Imagine being great at your job, imagine not only enjoying it but also creating something that blows the competition out of the water. About a year ago, that's exactly what an advertising agency did with the aid of a rhythmically aware gorilla; rumor has it, they just stuck the gorilla behind a drum kit, played a bit of Phil Collins and filmed the result.
This 90 second ad really made it big, though it did it's job by spreading the word according to Cadbury, it bought international fame to the gorilla in question. More so, the way the campaign took off bought Phil Collin's 'In the Air Tonight' back into the UK charts despite it never being re-released on CD! It was all down to viral marketing, the theory that if you are creative and make something that people will like and pass on to their friends, you can use your work as a vessel for a company's brand or message.
On a sunny Sunday morning, as I settle down to watch the first night-race of the Formula 1 grand prix. These races are becoming more and more disappointing as the years go by, this one in Singapore (which was the first ever 'night race') rightly followed the trend and was easily the most boring to date. During one of the adverts the famed gorilla came on but I wasn't smiling, I was disgusted!
In a thinly veiled attempt to ride the fame of the original, they re-cut the ad, replacing Phil Collins with Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', good cheese in it's own right but highly inappropriate for a drumming gorilla. What's worse is that they didn't ever re-shoot the commercial, they just slowed bit of it down and 'cut and paste' bit around, it was painful to watch.
It breaks my heart to see a great concept bought down to this level of crap for the sake of a few extra pounds. The lesson to be learned here is that if you do, somehow, achieve perfection, don't mess with it....
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Friday, 26 September 2008
Top O' The Morning
When making small talk, most of what people say should fall by the wayside after all, we are just making small talk. Someone may recommend a book or movie which, months later, will come to me when I'm sitting in front of a computer, so I go ahead and order it even though I don't remember the context of the conversation.
I watched Michael Collins, a film I sure to recommended by someone but I can't for the life of me remember who; if it was you, thanks! I find random recommendations often work out and this is no exception.
It's essentially about the first peace treaty between the British Empire and Ireland. How the Irish fought for a republic but got a 'free state' which some say was the start of all the troubles with the fighters breaking into the Irish free state army and what will go on to become the IRA. Like all movies that take a historical figure as the central character, the role is somewhat romanticised. Certain aspects and actions are omitted and artistic license is take over other aspects. This is all well and good so long as people realise that this is what they do in the movies, they make the heroes guys good and the villains bad, there's very little gray when it comes to public mass consumption.
This line between screen and reality isn't always respected, the bird man of Alcatraz was a classic example of this. People were rallying for his release after reading the book or watching the film, whereas anyone who had actually met the guy would outright say he should never be released, he was a drug addict and a dangerous man.
Elliot Ness may have been incorruptible but there was no mention in De Palma's movie about his drinking habits or his constant cheating on his wife. 'Henry Hill' was a gangster who sold out everyone around him, not for justice, but to save his own skin but in Wiseguys the book or Goodfellas the movie, he can do no wrong.
People (even great people in history) are flawed, that's what makes them human but in art, literature and film this is rarely ever seen; I'm not saying this is a bad thing, perfection in art is fine, so long as you appreciate that what you are seeing is not real....
I watched Michael Collins, a film I sure to recommended by someone but I can't for the life of me remember who; if it was you, thanks! I find random recommendations often work out and this is no exception.
It's essentially about the first peace treaty between the British Empire and Ireland. How the Irish fought for a republic but got a 'free state' which some say was the start of all the troubles with the fighters breaking into the Irish free state army and what will go on to become the IRA. Like all movies that take a historical figure as the central character, the role is somewhat romanticised. Certain aspects and actions are omitted and artistic license is take over other aspects. This is all well and good so long as people realise that this is what they do in the movies, they make the heroes guys good and the villains bad, there's very little gray when it comes to public mass consumption.
This line between screen and reality isn't always respected, the bird man of Alcatraz was a classic example of this. People were rallying for his release after reading the book or watching the film, whereas anyone who had actually met the guy would outright say he should never be released, he was a drug addict and a dangerous man.
Elliot Ness may have been incorruptible but there was no mention in De Palma's movie about his drinking habits or his constant cheating on his wife. 'Henry Hill' was a gangster who sold out everyone around him, not for justice, but to save his own skin but in Wiseguys the book or Goodfellas the movie, he can do no wrong.
