1. How the economic slowdown has changed spending in the US
2. Good deck on FOMO (The Fear Of Missing Out) from JWT
3. Ed Templeton talks about his photography series Teenage Kissers
4. Limited Edition posters for each Portlandia episode
5. Kreayshawn: The Game – It’s what the kids are doing.
6. Hunch shows what elevator button pushing says about you
7. NYC rooftop camping
8. Absolut celebrates 30 years of advertising to gay consumers
9. An article contending grit is more important than talent
10. The best Venn Diagram I’ve seen. Take notes strategists. Link and below.

1. Grant M.’s take on the power of secret messages
2. Cougar Town cameos (smart, cheap promo tactic)
3. Replace face (see Mickey Rourke)
4. Small demons creates a “storyverse”/social network for books (get a beta invite)
5. Generation X doesn’t want to hear it
6. Infographic for Game of Thrones fans
7. The Elusive Big Idea
8. MTV & Millennials
9. Gauging the Mood of People
10. Ji Lee’s Word As Image:

As you might imagine, I was excited to see my friend Sarah doing the same for her Bachelorette finale party last week. Unfortunately I missed the ideal window to post because I was moving. However, I figure it’s relevant enough today given the Bachelor Pad premiere tonight. Without further ado, here’s “Runaway (from Ashley)”:

(Set to Kanye West’s “Runaway”)

And I rarely find, yeah, I rarely find this much wrong
But JP’s been puttin’ up wit’ her laugh just way too long
With her it’s so easy to find what Ben wouldn’t like the most
So I think it’s time for William to have a roast

Let’s have a toast for the midriff,
Let’s have a toast for that forehead,
Let’s have a toast for the short skirts,
Every one of them that she wears
Let’s have a toast to the perfaaaaact
That never stops hurting my brain
Chris Harrison, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can

She find warnings in her emails
Money sent a picture of that d*ck.
I don’t know what it is with females
But Ashley’s not too good with that sh*t.
See, she could have a West or a Mickey
And still be addicted to them Bentleys
And I just blame everything on her
At least you know there’s nothing she’s good at

See, I rarely find and I rarely find
Yeah, I rarely find this much wrong
But we’ve been puttin’ up with her face just way too long
This season’s so easy to find what I don’t like the most
So I think it’s time for William to have a roast

Let’s have a toast for the black mask,
Let’s have a toast for Ry’s hand hearts,
Let’s have a toast for the Ames fans,
Every one of them that I know
Let’s have a toast to Constantine
Who wouldn’t even take that room key
ABC, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can

R-r-ru-ru-ru-run away
Run away from Ashley

Always been such a TV romantic,
I just love the faux sense of intimacy.
And I know this girl’s done damage,
’cause the screech in her voice is killing me,
I guess we’ve got another advantage
’cause we could blame Brad for everything.
And I don’t know how I’m a manage,
If one day Ashley’s back on the screen…
Oh, I haven’t cared in so long
We been puttin’ up with the insecurity just way too long
With her it’s so easy to find what I don’t like the most
So I think it’s time for William to have a roast

Let’s have a toast for that long hair,
Let’s have a toast for frontal rub-downs,
Let’s have a toast for Asian love spots,
Every one of them that I know
Let’s have a toast to the Bach Pad
That I really can’t wait for
Chris Harrison, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can

When I was growing up, I used to get so excited watch Cosmos with my father (amongst other things like Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes). Now I watch Jersey Shore and Project Runway. Whaaaaa happened? That’s going to take a bit more soul-searching than I’m prepared to do now. As a planner, I’ve certainly wielded a few of Sherlock’s great quotes to make a point, or explain what I do. Can I get a “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” That’s not a question. So when I stumbled upon Cosmos’ “The Persistence of Memory” on the Science Channel my planner ears perked up… and my fingers got-a-typin’. Here are some Sagan sound-bytes for your mind (we still do alliteration like it’s nobody but our business)…and for external use at the risk of sounding like a jerk-off.

