Can good advertising turn the auto industry around?

No, it cannot. However, this new campaign from Ford takes a step in the right direction. These spots stand out in a sea of sameness. They talk to the target in a very personal, straightforward, but entertaining voice. And the type treatment brings a big punch. The spots also tell me what's different about this truck in a simple, yet fun way. I have no need for a pickup truck these days (a rugged mini-van seems to be on my horizon), but I'm a fan of this new campaign. Can you guess the voiceover? Here's a not-so-tiny hint: his first name is Denis and he's on a show with the word Rescue in it.

They also have a great website www.fordvehicles.com featuring Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs comparing the Ford F-150 to the competition.

Politically Creative

Freedom of expression no doubt ran crazy the last few months. From people ranting and raving on TV to the rallies both Republican and Democrat to personal postings on Facebook, people held very little back. Some were good. Some were bad. Either way, that freedom is the beauty of this country. Now to help sum up a little of that banter, here's a tiny fraction of millions of the designs, sayings and merchandise that people were selling, wearing, saying... perhaps even branding onto parts of their bodies. Creativity certainly blossomed as people strove to get their viewpoint across. Ah, freedom! I especially like the McCain and Obama flip-flop accessories.

Monster of a Campaign

What were you destined to do? Are you there? Or are you stuck in some job that defies everything that is you. A place that ignores your talent or at the very least is not interested in it. Monster.com, in this very nice ad campaign, asks you these very questions. If you're an artist imprisoned by data or a scientist concocting lattes or a chef cooking the books, it's time for change. This campaign fills us with clever imagery, an inspirational feeling and a solid foundation for many, many more great ads.

There's something funny about this grass.

When you think about Wimbledon, what do you see? White shorts. White shirts. Rackets flying around. Grunting. Some crazy Brit streaking the court. And grass. Yes, grass. In honor of this famous turf, artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey created these interesting grass photos. They used the grass itself as the paper and then projected b/w photos onto it while it grew in a dark room. Yeah, who thinks of this stuff?

Anyhow, their technique is part biology, part art as they literally deprived the grass of light to develop the photographic shape. And as you can imagine, the art's lifespan is quite short. As soon as the grass sees the light of day, it begins to grow more evenly and the photos fade away. Kind of like, Anna Kournikova's tennis career.

Things that make you go... really?

Just something to think about. And no, I have not fact checked this video.

This SpreadSheet Rocks!

Holy awesomeness. ACDC may have shook you all night long many years back, but now they're rocking your spreadsheet with this very cool music video that plays in Excel. Firewall-proof, the video is a great way to enable every cubicle dweller to easily download the most exciting spreadsheet since... yeah, I can't think of any others. This makes it not just a cool use an everyday application, but a great method to maximize the number of people to whom they promote their latest album.




Download the document HERE