El Gaffney

Vote.

The message is simple. The period is intentional. The action is critical.

As someone who has voted in every election since legal—even registered when living in Minnesota to vote in the 2006 Congressional races—I’ve always viewed the action as a civic duty. I’m pretty sure that’s how it was taught in school. This is the first time I see voting as an opportunity, as a privilege. Not only am I reminded by my non U.S. citizen friends living here, who would (insert hyperbole here) to vote, but also I couldn’t be more excited to be part of something so big. Sure voting has always been a national activity. But it’s never felt so historic or made me feel connected nationally and globally.

For that matter, it’s never made me feel so close to my family. I’m out on Long Island today to cast my vote along with my immediate family members. This election has certainly been a global event, but it has also been a family affair. For a year at least, we have had discussions and debates (during the Democratic Primaries mostly), we have swapped stories of local politics, and we have sent countless emails and links to each other.

We have come together. We have rallied around Barack Obama. Of course, we want change. But we have chosen to believe in and invest in Hope.

I said once a few months ago, “McCain makes me want to hide. Obama makes me want to help.” I’ll admit that’s a bit dramatic. Yet, the sentiment still holds true. While McCain has based much of his campaign on the kind of fear that makes me want to look out for my own best interests, Obama has reminded us that we’re all in this together. He has called upon and inspired many individuals already to take greater responsibility for making (and actions to make) our communities better places to live and our country (once again) a symbol of progress, adaptability, respect and possibility. I think each would be a capable President; however, only one candidate has shown himself to be a thoughtful, steady and visionary leader. That’s what we need in the U.S. and the world.

I can’t wait to cast my vote for Barack Obama.

Tags: family, obama, vote

As Discovered On Long Island

This weekend I headed back home to Long Island to spend the Passover holiday with my family. I took that LIRR (the train, for the non-NY-ers) on Friday night and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that my mother had made one of my favorite meals (non-Jewish, since Passover started Saturday), Corned Beef and Cabbage. (Yes, it’s so good it deserves capitalization.) Not that you care, but Saturday I hit up a nice run around the neighborhood in order to make myself feel better about the amount of food I was going to consume at our Seder. Brisket, Cornish Hen, Matzo-stuffing and of course, my mom’s (from grandma’s recipe) famous Matzo Ball Soup. (Yes, still capitalized for tastiness and grammatically correct because we don’t mess with the gefilte fish.) Hagaddah (prayer book) sponsored by Maxwell House—and watch me tie this back into advertising now:

The publication of its Passover haggadah by the Joseph Jacobs Advertising Agency beginning in 1934 made Maxwell House a household name with many American Jewish families. This was a clever marketing strategy by owner Joseph Jacobs, who hired an Orthodox rabbi to certify that the coffee bean was technically more like a berry than a bean and, consequently, kosher for Passover. Maxwell House coffee was the first to target a Jewish demographic, and the haggadah continues to represent a synthesis of American and Jewish interests.

After gorging ourselves, we went back to the living room and relaxed—this time to something other than Pope TV—and brainstormed the big evening event. Predictably, we found our way to Fandango, picked Forgetting Sarah Marshall, went and didn’t regret our decision for a minute. Heavy Recommend for my weight at the time and level of enjoyment. That’s all I’m going to say. I don’t want to spoil any amazing scenes, cameos or one-liners. Go see it.

One of the other benefits of going home—besides eating like a king, suburban running, getting out of the city and generally spending qt with the fam—is picking up some new reco’s and ideas from each of them. (Hence, the “As Discovered” rather than “As Seen” post title.)

1. How I Met Your Mother (Sis reco): I’m sure many of you are reading this and wondering how it is possible I’m only catching onto this in its third season. I’m sure others are thinking I jock (yeah, I was back on Long Island) Jason Segel. Hopefully there are a few of you whom are looking for a sitcom to get into and I just tipped to view. Because it’s fantastically current and insightful. Who doesn’t love NPH. (No, that wasn’t a question.) Especially since he now blogs Doogie-style. Who doesn’t love a good Canadian viral success like Robin Sparkles. (New video features the Beek from Dawson’s Creek.) I want your life!

