Music videos are not dead yet

Yes, Music Videos may no longer be all the rage. You don't hear people around the water cooler gabbing, "Hey, have you seen Lady Gaga's awesome new video." And MTV and VH1 frankly run more celebrity and reality footage than music. However, this does not mean that terrific videos are not being produced. Here are 3 that really push creativity levels and stand out.

1. Coldplay's Strawberry Swing. Talk about ambitious. The animation on this is all-chalk drawings. Created by a collaborative artist group, known as Shynola, Strawberry Swing makes an okay song something very memorable.



2. Here's another animated video from another big name. U2's I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight is directed by David O'Reilly and designed by Jon Klassen. This video tells the story of multiple people going a little crazy and making changes in their lives.

U2 - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight from David OReilly on Vimeo.

3. The Killers' Dustland Faireytale takes a different approach than the others. This video actually uses people. It tells a story of regret. Watching it, you understand this old man's life completely through visual flash backs. The editing is great. The story unfolds perfectly in time with the music. This is not just some song without meaning and the video helps everyone see that. It really bring the lyrics to life. Nice. This was directed by Anthony Mandler.

Unfortunately, the embedding was disabled, so here's the link to youtube: KillersVideo

5 Oh So Damn Clever Ads

I love clever uses of media. So here are 5 recent ones that hit that mark.



I actually saw this image at a bus stop, only it read "Bus Stop for Humans Only. Report any Non-humans." It definitely got my attention. I even went to D-9.com to find out what this non-human stuff was all about. It's a movie called District 9 of the SciFi genre directed by Peter Jackson. The trailer's pretty sweet, so I've included that, too. Great teaser.





We've all experienced a navigational system gaffe. You know where the lovely voice politely instructs us to cross a lake or turn left into a house, right? Well, LandRover introduces the first navigation system, via an iphone app, that does this on purpose. The reason is obvious. If you have a LandRover, who needs a road? It's an App that makes a brand statement.



Now here's an advertising device I've never seen before. It's the high-rise window cleaning medium. Very cool. This would be even more hilarious and effective going up the side of an office building. Imagine a bunch of cubicle dwellers slugging out their daily reports and beholding this lovely destinations. Or even a simple message from Budweiser at 4:30pm about having a Happy Hour tonight would be perfect.



Who said the paper towel business can't be fun? Bounty owns the big spill with this guerrilla approach.



A bus billboard that changes pictures when you look at it? How very Minority Report... and innovative. Not only is this great eye-tracking technology at work, but it's a smart use of smart technology. The ad's purpose is get people to think twice about looking the other way when it comes to domestic abuse. Thus, the ad literally mimics the message. When no eyes are directed toward the billboard, the man strikes the woman.

A Hole New Take On Breakfast Treats

Okay, a biscuit hole from Hardees does not sound like anything I would ever want to eat. However, that aside, I found these videos highlighting the name and the shape of this morning breakfast treat, quite hilarious.

Hardees, unlike many food establishments, refreshingly does not take their product too seriously. In fact, they go out of their way to make fun of it. They've created a website entitled nameourholes.com. And as you'll see in the videos below, they welcome your not-so-tasteful discussion of their biscuit holes. Although crass, I like how Hardees gets people thinking about and engaged with their new product. In fact, I'm trying to come up with a clever name for them right now.

A Diaper Dandy

So, I have a 2-month old at home and I've been quite impressed by how adept he is at holding up his neck, moving side to side and burping. Well, that was until I saw these videos from Evian. Wow, these little ones can really move.

Okay, so it's fake, very fake. Nevertheless, the execution on this viral campaign impresses the hell out of me. As I'm sure a ton of preparation and then post-work was done to make it all happen. It capitalizes on the cuteness of babies while also working to own a statement of "a natural way to stay young and full of energy."

Evian takes the bigger statement and strategy of "live young" and finds a catchy way to spread that message. Evian has a history of striking advertising and a solid brand image. However, with the many, many water choices out there and the backlash against plastic, it has lost some visibility. This campaign certainly helps bring Evian back into the minds of water drinkers everywhere. Dancing babies are nothing new, but breakdancing, rollerskating babies are a different story. Nice wok. Now, I wonder how many diapers were used in the making of these videos.

Share This Billboard

James Ready, a wallet-friendly beer poured in the Ontario area, has a proposition for you. In order to keep their product at the low, low price of one dollar, they want you to share in their media buy.

That's right, James Ready has bought a bunch of billboards and left a healthy open spot for you, too. In Wave One, the billboards ask you to "help them, help you" by making an offer for this ad space on jrbillboard.com. It's here online where you can upload a photo or message of your choice for their review. Then in Wave Two, the lucky photos or message are then implemented on the many billboards along with a message of "thank (your name) for keeping our beer a buck." See below.

It's interactive. It's personal. And it still really hits their core positioning as a budget lovers beverage. Of course, you don't actually have to pay a portion of the billboard buy. That would be poor taste. James Ready proves that with the right idea and execution, the online and offline worlds can really live in harmony. Nice job, eh.

Their general website, jamesready.com, is also worth checking out.