I enjoyed meeting Andy Woehl, President of MÁS Wine Company, at our "Welcome to Oregon" party on Saturday night (which Mike and Keli graciously hosted on their Brownsville farm). Andy's Cloverdale, CA-based company makes wine from grapes grown in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

On top of making wine, Andy and his partners have figured out a new way to package wine, and it's here that MÁS Wine Company may be able to make a difference in the US market.

The German engineered mini tank is an environmentally friendly, air-tight, stainless steel container that mimics the way wine is stored at a winery. These mini tanks are re-usable, and they keep every glass as fresh as the first. A nitrogen gas chamber inside the mini tank keeps air out so there is no oxidation of the wine. This eliminates waste from oxidized wine in an open bottle and keeps wine fresh for 60 days.

MÁS Wine Company mini tanks are available in two sizes. The 11.3 liter mini tank contains the equivalent of 15 bottles of wine (about 75 5-ounce pours), and the 15 liter mini tanks contains the equivalent of 20 bottles of wine or 100 5-ounce pours.

I think it's clear that restaurants and bars will favor wine kegs for house pours, once they see the benefits. It's also a great party option for the retail channel.

According to the North Bay Bohemian, wine is produced and sold in kegs throughout Europe. In addition to keeping large amounts of wine fresh indefinitely, putting wine in a keg system eliminates excess packaging.
Transporting all that packaging (cardboard, cork, bottle, trash) wastes both materials and gas.

p.s. Naturally, Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV dedicates an episode to MÁS's offerings.

The New York Sun takes a look at former DDB CEO Keith Reinhard's efforts to promote America overseas:

Though some of the worldwide antipathy toward America stems from unpopular policies, Mr. Reinhard says it is not a matter of simply a feel-good issue — Businesses are being hurt by our sagging reputation. In an increasingly competitive world, he says we need all the help we can get.

Having managed a company with offices in 96 countries, Mr. Reinhard says, "I knew something about the resentments people felt about Americans around the world. These had been building for some time — really since the fall of communism. Some of it is envy of our success, some is that the U.S. took on the fall guy role."

To prove the point, Mr. Reinhard produces surveys showing that in countries such as Germany, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, and even Great Britain, the majority of people think America has a mainly negative influence on the world.

So will our election have an effect on this? How's the Presidential race looking overseas? I'd love to hear from some of our international AdPulp readers.

The Google is cozying up to ad agencies, according to The New York Times.

During the last year, Google has built a 40-person group that is charged with courting agencies, trying to persuade them that their clients should buy ads on Google sites and use the search engine’s tools.

Google could avoid ad agencies when it sold only search advertising, where it is dominant. But now that it has a wider set of products in more areas — including social media and virtual reality — it finds that it must work harder to drum up business, particularly because of the lingering hard feelings.

Google is “definitely a must-buy in search, but in other things it’s not a must-buy,” said Jeff Ratner, managing partner and digital director at MindShare North America. “As they start moving more into ad networks and other mediums, they need the agency to help make it a reality.”

Damn...

'King of Voiceovers' Don LaFontaine Dies at 68

If I smoked 2 packs a day I could sound like that, too...VO work is such a cushy gig.

This image reminds patrons at Northeast Portland coffee shop and bakery, Jim & Patty's, who's boss. But it does so in a playful, smart, memorable manner.

I love good copy, wherever it's found.

In 2005, the pharmaceutical industry spent more than $4 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising.

But according to a study out today from Harvard Medical School researchers, the ads have no impact on sales.

So, can we let the doctors prescribe the pills? And how about passing the money saved on advertising back to the consumer? I know it's a lot to ask.

[via Marketplace]

Recruitment advertising isn't typically known for its humor or wit, but Born2Consult from Deloitte ups the ante a bit.

