In Your Face Advertising

You couldn't miss this ad if you tried. I am always intrigued by this form of in-your-face advertising. What better way of make itself known, than creating a street-level obstacle. Vibrant colour and sheer size make this ad an entertaining eye sore.

When I passed by this ad the following day, a small group of teenage girls waiting for the bus were snapping shots of themselves with the oversized mascara bottle, sure to make its way to Facebook, Twitter etc. Perfect.

The Dynamics of Persuasion

My trip to China (Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai) inspired thoughts of outlandish essay topics fit for just about any MIT class you could dream of. The Chinese conduct themselves with such grace and I commend them for living in such close quarters (though it is all they know). It became apparent after approximately 45 minutes in the country (still in Beijing airport) that modern-day Chinese smoke like truckers, spit like sailor and drive like maniacs, but there is something so beautiful, profound and mysterious about the history and their culture.



Let me explain the photos I have posted, because I know they are not blatantly advertising.
Everyone smokes in China. OK, that's not true. A lot of people smoke in China. Let me start by saying, unlike Canada, cigarettes are visible, accessible and inexpensive just about anywhere you go. Statistics tell me smoking in China has drastically increased in the last 30 years, ultimately leading to the death of about 2,000 people per day. By 2050, they expect this number could rise to 8,000 a day- some 3 million people a year. Click for the full article

Personally, I no longer soberly enjoy the ease of sucking approx. 42 thousands toxic chemicals into my peachy lungs. My conscious is simply too loud, and my gag reflex is too strong. However, the appeal still remains. I still somehow understand it.

These are images of a vibrant light show on a sky scraper outside of our hotel in Shanghai. I regret not recording it, but I assure you, the movement up and down, from white to golden was like the burning of a cigarette. Slowly the white disappeared towards the golden yellow filter and then was replaced by a new white line- as if to promote chain smoking. This idea taunted me for 3 nights while I was repeatedly told it was all in my head. Did it make my want a cigarette? Kind of. I told our tour guide it was subliminal messaging. She quickly dismissed me with little more than a giggle. This is a typical response from Chinese women when they do not want to hurt your feelings by declaring that they think you're wrong. Perhaps MIT ingrained in me the idea that everything I have ever been told is a dirty, fabricated, ideology infused, economically motivated lie...

China seems a bit disillusioned with respect to what is perceived to be real and what is fake, or replicated. No, just flat out fake. 15 percent real and 85 percent perception, I say. They are living breathing people, who make decisions, work, love, communicate, spit like sailors (I still can`t get over that). Yes. But they live in a fabricated, highly populated, highly polluted bubble. I realize this as our tour guide pulls out her "Gucci" wallet and explains that this mornings "fog" is due to the massive amount of fireworks lit 3 nights ago. I begin to wonder if the 200 foot cylindrical structure flying past my window is really a "fog"stack...

No, Thank You MAC

It has been ages since I have purchased anything from MAC. Were talking, probably 2 years. Not because I don't use their products anymore, but (for a product-whore like myself) it simply takes a few years to get through everything I accumulate.

I am very aware of the fact that MAC obtained my personal information upon my very first visit. This reality was refreshed last year when my Aunt purchased her first piece of MAC makeup (a clear lip gloss, because colour or sparkle may actually kill her). When asked for her information, she basically told them to stuff it, and considered not purchasing at all. The idea of coughing up personal information along with the 20 bucks for a tiny gloss was too much for her to swallow. Interesting

Perhaps that is the difference between her decade and mine, though I do believe the younger generation is becoming leery of exposing themselves to a lifelong sentence of junk-mail in exchange for free bunny ears with the purchase of 10 frilly panties (real life promotion).



SO, I purchased an incredible lipstick (light pink glaze: HUE) around Christmas time. I was asked my name at the check out, I assume they access my account. There is likely a log of the purchases I have made within the last year, or so.

Fast forward to yesterday. I received a sealed white envelope with my name on it from MAC. I pulled out a solid black postcard. Classic, sleek, edgy. Large white letters "thank" me for my purchase and ask me to "visit them again soon!". What a pleasant and completely unexpected, not to mention unnecessary surprise. Excellent marketing. I will "return soon".

Top marks for simple and personal.

10/10

Jackson Triggs

Jackson Triggs Savignoin Blanc was once my go-to wine. Inexpensive, white, easy drinking; good combo for a university student. I have since developed an acquired taste for expensive Merlot (I graduated in October; it didn't take me long :) out with the white, and in with the red!
J.T's collection of whites and reds have always been memorable to me. Good label, easy enough.
Day 2 of a winter cottage mission last weekend left my family and I out of wine and into town. The local LCBO (let me provide a visual: a trailer on cinder block supports with a well aged fluorescent LCBO sign glowing above it.) Needless to say, the vintage section was bare, so back to the inexpensive, easy drinking go-to wine I went. J.T Unity Merlot.

