HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS

He's celebrating his 105th birthday of one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

You read his stories, now write your own!

This is a VERY special day.

my thoughts on ads today

When I think of my dream job, I always pray to work for an agency that has fun, interesting worth-while clients.  I've worked the gamut as an intern... I've had clients ranging from corporate real estate companies to Coca Cola.  A.k.a drab to fab. 

Then, I ran into this ad: 

The commercial, for a BUS company, could have been a horrible boring ad that felt like a PSA. However, it's funny. It's simple, yet smart. Who wouldn't want to ride a bus with a child-like spirit like this?

So, if I end up looking into a dusty corner in a cubicle for the rest of my life, drawing mockups for banks, corporations producing paperclips or garbage truck associations, I can look at this ad and remember that there is always room for art in advertising.  

So, if you see an ad that's trash, ignore it, don't give them your business. If they can't take the extra step to entertain you, then you shouldn't take the time to finance their sorry asses.  

On a completely different note, I found this:

2009 Advertising Predictions

This is extremely interesting. First of all, did they get some client to pay for this? Secondly, this sounds like a bit of a 'fortune-teller' claim. Where is this information from? My guess is that it is a viral campaign formed to get people to watch it and have them thinking the way they want them to so that their 2009 ads will be successful. INTERESTING.

If it's not a conspiracy, well then... all you advertisers, take note. Consumers, enjoy this preview of what to expect in your 2009 life. 

A good ad creates a 'smile in the mind.' The whale and penguins made me smile. But, this ENTIRE campaign keeps me smiling:

Introducing the SMARTEST bra campaign out there: WONDERBRA. 

This ad uses guerilla tactics to show that while wearing a Wonderbra, one would have to stand even further away from the approaching train.  

 

And to close, I like this quote: The perfection of an idea is like the lid clicking shut on a perfectly made box.

On being UN-inspired

I thought this blog would be an outlet for things that I found inspiring, but today, it's all about being uninspired.  My lovely aunt sent me an email called "Granny in Denial."  Sadly, I wasn't as shocked as one of my roommates.  

Imagine opening up an email with a picture of a woman who has Flinstone's Pebble's hair-do (or don't), skin the color of brown sugar (that was once white as a baby's butt), a barely there bikini, a goofy-cartoonlike smile, and skin that a cowhide would even be embarrassed of.  Can't quite picture the vomit-worthy image... 

here you go:     

I'm sorry if I just ruined your breakfast, lunch and dinner.  You'll recover.

BUT, if you have a grandma who looks like this...please, please, for the sake of mankind, take her. lock her in a dark room. feed her. feed them again. and again. give her a pair of jeans. a tshirt. and a sweater. shoes help too. then pass some shampoo and a brush under the door. oh and lots of moisturizer. feed her again.  When you feel that she's ready to reintegrate into society, make her walk under an umbrella so that the sun doesn't tempt her back into her old ways.

And if you google her and an image like this ever comes up...  

YOUR GRANNY IS IN DENIAL!

There's no hope for this lady. But, there's still hope for you. Do NOT become one of those people.  Orange County has enough of them.  And horrifically, it's almost worse when they get dressed and all glammed up.

Breakfast in Boston

Ever wake up and just NEED eggs the way you like ‘em, juicy sausage, crisp bacon, warm toast, homemade jam, and towers of blueberry pancakes and thick French toast with warm maple syrup?

Yeah, me too. 

But, when you wake up in Boston with that tummy turning demand, where do you go?  Well, you could go to the top-rated breakfast place in Boston.  Zaftigs, in Brookline, offers Deli charm and breakfast all day long that will never disappoint your taste buds and isn’t hard on your wallet either.  However, you better hope it’s sunny and you better have no plans that day because you and 100 of your closest Bostonians will be waiting outside for a table for at least an hour on weekends. 

There’s also Henrietta’s Table… but I won’t even tempt you with tales of locally grown produce and New England home-style breakfast perfection because you’ll be left with only a craving.  There’s two problems with this jewel: One, it’s in Cambridge and Two, it’s NOT economical for a college student, or for this economy.  Make your own eggs at this point. 

Then there’s Bagel Rising.  Yes, their bagels are good, especially after a memorable night out.  However, the line is ridiculously long, the staff has a hard time remembering your order and it is no stack of hotcakes. 

Oh yeah, there’s also McDonalds… but who on earth is up early enough for that.  And there’s Dunkin Donuts…but I have one thing to say on that: If you’re running on Dunkin, keep running. EW.

