ChaCha Search: Powered by me (and thousands of others)

Do you know the ChaCha? Not the dance, but the search service. It's available online (www.chacha.com), via text 242242 (chacha) or you can call 1-800-2chacha and say your question which is then answered via text message. So what's so special about ChaCha? Well, there's real humans on the other end of your search request and I'm one of them. That's right, when you text, type, or say your question it is translated into text and sent to one of ChaCha's "guides" who then look up the answer and send you back a message. There are over 10,000 ChaCha guides throughout the US who can log on whenever they want and answer questions. The guides are paid $0.20 for every question they answer.

So I decided to become a ChaCha guide and see what the American public is asking. So far it's been interesting. I've helped people find restaurants around the country and answers questions about everything from NBA stats to nicknames of famous musicians. It's really quite rewarding, it's kinda like being the "go to guy" for millions of people all at once.

So next time you've got a question think about doing the ChaCha, maybe I'll be the one on the other end.

Read what the Wall Street Journal had to say about ChaCha.

The smartest smarties commentary ever

This had me laughing this morning. Lunar BBDO over at If this is a blog then what's Christmas? has a fantastic commentary on a smarties ad. Be sure to read the whole thing, but here's an exerpt:

...surely a commentary on the release of sex offenders into the community. The Smarties grab their kids and close their doors, fearing Blue without a thought for his successful rehabilitation...

(via If this is a blog then what's Christmas?)

You are Fallon: A melting pot of awards

Have you ever won an award while working at Fallon? If so they're asking you to donate it to be melted down and turned into the new name plate "We are Fallon" to be hung at the entrance to their new building. It's a pretty great idea, and so far 41 people have stepped up and donated their awards. If you want to donate or see who has already, check out http://youare.fallon.com/

(via If this is a blog then what's Christmas)

In Honor of Copyranter: Big Tits Friday

Copyranter is back! Apparently he's gotten a gig writing for Animal New York and that's gotten him back into posting. To celebrate I thought I'd post about one of CR's favorites: Big Tits.

So without further ado...


I love how there's some lame pun with "cannes" that's cut off in the upper left hand corner.
(via Adrants)

AAF NSAC AIM Competition: University of Northern Colorado

As previously promised, here's some of the ads my team from the University of Northern Colorado came up with for the AAF's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). The client this year was AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). Enough acronyms for ya?

Quick background:
The client brief stated that our goal was to increase awareness and usage of AIM (the IM / communications part) while integrating and promoting AIM Profiles (the "new" social media part). That target is 18-24 year olds in the US. The budget was $25 million over a one year period. What you see below are some of our print ads along with a billboard. There's a lot more to our campaign of course, but this is all I'm putting up for now. Let's hear some opinions in the comments!

Billboard at beginning.Billboard two months later as silhouettes are slowly added.

"Galaxy" (click to enlarge).
Headline: A whole new frontier. Body: Welcome to a whole new experience, based on clean space and user interface. Where you are treated as a beloved friend, not as a recipient for the highest powered advertising for the latest movie Hollywood says you should love. This is your galaxy, enjoy.

"Clean" (click to enlarge).
Headline: The Clarity is Undeniable. Body: Welcome to a place free of ad clutter, of two dozen application requests, and twice as many friend requests from people who seem to have lots of free time and a well used webcam. Welcome to the new AIM Profiles. (for some reason the bubble text and AIM logo appear blue, they're actually red)

"Swiss Army Knife" (click to enlarge).
Headline: Tweezers not included. Body: (labels each of the "tools") Use it. Frolic. Build a campsite. Whatever you do, do it with premier instant networking.

Our tagline was "Join the Conversation". The copywriters for these ads were Logan Williams and Justin McCammon (mainly Logan). The art directors were Bo Smith and Mike Arestad. All are students at UNC.

