Entries For: July 2007
07/25/2007
The Skittles Touch
In this tragicomic commercial for Skittles, a man is asked by his coworker to demonstrate how everything he touches turns to Skittles. Kinda awesome, right? Not so, my friend.
A soliloquy of Shakespearean proportions follows, as the forlorn fellow relates how the "Skittles touch" keeps him from holding his son, dressing himself... and how it resulted in a most unfortunate fate for a man he met on the bus. Talk about bringing a new meaning to the word "bittersweet."
But seriously, though -- all the Skittles you could ever want, any time you want them? That's pretty cool. Plus, I can think of a few people I'd like to lay the Skittle mojo on.
Still. Those Skittle marketing dudes are effed up.
07/24/2007
"Set IT Managers Free," Directed by Christopher Guest
Okay, I'll admit it: I don't know the first thing about hardware-based security. But thanks to this ad for Intel's vPro and Centrino Pro, directed by the inimitable Christopher Guest, I want to know more.
In the spot, "Old School" rocker Dan Finnerty strolls through a cubicle maze, crooning about his software and IT problems of yore, before meeting up mid-office with indie artist Rob Giles, who's done up for the occasion like the unholy spawn of Axl Rose, Ozzy Osbourne, and, uh, several other unholy people. Together they rock the place out with lyrical tales of the magic things that happen with hardware-based remote managability.
Did I leave the experience knowing more about the topic than when I started? Not so much. But I was left with a powerful urge to forth and look stuff up about it. So there you go. Plus, I dig that one guy who can't get his lighter to work. Hee.
07/23/2007
Behind the Scenes: Sprint's "Dreams"
I've never really been much of a CGI/tech geek. (I'm always more curious about the "why" than the "how".) But sometimes a piece of work comes along that's truly astonishing, that really employs technology not for its own sake but in the service of a larger aesthetic goal. The new Sprint "Dreams" spot is one such example. Directed by Little Miss Sunshine's Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the spot combines old-fashioned stop-motion animation with high-tech post gadgetry to expound on the virtues of light and the power of creativity (it's not corny, it really isn't). Thankfully, the folks at Sprint have posted this great behind-the-scenes making-of short that reveals how the directors and their team of collaborators pulled it off. Think of it as a DVD extra, but for commercials.
Carlsberg and Mentos Don't Mix
We missed this ad when it first debuted in May, but months later it's still a viral video freshmaker. Sadly, the actual chemical reactions found in the interaction between beer and Mentos remain a mystery. But the foolishness in meddling with such dark magicks is crystal clear.