The new Jackson-Triggs labels (as of 2010) provides clarity, when selecting a VQA wine from the non-VQA wines (apparently a very important distinction). The new line-up includes three tiers plus the non-VQA tier. Due to an immense amount of consumer loyalty uncovered by research studies, the Jackson Triggs name remains on all of the four tiers.

The non-VQA wines, once called "Proprietors’ Selection", are now titled:"Unity" (one of the many bottles enjoyed at my cottage). That happens to be a brand name Vincor once used for a selection of wines blended from Ontario and British Columbia grapes. That concept didn't fly so Vincor recycled the brand, perhaps a reflection of their level of creativity? No, I would argue it has a little to do with the difficulty in finding names free of corporate branding.

The Unity wines show fairly well with their crisp white labels. The name of the varietal is displayed in a coloured panel at the bottom. Directly under the variety is a tag line announcing the wine as a blend of “international and Canadian wine.”

I'm delighted to see their use of the 2D smart phone scancode. A clever introduction that brand manager, Casey Howe says is "making the back label work a lot harder". This barcode in particular links the consumer to a wine descriptor, pairing ideas, recipes and special offers. I dig it.



Now, my favourite new addition: the cork. Everyone loves a freebie, so here it is: the cork acts as an invitation for the consumer to bring it back to the winery for a complimentary tasting. Not only does it make the consumer realize there is a winery, but because JT is known to be Canadian, it is likely close by. Once spring hits, I can tell you where I will be heading.

7.5

Adsessed

I am a bit "ADsessed", as my second year advertising and communication prof so lovingly dubbed me. I am amused, shocked, disgusted and bored half to death on a daily basis- with the ads that cross me. Underground, above ground, at the gym, in the office. Hit or miss, I eat them up. So here's what I think.


For the next few weeks, I will feature a series of ads I consider to be "good" (effective, witty, wise, interesting, well placed), and ads I consider to be "poor" (boring, lame, ineffective, poorly placed)


Feel free to comment- agree or disagree, I appreciate all feedback and conversation.

Lancome Hologram Ad

My initial thoughts upon flipping this hefty page in Elle Canada’s magazine were: excessive, eye catching, enthusiastic, futuristic, bizarre. I pull the card from the page, play with the clear tack adhesive, flip the card over and realize it does serve some sort of wild purpose. It is in fact, a ticket. A ticket that invites you, the magazine purchaser, to an event you will not likely attend. An event that will likely be over by the time you find said magazine on a rack at your local gym, under a seat on a subway, or sitting on a glass table in your dentist’s waiting room.





The ticket ad is a structured hologram that flashes messages “Never so Simple”, and then “Never Messy”. I can only assume the relevance of the hologram is to represent their claim to provide a "pixel precise complexion". I’m fairly certain the ad itself could double as a weapon. Sharp, sturdy edges that could inflict a paper cut worthy of stitches. The actual device (a small soft cushion that vibrates the powder foundation on) looks neat. Personally, I try to avoid powder foundation and new vibrating products at all costs, but this ad almost makes me consider checking it out.
I saw Lancome's ad for the first time about a month ago. The fact that I remember it is a good sign. That being said, I have never personally used the product. But this lovely lady has: CLICK for product review

I dig it, but still:

6.9

I must apologize in advance for the terrible photo quality. 90% of the pictures I plan on posting were taken about 24 minutes into my daily (yeah right) elliptical routine. All of them taken by my trusty Iphone, and all of them mid-stride.

I know what I like in an ad. I know it instantly. Though it’s much harder to explain what I don’t like. Bear with me.

Victim number one:



























Effectively displays the vehicle, yes- Epic paragraph and all.
Effectively generates instant *yawn*, yes – that too.
However, I think the common looking content is slightly overridden by the charming play-on-words heading, “Guzzles people, not gas”. Clever, right?
Perhaps it is my interest in the environment that keeps attention (because a 4 door family-friendly SUV sure doesn’t.)


I give you a 6.5

Anti-aspartame

While I'm more than positive the aspartame filled life I lead will eventually catch up to me in one way or another- I simply cannot stop. Sure I have toned down the daily Silhouette 0% fat, 0% sugar, 100% bliss yogurts and substituted diet coke for soda water as a mix but surely that is not enough. Anything that sounds too good to be true, simply is.