Post comments on what you think. I'm interested to get some opinions from people in the industry. If you want to get in touch with anyone on our team please email Justin at: justinmccammonblog@gmail.com

Meatloaf and AT&T: Paradise by the GoPhone Light

Wow. So many things bother me about this ad, where do I begin? For one, it's Meatloaf. Two, is that a leg of lamb in his wife's hand when she walks in? Three, the weird scrunched up face on the kid. Fourth, despite all this there's something I like about this ad, and that bothers me too. How does this ad make you feel? (via AdFreak)

Have a Green-Ass Earth Day

Treehugger has a list of it's 5 Best Green-ass Video Ads and this is number one. What do you think?

Topic 101 will blow your mind

Topic 101 is a research firm that specializes in surveying students. I'd found them a while back working on a project for class and now CA has gone and refreshed my memory. They also happen to have one hell of a website. They have random videos playing full screen in the background of menus and floating navigation buttons with still more videos inside them. If you view this on an older computer there's a 101% chance of it spontaneously catching fire.

Windows Vista Music Video: The worst thing ever created

Words cannot describe how stupid this is. You'll need sound if you really want to lose some brain cells.

NOLAF: Putting the FU back in Fun

NOLAF is a fantastic site developed by Mekanism and Element79 for Doritos / Tostitos. Their mission is to eradicate humor, and the results are pretty funny. (via Adrants)

Copyranter is Done

A sad note today (actually last Friday, I'm a bit behind) that Copyranter has hung up his keyboard and posted his last blog. I've had an abusive relationship with Copyranter over the past few months, I'd go to the blog, get hit in the face with a post like Big Tits Friday, then scrape myself up off the floor and go back for something like this post about what it's like in the ad world:

you're going to spend so, so much more time sucking anus and fellating cock and pretending to like products you hate and congratulating yourself for screwing the consumer than actually "creating."

Ahh, I can't wait to break into the ad world. And I can't wait for Copyranter to come to his senses and come back to us.

Anti-Smoking PSA with music by Sufjan Stevens

I'm sure that nothing in that headline caught your attention. Few people want to see another anti-smoking PSA and who the hell is Sufjan Stevens? Well let me give you a few more reasons not to watch this video below: the anti-smoking ad features that kind of gross-out this-is-what-smoking-does-to-your-body visuals that went out of style like pogs when CP+B came to town with The Truth. And Sufjan is perhaps one of the greatest singer-songwriters of this generation. Easily rivaling Conor Oberst while receiving half the publicity. Oh yeah, and over the course of smoking you'll put 3.4 kilograms into your body of... nevermind, you don't want to know anyways. Just be sure not to watch the video, no matter how many cool kids are doing it.

Defeat tastes a lot like an $80 dinner

I was in Tucson for the AAF’s NSAC District 12 competition this weekend representing the University of Northern Colorado. We didn’t win, but we had some fun anyways. We stayed at the Westin La Paloma “Resort and Spa”. This was my first time at such a swanky establishment and I learned a few things. First off, everyone who works there is entitled to be a huge douche all the time (except our bartender, she was nice). The other exception to this is when I went down to complain that the leg fell off my nightstand and I found gum in my bed sheets. They were fairly polite then, but I had to push for them to give me a bottle of wine for putting up with someone’s gum all night ( I didn’t check to see if it was stride or not, maybe I could have resold it). The next thing I learned is that just because they put out a really nice breakfast doesn’t mean it’s free. Far from it. I should have known better, but considering the student breakfast was a goddamn bagel (and only a goddamn bagel) you can imagine my delight at seeing everything from eggs to oatmeal waiting for me nearby. So I grabbed a plate and chowed down. But then I got greedy. I had to have some blueberry pancakes. So I went back and filled my plate again and just as I sat back down the check came. $21. Had I skipped the pancakes I would have been back in my room, totally oblivious to my newfound fugitive status.

On the subject of food, allow me to digress. Our cost per person for each student was $300 for the two nights (in the past it’s never been more than $100). This included all meals. They broke down the costs for each meal and our lunches were $30. Let me tell you what a $30 lunch looks like (hint: it’s not as good as a $21 breakfast). A $30 lunch consists of a turkey or chicken sandwich, tomato, no cheese, lettuce, a bit of potato or pasta salad, chips, an apple, and a cookie. A better meal was easily had at the resort “deli” for about $12. I’ll spare you the details of our $80 dinner that I would rate below a $15 special at Applebee’s.

