The Adnostic

Think you're smart? Think you're creative? Then apply to Wieden + Kennedy's ad school WK12. Here's an video of one of their projects - a spread for Good Magazine under the theme of "America, Love it or Fix it."

Oh wait, did I forget to mention that there's a catch? Of course there's a catch my little uber-creative-smarty-pants. They don't tell you how to apply. You have to go to their site, get the clues, figure out the message, and then send in what you think they want. Good freaking luck to you.

I haven't really taken the time to fully analyze the clues, but there is something about Egyptian Tombs and/or catacombs. They give you a physical mailing address and an email address. Something about a Norse Yeti who burps, a bear, a blingy watch with spinning things, and then I'm lost.

***************

Okay, scratch that. The desk is just interesting junk. Click the keys in the top righthand corner of the desk and get the real dope.

There isn't much to it. You just put together something wildly creative and put it in a 9" x 12" envelope and if they think you're in the top 24 candidates, they'll fly you to Oregon for a weekend in February. If they then consider you in the top 12, you can give them $15K and a year of your life.

Best of luck.

I realized recently that this blog has gotten a lot less personal over the past few months and I'm not sure I like that. I think it dilutes the voice I had established earlier, so I consider myself tagged (thanks Clay). Now I have to reveal five little known facts about myself. Five little known facts that aren't already in my 100 (okay, 62) Meaningless Facts About Lauren. This will be tough.

1) I was a late bloomer when it came to music. I didn't go to my first concert until I was in college and regrettably, it was the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over Tour. I even bought a t-shirt. Pity me.

2) I tried out to be on Win Ben Stein's Money. I never even made it past the written exam, but it was something fun to do and I almost (but not quite) got a date out of it. I would think of answers to some of the questions I missed for weeks after. Manhattan Project still vexes me.

3) I have a scar in the middle of my forehead from when my grandmother dropped me on the edge of the coffee table when I was a baby. My dad rushed me to the hospital and sewed me back together himself.

4) I never really got into drugs. I tried pot a few times and it always just burned my lungs, made it painful to breathe the next day, and failed to leave me in any sort of altered state aside from the hacking and hyperventilation.

5) I seem to have developed a double standard when it comes to ego. I do very well when working with horses who have an inflated sense of self-worth, but I have little patience for it in human beings and I have difficulty hiding my distaste. I guess it's because those kinds of horses will just push back and test your resolve, while people can make you feel like you're not even in the room. They're very different expressions of similar afflictions.

With that I tag five more people . . . .

Jen - because she's always interesting and has lots of color to draw from.
Erika - because I wish she would blog more.
Dave - I know he won't do it, but I'm tagging him anyway. No one is above meme. No one!
Jelly - because it would be cool if she podcast it
Wendel - he needs to be baptised into blogging.

I'm on a bit of a video kick at the moment. Here's a clip by Jeffre Jackson that I've been meaning to post for a while on how brands can and possibly should be interesting . . . .

His interpretation of being interesting reminds me of how David Lynch is interesting. He never fails to leave the audience in a state of disarray, trying to make sense of what they just saw. Which part has significance and which part is just plain weird. I'm not always a huge fan of his work, but I give him credit for being unapologetically creative in ways that make your head spin. Others are completely obsessed with his films and TV work.

Even his promotional work is out there.

Does your brand keep people talking?

The Zen Master finally launched the redesign of his site. He put a lot of work into it and although he's not completely done working on it yet, it turned out gorgeous and technically innovative.

I'm very proud of him.

Our team has been assigned a family in need to play Santa for and I'm describing the situation for Kimi . . . .

Me: Listen to this - a six month old boy, a two year old boy, a three year old girl, and a four year old boy.

Kimi: They don't need presents, they need a vacation. What are you going to get them?

Me: A lifetime supply of condoms?

[Don't worry, I'm sure the family will be very pleased with the Mr. PotatoHead Jumbo Pack I bought.]

I am trying really hard to see this objectively from a market research perspective. This is a cultural subset. It unique area of interest for modern men who see no use in traditional gender roles and hobbies....

Oh jeeze, who am I kidding? It's GAY. Very, very GAY.