I recently came across an ad I absolutely adore. It hits home with those aspartame-addicts like myself.

Skokes

b, a bug, that zooms and stings
e, a commonly used letterrrrr
a, a commonly used woooorddd
u, a name that refers to youuuuuu
tiful, the endd of the word beautifulllll
annnddd that brings us back to b.

Think About It

I have always believed that writing advertisments must be the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is likely to be ransom notes...right?

The US Federal Trade Commission has introduced a video game to enduce the education of children about the harmful qualms of advertising. The goal: to assist them in making informed decisions.

Players are able to confront advertisements at every turn—bus stops, in magazines, and on TV. Whenever an ad appears, the player is encouraged to ask three questions: who is responsible for the ad, what is the ad actually saying, and what does the ad want me to do? Besides children, this multi-media campaign also involves parents and teachers by way of a curriculum, which includes sample ads and teacher training videos, to be used in classrooms and at homes.

I say, good start!

Icebag Queen

Not exactly your ideal Thursday morning, or any morning for that matter. Rise and shine at 5:30, and off to the hospital for some good old teeth extracting fun. Luckily I had a rock solid support team, and minimal fear of needles, otherwise I may have passed out or thrown up with that doozie of a jab-fest. Large needle + "tiny veins" = multiple stab wounds to the hand.

This medical team (anesthesiologist and understudy) were far too attractive for my liking, considering my state: no makeup, jewlery or anything good smelling. Not to mention the sexy hospital get-up they forced me into. 3 oversized articals of cottony goodness. Enough to make any self respecting woman protest.

I couldn't help but notice, everyone in the gowns looked near death. Depressed, crying, pale... and here I am, taking pictures of my "sexy back" and sending them to said support team.

Down with wisdom teeth. Up with recovery, green jello, and apple sauce.

Monochromatic

In the process of transforming my delightfully Easter egg colored, high school-esq, yellow and violet bedroom, into a chic white-with-silver and crystal accent-creation. I figure, if I am going to get over the post-university slump Ive flung myself into, I might as well do it in style.

Step one- consult and expert. Thank you Ms Mackay: Check

Step two- purchase paint. - Two cans of "cloud white" left over from a design show, so I had them readjusted to a creamier "Dove White" as suggested by my consultant. 100$ saved: Check

Step three- Pay a visit to Homesense for lamps (2), pillows (never enough), and chandelier: No check

Step four - Move the endless amounts of stuff into the center of the room: Defiantly no check

Step five- Set up tape, and drapes, and PAINT: No check, no check, no check..any volunteers?

Mist Connection

My perfume bottles runneth over. Hopelessly devoted (like Sandy?), we wear it in misted layers, its silent voice is our loudest statement. Each liquid bouquet winds along our neural wires, triggering lifelong memories and chronicling new ones. Whimsical key notes of vanilla, lavender, sandal wood, lay sheer against our bodies. An excess of cut crystal scattered over my vanity.

What I'm trying to say is, I have TOO MUCH PERFUME

I think I'm obsessed.

Banksy Hunting

Best Sunday yet. Scoped out some blogs and went on a treasure-style hunt. Treasure= Banksy graffiti art. We were incredibly successful, and ridiculously blissful on this sunny Toronto day.

What a treat.

Check it out, you won`t be disappointed: http://www.banksy.co.uk/

Confessions of an Advertising Woman

Hello, online-summer-Advertising course

My name is Rebecca.

As a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where ever prospect pleases, man is at his vilest when he erects a billboard. When I retire from Madison Avenue, I am going to start a secret society of masked vigilantes who will travel around the world on silent motor bicycles, chopping down posters at the dark of the moon.

How many juries will convict us when we are caught in these acts of beneficent citizenship?

Oh, my darling Mr. Ogilvy.

For the Love of Playing

From the walls of KW into the life of RM.


For the love of playing.



Tag is a complex game involving many complexities. Someone must first be it. Once that is decided this temporary pariah tries to tag someone else, using stealth, speed, resourcefulness and predatory instincts to transfer his or her “it-ness” to the other person. You can only tag someone with your hand. So if someone who is “it” tags you (with his or her hand) then you become “it” and they are no longer “it”.


They are free of “it” and can return to normalcy. You cannot immediately transfer your “it-ness” back to the person who was just “it” because there are no “tag-backs” in Tag. The only way to lose is if you`re one of the last two people in earth and are tagged by the other person. (Remember, no “tag-backs”). However, it is conceivavle to procreate with this person and tag the offspring.



Play.

