Monday, June 29, 2009

Un-Say-What?

I apologize in advance for still sipping the fast food ad haterade (or is it just "H" now since the sports drink abbreviated itself to "G?"). But I saw this ridiculous new ad for KFC slamming Subway. WTF? I mean the only connection I can think of between the two is that maybe eating buckets upon buckets of fried chicken is how Jared gained all that weight in the first place?

The commercial has like three business guys eating lunch. The one guy eating the sub is being taunted by the other two for only getting a sub-par sandwich (chips and drink not included) for 5 dollars. Then the KFC advocate says something like "Yea look at what I get for 5 bucks: two pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes dripping with gravy, a biscuit dripping with butter and a large soda...and love handles and a spare tire and a future heart attack." Only FIVE DOLLARS for all that!? Ok so I might have paraphrased a bit. But come on! They actually managed to make the tagline worse than it already is: "Taste the unsub side." (This is like the antithesis of one of my favorite fast food tags "Think outside the bun.").




And what better way to promote their new image than with this "Grillz" app. I can't put my finger on it, but this has gotta be borderline racist somehow... buckets of chicken...bad grammar...sparkly dental accessories...lol. I think braces are a better investment, but that's just me.

There are two things I REFUSE to work on: KFC and Cigarettes. But speaking of fake health, I'm watching a Colbert Report rerun right now so I'm in actually in a good mood. :)

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Commonsense Health Care Reform Infomercial
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMark Sanford


Even Stephen mocks advertising! "A gabazillion dollars?!...Just 4 easy payments of we-have-no-idea-99!"

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Wendy's is waaaay overdue

It's about time Wendy's started looking for a new ad agency! According to the AP and BusinessWeek, the company is "reevaluating its advertising and advertising and marketing stratey," which has been driven lately by KBP (kirshenbaum bond + partners). The campaign is so schizo and outrageously aspirational. "Its waaaay better than fast food?" No, I'm sorry. You ARE just fast food. And you're not even the best - you are number three. And spelling it with 4 a's makes it even worse. (However, I do occasionally crave your fries and a frosty to dip them in).

I remember in Boulder I heard this one radio commercial so many times that I wanted to rip my radio out of the car, and then run over it repeatedly. It sounded like they recycled it from 1952 and included retroish writing gems such as "peppy little dynamos" and "no one wants to spend the day in blahsville."

The ads are all over the place, like the aftermath of a watermelon dropped off the balcony of a penthouse apartment. Threeconomics here, Frosty boys there and wannabe gourmet everywhere else.



No sir, I do not want to get 'frosty' with you.





Whyyyy is the type all skewed? It irks me.

There's waaaay more where this came from on the Wendy's website.

I do have to give a few props to the agency website, though. I think they do some cool stuff for other brands.

Colin and Cannes

Cannes draws huge crowds this time of year, not only for this little film festival you may have heard of, but also for the presentation of the Lions to the best and brightest in advertising. Looks like Sapient acquired quite a few this year:


Including a Gold Lion for these sweet interactive vending machines:


(At a tech convention)


(At a mall)

Not that I personally had anything to do with any of that... but let's see what happens in a few years.

But back to the film festival. I got to catch up with a friend from Miami Ad School last night and he told me about this film Colin which was killing at Cannes, literally and metaphorically.



Horror's not really my thing but there are a few twists to this zombie story. Apparently it's from a single zombie's perspective, trying to figure out what has happened to him rather than a person trying to escape hoards of flesh-eating freaks. Then there's the fact that the entire budget was about $70, which was spent on a crowbar, tea, coffee and some tapes. It's the debut film of director Marc Price and Nowhere Fast Productions. Price lives in London and has no formal film training but picked up his skills from watching the DVD commentary of other directors. He's attracted the attention of some Hollywood and Japanese distributors, who are currently bidding for the rights to it.

And the entire cast of over 100 people worked for free, most of whom were found through Facebook and MySpace. All the make-up artists volunteered their services as well. And when asked where the idea came from, Price said
""A couple of friends were round a few years ago watching Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead,' recalls Price. "And we were lamenting the fact that we could never make a zombie film -- we wouldn't be able to acquire a budget."

"Then I just woke up before everyone else -- I was probably a bit hungover -- and I wondered if a zombie movie from a zombie's perspective had been done before."


Here's a few interesting articles about it from CNN and Times Online.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

One / Three = Scandal

So Calvin Klein had this orgy-tastic new ad up in New York until recently. Well, they had to do something to get attention. I for one kind of forgot the brand even existed.



They haven't really been a big designer name since the early 90's when Cher (Alicia Silverstone) name dropped it in Clueless.



I don't see why it was such a big deal. They were just trying to appeal to a much-neglected polygamous niche market. Anyways, they replaced it yesterday with a less scandalous and more generic bikini-clad chick.