The units of biological evolution are genes. The units of cultural evolution are called ideas. Ideas have transported all over the planet. They reproduce through communications. They are selected by analysis and debate.

One thing will be clear about us: No one sends such a message on such a journey without a positive passion for the future.

I love this last one. I wish it was more true of our industry.

Getting down at my sister's wedding

I didn’t open this new post window to talk food or film; I did so to (more publicly) recognize and congratulate my parents on this amazing milestone in their (our) lives. They’re an example in so many ways – one of which is their love for and commitment to each other. Thank you both, for everything.

This seemed like a much more important story today than “What your brand can learn from Kanye Tweets as New Yorker cartoons.” But, if you’re into that, friend me on Facebook.

One of the last things I worked on back at Wieden was ESPN’s marketing for the very quickly approaching World Cup. One of the most interesting things we did with them (and a South African artist collective) is put together 33 murals that told the stories of each participating team (and another for the tourney). You can check them all out here on Facebook or on Flickr. But, of course, this is the most important one:

Finally, here’s the “anthem” TV spot (Bono and all) for the entire event:

P.S. I’d like to promise more activity over here, but with game-watching and my new job, I can’t be sure. Thanks for keeping me around.

Anyway, a conversation about creating something (an ad, event, application, etc.) that makes “a brand statement” – gets people talking and shows them a company’s values, personality and/or mission – led me to think about some of the work that’s broken through and resonated with me over the last half year or so. You guys and dolls in advertising have probably seen most, if not all, of these but figured I’d post them for the other nine visitors who aren’t scouring award show winner lists. Plus, I truly believe it’s important for everyone in our industry to talk about the work we see out in the marketplace – whether “creative” is in your title or not.

The idea that sparked this post originally is closest to the Coke example in that it’s a stunt that documented made for some pretty interesting video. What I love is how Heineken thought about their audience and decided to use the people who have the most influence over their soccer fan consumers to reach them.

Also in the sports world (my world) are Gatorade’s Replay, Nike’s Chalkbot and Puma’s Hardchorus. Definitely check these out – they’re really fun.

Given my history working with The Islands Of The Bahamas’ tourism board, I can’t deny last year’s big winner on awards show circuit. Here’s its case study video:

Other award winning ideas brought to life that I admire are BK’s Whopper Sacrifice, Axe’s 100 Girls and our Old Spice Swaggerize Me.

Lastly, two very different uses of film (hundreds of very short clips to show off a limited-run of shoes and one long tale about whiskey) have caught my eye and sucked me in. They are New Balance’s 574 Cilps and Johnnie Walker’s “The Man Who Walked Around The World:

P.S. Kevin, there’s your credit list.
P.P.S. W+K London just released an extended version of Impossible Dream for Honda.

Every few months I look back over my delicious links and pull out some of the interesting and relevant things. A handful of you probably contributed to this list without knowing it via Twitter or email, so thank you. In the spirit of Age’s weekly “Teh Radness” and Greg’s annual 99 Things You Should Have Seen on The Internet—but not nearly as ambitious as either—here’s my quarter list of Ten for ESPN.

1. Just because March Madness ended doesn’t mean you’ll have to lose Gus Johnson’s calls.
2. Plus now you can fill out your Consumerist’s Worst Company in America Bracket.
3. With baseball season underway, there’s a new product for Red Sox (and music) fans.
4. From brands we’ve seen create this type of content before, the secret of Nike Air and RayBan “Never Hide Films” face tattoo.
5. To new brands making stuff, like Reese’s bridge jumping video and Tropicana’s lighting up the Arctic.
6. A couple of Social Media FAIL’s from Nestle and TGI Friday’s.
7. One of the most bizarre sports I’ve ever seen.
8. For LOST fans, the Saul Bass credits and the Old Spice commercial frame by frame with Richard.
9. OK GO’s latest video and The Muppets got mashed up with Lady Gaga.
10. Finally, a Presidential handshake and wipe.

Hopefully something on here you haven’t seen. If not, a handy list for next time you’re looking for it. Have a nice weekend. And don’t forget to watch Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. (Shameless plug.)