The military look is back in, if you shop at Sears, that is. From Ad Age:

Sears, Roebuck & Co. has signed a deal with the U.S. Army to launch the All American Army Brand's First Infantry Division clothing collection. It marks the first time the U.S. Army has officially licensed its marks and insignias; licensing fees will be used to support military programs for troops and their families.

The collection aims to simultaneously raise the profile of the U.S. Army and round out Sears' military program. The collection dovetails with Sears' "Heroes at Home" program, which provides home renovations to military families and has been promoted through twice-a-year marketing campaigns. Sears also has an extensive military-support program that includes community outreach and employee assistance, among other things.

Not a bad idea, as long as The Army doesn't get the same image as Toughskins jeans did.

Wieden + Kennedy/Tokyo has a new web site and a bright and shiny mission statement to go with it.

It's been 13 years since I last lived in Portland. So, I have some catching up to do. Who works where? What accounts are most notable? Where is there an opportunity for a guy like me? These are the kinds of questions I seek answers to.

Which leads me to Portland Ad Fed's well put together site. I've been using it to get up to speed on things. Like this print ad from Livengood Nowack, for instance:

Thanks to California's cheese industry, we already know happy cows make better milk. But this is Oregon. Happy cows won't suffice here. No, we need the milk of militant cattle to soak up our granola.

Renny Gleeson, W+K's Global Digital Strategies Director, kicks things off at 8:40 am tomorrow morning at the Armory in NW Portland as part of Inverge 2008.

This is his topic:

CONNECTION: NEVER CLOSER TOGETHER, NEVER FARTHER APART?

Interactive communications and digital technologies have birthed the greatest idea propagation framework in history. But when will our ability to freight it with emotion catch up? With each leap of technology, it takes time for our emotive power to catchup - for us to imbue the technology with our humanity. When will we do so interactively? Will we ever? And how do brands and advertisers, whose greatest connections often come through empathetic/emotional connections make sense of this landscape?

Consultant, Janet Lee Johnson, is looking forward to hearing from several other speakers, as am I.

I'll be covering the two-day event here, on BFG's blog, and on Twitter.

Are ad campaigns given enough time to work these days?

The things that over the years have come to symbolize brands like logos--and in particular, taglines—are being changed to quickly and so often that it’s hard to keep up. Consequently, no one does.

We all know how it works: Every time a new CMO comes along, he/she hires a new agency. And suddenly everyone at both the client and agency feel the need to piss on the marketing landscape and mark their turf. Which means a new campaign, a new tagline, a new logo, etc. It’s change for change’s sake.

It's the subject of my new column on Talent Zoo. Read the entire column after the jump:

The posters designed by Rich Silverstein and supported by Arianna Huffington have finally made it to this week's Republican National Convention. Basically, it's just a long list of words describing the Bush administration with the tagline, "Haven't we had enough?" Click here to see Arianna and Rich roll out a big version of the poster.

Judging by the two-minute clip, which I think was shot across the river in Minneapolis, no one seemed to care. A badly designed poster of buzzwords isn't going to cut it. Rich Silverstein is a talented guy, he could do better than this. Certainly, the Democrats will have to do better than this in the next 60 days.

photo of Renne Gleeson's shoes by Mark Coleman

Last week on the plane to Atanta, I noticed the account guy from Wieden sitting in front of me was wearing Nikes. Makes sense. Today, during the opening presentation at inVerge, there was no missing Renny Gleeson's red Nikes. During his talk, Renny also managed to mention W+K clients Nokia and Coca-Cola, albeit in a natural way. When you work on a brand day and night, it seeps in. No way around it.

[UPDATE] Now that I've listened to all the speakers (sadly, I missed Joshua Green this morning, although I saw him speak last fall in Cambridge), it's time to process some of what was said here in the Armory. I'll do my main recap this weekend on BFG Blog, but here's a bit of what Renny offered.

