Truth in Advertising #20

Some of the best ideas come at unexpected times. Like in the middle of your morning shower.

Web 2.0 Without the Web

That's right. Well, sort of. The Bubble Project has a website, but the real consumer interaction is happening on the street. The video below is a great explanation and example of the project and how it's developing. Check it out:



It's mainly on the streets of NY for now, but supposedly they're expanding worldwide. Love the idea.

Microstock: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Microstock is a pretty new development in the design and stock photography world. It started a few years ago with iStockphoto, but has really taken off in the last year or two with iStock copycats popping up all over the place. I'll admit, I was one of the first to jump on the microstock bandwagon. It seemed the perfect solution for low-budget pro bono or agency work—or even client work that had 'no budget for photography'. Still, in the world of royalty free, you need to be careful, especially if that RF image is as cheap as microstock.

The perfect example recently came to my attention. The social networking site, Twitter, has a distinctive bird illustration on their homepage. It's come to feel like part of the Twitter identity. Unfortunately, it's also straight from iStockphoto and has been downloaded a few hundred times already. The illustration comes from an illustrator on iStockphoto who has a dozen or so of this same bird with varying backgrounds etc. Plus it's available as vector and editable, so the possibilities of variations on this bird are endless. The trouble is, anyone with $5 can buy one of these illustrations and use it however and wherever they please. And that's exactly what's already happening to Twitter's little bird.













I was alerted to this by a tweet suggesting a local orchestra needed some new creatives since the tweeter spotted a poster (on the right) advertising the orchestra's free summer concert series using the exact same bird and branch as Twitter's homepage. I doubt tweeter is familiar with microstock and I doubt the creatives who designed the poster are familiar with Twitter, but it's a great example of the dangers of using microstock too much or in the wrong situations. A short term poster is exactly the sort of thing most designers would use microstock for. Branding, or where it's used prominently enough to be confused with branding, definitely not. I can see why Twitter probably used the bird in the beginning, and as a designer, I have recommended iStock to some startups just getting their sites off the ground, but at this point Twitter needs to look a little further into the future. Sorry Twitter, but it's time to work directly with an illustrator, get exclusive rights and swap out that bird!

Daisy Sprouts

I may redeem myself yet...

Something to Celebrate

Cue streamers and confetti:

We Can Solve It. But Can We Solve This: Why the Upside-Down M?

I first saw the TV ads for the We Campaign, a climate crisis organization, a month or two ago. I've finally gotten around to blogging about it, and I'm hoping my Art Director counterpart can help me answer this question: Why the upside-down m in the logo? The We Campaign Web site, http://www.wecansolveit.org/ only uses the upside-down m purposefully when referencing their campaign, "we."

When I first saw the ad and intriguing font choice on TV, I thought it would make sense for the campaign's tagline to be something like, "We Can Solve It. It Starts with Me." Get it? We. Me. Maybe not.

Art Directors and aspiring Logo Makers--what do you think? Does it give deeper meaning to the campaign or is it just a way to stand out from the We channel?

Weezer's Nod to the YouTube Celebrity

Weezer's latest video, Pork and Beans, features all our favorite YouTube web celebrities. Nicely done. How many can you spot?

What to do with all those awards?

Fallon is apparently rolling in so many Clios and One Show Pencils they don't know what to do with them all—so they're melting them together to make a large 'You Are Fallon' sign. Man, if only I had that problem... you can have my Addys! But a One Show Pencil? I'd let that carefully gather dust for many, many years...

Check out their promotional videos:

False Advertising?

Todd Davis of LifeLock gives out his Social Security number on his commercials, claiming that his LifeLock service is so good, he can do this without worry. His little stunt has brought quite a bit of attention to LifeLock. The problem? It doesn't work. Reports circulated all over today about how frequently Todd Davis's SS number has been misused and abused. I'm sure with a successful company and an army of workers to clean up the fallout of misuse of his identity, can the same be said for you? Clearly LifeLock isn't as bullet proof as Davis would have us believe.

But is what Davis doing any worse than an infomercial that promises far more than it ever delivers? In a world scared silly of identity theft, this deception has made far more headlines than your average ineffective stain remover for fraudulent claims. I'm not saying I approve of this kind of deceptive advertising, and maybe I'm just jaded, but shouldn't a consumer always be wary of any claim that seems too good to be true?

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar is a sweet salsa that's been an agency staple ever since it was introduced here by a former employee a few years ago. It's a fantastic summer party dish since it's easy, you make it the night before, and it makes a ton. A big Happy Birthday and thanks to Gail for bringing it in. Here's the recipe!

COWBOY CAVIAR

DRESSING:

1/2 CUP VINEGAR
1/2 CUP SUGAR
1 CUP OIL

BRING THE DRESSING INGREDIENTS TO A BOIL AND LET COOL

DRAIN AND RINSE ALL THE FOLLOWING CANNED INGREDIENTS FIRST AND PUT IN BIG BOWL WITH FRESH INGREDIENTS

1 CAN WHITE CORN (OR GREEN GIANT MEXI-CORN) I USE 2 CANS MEXI CORN
1 CAN PINTO BEANS W/JALAPENOS
1 CAN BLACK-EYED PEAS W/JALAPENOS
1 CAN BLACK BEANS (RINSE THOROUGHLY)
1 EACH GREEN, YELLOW AND RED PEPPERS - CHOPPED
1 MEDIUM RED ONION - CHOPPED
CILANTRO CHOPPED (TO TASTE)

POUR COOLED DRESSING OVER ALL AND STIR GENTLY WITH A SPATULA

REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT FOR BEST TASTE

SERVE WITH CHIPS, ALSO GREAT AS A SALAD