For those concerned with Brand America, this L.A. Times story will reveal just how tarnished the nation's image is. A survey carried out in June by Harris Research for the Financial Times shows that 32% of respondents in five European countries regard the United States as a bigger threat than any other state. In the U.S. itself, North Korea and Iran are seen as the biggest risks. However, the youngest American …
Manufacturing Goodness By The Beach
Ad Age reports that five Crispin Porter & Bogusky staffers have left the shop for greener pastures. Their fledgling agency will be called Goodness Mfg. with offices in Venice, Calif., just blocks from the office Crispin opened (and later shuttered) in the 1990s. Goodness Mfg. has no clients yet, but the agency is open to "any account that pays the bills," said creative director Tom Adams. Crispin's Chief Creative …
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Design Skills Needed
Bruce Nussbaum, assistant managing editor at BusinessWeek, gave a speech on innovation and design at Royal College of Art in London recently. Here's one of the ideas he offered: Design is so popular today mostly because business sees design as connecting it to the consumer populace in a deep, fundamental and honest way. An honest way. If you are in the myth-making business, you don’t need design. You need a great ad …
New Belgium Finds Its Folly And Asks You To Do The Same
"I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be." - Joseph Campbell New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, CO has reissued a classic motivational line--Follow Your Bliss--uttered by Joseph Campbell to self-realized persons everywhere. The brewer's twist is Follow Your Folly. According to this stray PDF found on e-BusinessEthics.com, the line wasn't a hit …
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Thoroughly Distressing
Here's some copy from the Attus Apparel website, used to differentiate their product offerings from the rest. Your typical polo’s have little animals, crests, etc. embroidered on the chest that serves as nothing more than an advertising tool for the clothing co, and also serves as a status symbol for the wearer. We came up with a polo shirt designed to allow you to advertise for yourself, your mood, your interests. A …
John Hardy’s Sustainable Advertising
John Hardy is not your typical captain of industry. In 1997, when Hardy acquired the land in Nusa Penida (near Bali) for his rapidly expanding business, it was still rice fields. Hardy was concerned about converting food-producing land, so the design studio is also an organic farm, complete with livestock—cows, goats, poultry, rabbits—and fish ponds. The paths are paved in river stones and lined with tall sugar cane. …
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Atlanta Braves Promote Field Of Trans-Fatty Dreams
Well, I guess my hometown baseball team didn't have much luck with the "90 days same-as-cash" ticket financing scheme. So now it's on to the next genius idea: Here are some of the mouth-watering details: Kick back and relax this summer in the Braves new All-You-Can-Eat Seats! Purchase a Basic Package and enjoy UNLIMITED ballpark fare including Hot Dogs, Nachos, peanuts, popcorn and Coca-Cola products...all for …
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The iFix Is In
Subversives working for the larger good make me happy. Therefore, I'm happy to learn that a mere week after the launch of Apple's iPhone, hackers are busy "fixing" its flaws. According to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.), the most popular hack so far is targeted at the requirement that all iPhone users sign a wireless-service contract with AT&T. Several hackers have posted on the Web step-by-step instructions …