Monday, June 22, 2009

Movie Mirecommendations

Thanks to MM and Julio for sending me links (First Look and USA Today and Coming Soon) to UH-MAY-ZING pictures and art from Tim Burton's work in progress that is Alice in Wonderland.








Johnny Deep looks creepy as usual, Anne Hathaway looks gorgeous as the White Queen and Helena Bonham Carter looks more like the Red Drag Queen. Lol.

Rumors are that it is more like a sequel, "Alice, 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. Off she runs, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn't remember..."

It's supposed to be released in theaters March 5 of next year, and I CAN NOT wait to start seeing the promotional materials and trailers. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm obsessed with anything related to the story. I even have my awesome cheshire cat mug for tea-making at the agency. My first official day is Wednesday! Yay!



And speaking of movies in the making, I found this article through Digg, where director David Yates talks about plans for the final two movies based on the last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

And its about time The Half Blood Prince finally came out! I'm gonna try to reread the book before the movie comes out on July 15! SO EXCITED!!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

My Miami

I feel so blessed because everything seems to be working out! I graduated last night from Miami Ad School, I got all the papers signed on my new apartment at the Flamingo, and I finally start getting paid for doing what I love next week! (PS, Sapient seems to be one of the only agencies prospering in this economy; they acquired Nitro this week. Its the first time a digital agency has acquired a traditional one).
Maybe growing up isn't s bad after all!
For now, I'm relaxing with the fam for a few days here in MIAMI!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Twitter Taking Over

Speaking of social media, here's a more positive post to lighten the mood of my blog. I was checking my favorite fake news site, The Onion when I stumbled across this banner ad. Even though I specialize in interactive and digital advertising, I never click on banner ads. But there are always exceptions to the rule.







It really does filter words from your recent tweets, but I'm pretty sure there is no real analysis involved and it directs you to the Routan every time. If you think this is cool, check out the Banner Blog where you can actually interact with the best banners the web has to offer.

Now back to Twitter, who has partnered with Threadless to offer tees inspired by peoples' tweets.


Killer Kids

So there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that in Palmetto and Cutler Bay (where the old Sapient office was located) some psycho was mutilating & killing cats, then placing the gruesome remains like trophies back where he found them. There were 33 reported cases, and now the good news is that this kid was arrested and is being charged with 19 of them.



When I first heard about the story last month, I theorized it would be some disturbed, suburban teenager in the area that was bored, sick and somehow starved for attention. I wonder if C.S.I. Miami or Law & Order will make an episode about it (the disclaimer always says the stories aren't inspired by true events, but I don't believe it).

I find it particularly interesting the role that social media is playing in this case. Before, when someone was arrested, you just saw their picture on the news or in the paper and other than that you were pretty disassociated with them. Some of the news stories I saw online pulled pictures from his MySpace account and they post links to his Facebook page as well as a group in support of catching and some prick even started a group just plain in support of the alleged cat killer.








You think he's a sick bastard? You can tell him that directly through Facebook or MySpace. Not to mention the countless people emailing, Twittering, re-posting and otherwise sharing links and news clips.



I'm glad he's 18 so he can be tried as an adult. Even if the judge isn't the biggest PETA supporter and lets the kid off lightly, he's still screwed because this stuff is in every nook and cranny of the internet. I personally don't think he should go to jail. He should be placed in the custody of the Miami Metro Zoo and share an enclosure with the Lions after the zookeepers "forget" to feed them for a couple days. I like my justice served with a side of irony, thanks!

(Kind of like how I wish this kid in Australia had actually fallen into the Croc enclosure:)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

A Little Bit Of Lily

It's not typical Miranda music, but I'm loving Lily Allen. Great Lyrics, so straightforward and not sugar-coated even though they sound sweet.
And I love this video for "The Fear."



Her latest album is called "It's not me, it's you." Perfection.



And here's another great song/video, LDN:

Monday, June 8, 2009

Familiar Faces

So the guy at Smoothie King this morning asked me if I was in movies. I was a little confused but said "No" and "Thank You." He may have just been hoping for a tip, but he said I "could be a double for Heath Ledger's wife." Michelle Williams. Umm ok, we're both blonde, I guess.



I think more accurate was this post I had a few months ago.

Speaking of faces, I found this via MM's blog. It's called Face the Future and was created by the University of St. Andrews. I doubt it's accuracy, and it's kind of creepy, but it's fun to see what you might possibly look like as a another age or race.


my original picture
"young adult"



"Afro-Caribbean"



"East Asian"



"Older Woman"



"Baby"



"Anime"


Yep, That last one is especially creepy.

Monday Mirecommendations Vol VI

Today's theme is design, both visual and audible.
I'm sure most of you have heard of Pandora by now. I used it for a while and still have the iPhone app, but I've moved on to Last.fm. It features a wider variety, doesn't repeat the same songs so much and features more non-mainstream music. It's actually where I discovered my new favorite audio-artist, Celldweller.




