shake well before use.

change your RSS feed and bookmarks!

2006-11-22T14:47:00.000-06:00

For those of you who haven't already...

Please update your bookmarks to ShakeWellBeforeUse.com

Please subscribe to the new RSS feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/shakewellbeforeuse/new

Cheers,

ariel

this site has moved to ShakeWellBeforeUse.com !

2006-11-13T14:24:00.000-06:00

Please update your bookmarks to ShakeWellBeforeUse.com

Please subscribe to the new RSS feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/shakewellbeforeuse/new

Cheers,

ariel

ad:tech launches, ShakeWellBeforeUse.com launches

2006-11-06T11:38:00.000-06:00

While both seem to be a work-in-progress so far, ad:tech New York launches today with a predicted 10,800 attendees. Running around frantically, I will be keeping a photo blog of up-to-date geeky craziness at Flickr, so keep checking back for occasional cleavage and cheesy booths.

Please, if you're reading this, go ahead and update your bookmarks to ShakeWellBeforeUse.com, as the Blogger site will soon be fading into the horizon. Also, to subscribe to the new site, the feed can be found here.

More to come soon!

shake well before use gears up for ad:tech new york.

2006-10-31T00:48:00.000-06:00

Since my last travels to New York, a few things have changed. For one, I've started Shake Well Before Use since then, which will hopefully be undergoing a lot of maintenance this week as I attempt to move from Blogger to Movable Type, including a URL move (do you feel my pain?). So, if posting becomes spotty, just wait it out like a menstrual period.

Another is that I attended my first ad:tech conference in Chicago, and now am going to be amongst the many at the New York conference next week. As always, feel free to drop me a line if you're in the area.

tags technorati : adtech new york

mother of two shops for Christmas gifts, finds the stripper in us all.

2006-10-30T00:01:00.001-06:00

Toys and "toys" are usually loved by people of all ages. The lines being so blurred nowadays, Tesco wanted to select Blur More from the Photoshop Filters. Unfortunately, Karen, a mother of two didn't get the sick design-geek-joke.

"Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of "destroying children's innocence".

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words, "Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!

"Soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars"."

tragic advertisements scar new york windows and eyes.

2006-10-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Competition for business runs high in New York. So, while many businesses flock to guerilla tactics or media buys, some are still desperate for unique attention on a not-so-unique budget.

At first this appeared to be some kind of artsy-street-vandalism-statement, but no. Equipped with a Kinko's and a pair of scissors, this Italian joint became an in-house ad agency in minutes.

"Looking at these pictures, one cannot help but wonder why more businesses don't advertise themselves like this, like, "The Biggest Laugh You'll Have West of Auschwitz!", because nothing says "happy" like "the tragic death of thousands of New Yorkers"."

tags technorati : ground zero new york wtf

my face is up here!

2006-10-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

While the use of graffiti in advertising usually backfires, this campaign aims at a less exploitive approach.

Unlike Iran, Avon commercializes cover ups. Avon's 2005 Defend Yourself! campaign for breast cancer prevention leverages outdoor media placements for unique designs. Credits out to Mark/BBDO.

tags technorati : advertising avon bbdo breast cancer design urban

photochopping that didn't make the cut.

2006-10-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

While usually overlooked as a "must-have" skill, these magazine covers prove that Photoshop is not a tool for the common. With the help of their audience, Gawker compiled an archive of lame magazine covers with various criteria.

"Seventeen, May 2003. The infamous Sarah Michelle Gellar stock photo cover with her photoshopped alien mutant arm. Seventeen attempted to make amends by sending Gellar an expensive purse, which she refused because she doesn't wear leather."

tags technorati : gawker magazine photoshop

art receives technorati treatment.

2006-10-24T00:34:00.000-05:00

Apparently jealous of online buzz, art receives Technorati-like metrics without the snotty Top 100 List.

Developed by Marcelo Coelho in 2003, the "Art-O-Meter is a device that measures the quality of an art piece. It bases its evaluation on the amount of time that people spend in front of an artwork compared to the total time of exhibition. The measurements are graphically represented by comments and a 5 star rating system."

tags technorati : experimental interactive technology

turn me crayon.

2006-10-24T00:04:00.000-05:00

Already receiving congrats from various distances, Jaffe announced the beginning of a new company for new marketing. Seemingly aimed at focusing on the social end of marketing, Crayon intends to promote "Conversation and Transformation above Communication".

image via pottymouthpappy

tags technorati : crayon jaffe social

sexual tension promotes vodka.

2006-10-23T00:25:00.000-05:00

Campaign for SV Supreme Vodka leverages sexual tension for its "you just know when it's silk" tagline. The vodka officially launched in September in New York. The imagery and precarious wording certainly get one's attention.

