Alien Gives Boston the Finger- Terror Ensues

This has got to be a joke. I first read about this yesterday and thought it was going to blow over because it is so ridiculous. Turner Broadcasting, promoting Aqua Teen Hunger Force (an animated show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim) employed a non-traditional media marketing campaign of posting up lite-brite style images of a character from the show in 10 major American cities. See them assemble and install one such device here.

So what is the big deal? Apparently Boston officials didn't find the lightsnipes, as they're called, so entertaining. I can understand misunderstandings (that's poetry baby!), but jailing two individuals responsible for installing the devices under charges including inciting hysteria. According to the Boston Globe: "Elected officials said there is no room for battery-powered contraptions on bridges and overpasses in a post Sept. 11 world."

That statement really irked me. We live in a post 9/11 world, yes, and we always will. There's absolutely no way to go back and undo that event, at least until Marty McFly saves the day. So a neon, heavily pixilated alien giving people the bird is how the terrorists are going to get us? Nevermind the loosely secured railways and seaports- its the aliens giving us the bird that we should worry about. We live amongst morons...sad yet oddly entertaining.

Advertising...You Are Such A Jerk!

Why is advertising's only friend advertisers and the companies getting their product out? "Big Brother" already keeps tabs on our buying behavior, so it makes logical sense that they would be able to target ads narrowly tailored to our interests.

Pandora (www.pandora.com) has broken through this wall a bit with their streaming online radio. Basically you set up radio stations that populate themselves based on the song or artist (you can use either) that you select to characterize that station. For instance, I have a Gorillaz station on my profile that plays music ranging from Mark Farina to the Firebird Band to Fischerspooner.

While there are some banner advertisements on the page that hosts the player itself, the advertising I think is much more inventive, is the advertising for the artists. I like Gorillaz, so Pandora recommends Mark Farina to me- if I don't like that song I simply click the thumbs-down icon and it updates my preferences. Here's the breakdown: Pandora plays a song for me, an advertisement for that album essentially, based on my listening habits.

Essentially narrowly tailored, specifically targeted ads don't turn people off like mass market ads. More on this later...

My First Post

Why the hell am I succumbing to the forces that be (said forces=peer pressure to blog, and by peers I mean professionals who are semi-peers, while I belong to the Toys 'r' Us camp living by the MO "I don't wanna grow up", formerly the Peter Pan camp of eternal youth, but I digress...) and publishing my thoughts, perceptions, and, as you have already witnessed, digressions for you- the ghost user.

Its simple, I do so because I'm scatterbrained, and I do believe there happens to be an army of scatterbrained, neo-renaissance persons (unisex terminology) in the neterworld of WWW who can band together and take over the world alongside Pinky and the Brain.

Now for the meat and potatoes...I'm going to covering topics including, but not limited to, advertising, marketing, mobile content, music, and things I find hilarious. Think of me as your one-stop shop for intelligence...no really, try it and interesting things will happen. Join me on this wild ride and you'll never be the same. In the word's of George Zimmer (founder of Men's Wearhouse and featured in most of their commercials), I guarantee it.