Serendipity Book

Burger burger burger ... burger burger burger

This must have been an easy sell to the client. Have you ever seen a more product-centric food ad?

HT for the title to the chicken chicken and blah story memes

Invasion of the Scuppies

The Times tells of the arrival of the scuppie, a tribe who want to live well (a.k.a. buy lots of stuff) while doing good:

"First there were hippies. Then there were yuppies. And now, swarming around us in their ethical yet impossibly stylish shoes, we have scuppies, a hybrid of the two. Standing for Socially Conscious Upwardly Mobile Persons, scuppies are the most influential consumer group of our time. Just like hippies, they care about society and the environment - but, just like yuppies, they care about their quality of life and bank balance, too."

Meanwhile, in the same paper, it is reported that tests by Auto Express have (once again) exposed the environmental claims made by manufacturers of hybrid cars as bunk. Will this damage the status of the Prius and the Lexus RX400h as scuppie statements?

Three Brian Eno time-lapse mash-ups

Watch the seasons ebb and flow in these fantastic amateur time lapse videos created to accompany the Brian Eno tracks 'Just Another Day', 'How Many Worlds' and 'This' which use images taken in Komoko National Park, Ontario.

Samsung's Illusion of a Soul

In this wacky little 2 minute film, Samsung attempt to show off the pseudo-holographic properties of their new 'Soul' mobile 'phone.

In simple terms it appears that the phone has an OLED display which changes to show different symbols for each mode (camera, phone, music player etc.).

The film consists of a zany (yes, sadly that is the best word for it) demo of 8 (count them) optical illusions.

This is perhaps the right time to mention that I've always been amazed that one part of Samsung can embrace these so-called 'viral' films (e.g. this and this and this and this and this and this) whilst simultaneously strangling the life out of all of their TV ads with endless approval processes and LINK tests. Do I sound bitter? I think I might be. The Viral Factory looked like they were having a lot more fun than we were.

Lower budgets for production and media = lower risks = fewer people to get between the idea and the consumer.

Saving does not feel this good - even in a recession

Sure saving feels good. But it doesn't feel like this. At all. Not a bit of it. It's a totally different type of feeling good. Sorry. You feel smug. Self-satisfied. Safe. Comfortable. Prepared. Not giggly. Not puddle-dancingly joyous. OK? Winning money feels like this. Not saving your hard-earned.

Waitrose uses a feel-good brand ad in response to rising food prices

As UK food prices continue to soar discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi are reportedly beginning to snare customers from that archetypal supermarket of the British middle classes, Waitrose.

Mintel is reporting that 57% of British consumers have trimmed their spending due to uncertainty over the future and declining disposable income and some are changing their supermarket preferences accordingly.

In response Waitrose have chosen to avoid being drawn into a conversation about price and instead have decided to try to broaden the appeal of the brand with the launch of this lovely feel-good summer epic ...

A documentary about the making of the rug used in the ad will be on Channel 4 soon.