• The human ability to interpret decreases greatly with the loss of audio and/or visual cues.
• The number of connections one has is less important than the quality of the connections.
• Social media comes with an implied social contract. There are obligations and expectations from the word go. Brands are often oblivious to these obligations.
• Social media provides an "illusion of proximity." There are many more ways to connect today, but are brands (or individuals for that matter) equipped to deal with the increased level of interaction?
• Social media is hard to quantify. It's the medium's biggest challenge, as brands, for the most part, are still stuck on eyeball metrics.

I've always believed that ad agencies are way too generalized: that they don't have a point of view or specialty, whether it's the type of work they do or clients they pursue.

My guess is that the new Dallas-based Vice Squad Agency won't have that problem.

Pegasus News has more:

Gambling, Alcohol and the Adult Industry comprise an enormous portion of our economy, yet there is not a single advertising agency catering to their needs - until now. We believe there are vast opportunities to both create solid creative work and help businesses in these sectors reach their full potential. Furthermore, many companies in “vice”-related industries haven’t had the benefit of professional marketing services and stand to see dramatic increases in sales and profits by utilizing marketing tactics utilized by mainstream companies.

I've worked on some of this stuff, so I'll be interested in how the Vice Squad Agency fares. I found that clients in these types of businesses, on a personal level, tend to be very, uh, ethically-challenged. Which can really try your patience. On the other hand, many of them have loads of cash and are all too happy to spend it on marketing, which is a very good thing in profit-starved agencies.

Since I suck at live blogging, allow me to offer a selection of Tweets from attendees at InVerge 2008 at the Armory in NW Portland, yesterday and today.

Amy Goodman: "when was the last time an art director really cared to make a sale" #inverge

Dan Harbison: Lots of graphs and talking print ad layouts... Hmmm interactive folk glassing over. #inverge

Joshua Green: coming down from #inverge presentation. Went well. Very tired. Thanks to the crowd

PDX Tweet: Now, it's about building networks.. content is still king, but now context is also king. Two kings, one internet. #di #inverge

Bram Pitoyo: Large media corporations used to be able to set their own ad rates, now they’re finding themselves as just *one* of the participants.

Carri Bugbee: #inverge It's happeneing; culture is like a glacier. Takes forever to move, but once it gets going, it's unstoppable. Myth: media moves fast

Gaia Borgias Brown: Cooperation meets competition = "coopetition" #inverge

yogacowgirls: #inverge engage your customers BEFORE your product launch, great idea! wanna buy a yoga video? not edited yet!

(me): the pool of #inverge tweets is here >> http://tinyurl.com/5r48ms

I have a one-speed beach cruiser that I've ridden for over a decade. It's a nice ride. But I need something with more gears to negotiate Portland's hills.

Thanks to Diego Rodriguez's rousing endorsement, I'm now willing to consider a Breezer, even though I've never heard of the brand before.

I've written before about the great bikes designed and marketed by Breezer. They are what they are: a turnkey commuter bike, all sorted out for you, ready to ride and fun to ride, with just enough aesthetic flourishes to make you look back at the bike once or twice once your reach your destination. In a world captivated by spandex-carbon-fiber-titanium-tour-de-france bikes, the Breezer bring a little bit of the Dutch bicycle aesthetic to the US, leavened with some wild California hippie mountain bike DNA. It's the kind of product that makes for happy owners, and happy owners like to tell other people about their happy experiences (as I'm doing now). In the parlance of Godin, they sneeze, and other people catch the virus. In this case, it's a Breezer virus, transmitted from friend to friend.

No, I won't give you the following 3 minutes and 44 seconds of your life back. You just have to watch this.

"Women want to be her, men want to mate with her. it's as simple as that..."

Clive Thompson looks at social media--Facebook, Flickr and Twitter in particular--and attempts to answer "what's it all mean?" His well-crafted argument appears in tomorrow's New York Times Magazine.

art by Peter Cho

For me the best thinking in the piece comes at the very end.