So, there’s good breakfast with lines, there’s good breakfast if you have a money tree and there’s fast food.

WHAT’s WRONG WITH YOU BOSTON?! 

Breakfast has been a part of people’s lives since Adam woke up hungry enough to eat Eve’s apple.  Then, the ‘part of this complete breakfast’ entered homes in the 60s.  Ever since we’ve been making breakfast and coming up with easier and easier methods to eat it (you’re lying if you say you’ve never had an eggo or a poptart), because we’ve gotta have it.

So, as an advertising person, I’m always looking for a new market.  Hello?!  Why isn’t someone opening the BEST breakfast place ever in Boston?  Steal that title out from under Zaftigs (then the line might go down so I can go get some challah French toast!).  At least make them work for it.  It’s simple in my eyes: Boston needs more breakfast, so open a place and make some dough! 

Please. 

I miss hashbrowns.           

 

40 Days of No Cookies, Pies, Candy and More

Today was a very meaningful day for many.  The day after everyone gets ridiculous and does insane things for beads, they wake up and realize that going to church with a hangover is no fun.  Somehow a day where holy people used to use up the foods they abstain from during Lent turned into Fat Tuesday, meaning ‘Get-drunk-and-eat-cookies-day.’  (I may have added the cookie part for myself.)  Regardless of how everyone spent his or her Tuesday, today began the 40-day period of Lent. 

The holiday means something different to everyone.  But the was it goes is that most go to mass, get ashes and give something up. To me, getting ashes on Wednesday morning reminds me of the things that are important to me.  It’s a public mark that I believe in something bigger, that I believe in love, that I believe in miracles.  The 40 days are a time of reflection if you look at it right. 

This year I gave up dessert. I’ve graduated from only giving up chocolate.  That normally just led me to find a million varieties of sour candy to compensate and then me pigging out on Easter with more M&Ms than believable.  So, NO, it’s not a DIET.  Dessert is something I LOVE.  It is something that is a daily occurrence for me.  I’m semi-famous for my claim that ‘chocolate tastes better in the morning!’  (IT DOES; TRY IT.)  So, here’s the deal: I can’t cheat and discover an alternative because I gave up the category.  I’m learning the meaning of a sacrifice.  Also, every time I crave something or real for something delicious, I’ll remember that I can’t and then remember why. And walla! Reflection time.

Lots of people don’t follow through.  But, I encourage you to try; you’ll be proud of yourself and then your Easter will taste sooo good!  (Well, if you give up something edible.)  Give up what’s hard to give up.  (The priest warned not to give up coffee though for the sake of your household.)  It might be adding salt, watching too much TV, video games, texting, reading junk mail at work, buying coffee everyday or something else! 

If you’re not a part of the Lent crowd, give something up as an exercise for yourself.  Every time you reach for it, reflect on your life instead.  Realize if that ‘thing’ is something you NEED or can do without.  Then, after 40 days, reward yourself and be proud that you know you know how to accomplish any goal you set.              

Speaking of Food....

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a cooking fanatic.  It's my passion.  I love the chemistry behind mixing flavors, the limitlessness and the way one meal can change your whole perspective or generate new ideas and sensations.  To me, finding the right recipe is great.  But, I hardly ever follow it.  Recipes to anyone who has the basics down are mere sources of inspiration.  (At least that's how I see it.)  That's why I adore TasteSpotting.  My roommate, Marisa, used to think I was a bit of a freak because I was always looking at "little squares."  These squares, though, are windows into blogs, culinary sites and more about food!  It's an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of millions of morsels of chef inspiration.  I can't get enough of it.  When I get home, multiple times a day, I check my mail, facebook and then tastespotting.  It's fascinating to see something so simple as chicken being made in 100 different ways, and that's only on the first 20 pages of the site.  You try to look through it and not get inspired to try something new or come across and old favorite that you'll be eager to revisit.  Be good to your taste-buds. 

        

Also, be sure to try this recipe I found through Tastespotting:

Scallops and Orange Sauce with Dried Herbs

With the internet providing so much culinary genius, there is little need for The Joy of Cooking (other than to sit on your kitchen counter so you look just as American as everyone else).  

Cheap Food is the Key to a Girl's Heart

It's here.  

I have heard nothing but praise but have never gotten the privilege of participating in it.

It's big, it's brilliant, it's yummy...

It's RESTAURANT WEEK in BOSTON!