2. Cash Cab (Dad reco): I only saw a couple episodes of Cash Cab: After Dark (where the prizes are greater because it is later), but was sold. All the talk of surprise and delight recently, this is a show that delivers (even if some of the cab-goers are pre-screened). A general knowledge trivia show that starts the second you get in the cab and ends when you reach your destination (unless you get three strikes and the boot out in NYC) with a host, Ben Bailey, who as a comedian has the perfect sense of humor for it.

3. Limoliner (Mom reco): It’s a 28-passenger silver shuttle that goes to and from the Hilton NY and Hilton Boston with business-friendly wi-fi, outlets, news TV channels in headrest and reclining leather seats as well as complimentary snacks. Though none of us have actually taken this service yet, I may give it a shot on Thursday as I head to ROFLcon. Who’s coming with me?

Tags: brands, family, holidays

Getting My Holmes On, Holmes

You see…but you do not observe

-Sherlock Holmes (Scandal in Bohemia)

As a strategist/planner, you can always count on finding a good quote for a presentation from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes, or his trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson. Yet, my interest in him and these stories began to develop back when my father and I would watch “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” (Granada Television production) starring Jeremy Brett on A&E. I’ve continued to dabble in this passion since with the video box set, the Complete Works in book form, The Rivals of SH, and some treasures I’ve found on my father’s book shelf like this:

My parents bought me a handmade chess set with SH characters (Moriarty is “king” on the villains side) when we were in Cork visiting my studying abroad sister. Besides sending out a huge “Nerd Alert,” it serves as a frequent but quiet reminder that all I’ve been doing is dabbling in these (chess too, I was runner-up in our elementary school tournament - take that!) passions.

This weekend, however, I stumbled across The Sherlock Holmes Social Network on Ning. In fact, it was a planning world connection that brought me back into the world of the detective. Plaid posted its new site for Crayon where a guy named Scott Monty heads up strategy, who happens to have formed the group (among other Sherlockian things - podcast, blog, and journal). Cool coincidence, right? It also got me excited to finally dive right into this passion.

You dabble…but you do not develop.

-El Gaffney (Getting My Holmes on, Holmes)

Tags: family, ning, sherlockholmes

Super Bowl Commercial Highlights

It’s always an enlightening experience being the guy who works in advertising at the Super Bowl party. For the past five years it has fun being the de facto expert on commercial creative and strategy (and somehow feeling like you get credit for every laugh from the group); however, tonight I was constantly answering the question, “did they really spend $2.7 million on that?” And while I don’t think this year’s spots were significantly more disappointing than last year’s, I did start to feel a bit disheartened. I had been making the (unoriginal) case to listening co-couchers that although it may seem an excessive amount to pay, when you consider not just the reach of this event but (more importantly) the number of eyes that will actually be actively engaging with the content (watching/talking about each) during the game (as well as the coverage in the weeks before and following), it was probably worth it for at least some companies. But unfortunately when the game ended, the consensus was “the commercials sucked” (with the exception of Ferrell for Bud Light “suck one”). There didn’t appear to be breakout stars—brands that benefited from being “diamonds in the rough.” Instead, the negativity toward the collection was the final word. And I started to wonder how many more chances we all would get before people would rebel against (ignore, skip, channel flip, or call for a change in the model) our thirties and sixties the way they do during the other 364 nights.

In case you missed them and want to find your gems, you can watch them on MySpace. These are not my favorite commercials, but certainly the two standout moments…

The first is the Gatorade ad, “Man’s Best Friend.” I know from my work with Purina that the more frames showing a happy dog, the better. Yet, I connected to it because of the striking resemblance of the black lab to my family’s, Zeus (that’s his name).

The second moment was fulfilling because I was the first person to remember “where is that guy from?” in the Amp Energy commercial. Your turn to try (if you haven’t already).

