When I get briefed on branded content it’s usually because a client has little money. Here’s what Dupont was able to do with its enormous budget. Hey, why not create a television series?
TweetOn March 19, 2013, In Branded content, Uncategorized, By John Ellis
On January 4, 2013, In Great design, By John Ellis
On December 6, 2012, In Great writing, By John Ellis
“Life on the thin, fragile, sugarcoated top layer of the upper crust.”
You’ve probably heard of The Queen of Versailles by now. But maybe you need a nudge to download it and have a look. So, I am endorsing this as a first-rate Christmas Classic. It will make you grateful for what you have.
From NYT: It has been said that we live in a new gilded age, in which the rich take it as their sovereign right and civic duty to get richer, while the rest of us look on in envy, simmer with resentment or dream of rebellion. “The Queen of Versailles,” a new documentary by Lauren Greenfield about life on the thin, fragile, sugarcoated top layer of the upper crust, captures the tone of the times with a clear, surprisingly compassionate eye. Read the full review.
TweetOn December 5, 2012, In Great writing, By John Ellis
It’s Christmas Party Season. Here’s a great anecdote when you’re stuck for small talk.
This documentary is 70-minutes long but you can digest the main idea in snippets on YouTube. Of course, it would be best to pay for it and watch it all at once.
TweetOn November 15, 2012, In Ellisisms, By John Ellis
Brilliant marketing idea of the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen?
If you’ve seen the film “Idiocracy” you know that Luke Wilson plays a man who emerges from a time capsule to find that the gene pool has been deteriorating over 500 years and he is now the smartest man on earth. He is seen as a genius because he halts the practice of watering plants with Brawndo (Gatorade). The “idiots” in charge of the world believe that Brawndo must be good for crops because it contains electrolytes. Enough said.
View the clip below, then read on to see how one Texas town is allegedly getting more children to drink water.
Now, in Texas, the local authorities have decided to add sugar to the town’s drinking water. Here’s how CBC’s This is That blog covered the story.
Talon is small town located in Pecos County, Texas. When town officials realized that drinking-water consumption by residents was well below the national average, they decided take action and three months ago began adding sugar to their water supply to make drinking it more desirable. According to Hester Griggs, the Commissioner of Utilities for Talon, they are adding roughly “4 tablespoons of sugar for every 8 oz. cup of water.” Earlier today, Pat Kelly spoke with Mr. Griggs to find out how residents are responding to this initiative.*
So, loyal readers (both of you), is this an obvious marketing solution to a real problem? Remember, the people of Talon also shower in this water and put it on their lawns. Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in Texas.
I hope you enjoyed this off-topic exploration. Please comment.
*This is That is not a real news source. Ellisism apologizes for perpetuating this hoax. But it’s pretty funny.
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On November 2, 2012, In Branding, By John Ellis
Marek Miś used polarized light to capture Cosmarium, a genus of algae, near a Sphagnum, a type of moss.
This is a fascinating way to kill ten minutes but more importantly it’s a competition that makes perfect sense for the Nikon brand.
Nikon has been committed to its Annual Microscopy Competition for years and you can see all of the winner by visiting the small world gallery. It makes perfect sense for the brand to promote exploration and the advancement of image making.
An ant carries larva in its mouth, magnified 5x, by Geir Drange.
- Esra Guc’s image of lymphangiogenesis assay.
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On October 25, 2012, In Great writing, By John Ellis
On October 16, 2012, In Great writing, By John Ellis
The year was 1937. John Wayne starred in Idol of the Crowds and we all get treated to some marquee humour when ‘Johnny Handson’ visits the Big Apple.
This is the marquee at the Rollerdrome. Love the copy.
Here’s the IMDB backgrounder for those of you who think “Slapshot” and “The Mighty Ducks” are the only choices for hockey-starved fans during the player lockout: Johnny Hanson wants to make enough money to enlarge his chicken farm. He does this through hockey. Gangsters get involved in trying to get him to throw a championship game, even lining up a woman to help steer him their way.
In upcoming parts of this series, I plan to revisit copy written by famous authors, including Salman Rushdie.
TweetOn October 16, 2012, In Agency life, By John Ellis
Don’t we all love code names? It makes it so easy to search for a job by its real name three years later.
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