So why am I bitching? Well what’s the point of the NSAC? Is it for students to learn about advertising and get real world experience or is it for a local ad federation to show off a bit and let a local resort make some money? And on the subject of fairness I think it’s in poor taste to allow some of the schools that are competing to also be sponsors of the event (The Art institute and University of Arizona were recognized as sponsors). Maybe I’m just a sore loser, and on that same note, if the winning team is any representation of what real clients want then maybe I’m going into the wrong industry. There were some really shiny turds there that placed above us. Of course, there were also some genuinely good ones too, hats off to BYU especially.

In the end, of course, who am I to judge? That’s what you’re here for right? I’ll post some of our ads soon and you can chime in on what you think.

New RSS Feed and a Trip to Tucson

This site's got a new RSS feed that you can find here:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/FromTheBottomOfEverything

Plus, I'll be in Tucson the next few days participating in the AAF's District 12 National Student Advertising Competition representing the University of Northern Colorado. So the posts might be a bit light, but I'll let you know how things turn out in the NSAC This year's client is AIM and our team has a pretty awesome campaign, so we'll see...

Alka Seltzer Shoots Through Your Heartburn

These ads for Alka Seltzer from BBDO Thailand are a shot of creative awesomeness. That's Alka Seltzer shooting through the food, by the way. (via I believe in Advertising)

VW Sounds Good

I've posted a few VW related items before, some good (building the website), some bad (crispin porter + bogusky's VW falls flat) but this might be my favorite. It's fun, and it makes me want to watch it again. And again. It also makes me wonder what I might enjoy driving around in a Golf. And that's probably the best thing a car commercial can do. I think Tribal DDB is responsible for this and the previously mentioned website ad so kudos to them. Crispin Porter + Bogusky should take notes (that's not something I thought I'd ever get to say). What do you guys think: is the American work from CP+B better or the European work from Tribal DDB?

Simple Shoes are Extraordinary

I just picked up a pair of Simples Shoes "Sno Tire" shoes and I couldn't be happier about them. Simple Shoes is all about environmentally conscious products and the Sno Tire shoe is no exception. It's got a hemp upper, recycled PET plastic laces and liner and organic cotton inside. But here's the kicker (no pun intended), the soles are used snow tires! Not only does this make me feel good about my purchase, but it turns an ordinary product in an extraordinary one. This reminds me of Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" concept: if you saw a regular cow you wouldn't care, but if you saw a purple cow you would tell everyone you know about it. That's what it's been like with these shoes as I explain that there's snow tires for treads everyone has to examine them and ask questions about it. What a great way to drive word of mouth advertising. Whether Simple Shoes set out to make an eco-friendly shoe and just so happened to make it extraordinary or vis versa I don't know. One thing for sure is that I wouldn't be writing a post to tell you about my new pair of New Balance's any time soon (look! these have 7 eyelets and my old ones had 6! Cool!).

Kodak steps closer to being a 21st century company

Disclaimer: I work for Kodak.
That said I'm willing to admit that Kodak missed the boat on digital and have been sluggish at best in turning things around. But I have to give credit where it's due and I think this spot, based on Kodak's celebrity apprentice hoopla, has something to it. Also, while we're talking about them, an interesting look at Kodak from Adrants.

Who is Justin McCammon?

And how do you get in touch with him? For all of you new readers out there here's some links. Find out more here. Or email him at justinmccammonblog@gmail.com.

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This Author Luke Sullivan in Minneapolis

If you find yourself anywhere near Minneapolis around May 1st you'll want to head down to the portfolio school Brainco to see Luke Sullivan, author of "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This" and group creative head at GSD&M in Austin. Sullivan will give a presentation about the new chapters in the 3rd edition of his book in addition to doing a book signing. For details and to RSVP go to the Brainco website.