This could easily be a tweet, but I’ve elevated this discovery to blog status. Though, with over twice as many followers as subscribers, I’m not sure most would say I’m elevating it. Perhaps more accurately, I’m making the find less disposable and my excitement more apparent.

Anyway, I had a dream last night that I was on a game show. All I remembered of it was that I was running up a “mountain” of presents. Thank Go…Google, there’s, well, Google. Because after a few ambitious and unsuccessful searches like “game show, mountain of presents” (video games and Mountain Dew have it on lock) and “kids’ game shows mountain” (you know The Aggro Crag on GUTS is holding it down), I broadened out to “popular 80s game shows. And that’s where I hit the jackpot: BuzzSugar.

The show – I’m Telling. The mountain of toys – The Pick-A-Prize Arcade. The most famous people to play (as children) – Paul Walker (on a regular bro-sis show), Shannon Doherty (on a special celebrity show) and the Astin brothers (yes, brothers – see Rudy below).

I don’t really have a point to this story; I just got really nostalgic. And I kind of want to revive it. The Newlywed Game with siblings. There’s definitely still a market for it. Hit me up if agree.

Update: I told my family about this game show dream last night at Passover and before giving away any details (nothing about the mountain of toys or anything), my sister guessed that it was “I’m Telling.” Crazy. We totally should have been on this show.

As you can see, Charles and I have an uphill battle going into the game. But he’s a lucky dude and there are 9 ways to win. For those wanting to play along, here are the deets:

$20/box / 1st quarter – $150 / Half-time – $300 / 3rd quarter – $150 / Final – $1100
Additionally, the “four touchers” of the final score box will get $50 each and reverse score wins $100.

So start your own tomorrow at work or with your party on Sunday. Or just root for me.

More stuff I’m digging this week:
- Conan spending NBC’s money
- Five year-old drummer doing System of a Down
- Parks & Recreation + Questlove + Wu-Tang
- Kind of like the Jersey Shore meets Pokemon (NSFW)
- And finally, a Jersey Shore compilation

Have a great weekend. Go Jets!

One issue many clients seem to have with actions is their limited reach. “That’s awesome for those twenty individuals but what about the other twenty million.” Word of mouth is tough to track, especially offline. That’s why it’s helpful to capture these actions in picture of video form. To tell the story. To share it with a broader audience. To enable them to share in it and share it with others.

Experiences plus Content. When done right, it’s like Jay-Z and R. Kelly (the best of both worlds). When done wrong it can look staged (reactions rehearsed). It can look selfish instead of generous.

Here’s one I saw this morning that, in my opinion, works.

Red Bull is a company I’ve felt does this particular thing (amplifying experiences) really well. It creates real world events that, whether tens or thousands attend, tell a story to millions about their brand.

T-Mobile in the UK offers a couple examples of bring people together to do something and developing content off it. And, of course, there are the masters at ImprovEverywhere, who do this often – sometimes for (a bit of) good but mostly just for fun.

Brands understandably want to get credit for their actions/the experiences they provide. But let’s not let that become the driving force for doing.

Feliz año nuevo! (I’m not going back for an upside-down exclamation point. Sorry.)

But that’s not what this post is about. Well, it kind of is. I have been inspired by some blogging buddies to put some of my resolutions out there for critique, improvement, encouragement and/or to give others ideas since that’s what they’ve given me. Pay it forward. Man, that’s an emotional movie. Haley Joel Osment. Kevin Spacey. Helen Hunt and JBJ (as her alcoholic ex-husband).

Anyway, it’s great to be back from this…

Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico

Seriously, though, I’m feeling re-energized both professionally and personally and am excited for 2010. (I’m going with twenty-ten, by the way.) And, as I mentioned, have decided to post five resolutions that have been floating around my mind over the last couple of weeks.

