I was just about to go to bed when I got an email from a woman at Edelman, the PR firm that represents Unilever, maker of AXE body spray. She had read my post on the Frank Fairey DIY Obama poster (Barack Obama Has A Posse), and sent me a preview of 2 ads that will run in the major newspapers of Chicago and New York tomorrow, taking full advantage of the Super Tuesday media frenzy.
The ads aren’t great. They’re not overly clever or well art directed. But they’ll get some attention, and that’s really what AXE and Unilever want. I know that politicians are public domain when it comes to satire and comedy, but this is beyond controversial, using a politician-in-the-running to push a product. There will be many letters and emails for and against this (but mostly against), and of course confused voters who will believe Hillary Clinton is actually endorsing AXE (or Obama / McCain). I’ll be watching to see if any of the candidates mock Hillary for it. I’ll be even more interested to see if Hillary attacks Unilever for these ads. I’m not sure what good it will do for AXE, other than get people talking about the brand. But will the right people be talking, and will they buy the product? That remains to be seen.
What impresses me is that Edelman is digging a bit deeper to get this out there, and create an underlying buzz through the little bloggers, like me. Or maybe it just stroked my blogger’s ego to receive acknowledgment of readership. I feel so used, yet so happy! Let the controversy begin.
SIDEBAR: I talk a bit about Unilever’s split personality branding of both Dove and AXE in this Social Media Today podcast.
Deutsche Telekom AG, mother company to T-Mobile in Holland, is (allegedly) attempting to register the colour Magenta at the European brand office. This would effectively block other companies from using this primary printing colour for their own brands.
Reaction in the Netherlands has been quite negative toward T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom AG, but it has created some great design ideas. What happens to CMYK without the M? FreeMagenta.nl has is posting some possibilities, and is tracking reactions.
COLOURlovers was warning us about this pinkish hostile takeover back in November of 2007, citing some of Deutsche Telekom AG’s claims. It’s not exactly clear:
…the colour magenta [and other designs and logos] are registered and/or unregistered trademarks of Deutsche Telekom AG in the US and/or other countries.
Obama is winning. People are endlessly inspired by this man, and cranking out hit after hit on the ViralVideoChart. Some of the movies attack opponents (Vote Different), some are just plain silly (Obama Girl, Super Obama Girl) and some are heart-felt inspirations (Yes We Can). Can you remember the last viral video inspired by John McCain (other than him singing, “Bomb bomb Iran“)? I can. It was a remix featured on Heavy.com starring then Governor George W. Bush and John McCain from various debates and interviews in 1999. McCain kept referring to himself as a Jedi Knight in an attempt to win over young voters.Who inspires you? Hillary because she’s a woman? Huckabee because he’s an evangelical? McCain because he’s a veteran and a patriot? Romney because he’s… (can’t think of anything), Obama because he can speak like a man with the power and the will to change the world?Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas put this together after watching Obama speak in New Hampshire. This is what he had to say from the site Dipdive:
And i was captivated…Inspired…I reflected on my life…and the blessings I have…and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings…and I’m not talking about a “black thing” I’m talking about a “human thing” me as a “person”an American… That speech made me think of Martin Luther King… Kennedy… and Lincoln… and all the others that have fought for what we have today… what America is “supposed” to be… freedom… equality… and truth… and thats not what we have today… we think we are free… but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions… this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and died for… and then there was New Hampshire. It was that speech… like many great speeches… that one moved me… because words and ideas are powerful… It made me think… and realize that today we have “very few” leaders… maybe none… but that speech… it inspired me… it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world… it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world… and take a “leap” towards change… and hope that others become inspired to do the same… change themselves… change their greed… change their fears… and if we “change that”"then hey”… we got something right…???…
Whether you like it or not, whether you agree with him or not, Obama is doing something that no other candidate is doing (as well): inspiring people to create and share ideas. And that means he is winning.
PK (aka Paul, or peacay) has curated the BiobliOdyssey blog for some time, unearthing a fabulous collection of old drawings, woodcuts, scientific illustrations, and other ancient scribblings. His recent post on Ornamental Typography was inspiring. There is something so haunting and bizarre about the images he digs up. PK’s blog is one of my secret weapons to finding unique wallpaper and adding to my ffffound.com collection.
In one post I’m about to bring down the site’s integ a peg!
But before you go ape shit with me… I’m doing this cause our industry is so hot to produce the next big viral campaign and clients think that its going to help boost their presence online. Truth is most viral campaigns don’t get to their viral status cause it fails to do a lot of things.Such as, bringing out the brands true essence; so basically doing viral strategies that don’t fit the brand or the target they wish to communicate to. Then you have failure in offering relevant extensions to promote the campaign; sometimes executives push to promote the brand more than the campaign, forgetting that the campaign should do the job of promoting the brand.
And lastly and what I’m trying to show with this video… you have to have good viral content! Meaning, it would have to be something other people would like to pass around cause its meaningful, funny and relevant to them and they think other people would feel the same way about it, but also be proud that they spread it around.
Dramatic Lemur continues the meme of animal close-ups accompanied by a familiar, short and of course ‘dramatic’ musical score. Dramatic Chipmunk has exceeded 5 million hits on YouTube. Will the Lemur catch up? Or is this ‘just a fad’? You decide.
I’ve blogged about Nicholas Felton before, but he continues to outdo himself. He has recently redesigned his website, and released The 2007 Feltron Annual Report which meticulously details all aspects of his personal and professional life. I’m not sure how he has any time to interact with people, what with the furious note-taking he must undertake to capture where he has been, what he has listened to, what he has seen, what type of food he is eating, etc. Here are a few samples:I love the typography, the detail, the statistics, the idea. And I love the ingenuity of offering a print edition, which means I can support the Nicholas’ work and have something beautiful and strange for the coffee table. Buy it here.
When I hit “Publish” on my blog editor something interesting happens. Well, lots of things happen actually and Matthew Hurst, an artificial intelligence researcher who studies this ecosystem at Microsoft Live Labs, has mapped the process in a sexy little chart. Here’s how the whole process goes down during “the big game”.While some of this is fairly obvious if you sat down and thought about it, it’s still pretty interesting to look at. And the cool Flash chart is a great design. Make sure you check out the dataminer’s website as well.Link (via Wired)
Dinner Date from Amir on Vimeo.So now you’re prolly bored of TV and just about run-out of shows to download! Well consider yourself saved :)This new online series Jake and Amir (Barely even comedy) is going to make you laugh, cry and sometimes smirk in discomfort. It is really worth the few minutes of break you have during your workday. Its going to be the next big hit, I tell you, a hit!Watch Jake and Amir.
I love the typography, the detail, the statistics, the idea. And I love the ingenuity of offering a print edition, which means I can support the Nicholas’ work and have something beautiful and strange for the coffee table. 