Many of the avid Twitterers, Flickrers and Facebook users I interviewed described an unexpected side-effect of constant self-disclosure. The act of stopping several times a day to observe what you’re feeling or thinking can become, after weeks and weeks, a sort of philosophical act. It’s like the Greek dictum to “know thyself,” or the therapeutic concept of mindfulness. (Indeed, the question that floats eternally at the top of Twitter’s Web site — “What are you doing?” — can come to seem existentially freighted. What are you doing?) Having an audience can make the self-reflection even more acute, since, as my interviewees noted, they’re trying to describe their activities in a way that is not only accurate but also interesting to others: the status update as a literary form.

Laura Fitton, the social-media consultant, argues that her constant status updating has made her “a happier person, a calmer person” because the process of, say, describing a horrid morning at work forces her to look at it objectively. “It drags you out of your own head,” she added. In an age of awareness, perhaps the person you see most clearly is yourself.

The key to making these tools truly useful is balance. Like wine, you can have too much. The trick is consuming just enough. Each person who enters the social media sphere will have to find their own limit (for consumption and production of content) and act accordingly.

As for heightened self-awareness via social media, there's self-awareness and then there's narcissism. Again, it's about balance.

BTW, "illusion of proximity" is a term I heard uttered by Renny Gleeson on Thursday during InVerge 2008. Gleeson reminded the audience that social media provides a multitude of options for making connections, but its the quality of these connections that matters most.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky's new work for Microsoft is on the air and being written about by The Wall Street Journal, among others.

The Journal found someone to bash it:

"Despite this attempt to be cool, the commercial does nothing to change Microsoft's brand image, says Leslie Smolan, chief strategy officer at Carbone Smolan Agency, a New York-based branding firm.

"It's big, it's got deep pockets -- certainly deep enough to buy any celebrity it wants," Ms. Smolan said. "What it doesn't have is creativity, the key ingredient Microsoft has always lacked."

TechCrunch went another way and obtained an internal email from Microsoft SVP, Bill Veghte, about the commercial.

Today, we are kicking off a highly visible advertising campaign. The first phase of this campaign is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity.

Think of these ads as an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context. Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we’ll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go.

My thought is the frat boys in Boulder snuck their patented collegiate humor in at the end, by getting the richest man in the world to "adjust his shorts." That must be the "humanity" Veghte is talking about.

I'm about to head up the street to check out a coworking space on Fremont. Given that activity, I couldn't have picked a better time to stumble upon this meditation on open work space from Tim Siedell of Fusebox.

Understand that it's not for everyone.

Make sure you recruit accordingly. In our experience, the best creative people crave this type of an environment and a spirit of teamwork will prevail. On the other hand, manipulative, project-hoarding, non-collaborative, and dishonest people will not last long. That's the best part.

Embrace the chaos.

At times, it's going to be loud, chaotic, and hard to concentrate. Turn on your radar and see if the creative solution you're looking for is really floating around in the chaos around you. You'll be surprised how often it is, which is the greatest creative benefit of all. Walk around. See what other people are working on. Tip in an idea on someone else's project. In our experience, your work will get better as a result.

Tim's take on chaos is especially interesting to me right now. Moving across country, having the house in disarray, going to conferences, working my job, blogging, Tweeting, reactivating Facebook, seeing live shows and meeting new friends is chaotic. Yet, like Tim, I have faith in the long term benefits of these actions.

Mark-Hans Richer, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Harley-Davidson, believes people in his position need to be creative.

Creativity is as much a core skill set for a successful CMO as a results orientation. In fact, it may be the key differentiator between business success and failure.

My supposition is that creativity vs. results is a false choice and one that Jobs, Pickens and Reinhardt would find ridiculous, as should you. In fact, creativity has defined the most successful businesses so much that creativity must be considered a competitive advantage. It probably describes the engine of capitalism more than capital itself. Capital seeks good ideas, and good ideas come from creativity.