People (even great people in history) are flawed, that's what makes them human but in art, literature and film this is rarely ever seen; I'm not saying this is a bad thing, perfection in art is fine, so long as you appreciate that what you are seeing is not real....
Thursday, 25 September 2008
I Saw the Sign, it Opened Up My Eyes
Often, while walking past things, you tend to look at it and imagine the amount of time that went into creating it. Perhaps it's just me. A large building, for example, I think about someone saying “we need a building there” than designers, architects, builders, electricians, plumbers and the list goes on. Problems will invariably arise and people will get together have a meeting or two to solve it, you can't help but admire that.
Imagine one day, our friends at Severn Trent Water were, one day faced with a broken sign. A few of the guys got together and hammered out a solution. I'm sure this meeting had coffee and no doubt biscuits were served but that's all ok as these people had a problem and they were damned if they weren't going to collectively solve it.
I must ask, how many hours were collectively spent brain storming before they came upon this inventive stop-gap? Amazing!
Imagine one day, our friends at Severn Trent Water were, one day faced with a broken sign. A few of the guys got together and hammered out a solution. I'm sure this meeting had coffee and no doubt biscuits were served but that's all ok as these people had a problem and they were damned if they weren't going to collectively solve it.
I must ask, how many hours were collectively spent brain storming before they came upon this inventive stop-gap? Amazing!
Thursday, 18 September 2008
This Season's Must Have
I know nothing about fashion or what to wear when, sure I'm unlikely to turn up to a non-luau-themed wedding wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts but generally speaking, when it comes to cloths, I'm a bit lost at sea. I figure what most people do is judge others based on what they have read in fashion magazines and on TV.
While waiting for a couple of friends the other day, I spot Gok Wan (though I mistakingly referred to him as Gok Wang to a friend, live and learn) walking across the street and thought this is an ideal opportunity for me to figure out what I should be wearing based on what he was.
As I see it, black is back in, yes brown was the new black but that's old now so brown is actually now the old new black and black is now the new old black brown. Also, it would seem, an essential accessory to have at the moment is a bodyguard to keep away the thousands of screaming fans you have; it wasn't, at this point, clear if anyone else had recognised him but I'm sure the the bodyguard would have jumped into action if someone had.
I should point out that fashion can be expensive but as Wan himself says, you don't need to spend a fortune, you can make something budget look designer. I'll take his advice and this season, I'll mostly be accompanied by a large, official-looking, mate with an ear-piece....
While waiting for a couple of friends the other day, I spot Gok Wan (though I mistakingly referred to him as Gok Wang to a friend, live and learn) walking across the street and thought this is an ideal opportunity for me to figure out what I should be wearing based on what he was.
As I see it, black is back in, yes brown was the new black but that's old now so brown is actually now the old new black and black is now the new old black brown. Also, it would seem, an essential accessory to have at the moment is a bodyguard to keep away the thousands of screaming fans you have; it wasn't, at this point, clear if anyone else had recognised him but I'm sure the the bodyguard would have jumped into action if someone had.
I should point out that fashion can be expensive but as Wan himself says, you don't need to spend a fortune, you can make something budget look designer. I'll take his advice and this season, I'll mostly be accompanied by a large, official-looking, mate with an ear-piece....
Monday, 15 September 2008
Mad Mash
Going about, in and around London, I notice things that make me think. It's mostly good things that reaffirm my faith in the Human race; it's a nice, happy feeling knowing that, despite all the craziness, war, famine and shear stupidness that's evident throughout the world, we may just survive.
Unfortunately, every now and then, I see something that fires off the wrong synapses and leaves me thinking that we are all doomed. One such example as I was picking up a few things from the local supermarket, I wondered into the frozen foods section and found a product that has still left me baffled.
The product, in itself, was rather simple; it was a pack of frozen mash potato. I almost passed it without noticing but something in the back of my mind said 'Stop!' I can not believe that there is a market for frozen mash potato.
I can understand instant mash (Smash, if anyone still remembers it) as it's not really the same. The texture's different, the taste is different, it's not mash! Frozen mash on the other hand, boggles the mind.
Cut up a few potatoes (I prefer to keep the skin on), throw them into boiling water, cook for a few minutes till soft, drain, take a fork or masher and mash the potatoes, add some butter, cheese, herbs to taste, serve. That's all it takes to make mash potato! If someone is too lazy to do that, if they truly feel the need to resort to frozen mash potato; than I have to ask, in all seriousness, are you really fit to contribute to society?