Never heard of Brainco? They're a portfolio school just outside of Minneapolis. I spent a weekend there in February for a creative workshop and I can attest firsthand that it's a hip little joint. For some reason it seems to fly under the radar for most people when they think portfolio school, but for some reason I think that Brainco is just fine with being a hidden gem.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky's VW Falls Flat

Let me be perfectly clear on two things: one, I like Crispin Porter + Bogusky (I've got an application in for a summer internship... fingers crossed). Two, I don't like their new VW spots. You know, the ones with the 1964 beetle that has it's own talk show. Or the print ones in the Wall Street Journal where the car says "The people want an economic stimulus." Oh yeah, how clever, now I want to buy a car. C'mon guys, the people that brought us the king can do better. Everything else I wanted to say has already been said by Adweek.

Zune: Zombies and well, just zombies

This makes no sense, but I kinda like it. Too bad it's for the zune. (via AdverBox)

Ugly Mug Coffee: A Fresh Jolt of Copy

There's a whole series of ads just as good as this one over on 10ad.org. These are from Bryan Judkins of Young and Laramore and I think they're pretty damn good. I also want some Ugly Mug Coffee now, but that's another subject.

Sony Foam City

Ok, so I guess this is pretty cool. I have to admit I'm kinda lukewarm on the whole things though. I mean really, it's just a really cool idea that's memorable and all, but am I missing something? In any case it's all everyone's going to be talking about so check it out here. (I'd embed it but the sony website seem hellbent on crashing firefox).

Volvo takes a shot at Cadillac's Pursuit

I was flipping through the Wall Street Journal today when this ad jumped up and hit me across the face. The headline "For those who would rather drive perfection than pursue it." is a pretty obvious shot at Cadillac's "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit" campaign. And I'll tell you what, it works. This Volvo ad comes in with enough swagger and strut to knock Cadillac right of it's barstool. I know you probably can't read the body copy, so here it is (sorry for the shitty picture):

Relentless pursuits are all well and good, but will those chasers of perfection ever get on with achieving it? No matter. It just so happens Volvo makes an automobile that goes beyond giving perfection the old college try: the S80 Luxury Sedan. As one would expect from the perfect car, the S80 performs, well, perfectly. The available 311-horsepower V8 ULEV II growls sympathetically at its less-that-perfect pursuers. And all while pampering up to four guests in flawless luxury appointments that won the S80 "Interior of the Year" honors from Ward's AutoWorld. You can look that up if you'd like. One such appointment: standard leather throughout. "What's so different about that?" you ask. And we're glad you did, because we have the perfect answer. Not only are the front seats leather, they're also ventilated, so you can stay perfectly cool and dry in even the most sweltry weather. And in the coldest of winters (which, as a Swedish car company, we know a little something about), that same comfortable system applies to the seat heaters - a perfect touch that falls just shy of overindulgence. How Scandinavian of us. Yet the S80 is still, after all, a Volvo. It therefore bears mentioning (and goes almost without saying) that it would offer the perfect suite of safety technology: Dynamic Stability and Traction Control comes standard, detecting and preventing skids. An available Blind Spot Information System acts as a second pair of eyes before a lane change. And the available world's first Collision Avoidance Package raises the science of prevention technology to an art form. But you'll have to come to one of our showrooms to ask us about that one. After all, we've got to leave something for our sales associates. Of course, none of the aforementioned engineering wonders can exist in a vacuum. In truth, it's the whole of the S80 that sets it apart from the luxury flock. The way everything is so thoughtfully put together, piece by intelligent piece. Safety innovation by safety innovation. A perfect combination that brings harmony to you, your passengers and the road you're sharing together. Which, in our opinion, is the whole point of the Volvo S80. And as opinions go, that's as humble as being perfect will allow.

Awesome. I have no idea who did this ad. If you do let's hear it in the comments.

This is why we don't have nice stuff

Apparently hungry Chicagoans broke into this ad for ampm convenience stores and stole the food inside. The food was supposed to disappear slowly as it was taken out by equally hungry Ogilvy employees. As the food disappears the tagline "Too much good stuff" would be revealed. What's your guess as to who broke in: homeless? hooligans? tourists? aliens? (via AdFreak)

Laptops will die, but blogs are forever

So my laptop died a sudden and unexpected death today. That, coupled with the fact that I'm preparing to present at this years AAF NSAC competition means that I'll probably be light on the posts over the next week or so. So take a moment for yourself and rediscover nature. Take your dog for a walk. Make a homecooked meal. Or do meth. Ok, you might want to avoid that last one.

