Ad Caulk

Mind taking a look at all this stuff since you're already here? Will only take a minute.

CRUDE OIL

• God-awful 90s mixtape/mashup thingy I couldn't stop listening to.

• Puppet Apartment. (Trigger warning: anthropomorphic appliances)

• 25x magnified seawater contains an entire world of things that are probably trying to kill us. Never trust the small stuff.

• "Are these the most dangerous people in marketing?" by Sell! Sell! (Surprisingly not just a hit list of creatives/clients who have murdered people before.)

• The Ad Contrarian's parable of "The Polluted Fountain of Youth."

• Braves. Blands. Brants. A primer on brands by George Tannenbaum.

• Clickhole.com. Infinitely clickable. Probably more interesting than any other clickbait site on the internet.

• David Simon continues to gripe and make my affections for him grow stronger.

• NO SHIT by Dave Trott. 

• Food's getting more expensive. Toys cheaper. Maybe Huxley was on to something.

• Nice ad for The Weather Channel

• Sam Rami's low budget camera rigs for Evil Dead.

FOSSILS

What you'll be if you don't read this presentation by W+K's Martin Weigel. (via Sell! Sell!)

ROCKS AND MINERALS

Please use this song in a commercial. (via @Awoooooga)

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin went to Russia. Shot a video for their song "Young Presidents."

Why is ketchup so hard to pour?

Smoking. Also hard.

This space intentionally left blank for that hamster eating a burrito video everyone has already seen. 

Lots of stuff for you all this weekend so let's dispense with the chit chat and head straight to the links.

BY THE WORD

• Writing Tips from George Tannenbaum. And good ones at that.

• Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin and Hobbes) designed a movie poster. Still won't make any more Calvin and Hobbes.

• Luke Sullivan on a force more powerful (and potentially more important) than creativity in advertising. Not to be all Upworthyian but you're going to have to read to find out.

• Periodic Table of Storytelling. 

• Sell! Sell! have dug up (okay, opened Campaign to) what is potentially the most depressing article of all time. 

• One on One with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland. (Great show if you're a fan of sci-fi and humanity and madness in general.)

• Dave Dye is back with TWO interesting posts Gibley's Gin and Know Stuff.

• And Ben Kay rounding it out with Fear and Bullshit in Adland.

BY THE PICTURE

Harold Ramis' advice to filmmakers. (via @RobSchrab)

News report about Kenyan slang contains three languages. Puts US news to shame.

New Richmond Sausages ad from Saatchi London.

Most amazing instrument I've even seen.

ALERT: Super Bowl reflection post below.

People complain that the majority of Super Bowl commercials are sub-par every year. In turn this gets blamed on the American Public or, as many others in the field like to call it, the lowest common denominator.

The problem is appealing to what we think is the lowest common denominator. Or thinking our ads have to be worse to appeal to all people*. They don't. But it does take a slightly different approach to make an ad that delights and sells when 100 million people are watching.

And it's not like there haven't been successful Super Bowl spots in the past. It wasn't long ago that Bud ruled the game with their frogs and wassup. It was just two years ago that Old Spice reigned supreme with The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (which actually ran before the game). Even VW's Little Vader was universally loved and slightly humorous (though the selling point was a little weak).

Contrast that with the "sophisticated" approach Bud Light Platinum took. Those spots were universally panned in polls and post-game commentary. They offered nothing to the audience and blended in with the blandervitisng we see every day. It was as though the creatives had never drank a beer in their lives (let alone a Platinum).

So while it's possible to make something that doesn't suck you have to understand where you're advertising. the point is to entertain groups of half-interested individuals. These people are cheering for a good ad. This is the one time a year they might actually care. It's not good to go in with the attitude that appealing to people sucks. That's something that should be celebrated.

It's easy to blame people when work doesn't go over well. They didn't get it, they just weren't smart enough, what does the public know? The issue is the public is our audience: including the lowest common denominator. An ad that doesn't work for them isn't really worth anything.

And if that doesn't make sense to marketers then the Lowest Common Denominator might be us.

*This is one point I disagree with George Tannenbaum on. For a balanced perspective check out his take on Super Bowl ads.

I have often professed my love for books here. Literature, business books, short stories, and the like. But advertising books (including annuals) hold a special place in my heart.

So it came as a great surprise when I read this post by George Tannenbaum. The place I worked this summer (post forthcoming) everyone read books. When we weren't pouring our brains out onto paper we would grab any book sitting around and read it. That's one of the reasons I loved working there so much.

But apparently this is not the norm. Most people are not reading books about advertising on a regular basis. Sad. Because there are little nuggets of truth locked into those pages just waiting to inspire people.

The book I go back to time and time again is D&AD's "The Copy Book." I think it is tremendous and, as a writer, the best resource when I'm in need of a mentor. The people who provided their insights to that book are legends. Their campaigns make me drool in a mixture of awe, excitement, and. Maybe one day I'll be able to come up with something as brilliant as that*.

So for the past few weeks it has been my mission to introduce people in my advertising classes (and friends within shouting distance) to books and annuals. And when I open those pages and let people see the awe-inspiring work I see something beautiful.

Genuine excitment.

That twinkle in someone's eyes when you have opened up their world to something wonderful. I hear people ask the same questions I asked when I first starting reading these things. I see people get that feverish look on their faces like they need more.

The awesome thing about books is that insatiable thirst for knowledge they unlock. People think, "if this is out there, what else could be out there." And all it takes is something giving enough of a fuck to introduce people to these texts. So if you haven't been reading books like The Copy Book, Bill Bernbach's Book, Ally &Gagarno, Communication Arts Annuals, One Sow Annuals, pick one up and start exploring.

And if you own one share it with someone. The Book Bug is about the only virus you can feel good about sharing.

*then again, maybe not.
(image via the fantastic Sell! Sell! Blog, which you should also be reading)

We're selling links of all shapes and sizes! Drop on by today and buy, buy, BUY!

• Gerry Graf hilariously breaks down TV cupcake shows.
• The Cerberus of ad blogs cometh! Angela Natividad, Bill Green and Darryl Ohrt quit their individual blogs and became the collective known as AdVerve.
• "Two Ways to Be Great" from Makin' Ads.
• Seth Godin on why schools should ditch the industrial model.
• Why Ben Kay thinks companies are wasting money on ads.
• AS A RULE, you shouldn't use as a rule. From Dave Trott.
• And, of course, two posts from George Tannenbaum. "Using Your Ears" and "Is honesty suicide?"

And we've got plenty of video too:

A London bus tour that "made London look cool like New York." (via)

 Laughs from the uber talented Everynone.

Show this to your friends when they say they don't understand why color grading matters.