1. Blog Once A Week – First things first, I poppa freaks all the blogging. Okay, stream of consciousness may be part of it (as you may have noticed reading up to this point), though I plan on censoring myself a bit to make sure I’m coherent and my posts are fun to read (or at least tolerable). Long story short, this blog is approaching it’s fourth b-day and I’ve never really had a plan for it nor have I forced myself to post on a weekly (even monthly basis). I’m pretty sure I need a full post to outline the first point, but I can confidently say I need to post more. I enjoy writing and sharing (thoughts, not food or toys). So here’s the start.

2. Get Five Mentors – Michael K. is definitely responsible for this one. He surrounds himself with smart people with diverse experiences and seems to be constantly tapping their brains. He is, and his plans are, better for it. Right, Mike? I’ve had the fortune of meeting and working with some incredible people at this point in my life and have lost touch with too many. I need to identify and reach out to a handful of them as well as (hopefully) reconnect and start conversing with them more regularly.

3. Wake Up Early to Work Out Twice A Week – Thanks go out to Kevin for this one. He’s trying to run a 5K and become an early riser. For years I’ve talked about working out in the mornings because (1) I sleep pretty late as it is, and (2) It’s hard to motivated to get to the gym after a long day of work. It hasn’t happened. So this year I’ve got even less excuses. I’ve got a partner (my girlfriend) and a gym/pool in my building. Tuesday’s yoga. Thursday’s swimming. Tomorrow is the first test.

4. Develop Three Skills – This is a work in progress as I cull a bunch of my initial thoughts into a shortlist. It can be learning to do something completely new (e.g., boxing or cooking) or growing/reviving a current (stagnant) ability (e.g., Spanish or dancing). (Yes, dancing.) If anyone has any suggestions in NYC for any of the four listed, I’m all ears.

5. Get Better at Managing Money – This is a big and scary one. And that’s why I didn’t put it into the “skills” list and give myself an out. I hate thinking about and talking about money. But I’ve reached a point in my life where my hate (and guilt) for disliking (being overwhelmed by) money has surpassed the hate of money. It’s debilitating. I’ve realized I need to take control of my personal finances ASAP. (Don’t worry I’m not in any financial trouble.) This is something I’m thinking about sharing what I learn (about everything from saving to investing) or creating a business around.

I finished with a less tangible one and want to add one more to the mix. It is to meet more bloggers in-person. A couple years ago, I was more committed to meeting online acquaintances offline and want to challenge myself to do step that up this year – even if it’s reconnecting with blogging friends. So please stop by and say hi. All the best in this new year.

Image Credit

My dad has recently been nominated in “The Best of Long Island 2010″ poll in the “Best Hypnotherapist” category. Rather than ask you to vote for him blindly though, I’ve decided to share a little bit about him with you…and then later in the post I’ll ask you to vote for him (Best of –> Health & Wellness –> #12 –> Dr. Vincent Gaffney, if you don’t want to read on). Here goes:

My father quit smoking through hypnosis a month before before I was born. One session and tapes. (Cassette tapes—now CDs and MP3s—that can be customized to help keep people on track and learn to practice self-hypnosis.) And he hasn’t touched a cigarette since.

He clearly has a reason to believe in the effectiveness of hypnosis. More general than this personal experience, however, my dad has always believed in the power of the mind to impact people’s lives. He’s taught me through conversations and, more importantly, by example that positive and focused thinking lead to positive actions and accomplishment.

It is all starts with the desire to change something for the better (e.g., quit smoking, lose weight, stop procrastinating, manage stress, fly on plane, etc.). This is non-negotiable. I’ve always admired that the first question my dad asks a new client is if they truly want to do/not do ‘x’. If they’re still on the fence, he kindly asks them to return when they’re ready to take control of this desire (and resulting behavior). Specifically, he works with the subconscious and conscious to change individuals’ directives to what they really desire and reinforce these new positive directives, respectively.

Over the years he’s helped countless people make the changes they’d never been able to make before. Whether they attempted cold turkey, countless diets and/or in some cases seeing a psychologist, the past is what it is. And when they come to see him, as he says, “There is no try; there’s just do.”

It’s not just a challenge for his clients. He holds himself to the same principle. This is the way he approaches his life and how he’s achieved his goals. This was his approach when he was an administrator at a middle school in Spanish Harlem and when he started his career teaching special education. This is how he was able to better the lives of his students and how he’s been able to provide more opportunities for my sister and me.

