I’ve been sent this a few times and I have to say it’s one of the most batshit crazy things I’ve ever seen:

The greatest gang fight of all time.

The saddest album covers of all time (thanks, K).

One of the greatest ads of all time (thanks, A).

I can’t get enough of these dubstep videos (check out the David Brent one):

What’s the difference between Britain, the UK and England/Scotland/Northern Ireland/Wales?

How to leave a Facebook comment (thanks, S).

If movie posters told the truth.

How long did Bill Murray spend in Groundhog Day hell (or heaven, depending on how you look at it. Very deep film, etc.)?

‘I say, ‘Mr Caribou, maybe you have to take one for the team’.’ All the Sarah Palinisms in one handy website.

And finally, the most illegal thing I’ve ever seen in the history of wrestling (thanks, N):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU4TDGlbTz8

Yes, it’s a blindingly obvious pun, but it’s been really well made and repays a few extra viewings (Thanks, R):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ulbjaKmKG0&feature=player_embedded

Flicking through Campaign I find that someone called Jonathan Mildenhall has been asked to explain his job at Coca-Cola:

‘Our unique role is to integrate the strategic mandates of our brand growth agendas with that of the creative resources and ideas of creative industries such as advertising.’

He goes on to say, somewhat amusingly, ‘Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t always an easy balance to strike.’

Thank god he cleared that up.

Do people just go to America and get lessons in spewing diarrhea from their mouths?

And where is this man when you need him?

(I must say it helps if you, like me, have a four-and-a-half-year-old son who worships Darth Vader):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

One of the things I learned at Watford was that advertising ideas ought to contain a truth that people can relate to.

Of course, that is exactly what all good music, books and other arts are based on, so why not advertising?

But what is more powerful, a universal truth or a specific one?

Of course there are some things money can’t buy; for everything else there’s Mastercard, but how does that compare to St George and its English-will-love-it-but-others-will-be-non-plussed attitude?

In these days of pan-planetary globalisation, the universal truth is more likely to be the one trotted out (that’s if you get a truth at all), but I can’t help feeling that a shotgun might get more shots in the target, but it won’t have the deadly accuracy of a rifle.

The difference may come down to what you set out to do. Trying to please a million people may get you liked by those million, but trying to please 100,000 might get you loved by those 100,000, and the message might then be sharp enough to include those you hadn’t even thought of.

Take Skittles, Old Spice and Gorilla. All were enjoyed internationally, but that wasn’t their intention. They were made for a national target market that then expanded through the interwebz.

Last year’s TV winners at D&AD had no internationally-intended ads, instead awarding local gems like these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZQyaAD-IL4

In fact, you have to go back to 2006 to find the last internationally-targeted winner:

So there’s nothing wrong with a universal truth, but the smaller your target, the greater your shot of hitting them right between the eyes (does that make sense? Kind of. You know what I mean).

An old piece of copywriting advice suggests that you imagine you are talking to just one person as you write.

Could be worth a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1JegEG4dM&feature=player_embedded

I’ve written before about how hard it is to get Hatstand right.

Is it subjective?

Do any of you prefer this to Touch, Pinata and Beard?

If successful Hatstand is a matter of random chance then why have almost all the Skittles ads since Pinata been a bit disappointing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnwsAr8eBQA&feature=player_embedded

(Thanks, L.)

I think it’s distinctive and memorable, but Garrison sounds like he’s at the wrong end of three pints and a spliff.

The other thing is that at the end YouTube offers you the chance to view Cog, Impossible Dream and Grrr, reminding you how much better they were.

I suspect the dead hand of STRATEGY made this a little more generic than it might have been, and that stops it being great.

UPDATE: and please can we end the digiwank, for this is the digiest wankiest of them all (thanks, R).