Cute idea to promote Wario Land for Wii

Now this is a page takeover:

http://www.youtube.com/experiencewii

Great mix of creative execution and media (and a smile producing experience).

Found at TBG

If this is the party the hangover's going to be a doozy

Some interesting posts catalysed by the credit crunch fallout.

The first focuses on the implications for marketing. Neil over at Only Dead Fish posted this little number on Marketing in a Meltdown.

The smart and to-the-point Charles Frith contributed The mother of all market meltdowns. This quote had particular resonance with me:

"One thing is for sure I'm sick to death of the word growth being used as if it's a sign of success."

I've been reflecting on the same thing. Growth is one of the central premises of Capitalism... but how on earth (interesting turn of phrase that) can we expect endless growth from what is essentially a closed system?! Doesn't the house of cards need to come tumbling down evenutally? Or is what is happening a cycle we're doomed to repeat, endless growth not possible but the short term illusion... enter stage left a boom/bust cycle that gives the illusion of economic progress.

What irks me most about all of this is who ultimately foots the bill. I wanted to write something pithy on this but Jeff Jarvis has already done a great job. So instead I'll simply link to his posts on the The Moral Imbalance of Bailouts and What $700 billion could buy. So much for accountability. And hat tip to him for the link to Umair Haque and this quote:

The real point is this. The time is now.

Now is the time for revolutionaries to step up and build something better, something more real, and something greater.

There will probably never - at least in our lifetimes - be an opportunity for total economic reinvention this tremendous.

Or this meaningful.

I like the sense of possibility in this, but I also read it with a vague sense of trepidation.

Very timely in a tanking real estate market

Courtesy of Bayleys Real Estate.

Text reads - "Forget me not seeds. Plant Sept."

Bring on the trumpets

I love this. And yes I know the campaign is a few weeks old.

There is something about it that is quite compelling. I saw it. I laughed. I shared it. And I wandered around the office occasionally blurting out "bring on the trumpets" at inappropriate moments.

Now it could be that I'm odd (there is in fact a high likelihood that this is true - I'm also a fan of the product and have consumed a few in my time) but I think Fallon have hit on a little vein of interestingness here. Just like the Cadbury gorilla, I suspect this ad taps into something of the "odd" joy of consuming the product or perhaps the "odd joy" of the people consuming them. Whatever the reason for me eet eez verking. And a quick scan of the comments on the youtube post indicate I'm not alone.

HAHAHA...TRUMPETS!

(The others are good too, but eating them is better!)

Large halon colliders

There have been plenty of posts circulating on the subject of the LHC, blackholes yadda yadda.

Matt Webb's offering is something different and more poetic. I love it...

Go read.

A real thirst

Have been aware of this issue for a while, but freely admit to not having given it too much thought. Until now. Time to start.

I happen to live in country blessedd with significant water resources given the population base. But even here more and more of the water quality is compromised by high intensity agriculture. And the main source (water locked up as snow and ice in glaciers) is starting to shrink.

On a global level apparently it is possible we're going to run out of water before we run out of oil.

THIRST

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: design crisis)

Nod to Neil.

Is it a creative tension?

Have been thinking a bit lately about the virtual versus the real.

The virtual has been a source of escape from the real, whether the pure escapism of a book, movie or game. As more of our "everyday" interactions move into this space and more time is spent mediated via screens, I think there'll be an increasing tension drawing people back to the real - face to face interactions and stuff we can hold in our hands. Escaping to back to the real!

This is already being signalled by the emergence of services like Matter and Meet up, and events like Interesting. I think it's a good thing. Spending more time online in virtual interactions means the nuances of the real are brought into starker relief. Maybe we'll appreciate this more, be more present and awake to what's real-ly going on.

Makes me wonder what this tension might create culturally...