"The fun really begins though when it fills the mouth with delectable, silky smooth grain and malty flavors that persist long into the flawless finish."

tags technorati : advertising pleasurable sv vodka

sight for the week's end.

2006-10-22T18:09:00.000-05:00

If you're in need of a place to go to get warm and 'tingly' as winter begins to inch closer, try Kansas City's Late Night Theatre off of Grand. Usually known for its all-drag actors, the theatre is currently showcasing The Rocky Horror Show with an all-genders cast. Sneak peeks at panties, get felt up by masked cast members, yell profanities at the stage, and of course, dance the time warp.

tags technorati : rocky horror silly theatre

do we hide behind the 'glory' of web 2.0?

2006-10-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

Is Web 2.0 the "I was drunk" excuse of the current day?

As intellectual hysteria runs rampant in text editing boxes yet to feed templates, sometimes text isn't the only thing that needs editing. Self-important rips on brands and other bloggers to appear as the delusional "top dog" to your commenters is tiring.

From t rigger-happy publishers, to crying over unspoken linking rules, they chalk it up to the nature of the digital environment. So, when we're proven wrong or caught crossing the line, should we hide behind the 'glory' of web 2.0 and social media?

tags technorati : blogging social web 2.0

quest for contextual advertising pisses gamers off.

2006-10-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

As Joystiq reports, there are ghosts in your machine. Alas, not Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, but IGA on the quest for eerie contextual advertising.

"According to the packaged agreement (pictured), IGA can collect your IP address and "other anonymous information," which is a pretty vague and all-encompassing term. Could IGA check your browsing habits? We don't see why not, as long as it doesn't record your login information."

With as many complaints as there are about contextual advertising not being good enough yet, is it possible that the quest for accurate contextual advertising has gone too far?

tags technorati : advertising battlefield 2142 contextual ea gaming iga

creativity in action.

2006-10-19T00:14:00.000-05:00

A once avoided evening, Bravo has successfully turned Wednesdays into a must-see-slash-dvr night. Though, with the finale of Project Runway last night, there's high hopes that the DVR/TiVo received some much needed rest.

If the episode is still sitting on your DVR, allow me to spoil it for you - Jeffrey was in, while Laura, Uli, and Michael were auf'd by the lovely Heidi Klum.

The major crave to Project Runway is truly seeing creativity in action by asking designers to create and execute ideas from scratch, often in 24 hours. Jeffrey offered up an inspirational quote to the end of the nerve-racked evening:

"It's all just a bunch of vibrations. You can make it any way you want it to be. Just don't take it all so seriously."

With that, the Tim Gunn withdrawal symptoms will begin setting in soon, but try your best to carry on!

tags technorati : bravo design jeffrey sebelia fashion project runway tim gunn tv

fashion influenced by emotions.

2006-10-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

Clothing design that senses and responds to a fashion victim's emotional environment.

Philips Design claims the experimental prototypes are 'sensitive', rather than 'intelligent'. Their SKIN research project was developed to challenge that life is better because it's more digital. SKIN is part of a far-future program at Philips Design to identify trends and explore potential.

"The marvelously intricate wearable prototypes include 'Bubelle', a dress surrounded by a delicate 'bubble' illuminated by patterns that changed dependent on skin contact- and 'Frison', a body suit that reacts to being blown on by igniting a private constellation of tiny LEDs."

tags technorati : experimental fashion interactive

store gives passersby a strip tease.

2006-10-17T00:07:00.000-05:00

Known for their wit and clever advertising, the blush Dessous-boutique in Berlin likes to tease potential clientele. Each step closer to the store gives you a bit more of a reward for your curiousity. As other blogs have proclaimed, I too, would follow this supercute girl without the hope of a breadcrumb trail.

blush's other notable campaigns include a car service number on the billboard if you just so happened to accidentally crash your car nearby, cautionary tags for lingerie, and deceptive shopping accessories.

tags technorati : advertising blush lingerie pleasurable sex

sex doesn't transmit virally.

2006-10-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

While the point is often made that sex does indeed sell, viral marketing isn't about sales. My fellow gutter-minded correspondent, Steve, pointed me to this video that certainly proves that sex doesn't go viral.

Bennetts has taken everyone's favorite late-night-text-message-call-girls and pimped them out for a :60+ spot of music that makes you remember why bad teeth isn't the only thing you dislike about the Brits.

While I usually applaud our friends across the pond for consistent use of innuendos in advertising, this simply puts that luxury to shame. As cute as the girls may be, the cliche' of using "brand spanking new" for a motorbike insurance company could only be thought of as creative by a band of chumps. To the red-bottom ladies in the ad, don't give up your night job. Horny men on business trips still need you for late-night stress release.

via: CMM News

tags technorati : advertising bennetts sex viral

take twice a day with water.