Unfortunately, every now and then, I see something that fires off the wrong synapses and leaves me thinking that we are all doomed. One such example as I was picking up a few things from the local supermarket, I wondered into the frozen foods section and found a product that has still left me baffled.
The product, in itself, was rather simple; it was a pack of frozen mash potato. I almost passed it without noticing but something in the back of my mind said 'Stop!' I can not believe that there is a market for frozen mash potato.
I can understand instant mash (Smash, if anyone still remembers it) as it's not really the same. The texture's different, the taste is different, it's not mash! Frozen mash on the other hand, boggles the mind.
Cut up a few potatoes (I prefer to keep the skin on), throw them into boiling water, cook for a few minutes till soft, drain, take a fork or masher and mash the potatoes, add some butter, cheese, herbs to taste, serve. That's all it takes to make mash potato! If someone is too lazy to do that, if they truly feel the need to resort to frozen mash potato; than I have to ask, in all seriousness, are you really fit to contribute to society?
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Window Shopping
“Which way?”
“Walk north than when you see the pregnant mannequins, take a right.”
“What?”
“Walk north than when you see the pregnant mannequins, take a right.”
“Pregnant mannequins? Really, Josh?”
“Yes, where do you think baby mannequins come from?”
A common conversation that has yet to get someone lost en route to my office. These mannequins usually grace the display window of the Topshop on Regent's Street and every day, as I walk past, it brings a small smile to my face, I've always thought it was Topshop's way of sticking a subtle finger up at conformity, there way of saying “pregnant ladies are beautiful”. They look great, infinitely better than the no-body-all-legs displays I pass everywhere else.
Unfortunately, as I walked home tonight, my smile was turned upside down. The master (or mistress) of displays at the shop thought a change of tact was needed, currently the windows is filled with the new range by Kate Moss. As, I'm guessing, is necessary with anything Kate Moss related, the window has many size 0 mannequins.
The shop front in question isn't on there flagship store (it's nicely tucked away) and they tend to change the display quite often. Usually, I like it, they always put up something slightly out of the ordinary so I really hope Kate Moss doesn't last too long and whoever thinks up these displays gets back on par.
“Walk north than when you see the pregnant mannequins, take a right.”
“What?”
“Walk north than when you see the pregnant mannequins, take a right.”
“Pregnant mannequins? Really, Josh?”
“Yes, where do you think baby mannequins come from?”
A common conversation that has yet to get someone lost en route to my office. These mannequins usually grace the display window of the Topshop on Regent's Street and every day, as I walk past, it brings a small smile to my face, I've always thought it was Topshop's way of sticking a subtle finger up at conformity, there way of saying “pregnant ladies are beautiful”. They look great, infinitely better than the no-body-all-legs displays I pass everywhere else.
Unfortunately, as I walked home tonight, my smile was turned upside down. The master (or mistress) of displays at the shop thought a change of tact was needed, currently the windows is filled with the new range by Kate Moss. As, I'm guessing, is necessary with anything Kate Moss related, the window has many size 0 mannequins.
The shop front in question isn't on there flagship store (it's nicely tucked away) and they tend to change the display quite often. Usually, I like it, they always put up something slightly out of the ordinary so I really hope Kate Moss doesn't last too long and whoever thinks up these displays gets back on par.
Saturday, 6 September 2008
Dated Ideas
The big problem with political writing is that it's often a commentary on the current state of play, the ideas put forward just can't stand the test of time. What's worse is a lot of them with write in a hand-wavy generic way which leaves me thinking “what the hell did they mean by that?”, I'd then have to reread again and again to try and pull a meaning from the convoluted sentence presented to me.
I thought this was a relatively modern phenomena (the speech writers of George Bush and Tony Blair excel at this) but after reading Orwell's Politics and the English Language, I realized that this practice was rife as early as 1946!
I'd love to be able to summarise that essay but I don't think I can, it's worth a read. The crux of it is that writers don't care about the point they want to get across anymore, they care more about how they say things. Pick up any piece of political writing today (a good example is a speech George Bush gave 'condemning' the Russians over the recent Georgia incident).