You're so cool, you're so cool, you're so cool

bammmmm

HGTV WANTS YOU

Do you love design? Think you could handle being on camera?

WestWind Pictures, producer of hit design series Designer Guys, The Style Dept., and Home to Flip has joined forces with HGTV to find Canada’s next big design star. We’re looking for talented designers that have what it takes. You must be outgoing, energetic, fun, and of course, supremely talented. Male or female. Singles or duos. Even a whole design studio. It doesn’t matter. Show us what you’ve got!

Here’s how it works…

Create a video that displays your design savvy. It must be no longer than 2 minutes. First up, tell us who you are: name, where you live, and a bit about your experience. Then dazzle us! Maybe a quick DIY project. Or match fabric to paint swatches. Show us design on a budget. Or build a piece of furniture. We’re not looking for any specific format. Just 2 minutes…and no more.

Shoot the video yourself, compress it down to a few megabytes, and email it to us. You must also include in your email a signed and scanned copy of the release form.

Feel free to comment with your questions or concerns.

Good Luck!

Ghetto-Fab vs Trendy-Trendster

I recently made the transition from a (monster-ghetto-fabulous-unbreakable)Blackberry, to the oh-so fragile, but oh-so trendy IPhone. If you know me well, you know there are a few things I should not be permitted to do. These things might include: crossing busy streets alone, baking (with the intent of feeding someone), and while I am tech savvy, the number one thing



I should not be allowed to do is own expensive technology. I have successfully destroyed every piece of technology I touch (with the exception of my bedazzled ipod, which should be dead considering the amount of times I have left it in a dewy bush/grass/field/dock ).

I have had this "iFin" for less than a month at this point. Within this small time period, I have cracked the screen, the apps have gone haywire, and I've had Fido call me 3 times describing an unexplainable bill I have racked up. I have 6 gigs, unlimited text, and 2000 minutes of talk time to burn. How can there possibly be overage? If I used all of that, surely I would have a brain tumor, and some sort of texting addiction that requires rehab. I call my roommates, and my dad. My air time has significantly decreased since the summer. wtf.

I must warn you. If you ever encounter a man at Fido by the name of Jock (yes Jock... spelt like a plastic crotch protector, which, ironically I could compare him to) please, save yourself the time and energy, and promptly disconnect.



I want my ghetto-fab baby back in my life.

I wish I knew

Bake Sale

If you are, by chance, on the hunt for the most divine chocolate cake out there... Look no further than The Bake Sale on Bloor.





The left overs from yesterdays birthday treat for our camera man are currently taunting me from the next room. Yes it is 9:50 am but it is never too early for this kind of divinity. Trust me.

The Way I See It

Everywhere, unthinking mobs of “independent thinkers” wield tired clichés like cudgels, pummeling those who dare question “enlightened” dogma. If “violence never solved anything,” cops wouldn’t have guns and slaves may never have been freed. If it’s better that 10 guilty men go free to spare one innocent, why not free 100 or 1,000,000? Clichés begin arguments, they don’t settle them...

Strikes Suck: I MISS MY GYM

I did the whole, jacked-beautiful people style "Extreme Fitness" gym. I am over it. I'm over its granite counter tops, its tanning bed in the change room, its smokin' hot trainers.

I decided to move on to a smaller, more modest and more importantly a, closer, city gym.

I got into this excellent routine: work, home, gym. Loved it.

Now, thanks to the strike, my perfect little jogging/ iron pumping nook is plastered with hate mail from desperate parents eager to either drop their snot nosed kids off at the day care, or work off that baby flab. Poor things.

I am so far from impressed. Wii Fit, anyone?

Sidenote

A second side note:

"Sex, Drugs and Cocopuffs" is a terribly embarrassing "lost item" to be asking for at the Union Station lost and found. 

Wheres your book Beck?

I just don't know Chuck...

Sex Drugs and Cocopuffs

I have to vent my deep passionate love for a brilliant man after my own MIT soaked heart.

Chuck Klosterman.

Any man who can begin a book by relating (and justifying) the story of how he burned the exact same CD for two different women, then segue into a serious discussion of the lamentable sitcom Saved By Bell deserves my respect. It is this gift that makes his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs my perfect summer read.

Klosterman, a senior writer for Spin, (among other reputable things) has a gift for taking seemingly disposable culture (Billy Joel albums, The Real World, The Sims, and Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape) and giving them a cultural heft and importance.

In fact, reading, Klosterman’s meditations on such topics as how the creation of cereal was a Victorian attempt to cool sexual urges, or how the failed relationships of today’s twenty-and-thirty-somethings can be blamed either on John Cusack (uhh..no thanks) or Nora Ephron are so insightful and enlightening, it seems baffling that no one has written on these topics before (has anyone?). 


