I'm so SPECIAL

Yet another fabulous entry on behalf of the guys at Burger King. Their new ad campaign, which is based on the idea that if you eat their new steak sandwich people might think you think your special is a bit of a yawner for me. But their new online viral campaign is so bang on and fun, ya simply gotta love it.

It's based on the idea that we all grew up thinking we'd be special and we'd end up on the local hometown news. For this broadband viral campaign, you simply upload your picture and your name, click on a few choices and voila, a hometown news segment is built and posted on YouTube starring YOU.

I was so tickled with this thing, I did it like 5 times. (Each selection randomly selects among four or five random outcomes for a total of 20-30 options.) Here's my score:

Concept: A
Freshness: A
Execution: A- (Have to wait to get an e-mail telling you it's on YouTube)
Viral Infection Rate: B+ (Same note as above)


You can see one of my favorites HERE.

Or click HERE to go make your own.

Enjoy!
The OneID Man

Hot, HOT coffee

The WETV folks have done it again!  Now they've posted a new section on their website called their "Hot Coffee Break" and they got it SO right!  Different 30 second clips of hot guys sans shirt doing things around the house that chicks are SURE to dig (cleaning, cooking, PROPOSING--you get the idea).   Precisely the right level of high production value, cheese factor and cheesecake to keep the chicks clickin'.  Jason up there, who is not only washing his girl's car, but also leaving her a mushy I love you note on the windshield when he's done, is probably my current fave.  Just click HERE for a sneak peek.  Who cares that these guys are snotty models who don't eat carbs and spend more on their hair and nails than I do--a girl can dream, right?

Sigh...

Going (Publicly) Insane for Batman

Everybody always knew that I was insane. Now they can find proof on my Facebook profile with Verizon and Nokia's "Commit Your Friend" application. All you have to do is go to the site, upload a picture, and you or your friend is magically installed in a video of Gotham's own Arkham Asylum. You can see my video HERE.

It seems frighteningly easy to commit somebody these days. And post their commitment on Facebook or elsewhere for all to see. This brilliant bit of viral fun was created with the help of the folks at Oddcast. Simple. Easy to use and share. Linked to a nuclear hot content property. And fun in a nasty, slightly vengeful way. What more could you ask for?

Addiction Skinned

So a few posts back I told you how much I loved the BP Gas Mania game and what I terrific job they did on the branded entertainment portion. Thankfully, I had gotten good enough at this game that it wasn't much of a challenge and I wasn't spending gobs of time on it any more. UNOFORTUNATELY the people at WEtv went and skinned my addiction. Yup, they went and developed a version for the WEtv show "Bridezillas". OK, now this show seems questionable to me in terms of content. I mean after watching one or at max, two matrimonial meltdowns I personally have seen enough. However, if ever there was a show ripe for viral treatment, this would be IT. And the WEtv folks have done a pretty good job of brand extension with this thing. There are a variety of games including one where you dodge "Bridal Hurdles" and one where you "Whack a Worry". As cute as the other games are tho, they don't match "Wedding Planner Bridezillas" for execution. They added a cute Bridezillas jingle when you start the game. And as a subtle but brilliant nod to the Bridezilla Brand, the characters in the game roar like Godzilla when they get impatient. I love it. I HATE IT because I've wasted way too much time on it already, but I love it. They also have some quizzes (Bridezilla Boot Camp, You Might be a Bridezilla if, etc.) and apparently there's a "Make Yourself a Bridezilla" application on the way. But for now, I'll just contentedly waste time with my Bridezilla Wedding Planners, thank you VERY much.

The One ID Man

Green Porno and Illicit Insects

Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT. What else can I say about Isabella Rosellini's Green Porno? Fantastic marketing hook, great concept, great writing and a very clear understanding of what works well in a broadband/mobile screen. Don't read a single word more until you go watch it here:

GREEN PORNO

See what I mean? Simple editing. Simple backgrounds. Beautiful colors. Blissfully short. This stuff is specifically designed to make the most of teeny tiny screens and it shows. Isabella really gets it.

It puts me in mind of another group of performances that may not have been specifically designed for mobile (they are videos of live performances) but would translate beautifully. Take a look at Lejo:

You'll see a lot of the same fantastic qualities of Green Porno, with the added bonus of being language free and ready to be viewed anywhere in the world.

Now one thing to keep in mind here is that these are not mega budget projects. They are very well shot with excellent lighting, good sound, good image quality and good compression. But they shine because somebody had a great idea that connected well with viewers in the screen space and time allotted.

Something to think about when planning your next broadband or mobile magnum opus.