I am blogging about this because nobody should miss this.  Everyone deserves to eat delicious food without sweating about the bill.  I am a huge fan of food... many recipes are in your reading future.  Cooking, like advertising, an artistic outlet for me.  And chefs are the professional artists.  No matter how many times you make chicken and think that you spice it up, a chef is likely to knock your socks off combining ingredients you would have never thought of.  

Pick a restaurant of your favorite cuisine.  And instead of feeling amazed and thinking you could never recreate your dish, savor the experience and get inspired.  If you can make the same thing at home, learn something from the chef.  Like learn two unlikely ingredients you can mix.  That should treat your taste buds and spice up your normal weekday meals.        

If you are in Boston then check out this website and get in on the deals... www. restaurantweekboston.com .  If you're not in Boston, google to see what your Restaurant Week is. 

InspiratioNation

I'm an advertising major at Boston University, but I am naturally a more creative person than rational.  I love feeling inspired.  People are brilliant, interesting and intelligent beings and we can always learn something from the people around us.  That's why i was THRILLED when I found this site : www.thecoolhunter.com.au. 

For some it's Perez, others it's DailyCandy.  For me, it's all about this site.  It's almost like it was made for me.  I studied abroad last spring in Sydney, Australia and love EVERYTHING aussie (from except those meat pies...something about mystery fillings reminds me of dreaded hot dogs, ugh).  

It also features ADs, food/dining, travel and ten plus more categories.  The colors are BRIGHT, like everything in Sydney style.  They definitely have an eye for things that are "cool."  The Ads are my favorite:

  This is an interactive poster campaign for Sharpie allowing the consumer to write on the blank cast.  Everyone gets a kick out of that.  To an adult, signing a cast brings the same thrill that getting to sit closest to the birthday boy/girl during gifts does to a child.  Admit it.  It's brilliant.

This ad was for Adidas and was placed in Munich. I found this one a long time ago and still love it.  I would LOVE to come up with a billboard ad worth responding to.  This is beyond "out of the box."  Could you imagine the feeling of awe you would experience actually driving under this and not just looking at it?  

Red Cross has, dare I say, "cool" advertising?  Who would have thought?  If a medical-centered business can have entertaining and effective advertising anyone can.  No excuses people!  I love this ad because it creates a real situation and makes it instantly relevant to the person seeing it.  I don't know about you, but I would be glad Red Cross existed at this point.  Thank Bob someone is ready if this happens to occur!  

Advertising is AMAZING.  Some people hate it, but that's what I like to call ignorance induced fear. Advertising is an art.  We, in the business, are modern anthropologists proving our theories about people with effective ads.  Ads that work clearly hit the hearts of consumers and make a connection between them and the brand.  How we get to that point is a science as much as it is an art.  Our lab reports are just a whole lot more expensive and so much prettier.  How do we do it? Like I would tell you... it's hard enough to get a job right now. I'm not giving away any of the secrets. 

  

First of Many

I wouldn't classify myself as a tree hugger but I do love the outdoors.  There's a reason why trees came before skyscrapers... they're better and much more beautiful.  

However, when I read about the "tree-huggers" in Berkeley California (immediately intrigued because of my inner-hippie) I had to find out more.  I was reading an article about naked-protests that popped up in my AOL news window (yes, your grandmother and I are STILL using AOL) when I saw an image of hundreds of young adults naked in some sort of nature scene.  I normally take the small news image at face value but this one was inspiring. 

I clicked and discovered an amazing artist of sorts.  

Photographer Jack Gescheidt captures natural beauty by snapping images of trees and incorporating naked humans among them.  He started his Tree Spirit Project after being inspired by his Grandma.  The news feed I noticed was about the photos he took as part of a protest in Berkeley that students staged to save an Oak Grove from being turned into a gym last year.  However, he doesn't just shoot protests, he has an entire collection featured online at www.treespiritproject.com and in many galleries. 

His mission is explained in his words, "

Although I make TreeSpirit photos because I simply love to do so, I couldn’t be more delighted if the Project helps raise human consciousness, sending ripples out into the pond of humanity, inspiring others to act in their own unique ways on behalf of trees we are interdependent with."

  

Curious yet?  Here's some of my favorites:

        

Introduction ala Gabs

A blog... everyone has one now. So, I avoided them for a long time; I am not a fan of bandwagons. Then, I realized something: I am blog-worthy too! My blog will show you the world through my eyes...it's a collection of pictures, opinions and more. A little bit of Gabs if you will.