2006-10-16T00:13:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! prescribes a capsule to be taken by mouth in web form.

The Yahoo! Time Capsule allows users worldwide to contribute photos, writings, videos, audio, etc. to an electronic anthropology project. Yahoo! claims that this is the first time that digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.

In addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read, or hear the images, words, and sounds contributed by users from around the world. You can also comment on the content you and others have submitted – and engage in a digital conversation.

Yahoo! is also capturing some interesting information about contributors - so that you can see contributions as they come in from different countries, genders, ages, media, and topics. Capsulate yourself now, there's only 24 days left.

tags technorati : interactive social time capsule yahoo

sight for the week's end.

2006-10-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

The dark side of being clean.

tags technorati : bubblebath glow in the dark silly

it's cold out, but her popsicle melts.

2006-10-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

Sneak a peek behind the curtain of a photobooth for a delicious tingly sensation that may make a few goosebumps linger.

This site for Magnum ice cream (which if you've travelled to or live in Europe, you come across their logo as often as Starbucks in Seattle) leaves viewers wanting more. A techno beat to the background and inebriated girls with loose tongues take the stage in a variety of video clips.

via: Fleshbot

tags technorati : magnum pleasurable

adverts get sticky.

2006-10-11T13:35:00.000-05:00

Seoul and Berlin receive guerilla sticker treatment.

"The objective is to raise the level of consumer awareness about the quality of outdoor advertising in a city."

Interesting technique to elegantly defacing advertising. Although, the font resembles Comic Sans enough for me to rethink the elegant part.

via: AdverBox

tags technorati : advertising guerilla urban

lurking in the dark shadows of ip addresses...

2006-10-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

Steve Rubel pointed me to a post by Jakob Nielsen about participation inequality in the blogosphere. While, some of it is seemingly not based on any hard data (mostly from previous unrelated research), Jakob says that 90% of users are "lurkers", while 9% contribute from time to time, and 1% participate a lot.

"More importantly, such inequities would give you a biased understanding of the community, because many differences almost certainly exist between people who post a lot and those who post a little. And you would never hear from the silent majority of lurkers."

I disagree. What Jakob fails to address are the movers and shakers happening behind the scenes. The blogosphere has a unique quality in that it often times self-appoints itself to being the "behind the scenes" since they have access to report on news before it becomes "mainstream". It is a lot safer to always assume that there are things much larger taking place that are influencing the blogosphere.

Lurkers (myself included) reading this will know that they have projects out there that influenced a multitude of blogs, but the blogs would never know that. Even a step down from that, every single action that a lurker makes, does in fact shape the ecosystem as much as a blogger. Bloggers and advertisers track lurkers - from referrals, to out clicks, to location - we (bloggers) are hyper-sensitive to what connects us to everyone else. This could, perhaps, lead to an argument about how linking behavior (the current measure of influence by Technorati) isn't keeping pace.

The answer is not to try and encourage more participation. Bloggers need to be flexible to different "mediums" as much as they complain about brands needing to be. To say that the community as it exists in a 90-9-1 form is a "biased understanding of the community" is short-sighted and asummes that bloggers hold all the authority. Learn from what connects you - content, context, lurkers, commenters, bloggers, links, word of mouth, etc. - all of these matter equally if you assume that they're all influencing you as more than meets the eye.

tags technorati : blogging influence

a battle of he said, he said - she said?

2006-10-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Blogger stands up for women in true bitching form. Proving that there is indeed equality amongst sexes, two men get in a cat fight over women.

Earlier this week: "We expect that a lot of Wooster readers will be attending Tokion Magazine's Creativity Now Conference that is to take place here in New York on October 14th and 15th. We won't be amongst them. Why? Well, here's the problem... amongst the 30 or so speakers at the conference, there isn't one woman. ... We don't give a shit what their excuse will be ... Fuck that. We won't be going.".

To earlier today: "We're hoping to meet up with Ken [Tokion] for a beer later tonight". Cute. Kiss and make-ups always fill your heart with warmth and your RSS reader with crap.

The only thing viral on blogs these days is hyper-intellectualism and a publish post button. While I thoroughly enjoy the Wooster blog, to wade through their clutter of la la la's (oh, and don't forget la) only to realize that they actually created their own drama is a waste of my perfectly good blog post for Tuesday.

tags technorati : tokion wooster

Burger King is the haute couture of fast food.

2006-10-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

2006 continues to be the Year of the Snake, despite what the paper placemats under your Mu Shu Chicken and depressing fortune cookie might say.