The One ID Man

Fortune Cookie Wisdom, Glamour and Celebrity Swag

So, I've been planning a special section for this blog for some time. I decided I'd call the section "Fortune Cookie Wisdom" as I am always fascinated how often the my cookie fortunes come true. I'm sure this is a sort of cosmic, psychic, placebo effect, but I enjoy it nevertheless. So, ever since my ever lovin' got me a digital camera I have been taking pictures of the fortunes I get at Asian-inspired restaurants. (Naturally, I've procrastinated about the actual POSTING part.) So tonight, we went to Panda Inn. And at the end of the meal they brought us those white chocolate dipped fortune cookies. And naturally, mine had a wonderful, positive, upbeat fortune in it. And naturally, I took a picture of it.

Now, my camera is relatively new, and I really, really suck at taking pictures. So this process of taking a picture of a cookie at a restaurant is not nearly as covert as would be prudent. It generally involves a lot of cursing and "here let me look at thats" and "RTFM darlings". Anywho, a very bright general manager at the Panda Inn saw the proceedings and asked me, "Oh, do you Yelp?" No, she wasn't talking about making sort of squeaky, distressed noises. She was talking about Yelp--a wildly popular, online review site where ordinary people post reviews of restaurants and stores.

I couldn't tell a lie. I told her that I was preparing a section on my blog called "Fortune Cookie Wisdom" and that I frequently photograph fortune cookies in restaurants. "Oh," she said. "Well I thought you might be doing a review." I told her that I was doing a review of sorts, on my blog. "Cool," she said.

Now actually this manager was not only attentive about the whole picture taking thing, but had been attentive all night, in making sure that we had what we needed--full water glasses, hot food etc. And so overall, I'd say our experience was pretty positive.

But for the sake of honesty and total avoidance of flogging, I must disclose that she ultimately offered me a bribe. She ultimately came out with a bag of 12 of those chocolate dipped fortune cookies. "Now you can have a different one, every day for 12 days!" I was pretty impressed, I can tell you.

So how do you like them apples? This represents the very first celebrity SWAG for my little blog. I guess that's a sort of glamorous and luxurious. I mean it's not the Academy Award gift bag, but it's a start.

I'm telling you, those fortunes are simply uncanny.

The One ID Man

Branded Entertainment--Game Addiction

BP Gas Mania Keep your customers happy!

Play this free game now!!

I admit it. I am totally and helplessly addicted to those little casual games you can find on the internet. As long as it's free. As long as it doesn't require massive "twitch skills" and as long as I can get the game concept in five seconds or less, I'm there. I recently fell in love with this little branded entertainment gem from BP. The graphics are fun and cute, the brand graphics are integrated in a delicious way, and the game play has just the right difficulty level and ramp to keep you playing for over an hour. The little song (which stuck in my head for DAYS) did a terrific job of getting the marketing message across in the background without being TOO blatant. And why do I keep playing? Well it's one of those multitasking "get ten things done at once game" where you have to manage to keep an increasing number of customers happy at a faster and faster rate. I am utterly unable to manage this IRL (in real life). However, in the game, I was multitasking like a GENIUS. So there you have it, good brand integration and fantasy fulfilment. What else could you ask for?

The one ID man.

LOL Cats and Baseball Bats and Little Gals Named Ivy

I've been spending a fair amount of time in LOLcats land. Specifically in the world of icanhascheezburger.com I know, I know, I'm really coming pretty late to the party, as LOLcats are hardly new. For the few of you who DON'T know, a LOLcat is a picture (quite often of a cat) that has had a funky, sarcastic, beat poetry-type caption layered over. Usually the caption is in a white sans-serif font. These pictures are kind of fun to look at and sometimes solicit the viewer to LOL. But the truly fascinating thing about the LOLcats phenomenon particularly on the icanhascheezburger site is the unique culture that has evolved around this seemingly simple meme.

First and foremost is the pidgin language of "kitteh speak" grammar and spelling. This language evolved organically around the pictures and includes simple spelling substitutions i.e. kitteh, mah, bukkit. Unique grammatical constructions also evolved such as:
"I can has...?"
"My _____ let me show you it."
"Invisible __________"

And over time, unique plot lines also developed, most famously involving the LOLrus and his missing bukket.

But beyond the pictures, and their funny captions, an entire society has grown up in the comments fields. Including rewards (If you are first in line to comment on a given picture, you are typically rewarded with a song and a beverage) and punishments (If you are first in line to comment and you do not include a witty comment about the picture, but instead say something lame about being first, you are likely to be censured and receive a "low burger rating.) and entire evolving plot lines between the characters.

The Universe has become so rich, that n00bs (newbies) may refer to an entire LOLCats dictionary with over 100 vocabulary entries, just to help them figure their way around.

What is perhaps most interesting about this, is that the vast majority of these transactions are based on TEXT. No pictures. Just people using their imaginations.

Hmmm. And that's exactly what I'm going to ask you to do gentle reader. When it comes to linking baseball bats and little girls named Ivy into my story, I'll ask you to use your imagination...