Maybe I'm Gravy

Bad Interviews Gone Animated

Golden Grahams. They've already been squared, toasted, kissed with honey and coated in brown sugar. After accomplishing so much, what could possibly be next on their bucket list? Could it be championing an underappreciated, yet growing, segment of the population? Or combining new media platforms in a way that's never been done before? Perhaps they’ll set out to provide not only entertainment, but a useful service?

 

Playing off the hot mess that is our nation’s economy, Golden Grahams seem to be doing all of the above by offering the public the Golden Grant Stimulus Package.

 

Before diving into this digital experience from Mekanism, let’s take a look at the insights that would convince Golden Grahams to turn their sugarcoated backs on conventional cereal advertising. I wasn't privy to any actual internal comings and goings, so here's my best guess at the thought process that might have happened:

 

1. The Unemployed, desperate to put off job hunting, are eager to kill time online.

2. The Unemployed, being unable to secure work, are probably horrible interviewees.

3. The Unemployed, forced to get by on a tight budget, prefer free sustenance to paid sustenance.

 

From these very insights, or something like them, the Golden Grant Stimulus Package was born. The site asks visitors to submit their worst interview story. For life loafers in need of fuel for their job search, there’s the chance to win 12 boxes of Golden Grahams. For couch surfers trying to turn a frown upside down, the site offers animated clips based on handpicked story submissions. Since Golden Grahams interprets and produces the content, the murky cesspool of user-generated content is avoided while maintaining the authenticity of real situations.

 

Story submissions are limited to 122 characters, making them perfectly sharable when combined with a link. Requiring submissions to be short and sweet keeps things simple for translating them into animations. Combining a Twitter-style feed with animated videos allows for different levels of interaction. Pink slip collectors can passively watch a few animated videos or actively submit and share their own story. This site doesn’t force the one-size fits all approach that can limit the reach of a social media campaign.

 

Aiming for such a specific target keeps the content focused and thus more likely to spread ("Wasn't Ted laid off? Send him this link. Loser.") as well as making it more tempting to participate ("Ooh, she thinks her interview horror story was bad? Listen to my shit!"). Here's one of the animations. It features an easily recognizable sketchy style, great use of awkward pauses, and limited VO that lets the animation breathe. It almost makes me want to experience an interview horror story myself. Almost.

 

Gloves That Get a Grip

We’ve all been there. Standing horrified over the kitchen sink, bidding adieu to that pint glass we’d snagged from our favorite college bar. Watching ¼ of our dinner plate collection punch a one-way ticket straight into the garbage. We've stood flabbergasted, asking ourselves why a normally passive bowl, mug or fork would suddenly decide to launch itself from our soaped-up hands like it had channeled a Soviet era projectile. Ansell understands our pain and they’ve decided to do something about it. Washers of the world, introduce your slipperiest ceramics and silverware to the ultra grip gloves.

Dish gloves aren’t interesting. Which makes an interesting ad for dish gloves that much more impressive.

CREDITS:

Agency: McCann Worldgroup, Bangkok, Thailand
Chief Creative Officer: Martin Lee
Creative Director / Art Director: Supachai Toemtechatpong
Copywriter: Surakai Ngenmaneerongroj

Crappy Workout Gear Gets Called Out

Freelancing can be a strange game. Once the concepting and writing is done, I move onto the next gig. Sometimes I don't stick around to see work produced and sometimes I don't even know if work ends up being produced at all. So I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon some CW-X ads that I helped develop over a year ago. I'd clicked on a link for a Smith & Wolensky ad that features a hilarious and timely Steak for Stock program. The work was featured in the recent work section of walrus' site, a great small agency. I scrolled down to see what else they had been up to lately and something caught my attention. An idea looked vaguely familiar... sweat pants with leg holes... a muscle shirt for optimum chest hair flaunting. It was a campaign that compared CW-X tights to normal workout gear with call-outs to CW-X's superior features and the "features" of lesser workout gear. I'd been a big fan of these ads back then and I'm very glad to see that they've been produced.

 

Another cool thing about CW-X: It's a product I love and I'd been using it before I started working on it. They make the best long johns for skiing - they truly keep warmth in, no matter how cold it is outside, and they're good for your muscles. My muscles can personally vouch for this.

The Fresh Water Relocation Program

What a powerful, brilliant piece of print. Running out of fresh water is a big problem that no one's talking about and only getting bigger (for more on the bleak future of fresh water, see this write up on my side project The Reservoir). In this spread for the Vanarai Foundation by McCann Worldgroup Mumbai, turn the transparent page between the two images and water that had been pointlessly flowing from Miss Preoccupied's faucet magically starts filling a water jug in India's third-world countryside. Such a simple, evocative way to demonstrate our need to stop taking fresh water for granted.