This and many other examples of George Orwell's writings show how (good) political writing really can stand the test of time; but this also shows how the state of world politics hasn't really evolved over the years. One of my favorite books is Nineteen Eighty Four and people use the world in which it is set as a 'worst case' regime to live by, and why not?
The land of air strip one was a nightmare, the people in power would have to 'double-think' and he invented the concept of 'newspeak'. Both these concepts were laughable when I first read about them but over the years, I see examples of them everywhere in British politics alone!
In 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia, it was as if someone had handed Pol Pot a copy of Nineteen Eighty Four and told implement what he read. People were taken away for crimes that are disturbingly close to what Orwell called 'thought crimes', the perpetrators (often these people were identified by children) would then have to be 'reeducated' and was unlikely to be ever seen again. History was constantly being denied or rewritten! The big difference is that in Orwell's world, the rest of the world was just as bad but out here in real life.... the rest of the world just watched on.
In North Korea, they have a god-like leader who's ways are very similar to big brother. I'm sure the North Koreans don't spend an allocated five minutes per day in hate towards their enemies but they do have certain aspects that are a direct throwback to Nineteen Eighty Four.
A great writer and a relevant one in this day and age but it's worth noting that within this great writing are a number of warnings, some of them are incredibly thinly veiled. It was just assumed that people would learn from history which is why Orwell can satirise them in his books, what disturbs me is that by reading them, I'm reminded that time and time again, we haven't learned.
I thought this was a relatively modern phenomena (the speech writers of George Bush and Tony Blair excel at this) but after reading Orwell's Politics and the English Language, I realized that this practice was rife as early as 1946!
I'd love to be able to summarise that essay but I don't think I can, it's worth a read. The crux of it is that writers don't care about the point they want to get across anymore, they care more about how they say things. Pick up any piece of political writing today (a good example is a speech George Bush gave 'condemning' the Russians over the recent Georgia incident).
This and many other examples of George Orwell's writings show how (good) political writing really can stand the test of time; but this also shows how the state of world politics hasn't really evolved over the years. One of my favorite books is Nineteen Eighty Four and people use the world in which it is set as a 'worst case' regime to live by, and why not?
The land of air strip one was a nightmare, the people in power would have to 'double-think' and he invented the concept of 'newspeak'. Both these concepts were laughable when I first read about them but over the years, I see examples of them everywhere in British politics alone!
In 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia, it was as if someone had handed Pol Pot a copy of Nineteen Eighty Four and told implement what he read. People were taken away for crimes that are disturbingly close to what Orwell called 'thought crimes', the perpetrators (often these people were identified by children) would then have to be 'reeducated' and was unlikely to be ever seen again. History was constantly being denied or rewritten! The big difference is that in Orwell's world, the rest of the world was just as bad but out here in real life.... the rest of the world just watched on.
In North Korea, they have a god-like leader who's ways are very similar to big brother. I'm sure the North Koreans don't spend an allocated five minutes per day in hate towards their enemies but they do have certain aspects that are a direct throwback to Nineteen Eighty Four.
A great writer and a relevant one in this day and age but it's worth noting that within this great writing are a number of warnings, some of them are incredibly thinly veiled. It was just assumed that people would learn from history which is why Orwell can satirise them in his books, what disturbs me is that by reading them, I'm reminded that time and time again, we haven't learned.
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Odd Observation
A short one today. I have on, in the background, Jurassic Park. It was just this weekend a friend of mine was telling me about how she was helping her daughter with her university applications. I remember doing this ten years ago! This makes me feel old.
The thing that really made me sit up and take notice though was the fact I remember going to the cinema with a few friends to watch Jurassic Park. I should have just left the memory as it was but I thought about it a it more and came to realize that it was in 1993, 15 years ago!
It's not a bad feeling (I mean I don't feel ancient or anything) it's just slightly surreal that a blockbuster I went to see is now a graveyard shift time filler used to mark time before an extended infomercial is put on for insomniacs who just don't have enough JML in their lives....
The thing that really made me sit up and take notice though was the fact I remember going to the cinema with a few friends to watch Jurassic Park. I should have just left the memory as it was but I thought about it a it more and came to realize that it was in 1993, 15 years ago!
It's not a bad feeling (I mean I don't feel ancient or anything) it's just slightly surreal that a blockbuster I went to see is now a graveyard shift time filler used to mark time before an extended infomercial is put on for insomniacs who just don't have enough JML in their lives....
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