The I-75 Project is a public art installation from Norm Magnusson. "Are they real?" is a question viewers frequently ask, meaning "are they state-sponsored?" Magnusson loves this confusion and hopes to slip a message in while people are mulling it over. These markers are just the kind of public art he really enjoys: gently assertive and non-confrontational, firmly thought-provoking and pretty to look at and just a …
The Strong Arm of Chevron Throttles Its Shareholding Critics
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Chevron is pursuing legal action against one of its small shareholders. Antonia Juhasz, who runs the energy program at San Francisco-based advocacy group Global Exchange, used her 14 shares to attend the Chevron annual shareholders meeting and disrupt it. She was removed from the meeting and arrested outside after blasting Chevron's environmental record and starting a …
Continue Reading about The Strong Arm of Chevron Throttles Its Shareholding Critics →
Truly Awesome Towns Don’t Refer To Their Awesomeness By Name
Valencia, CA is Awesometown. According to Los Angeles Times, Newhall Land Development has used a variety of marketing slogans over the years to sell homes and recruit new residents to Valencia, its master-planned community in the city of Santa Clarita. But none grabbed the public's attention quite like "Awesometown." Witness, Who the fuck decided that Valencia, CA was Awesometown?, a Facebook page with over 4000 …
Continue Reading about Truly Awesome Towns Don’t Refer To Their Awesomeness By Name →
Are You Having Fun Yet?
Yesterday, after reading in Ad Age that creative people in advertising aren't having fun anymore, I made the following post to Twitter: Which led to some excellent "at replies" from Twitter users @missjenny and @emanuelbrown. @missjenny said, "Amen. My dad's a welder. He gets to say he's not having fun. I don't." And @emanuelbrown said, "The 'No Fun' article feels sycophantic to me. The fundamental issues facing …
McLocal: These Fries Are “Grown in Richland, Served in Ballard”
Lisa Hymas of Grist doesn't buy the McLocal message she found in suburban Seattle. She asks what's next, "High-fructose corn syrup from Ames, Iowa?" Here's my problem with the Gristian criticism. Way too many environmentalists are still stuck in an "us v. them" mindset, which is a trap. We're all in this together. We want corporations to listen to, and respond to, the needs of their customers and the larger …
Continue Reading about McLocal: These Fries Are “Grown in Richland, Served in Ballard” →
BP Takes Page From The Pentagon’s Playbook, Denies Access To The Press
According to Newsweek, BP, the U.S. Coast Guard and locals now employed in the Deepwater Horizon cleanup effort are working hard to keep the press, especially photojournalists, away from the spill. More than a month into the disaster, a host of anecdotal evidence is emerging from reporters, photographers, and TV crews in which BP and Coast Guard officials explicitly target members of the media, restricting and …
Continue Reading about BP Takes Page From The Pentagon’s Playbook, Denies Access To The Press →
What’s The Big Deal?
The following ad is too overtly sexual to appear on network television. Which, of course, is exactly what helps lead to a viral hit online. At this time, the commercial has been viewed 2,577,747 times on YouTube. According to Palm Beach Post, ABC deemed the ad too racy for viewers of Dancing with the Stars, and Fox demanded several re-edits before finally airing the commercial during the closing minutes of American …
For BP, Environmental Disaster Equals Business Disaster
I haven't purchased gas or anything else from Exxon since the Valdez spill. Sadly, it's time to add BP to the list of companies I boycott. According to Los Angeles Times, BP has spent heavily to position itself as an environmentally friendly company, redesigning its logo into a green-and-yellow sunburst and advertising its $4-billion alternative-energy push to move "beyond petroleum." I think it's safe to say the …
Continue Reading about For BP, Environmental Disaster Equals Business Disaster →