With that type of thinking coming from the corner suite, I could be tempted to move to the client side (especially, if said client happened to be aligned with my values, and I was already an advocate for their products).

[via Ad Age]

Rob Walker points to this Hollywood Insider report about the use of Heart's song "Barracuda" by the McCain/Palin campaign.

Heart's Nancy Wilson felt compelled to personally respond. "I think it's completely unfair to be so misrepresented," she said in a phone call to EW.com. "I feel completely f---ed over." She and sister Ann Wilson then e-mailed the following exclusive statement:

Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.)

Walker also points to this Slate piece that says if the campaign has an ASCAP license, they can play the song, or any other licensed song without express permission from the artist.

There's a very interesting article in BusinessWeek entitled "The 65 MPG Ford the US Can't Have" about the diesel-powered Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, which is going on sale in Europe.

Here's a brief excerpt from the article:

Ford plans to make a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for the U.S. So why not manufacture diesel engines there, too? Building a plant would cost at least $350 million at a time when Ford has been burning through more than $1 billion a month in cash reserves. Besides, the automaker would have to produce at least 350,000 engines a year to make such a venture profitable. "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Fields.

The question, of course, is whether the U.S. ever will embrace diesel fuel and allow automakers to achieve sufficient scale to make money on such vehicles. California certified VW and Mercedes diesel cars earlier this year, after a four-year ban. James N. Hall, of auto researcher 293 Analysts, says that bellwether state and the Northeast remain "hostile to diesel." But the risk to Ford is that the fuel takes off, and the carmaker finds itself playing catch-up—despite having a serious diesel contender in its arsenal.

I live in a huge traffic-clogged commuter city, so gas prices have naturally been a concern around here. But what really ticks me off is the idea that Ford thinks the demand isn't there for a car like this. That's a cop-out answer. I've seen more and more Smart Cars on the road and little foreign cars that are selling. Sure, some people will resist this in favor of big cars, but at least give them a choice.

So what's really stopping Ford from even offering a car like this? The not-so-Big Three automakers are contemplating going to the government to get guaranteed loans. But if their best technology and best cars won't be made available here in the U.S. because Ford thinks it can't sell them, then screw 'em--they don't deserve a loan.

Ford needs help. Marketing help. Someone needs to go to Dearborn and tell these numbnuts that the public is looking for a solution--and if the technology is there to make a car that gets 65 MPG, people will buy it. Period. I'm not sure Ford's long-time ad agency is capable of saying that.

But I do think JWT or a better agency, given the shot, could successfully market a car like this. Do you?

Philadelphia agency, Red Tettemer, constructed this "Sausage vs. Sausage" custom foosball table for Hatfield Quality Meats touse at live events and sponsorships.

See this Flickr set for more.

Barbarian Group strategist, Noah Brier, shares with Ad Age readers a behind the scenes look at the launch of his Brand Tags site.

Here's one of the things he says that makes a lot of sense:

Teach yourself some code: I recently read an article that suggested knowledge of code would be the literacy of the 21st century. I agree. Being able to get a computer to do what you want it to is an amazing strength. All of a sudden you're not reliant on others to bring your ideas to life. And it's really not that hard -- I taught myself in a few weeks without the help of books. As a friend of mine said to me a few years ago, if there's one thing the web knows, it's how to make the web. Any question you have has likely been answered and well documented on one of the thousands (millions?) of sites by and for the people who make the web. Plus, you don't have to be an expert, you just have to be able to bring your ideas to life.

BusinessWeek is taking notice of the growing legions of corporate Tweeters.

A growing number of companies are keeping track of what's said about their brands on Twitter. Comcast, Dell, General Motors, H&R Block, Kodak, and Whole Foods Market are among a handful of companies haunting Twitter to do everything from burnish brands to provide customer service.

For companies, tools such as Tweetscan or Twitter's own search tool, formerly known as Summize, make it easy to unearth a company's name mentioned in tweets. "Why wouldn't you want to be able to take care of that person at the moment when it's most important?" says JetBlue's Morgan Johnston. The services are free, helping keep costs low.

