Maybe I'm Gravy

Gravy of the Week: 04

XBOX: KINECT STAR WARS 

Like last week's Gravy from Volkswagen or Nike's Make It Count Anthem, this 2 minute video leans heavily on a surefire formula: pop culture and the familiar. Luckily for Xbox, marketing that uses Star Wars isn't going out of style anytime soon. People just straight up like Star Wars too much. So why shouldn't marketers take advantage?

This time around Darth Vader and Chris Pratt from Parks & Rec (who plays Obi-wan Kenobi) reenact an iconic light saver battle. Of course, it's not 100% authentic to the original scene. Prankster Chris just fucks around. And why shouldn't he? It's his video game, he's the one controlling the character, and he can do whatever he wants. And if his character dies? Well, he starts another game.

The point is made: You can wield a light saber and unleash your inner Jedi like never before. And when you do, it's your call what kind of Jedi you want to be. Tackle the Empire as serious as Yoda on a rampage or get nutty like Han Solo at Mos Eisley Cantina. It's now possible to mess around in every far-reaching corner of the Star Wars universe.

Like a few other recent video games ads, the marketing for Kinect Star Wars is self-aware. The point of video games is to have fun and marketing shouldn't ignore that aspect of gameplay. Some people are in it to complete the objectives of the game, but there will always be other gamers who just wants to fuck with Vader. And there's nothing wrong with that.

     

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Gravy at the baggage claim

Transparency. It's a buzzword, a cliche, a hidden marketing Valhalla that every brand wants but few can achieve. What happens behind the scenes is often not fit for public eye, after all. When a brand claims transparency, it's sometimes real but often faked and rarely comprehensive. Whatever category this video falls into, I like this simple effort from Delta. It's the journey of your bag between the moment you drop it off at the check-in counter and when you find it circling the baggage claim. Where did it go? Who did it meet? Did it have to pay for snacks? Delta may not be telling the whole story. They may have hired actors or scoured every signal terminal to find the most photogenic, but the message is clear. Delta understands that how they handle your bag is a small but important detaill. This video is a refreshing look behind the scenes, one that provides peace of mind.

Gravy in the digital age

NIKE: MAKE IT COUNT

Nike had a good week. They released the Nike FuelBand which is going to follow in the footsteps of Nike+ in becoming the best running companion out there. There were other sports tracking bands that came before it, but the FuelBand is better because it's Nike and it's better executed and it's cooler and it works better and it had a way bigger budget. As if that isn't enough, to announce the FuelBand, Nike put together the following mind-numbing montage of pop culture awesomeness. When you put this many iconic moments together back to back to back, it's a guaranteed non-fail.

There's no question Make It Count is more then a nice tag - it's a damn good life philosophy. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded familiar. Scanning the more recent dark corners of my memory, I remembered a quote I'd seen on Facebook. It was my friend Stefan Haverkamp's favorite quote of 2011. And I took a liking to it. The heart of the quote is this: There are adventures out there to be had, and you best not forget it. I'll be the first to admit that slouching in front of a computer stringing together 140 character thoughts is a great time. But don't forget that so is Googling a ski trip or a backwoods hike or a local community event from time to time, then get out there and do it.

Travis Rice on finding authenticity in the digital age. Which is hard to do if you forget to try.

"You know it's funny what is happening to us. Our lives are becoming digital. Our friends now virtual. And everything you ever wanted to to know is just a click away. Experiencing the world through endless second hand information isn't enough. If we want authenticity we have to initiate it. We will never know our full potential unless we push ourselves to find it. It's this self discovery that inevitably takes us to the wildest places on earth.

And when it comes down to it. It's pretty simple. Adventure is what you make it. And weather it's the travel, the discovery or just the feeling of letting go. The only way we'll ever find out, is to get out there and do it."

- Travis Rice

 

Gravy of the Week: 03

VOLKSWAGEN

I hate that I love this ad, but I love that I love this ad because it's great. I mean dogs, Star Wars, music... that it has nothing to do with Volkswagen doesn't matter because the people will fall in love with it. Plus it elicits memories of last year's sweet Super Bowl spot. Chalk up a win for V Dubs.

