This isn't moving forward

So I'm on the phone right now with Toyota Financial Services about my car payment. Camilla, their polite customer service rep just asked me to hold. And the music now coming over the line is "This is Our Country."
Yes. That's right, Toyota is playing me the John Mellencamp tune that achors Chevrolet's latest campaign.

Toyota: "Our hold music."

Unbelievable.

Apu coming to a town near you?

Seems Fox is working on a deal with 7-Eleven to turn a few stores into Kwik-E-Marts for the launch of The Simpsons movie.
(Found the story on boing-boing.)
Even better, customers will be able to buy products from show like KrustyO's cereal, Buzz Cola and Squishees.
It sounds like 7-Eleven is game. Some uptight suit may worry that it reflects poorly on the 7-Eleven brand, but it'd be smart to make it happen.

Tune up your brain

Check out Ideaspotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea by Sam Harrison. He's always given me great feedback/inspiration and this book is no exception. It's a great refresher for anyone who thinks for living. (And who doesn't?)

Custom Wired Magazine Cover

This insert came bagged with my latest issue.

I had to check it out. As research for the blog, of course. Because my fragile ego can't admit that it's the only way my mug will ever appear on a magazine cover.
No Xerox branding on the web page. No follow-up email once I submitted a photo. According to the press release, it seems all they have planned is to let anyone create their own fake cover online sometime in the future.
Maybe they could do more with it, but I'm looking forward to the next issue even more than usual.

Lost and found

I found a folded up twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk once when I was a kid. At least I thought I did, it turned out to be a coupon. I was as pissed as a twelve-year-old could get until I realized I could prank my friends with it.
Stuart Elliott has a story in The New York Times (log-in required) on a similar effort for the Nissian Altima.
As the article states, "For the promotion, 20,000 key rings will be deliberately “lost” in bars, concert halls, sports arenas and other public places in seven large markets. Each key ring will have three keys, all real, and two tags. The biggest key resembles a car key and the other two look as if they could fit the locks on house or office doors."
The big tag reads, "If found, please do not return. My new generation Nissian Altima has Intelligent Key with push-button ignition, and I no longer need these.” The second tag directs the finder to a sweepstakes.

I like how well this relates to the product, but I think they missed an opportunity to create more of a mystery around the payoff.
The lost wallet thing has been done plenty, but at least this execution for a movie tried to build a story. I think Carlsberg had some fun with the fake passports they left in cabs and bars.
So I think such stunts can be used as engaging misdirection. But if the reward isn't worth the effort, it'll just erode trust in the brand.

The three Rs

I scanned this from the side of a shopping bag I got at Target.
Fun copy with a good environmental message.

Wal-Mart may not be as witty, but it sure is more effective.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle can't just be suggestions, you have to turn them into actions. The lesson? Sometimes words aren't enough. And I bet it applies elsewhere in your business and life.

I've already got a nerd buddy, thanks.

Gene at Bernstein-Rein passed this along.
I do like the laptop juicer.

Make your product the hero

A few product placements on TV Monday night worth mentioning.
During 24 on Fox, Morris falls off the wagon when he buys whiskey and a tin of Altoids instead of the Red Bull and pack of Marlboros he originally put on the counter.
After chugging the bottle, he reconsiders and uses the old finger down the throat trick to force himself to throw it up. At this point I think, "Kills whiskey-vomit breath. Curiously strong, indeed." But later, both Chloe and Milo smell alcohol on his breath. Guess those little mints aren't as tough as Jack Bauer.

Meanwhile, on NBC's Heroes, an iPod blasting rap music helped a woman cope with her super hearing. And the last shot before the commercial break was a long pan of the product. Unfortunately, it's sitting in a pool of her blood.


Dramatic shot, especially since it's still playing despite soaking in plasma. So I don't think it hurts the brand. But does it help?

I don't know if any of those placements were paid for. But Nissan's sponsorship of Heroes has included a fully integrated appearance of their new Versa since this shot in the first episode.

And last night, it certainly fared better than the iPod.

But I bet the car would have looked cooler with a few bullet holes.

4 8 15 16 23 42

Jaded industry types may cry "borrowed interest" but I agree with advertising for peanuts that this is a perfect nod to fans of LOST.
-ad done by base1.

Get busy

Q.How does anybody get any work done? Between emails, IMs, youtube and blogs, it seems I never get around to the stuff I'm paid to do. How can I get motivated?
-Guilty Goof-off

A. This may seem counterintuitive, but you need to take on more work. Find the biggest, hairiest project that no one else wants to touch and volunteer to solve it.
This is the first step of my “Productive Procrastination” theory. It’s too easy to put off small jobs till the last minute. So trick yourself into doing them as a way to avoid that huge project looming over your head.

Of course, the real trick is making sure that the huge, nasty project gets canceled before you actually start on it.