Campaign

Mentos reveals new line in OCD sweets

A man offered us one of these the other day (don't tell our mums).

It's a tube of Mentos with the element of surprise and excitement surgically removed. You can see without even opening it, exactly where the different coloured sweets are. Forrest Gump must be reeling. 'Life is like a box o' chocolates. you never know - oh - no - the analogy no longer holds.' (did it ever?)

What happened to the magic of not knowing how many green or black ones you were buying? This way you know you're getting the same amount of colours as every one  - sure it's probably fairer, but it kind of takes the fun out of it doesn't it? What's next? Getting a facebook invite to your own surprise birthday? Stencilling the sex of your baby onto your pregnant belly?

On the other hand, maybe they're a good idea for all those people who used to get mortified when they'd find there weren't any green ones in their pack. Or those who felt hard-done-by when they were lumbered with loads of black ones they didn't want. I guess it depends what kind of a person you are - whether you like to plan or you like living on the edge, so to speak. You might say this new mentos design represents a kind of dichotomy between personality traits - the more spontaneous type versus or the more ordered, anal type. Or you might say we're reading a little too much into things.

i this; i that

Some days while procrastinating we can't help thinking of ludicrous 'app' ideas, in these app-infested creative waters in which we now float.

Today's is the iBaby which acts as an ultrasound. You simply hover your iPhone over your belly, and as a pulsating foetal image flashes up you can trick people into thinking you're pregnant. 'Ooooo, there's it's head look.' Complete with heart beat SFX.

Why you'd want to we're not sure (unless you're on a particularly busy northern line train), but either way it could make a nice campaign for Durex or a COI department of health thing perhaps.

Right, back to 3.

Mute-resistant commercials?

Someone at Glue sent this around today, It's terrifying.

"CHICAGO—The Leo Burnett advertising agency announced Tuesday that a McDonald's spot set to air during the upcoming May sweeps will be the first mute-resistant commercial in television history. The ad reportedly uses a new technology that disables a TV's volume-reduction functions, creating a "new kind of listening space" for advertisers to communicate with audiences. "Viewers can try pressing the mute button, but if they do, it will actually double the volume at which they hear the latest 'I'm Lovin' It' jingle," CEO Tom Bernardin said. "We already have six more clients signed on to use this exciting marketing tool during the season finale of Lost."
Rival agency Draftfcb is reportedly developing a technology of its own that will remotely turn on a television and adjust the channel seconds before a commercial airs. "

What's next, a TV ad that takes control of the remote and changes channels to when your brand is airing an ad? Or an ad where a man steps out of the TV and into your living room, kidnaps you, gaffer tapes your mouth, dumps you in the boot, drives you to the shops, drags you to the aisle and points a gun at your head until you pay for the product?

Yes, it is interesting technology, but thank god it's only a joke, found on The Onion. Gaffer tape man hasn't arrived just yet.

From Wordsworth to Withnail - postcards from Sleddale Hall

News from the Withnail front - on a last minute easter trip to the lake district, I (lol) ended up in the only available accommodation in Cumbria - which happened to be just a slate's throw from Penrith. So we went on a pilgrimage to Uncle Monty's to see what old Sleddale Hall (or Crow Crag to fans of Withnail & I), is really like now it's got a new owner.

Walking up there through the picturesque hills, the weather was all wrong. It should have been pissing with rain and cloudy like the film. Instead it was blindingly sunny, the water in the reservoir an iridescent blue. It was hard to recognise Crow Crag without the bleak backdrop of mud and stormy rain.

On the way there, climbing over quaint little streams and marshland, we met two locals who were on an actual hike around Wet Sleddale. They said that they knew the new owner - a gentleman of nearby Bampton, who goes by the name of Sebastian Hindley. Fittingly he is a publican, and his family wealth comes from owning BHS - so that's where the money to invest has come from.  Luckily he is also a die-hard withnail fan, and wants to restore the place so it is fit to stay in. In his own words, he wishes to make Sleddale Hall to Withnail what the beautiful Dove Cottage in nearby Grasmere is to Wordsworth. He's got his work cut out for him. As it stands today, it's an absolute sh**hole. At best, charmingly dilapidated.

We certainly weren't the first to visit - Withnail fans have clearly been there in droves over the years to have booze-fuelled parties - as the piles of broken glass lay testament to. As do the Abbey-Road-esque graffiti adorning the walls.

 

But aside from that the scenery is sublime - it's well worth a visit. There's even real-life farmers there to holler 'shut that gate and keep it shut!' at you. More on Seb, the new owner and his inspiring plans here (hare).

D. It is written - if a little strangely

Does no one else think the marketing of Slumdog Millionaire is a touch misleading? 

Don't get me wrong, I'm (lol) a die hard devotee of this film, and have been raving about ever since it was first screened at the london film festival in October. I'm glad it's done so well, but I do find it odd that they've taken such a dumbed-down approach to the marketing. Every time I see an ad for it I have to double take and remind myself it's not the latest Richard Curtis. All the bus-sides and posters portray it as a happy-go-lucky, fluffy Rom Com. When in fact its actually a very artistic, beautifully shot and scored film that makes you think and breaks your heart as much as it uplifts. what's more, when you leave the cinema, you are left with a resounding sense of sadness at all the poverty in the world. Well, unless you subscribe to the belief that the whole thing is 'poverty porn' as some do.

'Making Britain smile', and the 'feel-good movie' of the year seem to be sneaky headlines that, when coupled with the big cheesy photos of Jamal and Latika, are bound to make the masses flock to the cinema in their droves. Only to find that it's actually a much darker experience than what they expected, and might normally have seen. It's a film that as well as 'making britiain smile', is also making them cry, grimace, recoil and (in that eye-gouging scene) look away in horror. Still, if that's what it takes for this film to do well commercially as well as critically, then hats off to Boyle's marketing team. It's not what it says on the tin - but from a film that was about to sink without a trace until the festivals rescued it (as we blogged before), I guess it deserves anything which helps it get to as many people as possible.

AdWars

It's fun when you see ads entering into a dialogue with each other. On the corner of Santa Monica Blvd, Audi has put up some billboards showing the all new Audi A4 along with the headline: “Your move, BMW”. Santa Monica BMW, a local dealership, took on the challenge and entered a virtual chess game. Thanks to Gareth at Glue for pointing it out.

It reminds me of the Atheist bus campaign and the bus side war that ensued recently. (as most of you probably know), it all started with some very extreme evangelical Christian ads, prompting an 'atheist' rebuttal of 'there's probably no god so stop worrying and enjoy your life', sparking a reactionary 'there definitely IS a god...'bus-side from the Christians. As far as we know there hasn't been an answer back from Atheism yet?

It's funny to watch two ads fighting it out. Although it works well in the case of the BMW v Audi, in the religion case it does seem a little reminiscent of the kind of pointless stalemate you used to get into on the playground  - 'did too,' 'did not', 'did so' ad infinitum.. Although we commend Scamp and Ariane for all their efforts, it does seem that belief isn't something you can really persuade someone out of. Good fun trying though.

Release your inner Gordon (Comstock)

To anyone who would like some help getting a book published, an author friend is holding a writing workshop in central london on 19th May. 
Maria McCarthy is an inspirational author/journalist/PR guru and regularly lectures on getting published at Bristol University. The event is on 19th May from 7 til 9 somewhere in Coptic St. For more info see her site...

what's in a name?

Just been writing scripts that required an instant knowledge of towns with ludicrous names. In our haste to brush up our awareness we stumbled upon this little gem. Might not be to your taste if you don't find silly things funny. I know Wales is rife with them, but has anyone got any better ones?