the label is part of what makes Jack the first choice for rock stars and ANC politicians everywhere. It’s such a shame that some branding expert had to get involved.
Vodafone’s monster mobile phone charger
Posted on 02. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
It’s pretty obvious that we as citizens of a world in the digital age are not capable of attending any event without recording / broadcasting every living second of the damn thing via our cell phones.
It’s often more important to tell people that you are at the U2 / Tom Jones / SMWF event rather than really caring that you are there yourself. So having a fully charged phone is critical.
From the U.K.’s Vodafone comes this colossal phone charger (or a rather standard-sized 18-wheeler). It weighs 44 tons, has a retractable staircase and also a secure bank of lockers that can charge 2,000 cellphones of different makes all at once. via
Added value, adding value, making yourself useful…that’s all us ordinary folk really want from you marketing folk. Just add the value and we’ll join the tribe.
If you’re still confused – call us, we can help…and make it happen. Promise.
Heineken: The Date
Posted on 01. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Debuting their new series of TV ads online, way before they get shown on television, is the new strategy that beer monster Heineken have chosen.
Here is their latest installment called The Date. By the looks of things, they polished off a case of the stuff before they even got to the restaurant.
More Heineken TV ad online here.
The Improv Everywhere ‘Mute’ button
Posted on 01. Jun, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
We chatted about ‘city playgrounds’ during our monthly feature on Maggs on Media this morning.
Improv Everywhere being the masters of unbranded street theater in NYC are a classic case in point for a movement that is increasing in popularity.
A city is no place for crime and grime – but a perfect platform for play.