    

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Gravy with a side of moustache

WHEAT THINS

I'll say this: doing things is great. In theory anyway. In real life, there's usually red tape in the way. But ya know what, red tape didn''t stop the Berlin Wall from being torn down and it didn't stop the riots in Eqyot from toppling their 30-year-old government and it didn't stop Kim Kardashian for getting married for 72 days. So the Do-Minatrix sweeps in and tells you to cut the red tape in your life and see what's on the other side. Who knows, maybe you'll like what's out there.

New work from the Wheat Thins team at AKQA New York. I'm a fan and I'm looking forward to more advice from the 'stache.

 

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Gravy of the Week: 02

TITLE SEQUENCE: GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

This spicy cocktail of shimmering black oil, Trent Reznor nightmare, Karen O howl and burning flame/desire was born from David Fincher's clear direction to design an opening that would “look like James Bond if he was a 22-year-old disturbed cutter.” Blur Studios of Venice CA must have a 22-year-old cutter on staff or at least know one, because they nailed it. Right after they smothered it in oil. Well done, Fincher, you sick bastard. Thank you for defling my mind this week.

 

Want to know more? Here's the making of: http://io9.com/5873372/

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Gravy with some friends

GOOGLE SEARCH PLUS YOUR WORLD

I look for my friend's tips on Foursquare. Why wouldn't I want their advice when I look for... anything else? And if you're the type to call this sort of information dispersal creepy, I have some advice for you. Stay away from the Internet. Because it's not the type of place where you can hang out and not expect to get taken advantage of.

 

 

Gravy of the Week: 01

DIRECTV

These ads each tell a great story, they're well written, well-produced and they should be well-liked. Plus they offer helpful advice on how to avoid waking up in a roadside ditch, becoming the type of person who takes in stray animals, and having a grandson with a dog collar. They make me happy.

 

               

 

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez on Hemingway on Writing

Having just finished Hemingway's provocative and inspirational A Moveable Feast, it seemed serendipitous to run across the Wired.com article "The Only Time Gabriel Garcia Marquez Saw Ernest Hemingway", which features Gabriel Garcia Marquez recounting some advice of Hemingway's.

"In his historic interview with George Plimpton in The Paris Review, (Hemingway) showed for all time – contrary to the Romantic notion of creativity -that economic comfort and good health are conducive to writing; that one of the chief difficulties is arranging the words well; that when writing becomes hard it is good to reread one’s own books, in order to remember that it always was hard; that one can write anywhere so long as there are no visitors and no telephone; and that it is not true that journalism finishes off a writer, as has so often been said – rather, just the opposite, so long as one leaves it behind soon enough. ”Once writing has become the principal vice and the greatest pleasure,” he said, ”only death can put an end to it.” Finally, his lesson was the discovery that each day’s work should only be interrupted when one knows where to begin again the next day."

Read the Wired.com article here and Marquez's full account here.

Commute to the 1920's with HBO and the MTA

Advertising campaigns have gone from TV, print and radio to digital to mobile in less than 2 decades. Agencies and brands are always looking forward and searching for the next big thing - be it a medium, an idea or an execution. All this emphasis on the future is what makes this effort by HBO so refreshing. They partnered with New York's City's public transportation to turn the clock back, instead of trying to turn it forward.

An actual 1920s subway train back is back in service on the 2/3 line. It is running during weekends in September to promote Boardwalk Empire, which takes place in 1920's Atlantic City. You can actually take the train - either by choice or because that's just the train you have to take.

A little history: The train was originally used for the IRT system, and began service in 1917. The cars feature authentic details such as rattan seats, ceiling fans and drop sash windows all alongside the one inevitable update: Boardwalk Empire ads.

It's a good campaign. It's useable: People still get to where they need to go. It's unobtrusive: You can ignore it if you want to; it's not forced on you. It's delightful: Once you're on it, you're part of the experience. You see what commuters saw while they were commuting in the 20s. Asides from the Boardwalk Empire ads. It's sharable: It's easy to shoot a quick video to post or tweet about it. People can check-in to it. It's tangible: It's an easy story to cover, leading to lots of earned media.  

If you really want to ride it yourself, it will be making runs on the express track between 42nd and 96th Street between noon and 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays during September.