I'm perplexed. An ad made of 100% recycled ads? It's quite a bold concept considering this comes from a company who is known for it's boldness. I have to say I love the idea as a whole. But the execution makes me cringe. Why does it look like they fired their agency and got an art student to edit this? I'd really like to say that I'm a fan of this ad, but to be honest, aside from reminding me that I need to plug my Nike+ meter into my Nike sneakers before my next run it really didn't do much else for me. **Meh**
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Honestly insightful
I love social experiments. I especially love them when they manage to do good things for a good product. As a wannabe-sociologist-slash-quasi-cultural-anthropologist, I found this one for Honest Tea incredibly insightful.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Cloudsourcing
Plus, there were some good ones out in the valley on Thursday, I couldn't resist. All I wanted to do was lay out in the middle of the vineyard and stare up at the sky. (And snap some pics of course.)
This is my idea of "going to the cloud."
Monday, February 28, 2011
Advertising about it is great, but what are you really doing to be socially responsible?
Like a lot of people I thought that Crysler's Superbowl spot "Imported From Detroit" was brilliant. I still think it's a compelling and heart-felt portrayal of hope. And of course, Crysler upped their ante in the street-cred department by not only featuring the soundrack to "8 Mile" but also showing Eminem driving the 2011 Crysler 200 - a car that looks badass on its own, even if it doesn't fit my personal aesthetics. Needless to say, I was almost moved to tears.
But then I came across a link that Eric Asimov from The New York Times Tweeted a couple of days ago with images of a dilapidated Detroit. We're all aware of the economic hardships that Motown has suffered in the last fifteen years or so, but watching "Mike and Me" couldn't prepare me for what I saw. The photographs from the French design website,Ma Revue, made me so sad that this time I actually did cry.
I wondered, how can a city have such little regard for their architectural history and cultural heritage? One of the photographs was from the Vanity Dancehall, which despite the fact it opened in 1929, not only survived the Depression, it also thrived up until the 1960s with such acts like Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. It even got a second life in the '70s with bands like The Stooges.
In 1982 it became part of the National Register of Historic Places, yet twenty-six years later is was listed as one of the ten endangered buildings in Detroit by their preservation society. I know we had a few economic downturns in the early '80s, but what about the mid '90s when we had enough money to do something? Why wasn't the money spent on beautification and restoration of historic buildings. Or were we too blind back then to see how greedy GM and Crysler were becoming and that would eventually lead to their inevitable bankruptcies?
Maybe it's because I live in an area that values its history that I feel a pang in my stomach from seeing a city in the US let it's buildings decay as much as its economy. Maybe it's because I'm an art student, or because my grandfather was an architect-engineer and taught me to appreciate buildings that it hurts me to see these places so mistreated. Afterall, Barcelona wouldn't let its Gaudi buildings crumble, would it?
Most would ask: where are they going to get the money? (Especially now that we're past the point of just "recession".) And yet there's always money for other stuff. I'm sure not all of Detroit's residents are completely destitute. I'm sure there are a few people out there who have the time and resources to organize something. Nearby Grosse Point is one of the wealthiest small towns per capita in the U.S. and it's less than 25 minutes away. (I also counted another six zip codes within Michigan on that list of 100 wealthiest cities in the U.S.)
Some would argue that time and money could be better used to improve schools and hospitals. But I think when you give a community beauty and restore it's cultural heritage you give them a sense of pride that no one can take away from them. I'm no urban planning professional, but I'm pretty sure that redevelopment and regentrifiation bring more street traffic and in turn more businesses too. There are industries in this country aside from the automobile industry. Build it and they will come. (So will the jobs).
See Oakland's Uptown area. During the first part of the 20th century it was THE shopping district in Oakland. It kind of lost it's magic during the middle of the last century including many failed attempts of restoration and redevelopment. In the last decade a couple of new restaurants opened up in the area, followed by condos and in 2009 the Fox Theater reopened after being closed since 1966 after which it was known as “the largest outdoor urinal in the world.” I was lucky enough to attend that opening night at the Fox Theater in '09 with a stellar performance by Al Green who seemed to shine his effervesent positivity throughout the concert-hall. The Fox is not only a theater with big-name shows almost every night, it's also the home base for Another Planet Entertainment and the location of Oakland School of Performing Arts, a public charter school.
With that said, let's turn our attention back to Crysler, shall we? After seeing photos, like the ones above, I wanted to know exactly WHAT Crystler was DOING to show their loyalty toward their beloved Detroit. What are they doing in order to gain the American consumer's trust, especially since an Italian car-maker has owned half the company since 2009. Yes, I get that they're a "car company" so their main focus is on the automobile. But now they're also saying they're more than that. I want to know exactly what social responsibility means to them?
Looking at the Crysler Foundation website I saw that they raised money for Katrina victims and also for the victim's families after 9/11. According to their website they even donate to the arts, eduction and environment. That's great, but why was there no mention of Detroit, specifically? Maybe it's just assumed that they give back to the community. I mean, they supposedly create tons of jobs for workers in the area, right? There have also been talks of expanding the main plant on the Jefferson and reopening other factories that were shut down in 2009 before FIAT got half of their assets.
I'm not belittling their efforts because it seems like they do some good works, but why doesn't that still seem like enough to me? I want to see more. As a consumer, American, and advertising person, I want to see more accountability from a company that boasts it is all about the city it started in. I want to see it contribute more to that city and I want to see exactly what they are contributing - time, money, resources.