Yes, you guessed it. Right? It’s Donkeylips (confirmed by Michael Bower Wiki entry) from Nickelodeon’s Salute Your Shorts. Amazing show, and really the only thing that made this commercial bearable.

It’s late and I’m too tired to go spot by spot, but quickly I thought Coke was unsurprisingly solid, E*Trade surprisingly good, and most of the rest forgettable.

Tags: coke, family, party, superbowl

Hill To The Heights

Wow, what a day. Today my sister graduated from Boston College (”the Heights”). Beautiful ceremony. Plus, the first sunny one in the last six, which our speaker attributed to the combined prayers of the Jesuits, Cardinal, the Catholic Church, and parents of new graduates. Our speaker was John M. Connors of Hill Holliday Connors & Cosmopulos. (Not sure about the spelling of the final partner’s last name, but know it’s not Katsopolis.) People call him Jack. (No, not Phil, Phil Connors, I thought that was you. -Ned Ryerson…) And never having met him, sitting the width of a football field away from him (if I was a real man, I’d know that distance to the inch) I felt like I could call him Jack. That’s the type of guy he is. To me, and the audience seemed to agree.

His audience was diverse. It consisted of students (nurses to philosophers to businesspeople from over 85 countries), faculty (and the pray-ers mentioned above), and supporters of the students (grandparents to teens - and younger, but they weren’t listening). He had undergrads and grads receiving doctorates. He had first time graduation attendees and others who’d heard 3+ “commencement speeches” in their lives. So how’d he seem to receive a unanimous two thumbs up?

By being himself. By telling his story of success (and failure). He used his connection to BC (an alumn) and the city of Boston to his advantage but didn’t overplay it. He was able to appeal to the everyman (and everywoman) by being sincere and hopeful. He kept it positive but didn’t shy away from some negative realities. He admitted he’s made a lot of money, but insisted giving back makes him most happy. In fact, he “highly recommended” the business grads make lots of money as well “AND share it with the nurses, teachers, scientists, etc.” My mother described it as all the optimism and challenge of a traditional address but special. There’s a right amount of trite - and he hit the nail on the head. My sister stayed awake after watching the sunrise with her classmates the morning of the ceremony. But he didn’t tell one good mini-autobiography. He told his story sprinkled with mini-stories and relevant cultural references. Calling on everyone from Jack Nicholson (”We can handle the truth!”) to Ted Williams (”even he got out 6 of 10 times”) to Judaism (”tikkun olam,” which translates to repair the world and suggests as he did, the world is broken), he in my friend Jake’s words “won the [audience's] hearts and minds.” He didn’t shy away from religion, but didn’t alienate or make it central. Yes, the Hebrew reference was particularly welcome by our Jewish family but he made “giving” central (in keeping with the Jesuit ideal) and ended by telling all to “Trust in God but lock your car.” (pron. k-ah)

And finally (he joked, “how many of you are happy to hear ‘and finally?’”) he kept it relatively short and sweet.

As someone in the advertising industry, I listened with different set of ears. For example, I was less surprised when he quit his job at 25 when asked to move to Detroit to work his agency’s car account. But I really listened to hear if he gets it. I listened to hear if he was going to address the changes in technology and communication and how they are changing his business and the world. If he’d say “blog” like he understands it and because of that can mock it. If he’d talk about his agency’s funniest commercials or most successful business results. He didn’t. He told a story of perseverance (his agency made $37,000 yr. 1) and togetherness and fulfillment (does it matter the race, ethnicity, or religion of the man or woman who finds the cure to Alzheimers?)

While he and his partners, in his words “modestly named the agency after themselves,” when you shorthand his agency’s name, the C’s usually miss out. But it was clear his agency would embody his values (respect and acceptance, hard-work and sense of humor). If you’re ever in Boston, I’d suggest stopping by.

P.S. It was one of the first agencies (especially in the bigger, more established ones) to turn its corporate website into a blog. It’s very good. Baba Shetty used to be over at Fallon and he’s very good too. Take a look here.

Tags: agency, bc, college, family, hhcc, speeches