Motrin Mom Interplosion

Came across this story in AdAge today about how a relatively small group of mom's "brought down Motrin Mom campaign". I checked it out online - bloggers pages, youtube, and the creative in question - and at first I didn't get what all the fuss was about. However, after a few more viewings of the video 'Wearing Your Baby' it struck me.
In the video, the 'mom' is portrayed as a mindless, insecure fashionista who's chosen to wear her baby not because she's convinced it's the best thing for her baby and herself but, because she will be perceived as an in mom, inspite of the unnecesary (and probably harmful) pain it will inflict on her. And the coup de grace - Motrin is saying by implication, you go girl!
That's my take anyway.
Search 'Motrin' on YouTube for the video in question.

It's a new day.

And I'm very hopeful for the future.

Challenging Times Ahead

Global economic uncertainty has been the news for some time now and many companies have reacted by cutting back on advertising while others have seen an opportunity to grow their business. In any any case, maintaining a positive outlook is something that costs nothing but will, I believe, go a long way in helping to turn things around. In other words, keep smiling. Happy Halloween!

T-shirt to die for

I'm going ahead with limited production of this t-shirt design and hope to have them available before the end of the year so if you're interested let me know.

   I'm also looking into a charitable tie-in of some kind - Cancer Society is the most obvious but if you have any thoughts I'd love to hear from you.

James Garner files suit against McCain, Palin over use of 'Maverick'

Came across this funny tongue-in-check article by Steve Young online and the best part was some of the comments. Check it out for yourself at the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-young/james-garner-files-suit-a_b_124997.html

Not only was it funny, it also inspired me to create this knock-off of the Shepard Fairey Obama poster. I'm a fan of Obama but I'm an even bigger fan of James Garner - long live Maverick!

Apple knows how to open a new store.

Attended the opening of the Apple Store in Fairview Mall on Sept.27th along with my son who lives on his own now. It was my idea and a way to spend some time with him. 

    Neither of us had witnessed one of these Apple events before and being fans, we were curious. And they were giving away free t-shirts to the first 1,000 visitors. Piece o' cake. 

    We planned our arrival so that we'd have a half hour before the opening, thinking we'd grab some breakfast and then casually make our way over. They did say the first 1,000 visitors after all. No need to hurry, right?  Fortunately, we decided to have a quick look to confirm the store location before enjoying breakfast and surprise, surprise there must have already been 500 people lined up! Needless to say we hurried to stake our place in line - free t-shirt after all - and waited. And this is where the Apple experience began.

    At about 15 minutes to opening, a mass of cheering, enthusiastic Apple t-shirt wearing young men and women came pouring out of nowhere and started running the length of the line-up. It not only woke me up but it put a smile on both our faces. You couldn't help but get caught up in their energy. This went on for about 5 minutes and then, just as quickly, they disappeared. By the time we started coming down from this induced high, the store opened and surprising the line started moving, slow but steady, and after about 10 minutes we were just about in. And this is where the experience got ramped-up. 

   All those Apple people who'd surprised us while waiting in line had now formed a welcoming 'gauntlet' that each and every visitor had to walk through, to no end of loud cheers and high-fives! Even the most jaded of people (ie. me) could not resist getting caught up in this. It was fun and it was memorable and it brought Apple to life.

   What more could you want.

'Internetworking'

Have just discovered Linked In which at first glance, looks to be a wonderful tool for online networking.
http://www.linkedIn.com/
As someone who has never been very good at face-to-face networking, this site appears to be just the ticket.
Not only does it allow you to ‘connect’ with past business associates, it also lets you connect with their list of contacts, providing they accept your invite to connect with you.
Once connected it also shows the chain or ‘six degrees of separation’ by which you’re connected to others which is very cool indeed.
It’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.
In terms of real benefit, time will tell.
Hopefully it will serve me as more than just a business version of Face Book.
I’ll give it three months and provide an update.