We need to hold our companies accountable for the messages they send out to us because they need to know that the American public is not that gullible. "Imported from Detroit" was an awesome example of what they can aspire to be again both as a company and as a city. I bet that if they actually focus on social responsibility there on their home turf they will see their numbers back in black once again.
I know I'm just a California girl, who's never been to Detroit and am probably just an idealistic naive dreamer who hasn't experienced poverty and doesn't know what it's like to see something like that, but I still want Detroit to thrive because it means that we all have hope everywhere else in this country. There is no excuse for a city in one of the wealthiest states to look like a warzone. The spot showed us what we as a country can be if we have faith, hope and a badass sensibility. (The American Dream?) I want Crysler to man-up and live up to the promise it made in its Super Bowl ad.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Communication Breakdown
I always gather some pearls of wisdom whenever I Skype with my mother in New Zealand. (Aside from just getting a sore throat from our hour-long conversations). Not that I mind, really. All I need is a glass of water and I'm set.
However, the sore throat and the whole awkwardness got me thinking about conversations, in general. I'm talking about actual face-to-face conversations. We don't seem to have too many of those anymore.
This particular conversation started with Social Media. I'm pro, mom's against, even though she has a Facebook account she never checks. We were talking about privacy settings and how I had just heard of this program that some digital strategist are using to bypass people's privacy settings on Facebook and Twitter to gain insight on their Social Media behaviors.
"Big Brother is watching," my mother said."Goes to show, you might think something's private, but anyone can look at it. You should make sure you're not posting anything crazy there."
First of all, as a grad student, I have no social life. Social Media is my social life. That said, I don't really care about people finding what I've posted on my Facebook. Sure, I have uber-privacy settings on that thing, but the main thing is that Facebook is my one outlet where I get to be who I really am and communicate with my friends about what's important to me.
"Well, you better talk to your little cousins about that stuff," she said. "I've seen drunken pictures up there and party pictures. They should know that this is probably going to keep them from getting a job some day in the future."
My cousins don't even have privacy settings on their Facebooks. One got his account hacked into. One posts too many party pics, and one posted some private information about an employer's alarm code.
"Someone needs to talk to them," my mom said. "School doesn't do it and teens don't talk to their parents. I hope their teachers at least take their phones away if they're using it in class."
I guess I never thought about that because when I was in high school we had pagers (yes, I'm that old) and they were confiscated if you were caught checking it during class. Plus, I always talked to my parents about everything. (Well, almost.)
"Teens don't talk. Period," I told my mother. At this moment I had a very strange revelation. Teens don't talk anymore because no one talks anymore. I mean, no one really uses their vocal chords to communicate anymore. It's a rare thing to even have a phone conversation with someone. Most of our communication is through email, Twitter, status updates and text messages.
Growing up in the era before text messaging, as a teen, I would spend hours on the phone with my friends. Sometimes I would even fall asleep with the phone cradled under my ear. The phone was used to schedule hang-out times and places. I was the one responsible for organizing things, so I would be on the phone all afternoon calling all my friends until we had a definite arrangement. I was kind of glad when everyone finally got AOL and we could just email or IM and conference IM what movie we were seeing at the mall and when.
Now we don't even talk anymore. If I have something to say to one of my friends I either write it on their wall, address a Tweet to them or just text them depending on the message. I had an old friend tell me a while back that she had no idea what was going on in my life because my Facebook status updates were so random and generic. (Yeah, that's kind of the point.) I got a little annoyed and started wondering why she hadn't just picked up the phone and given me a ring. Another friend sent me an IM a couple of weeks ago asking me how I was. "Nice," she messaged back as if not really paying attention to what I had written. As a response to my question, "How's it going with you?" She posted a link to her blog. (Tacky much?)
This all reminded me of that episode of "Seinfeld" where Elaine is in social agony over what is appropriate when expressing your sympathies to someone over the death of a loved one. She can't leave a message. But she knows she shouldn't call on a cell phone either because what if the reception cuts out. Besides calling someone on a cell phone means you're not giving your full attention to the conversation because you're on your cell phone probably doing something else while you're calling.
There's that common sense we all seem to be lacking these days when it comes to personal communication.
My mother and most older adults I know think that kids are born with new technology already embedded in their brain like it's part of their DNA or some nanochip that's implanted when they come out of the womb. "Pretty soon kids are going to be born without vocal chords because it won't be necessary to speak anymore."
There's a frightening thought.
On that note, I've decided to take my own personal time machine back to 1996, actually call my friends this week and have a real-life, real-time voice-to-voice conversation. (If they have Skype, that's better, I"m sure.) But I'll stick to an actual phone for now. (Hopefully AT&T allows me to do this.) Or better yet, I'll arrange to grab a drink or coffee with them and have a real face-to-face conversation. Point is, if I have something to say to the important people in my life, I'm going to actually say it to them instead of sending a message in written text.
Let's see how that goes.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
I like to think that the faucets pour sherry when you turn them on.
Another fun pic from Espain. This one was taken in Seville. Now I totally want some Palomino Fino.
I bet he totally used the bidet
I never got to post this to my blog, but fashion fanatic that I am, I just had to brag about this. So, better later than never. Yes, that is Pierre Cardin's autograph on the bathroom tile of my hotel I'm Granada, Spain. The front desk even confirmed it when I inquired about it the next day. I'm guessing he stayed there long before the hotel became a Best Western, though. Just sayin'.
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