Now to answer the obvious first question: Has he ever hypnotized me? Nope. Then how do I know he’s any good? Because if commits even a tenth of a percent of the energy to improving their lives that he commits to me and my family, he’ll help them too. Boom.

So, while you may care to cast your vote differently for a World’s Greatest Dad competition, hopefully you don’t have a personal connection to anyone else in the running for LI’s Best Hypnotherapist.

Therefore, please go to Long Island Press Best of Long Island 2010.

- Click on Health and Wellness.
- Scroll down to #12 “Best Hypnotherapist”
- Check: Dr. Vincent Gaffney, Huntington

And while you’re there and if you’re so inclined, please also scroll to #21 “Best Acupuncturist” and vote for his business partner: Ronald Sandoval, Huntington.

Please note that while there’s no slashy award in this competition, I’ll always see him as a dad-slash-hypnotherapist and not other way around. But, as you can see below, his style is versatile…

Seriously though, I have no idea how my buddy found probably one of the most ballin’ versions of me out there. I wish I could claim this as an alter-ego (Stefan style), but I can’t. Introducing: Seff tha Gaffla.

Crower
(noun, verb)
To cry in your shower because you live in a crowded metropolis and don’t want your roommates/neighbors to hear you. Often after tough meeting, or Oprah.

Ex: Deena had watched “The Notebook” with her roommates before, but it had been a brutal day at work and she needed to crower before dinner.

In case you still don’t understand or need some crower assistance…

Sometimes when you win, you really lose and sometimes when you lose, you really win and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic globule, from which one extracts what one needs.

Here’s a case where I lost and really lost. (Though I did extract a blog post from it.) The rules: standing jump (high and long) over the couch. (How the new Mad Men and Women get down. Literally.) My one and only attempt was somewhere in the middle of the event. You can see the rest, including a few successes, here.

CouchJump V from Keiji Ando on Vimeo.

Sure, the Internet (Google) is great for finding answers to very specific queries (which are getting longer and longer). But the real fun begins when you allow yourself to dive deeper into a story or explore tangentially related topics. When 5 or 15 minutes later you find yourself somewhere discovering something completely new (to you), asking how the hell did I get here and then tracing back your path. You surprise yourself.

You (movie, entertainment and pop culture junkies) have to love IMDB for this. I made a Ladybugs reference at work the other day (yes, I know, but we were talking about starting a co-ed soccer team and didn’t have enough girls so I told a male AD we call Jules that he could be our “Martha”), and it sent me on the hunt for a good still image from the movie during which I found this one…

…of JB and serious 7th grade crush, Kimberly Mullen, whose name I now know is Vinessa Shaw who I then realized was Josh Hartnett’s ex-girlfriend in 40 Days and 40 Nights (I should have realized – the bagel guy definitely knew that) which was home to my 10th grade crush Shannyn Sossamon (Shannyn with a ‘y’ just like Kiptyn from The Bachlorette)…and then I had to get back to work.

Which is actually a good segue to work we’ve done for ESPN.com. It was completely based on the personal journeys of sports fans. What goes through their minds, the connections they make, the paths they take and where they end up in the online home of sports. Here are a few of them.

Okay, now off to see where the search for little Josh in Big leads me.

This guy, Dan Meth in case you didn’t click the link you lazy bassmaster, deserved a blog mention. (Mostly, I just wanted an excuse to write my witty title.) I saw this yesterday and immediately wanted to buy it and put it up on my wall.

So good. He also does “pop cultural charts” like one about the topics of early Early Beach Boys Hit Songs (cars, girls and surf) and illustrations like one of Ivan Drago and his four bad-ass lines of dialog (“if he dies he dies”).

My kind of art.

TrueHoop

We Love You So
(Lauren Epstein passed this on a while back)

(Phil Chang posted on Facebook earlier this week but I can’t get enough)

And this
(Not just because of the mention in “Motherlover”)