George Parker, per usual, shows his age between sailor expletives: "This is a fucking disaster that CP+B (I assume they are responsible for this travesty) should be ashamed of."

George, perhaps if you spent the few seconds usually spent on typing out fuck-shit-fuck, listening, you may have a chance at "getting it".

To lay it out for you, Burger King has successfully spent the last few years integrating itself with pop culture. Nay... BK IS part of pop culture. Unlike the majority of companies, to which I'm sure you have an undying love for, BK refuses to merely be a reaction of what is already taking place. They choose to create the reaction, and fairly intelligently. BK looks for that thing that no one else has done - they execute it, and move on to the next thing.

So, while many blogs will bitch and moan about Crispin Porter, the blogs are still the reactionaries and not the creators, so why should anyone give a damn about the (your) fucking blogs? Let's face it, BK is the haute couture fashion of fast food. Everyone bitches and moans that they wouldn't wear what's on the runway in real life, but fashion elitists don't give a damn about your silly protests - that's not the point of runway fashion - or BK advertising!

via: AdRants

tags technorati : advertising bk cpb eat like a snake haute couture snakes soap

sight for the week's end.

2006-10-08T19:42:00.000-05:00

White chocolate moose never seemed so delicious to a Norwegian pallette.

""There are hunt quotas, where moose are specified by age and sex. But there is nothing about a moose having to be brown, gray or white," Lerheim said."

Demographic-obsessed media planners are currently scrambling to add brown, gray, and white tabs to Nielsen.

""That so many people want the white moose to live is an emotional issue. It is exciting to have such a rarity rustling around. But if it is spared we risk the moose's breeding qualities spreading. Soon we might two, three, four or five albino moose in these wooded areas, something which in the long run can weaken the herd," said Brommdal, who pointed out that an albino moose is really a kind of 'mistake'."

Perhaps the Norwegians could take a page or two from Seth Godin's Purple Cow. To paraphrase, the first time you see a purple cow, you would look. However, after you would start to pass by three, four, maybe dozens, you may start to go about your daily routine until a new "purple cow" comes along.

via: Neatorama

tags technorati : godin moose norway wtf

blogger asks you to slut it up.

2006-10-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Always easy to tease and left craving more, Steve Hall's sexed-up (dare, insatiable?) undertones tend to be as rampant as mine:

"Of course, some women will look at this ad and say, "I'm not dressing like that slut" while their boyfriend or husband at the same time begs them, "please, please dress like that slut for me!""

Lee Jeans covers all the sex-craving-blogger's bases for a post with a dash of nipple and a logo placement that just makes you wish you could get THAT kind of "media placement".

tags technorati : adrants advertising lee lolita sex

caffeinated orgasms trump clean lungs and blue balls.

2006-10-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

Anticipation seems to be a rare occasion to seemingly satisfied Cubans. Not surprisingly, the awaited release of a survey concerning longevity came as no shocker, but pleasurable just the same.

"Coffee, cigars, sex 'behind longevity' ... their longevity is a result of going easy on alcohol, but indulging in coffee, cigars and sex."

via: Fleshbot

tags technorati : coffee cigars cuba pleasurable sex

pixelated architecture.

2006-10-04T15:54:00.000-05:00

The "architecturallhy infamous" Simmons Hall, a dorm for MIT undergrads whose original design was inspired by a sponge, is the result of severe student OCD. Individually-wired pixels (LEDs) create a scrolling, architecturally-based typography. (video requires DivX)

"The Simmons LED Display is a home-made two-story high 6x6 array of windows outfitted with ... blue LEDs. It can be seen from most of Briggs Field and Dorm Row at MIT, thus making for a convenient announcement board. It follows from a vision that many Simmons Hall residents have had in the past: to turn the waffle-like arrangement of windows into working pixels. This project implemented that with under $150 of components."

via: MAKE

tags technorati : architecture experimental led mit typography

itv1 gives you something to finger through.

2006-10-02T00:40:00.000-05:00

No peeking at bangers and mash to be had. Always have much love for the far more playful day-to-day advertising across the pond. Innuendos tend to be as common as roundabouts. Though, I would love to do a remix of this underground poster: "Trinny & Susannah grab your attention...".

tags technorati : advertising itv1 london television underground

sight for the week's end.

2006-10-01T15:42:00.000-05:00

I usually avoid Piccadilly Circus on a Saturday night like the plague, but I popped into the Criterion Theatre to catch a comedic adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's 'The 39 Steps'. Quite enjoyable (though, I'm sure I missed some of the inside-London-humor).

tags technorati : hitchcock london theatre