I mean no disrespect to gay people. I think you're fabulous.

The Zen Master alerted me to a new game coming out for the Wii - Bob Ross Painting. Happy trees, people! Happy Freaking Trees!!! Apparently his estate tried to kill it, but the public just wouldn't let it die. Another reason to love the internet.

In a frenzy of Bob Ross 'fro-lust I went on YouTube and found a plethora of material from his old TV show.

I was mesmerized by his stunning phraseology: "Make love to the paint." "See, it's so simple." "Just give it a good whack." "We don't want to set it on fire." And the 'fro. Did I mention the 'fro?

Bob Ross is part of the general consciousness and a character in deep need of parody. Family Guy has already picked up on this, but I think it deserves more attention from the advertising community. It's such low hanging fruit that it's almost sinful.

When I was a pre-pube, the only thing I wanted from Hermes was a Steinkraus close-contact saddle, I was fairly sheltered and my knowledge of brands reflected this. Unless I could buy it at the saddlery or through the Dover catalogue, I was oblivious. Kids today are a wee bit different . . . .

Dressed in pink Uggs, Seven jeans and a matching pink sweater and cap, Elizabeth Cohen looks the epitome of hip as she winds her way through the holiday crowds at the Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. She is a discerning consumer — her Ugg boots are not knockoffs, and she names Prada and Dolce & Gabbana as her favorite brands. She's also 10 years old.

Children are earning their own money through allowances and odd jobs, they are more aware of designer brands through celebrity and fashion driven media as well as their parents purchases and are therefore become educated and discerning consumers at an early age. This is a growing base of consumers who understand, seek out, and purchase good design.

Now if only we can get them more interested in effecting environmental and social issues through dollar voting. That's a thought for the future.

LA Times - Gucci and Prada for the Under 13 Crowd

Los Angeles Magazine:

A guide to the best ethnic restaurants in LA (I will definitely make use of that in the coming months). An abridged history of The Magic Castle, a private club for amateur and professional magicians (I hope I can find someone who has connections for an invitation to dinner for one of the Zen Master's trips South. You can't get in without knowing a member). An article on an entrepreneur making a go of California modern pre-fab housing by using the construction of his own home as a case study and a renowned architect in the area of residential design. It looks gorgeous. Not the traditional pre(viously)-fab(ricated) housing, more like fab(ulously)-fab(ricated) housing. The finished home even received a five star energy rating which is unheard of in residential construction. I hope it takes off and LivingHomes achieves an economy of scale.

Domino Magazine:

A home decorating magazine popular with Gen Xers and Echo Boomers. Pretty pictures. Blah, blah, blah. Stuff for my scrap book. Blah, blah, blah. An article on having a voluntary blackout weekend once a month to take a break and slow down via unplugging and help the environment - now that's interesting.

The writer and her husband decided to go electricity free for a weekend, allowing themselves only the stove and the refrigerator. She complained about the day going slowly and the oddity of not being able to turn on the TV, the computer, or the stereo. She experimented with boiling dinner napkins on the stove to get rid of tough stains (I wondered if that would work with my nice dress shirts and favored t's) and even hosted an outdoor dinner party complete with light from a candelabra suspended from a natural canopy of trees.

I've become more and more interested with the issue of marketing green products and the prospect of persuading consumers to adopt sustainable habits. It would be nice to be able to use marketing strategy to help the environment as well as a client's bottom line. Now that's convergence.

Wired Magazine:

Yes, I know this is a repeat, but I love Wired. I'll ditch any other magazine, but not Wired.

There was of course the cover article on YouTube and its quest for solvency and profit and the phenomenon of LonleyGirl15. The potential for YouTube to achieve any viable income through advertising is ultimately limited by the lack of true relevance that has made Google AdWords so successful. One of the problems is the people go to text based blogs usually for a gain in knowledge and occasionally or entertainment. The opposite is true for online video. So what is relevant to someone looking for funny clips of stupid pet tricks and moments of far too public embarrassment except further entertainment? And how can behavioral targeting be properly researched and implemented for a medium who's materials are far more morphic and fleeting than any television season.

A solution will not come wit ease or lack of missteps.

Total magazines read so far - 5.