Dell has more than 20 official Twitter accounts, each managed by an individual, not a faceless business unit.

When I searched the word "AdPulp" on http://search.twitter.com, I found that our posts are being tweeted by a Turkish fan.

Power + Water = FogScreen

I'd like to publicly thank John Gross, Account Director at HMH/Portland for meeting with me on Sunday. HMH has a great tagline: "preconceptions kill great ideas." John also told me a story that revealed how he, and the people at HMH, value honesty and doing what's right. That's a unique attribute in this business.

I also want to thank freelance copywriter, Todd Davidson, for his time yesterday, his advice and the sweet introductions he made via email to some key contacts.

I'd like to introduce you to David Burn, editor of AdPulp (adpulp.com). He's a writer/content director, just moved to Portland and is specifically interested in bridging social media with experiential (in-person) marketing. He might have some great ideas for growing your interactive biz.

Buy the right man a 16-ounce latte and good things can happen.

Finally, thanks to Rob Nissen at Grand Central Publishing for sending me an advance copy of Branding Only Works On Cattle by Jonathan Salem Baskin.

Alan Wolk has a great entry today over at The Toad Stool. He tells of watching "Field of Dreams" with his two young children:

It was only 1989. A year that most you reading this blog had already been born. Yet there were no cell phones. No internet. In one key scene, Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones can only keep in touch with their families by calling them from a pay telephone. With a dial on it. My kids stared at it and wondered “what’s that?”

While we talk about things like “digital natives” and all, we can’t really fathom what it’s like to come of age at a time when all this isn’t new anymore. Or how rapidly the world and the way we act in it has changed. My kids (and they are not unique) are somewhat wigged out when we visit their grandparents who do not own DVRs. The younger one, in particular, does not quite get why Grandma can’t just pause the TV or call up the shows she want to watch when she wants to watch them.

And so they didn't quite get why Costner didn’t just call his wife on his cell phone to tell her where he was. Or at the very least just text her. The microfilm scene was also a complete mystery: their world is neatly indexed, PDF’d and fully searchable online.

Children today are completely immersed in a world full of easy access to advanced technology. But does it impede their critical thinking skills? What would happen if a kid today had to do a term paper or report without accessing the Internet? Could they do the research? Could they conceive of a world without all this technology?

Remember, these kids will be entering the workforce someday soon--and the ad industry. Will they have the critical thinking skills, or the patience, to do research and complex assignments? Will it even matter?

Writing in Adweek, Bob Greenberg, chairman of R/GA in New York works out one of the more important topics of our advertising day. Namely, how in the world a brand can remain consistent in its messaging when it has to be everywhere at once, constantly on and open to dialogue.

First, brands cannot be created and managed in a top-down approach. Gone are the days when branding companies could create a brand identity accompanied by a dense, rarely read instruction manual on how to apply it across media. Brands are no longer static. Today they're fluid, flexible and nonlinear.

Second, branding can no longer work as effectively on its own as it once did. In our Web 2.0 world, branding has converged with design and advertising. Not too long ago, each of these disciplines had a specific role, a distinct purpose. In some ways, each still does. Today, however, the disciplines have become so intertwined that they work best when working together.

The best digital branding happens when the process is completed from conception to execution by one agency. That agency can ensure the brand system is dimensional -- working across more channels, executions and applications including animation, functionality and the little beeps you hear when you click on something.

Some key takeaways from this, and from my own migration experience to digital: Forget about what kind of agency you run, and hire the best designers you can. You're going to need them. Second, agencies need people who can bridge the traditional approach--one often held tightly to in this ever-changing, sometimes frightening world--with the digital approach. Both have their own languages and frameworks, and both need to be fully understood by "the translators," in order for full and consistent buy-in to be achieved.