Ignore global warming at your own risk

This is a really good ad from the WWF. It just really resonates for me. (via Denver Egotist)

Mox: For people who don't like pain

All of you geniuses over at Headon take note, this is how you make a pain reliever commercial. (via Lunar BBDO)

Pre Owned Stride Gum For Sale

(click photo for bigger vew)

All I could think about when I read this was the countless times in grade school that someone offered me "ABC" gum (already been chewed for those of you who skipped the 3rd grade). In any case I think this is pretty clever on the part JWT NY. I have to admit though, if this became a trend and ruined craigslist (as if fake ads aren't already a problem) I'd be really upset. So a word of caution to all of you advertisers out there when choosing to mess with our beloved craigslist or facebook: the first time it's funny, the next time I get angry. (via Copyranter)

The Arcade Fire: Black Mirror

One of my favorite bands, The Arcade Fire, has an impressive new site up for their single "Black Mirror" over at www.rorrimkcalb.com (look at the url in a mirror, I didn't get it right away). You can remix the song as it and the video plays by pressing 1-6 on your keyboard to take out / add in various tracks of the song. While I love the band and the song, I have to say the 3-4 minute load time is a bit out of control, especially since I have a pretty fast connection normally. Ultimately though, I feel like the content is cool enough to justify it, but like I said, I'm already a fan, YMMV.

Oh, a few other complaints, relatively on topic: 1976 productions did this site and I thought I'd go find their site and check out some of their other stuff. Nope, not a chance in hell. Try googling 1976 productions to see what I mean. Then try urls you think might make since (1976productions.com, 1976production.com, 1976.com, no, no and no.). So alas, I thought maybe I'd find it on Creativity's website since I read about it originally in their March dead-tree edition. Ha! You want to access an article more that a week old? Pay up buddy cause now you need a print AND an online subscription. You want to share Creativity's content with everyone on your blog? Forget it, we keep our content to ourselves, we're not going to share it with anyone, because, you know, then people might read it and check out our website and bring in some ad revenue or maybe subscribe and then we'd get some additional revenue and page hits and boy would that suck because we're Creativity magazine and we hate sharing our content with everyone, especially you.
End rant.

Learn some fancy kissing moves

Converse wants you to know how to do some fancy kissing. Learn it here: www.fancykissinginstrucitonswithross.com (give it some time to load).

Legos make everything better

Just when you thought you'd seen everything... Someone goes and redoes iconic photos using legos. The result: awesome. See the rest of the series here. (click the pics for a bigger look)

Wonderbra: You Need Big Tits

The thing that I really like/hate about wonderbra ads is that they do something subtle and debatably clever of which the message is anything but subtle, as Copyranter quite delicately puts it, BIG TITS!!! Seriously, I don't know what to think are these clever or appalling? Your thoughts? (via Copyranter)

Scion 2008 TC: Slightly Tweaked, Very Funny

A friend suggested I check these out, and he was right, they're good. As much as I love the slight tweaks in each one of these ads there's something about the voice over that's really bothering me. The guys voice just doesn't sound voice over-y enough. Other than that, great ads.

Student work for Powerhouse Gym is no lightweight

This is some tremendous student work for Powerhouse Gym. (via Denver Egotist)

Pringles: Hot and Spicy

Awesome. (via Copyranter)

Note to world: bottled water = not green

Copyranter makes a good point about this Jana ad that touts how green the company is by giving reusable sacks to it's employees--it's a bottled water company--how green can they ever be? I don't care what anyone says, there's no excuse for bottled water, get a real bottle and use tap water. Most of the world would kill for our tap water and for some reason we think we need to pay even more to get it in a plastic bottle.

Nutrigrain: I feel great!

This makes me laugh every time I see it. I'm not sure how old it is, but who cares, have a laugh! I feel GREAT! (via Lunar BBDO)