got shit?

So, I recently found another annoying habit of people that I have decided to add to my ever-increasing list of pet peeves. My latest one is definitely relevant in my current life phase as a past and future advertising professional. I call it the "got shit? phenomenon".

This is the whole "got something?" fad that came from my all-time favorite ad campaign and reason I decided to go into advertising.

You know what I'm talking about, right? Goodby, Silverstein and Partners' 1993 "Got Milk?" campaign. Not only did it make milk cool, but it also came in handy during an 8th grade US History quiz as well.

But for all its genius, it also managed to spawn the evil of all evils . . . copy-cat copy - the worst offending crime known to popular culture, and humanity as a whole, I think.

We've all born witness to it. The bumper sticker that reads: "got God?" (or its Marinite equivalent, "got Dog?") the t-shirt that says: "got adobo?" the homeless dude on the curb with a cardboard that reads: "got cash?", a hooker on the corner shouting: "got date?" . . . ok, you get it, right?

For crying outloud, I just saw another bumper sticker this morning on 101 that said: "got lobster?"

Seriously, folks . . . WTF? Can't you people come up with your own original tag-line for whatever shitty ass thing you're trying to promote or show that you love?

I mean, I'm sure the people at Goodby were probably flattered sixteen years ago when the phenomenon first appeared, maybe even stoked that their tag-line had become such a popular culture icon . . . the Paris Hilton of advertising copy. But come on, people . . . enough already! I'm sure that like the rest of us, they cringe every time a car passes by with some stupid bumper sticker that asks us if we're missing anything with two words and a question mark.

For the love of popular culture . . . and humankind, in general, I beg all of you to stop attempting to think you're being witty by using a tactic that was employed in the '90s to sell us all on the wonderful benefits of dairy.

Thus, in a language only these offenders of pop culture would understand I pose this question: "got originality?"

Ruminate on that for a few seconds . . . or while watching this and revert back to this posting next time you feel so inclined to deface your rear bumper or a 100% cotton t-shirt with such blasphemy.

i want to start a tribe of positive people . . . who's with me?

I recently finished reading an awesome book that has changed my way of thinking. It's almost safe to say that it's even changed my life a little. Not only is a book that I highly recommend everyone to read, but it's also a book I'll probably be passing a long to my friends. (And I'm sure the author would highly approve that move.)

Let me back it up and explain why this book has had such a great impact. (It's not a self-help book . . . well, not in the traditional sense, anyway.) I've been down and out a lot recently. Not quite depressed, as in can't get out of bed, and need to be heavily medicated or have a labotomy . . . but just bummed out. I blame it all on our economy because that's the root of my issue(s). You tend to see things differently when you get laid off and pushed out of your comfort zone. It makes you question things a lot of things - especially when you get sick and end up paying a $75 co-payment at the "free" clinic, or have to move in with family and are stuck working at Starbucks for minimum wage. Seriously, the only thing that gets me out of bed is the promise of good things to come.

That's where positive thinking comes in. Lots and lots of positive thinking. It can be draining at times and I know it's not really going to solve any major issues in the world, but I also know it's a great start.

So, back to this book. It's called "Tribes", by the way, and it's by Seth Godin. It's all about starting your own movement and creating change in a stagnant world just by leading and motivating people to follow your lead. Inspiring shit, indeed.

It made me realize that you should never really give up on ideas you've had in the past, but should instead try to focus more on the bigger picture. I've been thinking a lot about an idea I had a while back (like ten years ago) and it's been a dream of mine pretty much since I was a journalism student. But you know how dreams are . . . most of the time life gets in the way.

I've decided that enough time has passed and that now more than ever is a great time to revisit this dream. The original idea had been to create a website-ezine targeting 20-somethings who were stuck living at home with their parents because the whole "adultolescent" trend was so big back then. It was more of a guide or how-to survive in the real world. Unfortunately, most of my friends and I had no real idea about the "real world". We were still in college, working at coffee shops and living with our parents, of course. Hell, we were all pretty spoiled.

Ten years later . . . and most of my friends and I have had the chance to try out the "grown up" world, moving out of our parent's houses, finishing college, finding jobs, leasing apartments, buying cars, getting laid off, and coming full circle to move back in with the parental units. The point is that we've had a little more experience in life and have something to show for it, I guess.

(Although right now my greatest achievements, aside from going back for my Master's, is learning about Spanish wines and learning how to make soap.)

This brings me to my main point: in times of increased unemployment and economic downturn people become more resourceful and creative. (i.e. soap making, art made from recycled materials, home vegetable gardening, etc.) Most people also create movements of their own by starting their own non-profit organizations to help those in need. Activism also increases as people fight to create change. (We've already witnessed this with the Obama campaign.) We have some great tools available today to promote these great deeds. Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Myspace are great for this . . . the only problem is that there is so much other shit available on these sites that all the organizations and cool projects people are doing get pushed down by stupid quizzes and status updates from people that Twitter every five seconds about irrelevant things.

So, here's where my original idea gets tweaked a little. I want to create a forum specifically for people doing great things to make positive change in this world - whether building furniture out of recycled materials, or starting a non-profit that changes people's perceptions of sociological issue. I want to showcase the good deeds of the world and help people see that positive change can happen and that they can help create it!

Who's with me?