I'm a huge fan of hybrid music that mixes genres, and Klayton has pretty much mastered this art. The main course is usually a high energy rock/metal vibe with side dishes of everything from rap to electro to orchestra. All together it's quite a tasty musical meal. His work is featured in lots of movies and he also co-produced and cameos in Criss Angel's theme song for his Mindfreak show.



Here's a couple of other notable songs:


Ok that video is a little weird. Is he wearing a skirt? Erroneous!



On to the visual part. I'm getting a new apartment soon and fully intend on utilizing some Blyk wall graphics. Don't have the time or talent to customize your walls? They have tons of options to fit any wallspace, taste or mood and some of them are re-stickable! You can match the t-shirt you just bought from Threadless, recreate your favorite scene from Super Mario Brothers, or display some more famous designs, like those of Charles and Ray Eames. (You may have heard of their chairs.)




Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Wrong Vibe

So I was watching the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner last night and saw this amazing commercial for Trojan's new "Vibrating Touch."



Ok I have to admit it's inherently awkward due to the nature of the product, but this ad must have been written by a guy who is completely clueless or is at best trying to be as P.C. as possible. Thanks to the fantastic acting, now you know that your paranoia of people eavesdropping on your literature and conversations are confirmed. And it's so inaccurate! Silly commercial, old people don't use...the internet. And I guess it's appropriate that it comes in a box. LoL

The website is even better. The writing and design are a mess and it's kind of one continuous "that's what she said" joke. I would have much preferred some kind of comedic choreography to one or more of these classic hits:





I think this commercial by the THEM Agency in London is more what I had in mind.

Miami Madness

Let me clear up a few misconceptions you may have about living in Miami Beach, if you have never lived here before. At least during the summer, it is not the sunny, sandy paradise you see on the postcards and in movies. It's very wet because A) the intense humidity that flattens or frizzifies your hair (depending on what kind you have) as soon as you step outside and B) the daily thunderstorms that always drop a few inches of rain and sometimes hail. Usually they do minor damage and blow over in about an hour. But yesterday I was convinced that we were in the middle of the first hurricane of the season.

Our new office on Lincoln Road is equipped with windows along every wall and is safe from flooding on 6th & 7th floors. It's like I had box seats to witness the madness below. The thunder slightly shook the foundation and lightning streaked across the sky, sometimes striking the building that was under construction next to us. The power flickered a few times and the elevators were in and out of service. I thought the rain was just hitting the windows more heavily than normal, but raindrops don't bounce. It was definitely hail - ranging from marble to golfball-sized. I wasn't scared of the storm so much, having lived on Florida coasts for the better part of the last six years, but more scared for figuring out how I was going to swim home with my laptop. I took a few pictures with my iPhone from various views in the office.

During:



The Aftermath:



The stores and restaurants across the street were definitely flooded and it was a little different to being seeing not boats, but cars, with trailing wakes. I found this great video on YouTube that will gives you a street-level perspective on the whole thing - if you didn't see it on the news already.



I was still working on a pitch project til about 9 pm when Aron and Chris drove to pick me up because we were going to see Nicole's hubby's Improv show in Coconut Grove. Aron had to walk, or wade home from class earlier and said there were cars with water up past the windows and they even saw two guys in a kayak going up and down Alton Road.

Anyways, we got back to the beach between midnight and 1 AM and it was pretty much like driving through an obstacle course between the deceptively deep street-ponds and the abandoned cars throughout the street that had apparently stalled out earlier.

I was so excited when I woke up this morning and actually saw the sun. I put on the pink bikini and headed downstairs to the pool, only to see the clouds roll in out of nowhere about an hour later. I wanted to get some of my tan back and start reading Twilight. I consider it pretty much a hazing ritual to get into my team at work because they have all read it and I am being all but forced to do so as well. I tried to keep the cover hidden because I don't want my rep getting tarnished. So far it's an easy read but I'm definitely not swooning and I don't think it's better than Harry Potter. It's so unrealistic, not because the guy is a vampire, but because he has this complicated emotional persona with pure intentions. Ha!



I definitely have no intentions of watching the movie and we'll see how far I can get into it before I barf or get bored.

On a final note, I finally got version 3.0 of my website revised, up and running at mirandapeterson.com. I designed then coded the whole thing in Flash and Dreamweaver. I'm still working on getting my final book together, so don't bother clicking on that link. I wanted it to have a simple, sketched look to it and be easy enough to quickly navigate and update. I mostly think of it as an aggregate for all my creative outlets. Oh, and hopefully it will help me get a job.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Bringer of Destruction and Doom

Professor Chaos is my new hero. Is that ironic since he's technically considered a "villian" on South Park?





Now all I need is a cape, some tinfoil and little, fuzzy minions. So next time the treat you want in the vending machine gets stuck, or you can't find the other matching sock or your pen is out of ink, I'm probably lurking in the shadows nearby.



You can watch the full episode of the birth of professor chaos here and south parkify yourself here.