A number of months ago I deactivated my Facebook account. It was liberating, and I didn't give it much thought once the deed was done.

But last Thurday at InVerge 2008 in Portland, one of the really smart speakers convinced me to get back on the horse, as it were.

Tony Uphoff, CEO of Techweb (publisher of Information Week and many other titles) mentioned that all his editors can make applications on the Facebook platform. I thought, damn, how can I just ignore this thing and get away with it? Answer: I can't.

Last Friday, I updated my status on Facebook to this: David Burn is reactivating my Facebook account. This morning and old friend wrote on my wall: Dude where were you?

Exactly. Where was I? I could say I was working, or improving my life away from the machine. All true. But the point is well made. Facebook, like Twitter, Flickr and other online communities is "the place" where we stay connected to friends who can't locate our email address or God forbid, our phone numbers. How dare I step off. This shit is personal.

And it's business.

Flying to Australia? If so, you can catch up on "the most entertaining and innovative television commercials produced" last year, thanks to a partnership between New York Festivals and Qantas Airlines.

Qantas has been named the world’s No. 1 airline for in-flight entertainment by the World Airline Entertainment Association, for the fourth time in five years.

New York Festivals President Michael O'Rourke said, "We're extremely excited because it means we’re giving our winners that much more exposure. At the end of the day, it's about recognizing creative ideas and the execution of these ideas. It also gives people the opportunity to look at some of the best TV commercials in the world and in most cases, commercials they’ve never had a chance to enjoy."

More exposure is exactly what award shows need, if they hope to be at all relevant outside the industry.

According to AdAge, Wendy's "Crazy Lettuce" viral was spun out of TV spots created by Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, New York. In one, a man shuns a bite of salad offered by the woman across the table. "I can't eat that," he says. "I'm a meatatarian."

The work is its first effort in this space and a stark departure for the chain, which made its name by way of simple homespun ads by the company's founder, Dave Thomas.

"Crazy Lettuce" was done for $25,000. The average TV commercial costs more than $300,000.

Seattle's Hadley Green Creates brings the small town touch to Columbia Bank.

Great post over at AdLand today, submitted by someone named TopMadMan. Here's a sample:

"Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising."

Advertising is life made to look larger than life, through images and words that promise a wish fulfilled, a dream come true, a problem solved. Even Viagra follows Mark Twain's keen observation about advertising. The worst kind of advertising exaggerates to get your attention, the best, gets your attention without exaggeration. It simply states a fact or reveals an emotional need, then lets you make the leap from "small to large." Examples of the worst: before-and-after photos for weight loss products and cosmetic surgery-both descend to almost comic disbelief. The best: Apple's "silhouette" campaign for iPod and the breakthrough ads featuring Eminem-both catapult iPod to "instant cool" status.

Read the rest here.

There's something absurd about this headline and subhead. Of course, there's nothing wrong with absurdist headlines, I'm a big fan of such things.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

I guess I picked a good time to reactivate my Facebook account, as I prefer the new design. Leveraging the social graph though, that's above my pay grade (to speak in the lipstick-enhanced political parlance of the day).

[via Valleywag]

Noam Wasserman of Harvard Business School looks at some of the fundamental realities of owning your own shop.

Are you one of the many executives who'd love to leave the corporate battleship to skipper a speedy, nimble start-up? And are you using a variety of rationales for why it's not yet time to go? Reasons such as: I need to work on my résumé, acquire more credibility, learn to manage better, figure out how financing really works, maintain stability at home while my children are young?

Those are legit reasons, of course, but while you're waiting for everything to fall into place, you're acquiring big-company habits that can hurt you if and when you ever make the move. Long tenures in corporate jobs keep you from becoming the self-reliant jack-of-all-trades that a new venture requires. You get used to having HR specialists take care of HR issues for you, finance aces prepare reports for you, and IT whizzes maintain the company infrastructure. You become accustomed to delegating and to distancing