Of course, he also manages to be absolutely hilarious. Klosterman is one of the select few writers (and men) who can make me laugh out loud in public (generally GO train, or subway) without thought of embarrassment. Take this nugget, from an essay deconstructing the Star Wars trilogy: “I once knew a girl who claimed to have a recurring dream about a polar bear that mauled Ewoks; it made me love her.”

As previously discussed at the office last week, my production manager, and I, came to the conclusion that all women desire nerds. Not exactly a full fledged dork. Just someone who is passionate about something, anything, in a terribly geeky way.

Klosterman has his hilarious analysis of life as compared to pop culture.

Underneath all the glib remarks and seemingly bizarre claims, Klosterman has a genuine appreciation of popular culture. Though he makes clear that he doesn’t always love it, he never seems to doubt its power, or its ability to reflect a society or our ability to reflect it (The Real World). His clearest message seems to be that just because a movie or a television show or a piece of music isn’t art, that doesn’t mean it isn't influential or meaningful. It may, in fact, matter more than something artful. It’s a compelling idea, executed by Klosterman with a fabulous mind for witty humor. 

I pinkie swear you will love it. 

Side note: If you happened to have found said book on the Lakshore Train...Please return it. I miss it dearly.

Dear Toronto Transit Commission: suck it

A stern god-like voice comes over the intercom. He was so far from impressed. We are informed that we must walk to the next block for our punishment. Eff that. We purchase tokens and try again. No dice. I decide that I can charm the stern TTC employee I pleaded with him and pouted to the looming camera. Again, no dice. (Not the first time I have been scorned by TTC staff)

Get off your high horse, sir.

The night progressed we bounced from 1 King West, to C-Lounge. I cannot express to you how board I am of these places. The same scene, the same crowd, the same bottles. HOWEVER, this night was a little different.

Let me set the scene: It was about 9:10pm, a balmy 20 degrees as myself, O, and the fabulous M entered the Spadina subway. With no attendants in sight, we decided to exploit M`s TTC Pass and fit us all through the revolving doors in one shot. Slightly inebriated, O and M took the first attempt. The doors jammed. We tried again. Doors jammed. Another patron tries his luck. He gets through. We try.. Jammed. Bizarre.

On our adventures to 1 King West, we happened upon 2 fabulous females who, like us, knew no one there. In this hotel room stocked with booze, midget girls in huge heels, and dbag-manorexic fellows, we were each others best option.

For the first time in my life, bottles were popped (champagne) by girls for girls. These little lady's treated us to non-stop entertainment, and non-stop bottles. There was no dealing with shady soliciting Ibanking males, just the fabulous company. What a perfect combination.

Top Quarter of the Credits.

This pitiful amount of blogging is killing me

I have so much to tell! I feel like I NEVER use computers anymore. Thats not true. I just never use my own computer anymore. And after asking my friendly tech support man Sal for help at work, I realized that not only can he watch my ever move live, but can go back and archive my every click from the day I began. I now regret the last 2 weeks of poor YouTube music selections. I feel like I am under constant survallience. Not cool.

My brand-new-mega-fabulous job starts tomorrow.

Production Assistant on a new show for HGTV

Keep you posted.

Peachy Keen

Boy have I been sucking in the blog department.

I have written about 5 posts that simply end up being saved--edit pending. Life really just gets in the way, and unfortunately for you, those posts will probably never show their pretty faces on this page.

So, I suppose I will sum up my summer and those posts thus far.
I have been a very fortunate girl, and have been virtually work-free until my starting date on the 25th! Fabulous? Yes-ish. I am not use to this amount of time off, and I really cannnnnot wait to get into the early morning work routine. Not to mention, get those pay checks rollin' in.

SO my plan for my next few days of work-freedom?
1. Get all of the little ideas I have stuck in my head out on canvas. Think red paint.
2. Blow a large portion of my remaining cash flow on a new "office wardrobe" (do open toe heals and fabulous pencil skirts count?)
3. Brush up on some computer skills
4. Work out like mad
5. Go to Cora's for breakkie. (Any takers?)
6. Learn and grow to LOVE Dave Matthews before the concert.
7. Book my very first open water scuba dive!!!
8. Anddddd relax in the sun. Give me sweet sweet sun. (I have some crazy "Spanish" competition here)

Désireux

Because if you can’t love someone irrationally and openly when there is nothing to lose, when can you?

-Morgan Chapman

Birthday Wishes

From Toronto to Barcelona with LOVE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH GILLLLL