If This Is A Blog Then What's Christmas?

Dude playing the spoons to Insomnia by Faithless (thanks, B):

Beautiful portraits on maps (thanks, J).

I want to drink whiskey with this guy, and I don’t even like whiskey (thanks, D):

Sergeant Pepper cover shoot (thanks, T).

Dead flies art (thanks, S).

Weave silk (hours of fun; thanks, F).

Fart by mail (thanks, J).

10 hours of bacon pancakes (thanks, D):

The incredible beauty of a cheetah in motion (thanks, S).

Fun ways to die (thanks, J).

Reply from the Attorney General to the Grand Dragon of the KKK (thanks, N).

Ultimate falling on ice compilation (thanks, V):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kjE6aTnpKSs

Adam Buxton’s Summertime Blues (thanks, G):

Drum Robot (thanks, W):

Bill Murray’s Sally League Speech (thanks, P):

Carrier bags are truly fucking awful (thanks, D).

Sexy football managers calendar (Fergie and Dalgleish win this for me. Thanks, S).

The Hello video analysed (thanks, D):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtLeAnxAkk&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ-RIbBFQAk

It’s fun, different  and seems to fit with the brand like peaches and cream.

I’m just a little cynical about filmed reactions of members of the public. I’ve seen so many of these bloody things that I now find it very hard not to doubt the degree to which they are surprised/amused/delighted.

Sorry.

In my hobby as person who organises the Water Water Everywhere campaign (with brilliant assistance, particularly from George Floyd), I am always on the lookout for things that persuade people to drink tap water instead of drinks that come in bottles and damage the environment.

Here’s one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tE9U4mMqKP4

It’s just been banned because it trashes the soft drink industry.

Well, it presents itself as an alternative to bottled soft drinks by using an interesting aural/visual mnemonic.

That seems reasonable enough, so why ban it?

I smell some nasty lobbying from the soft drink manufacturers who prize their cash over the future of the environment.

Wankers.

Isn’t that fantastic?

Whether it’s this one:

or this one:

or this one:

or this one:

And let’s not forget:

And my favourite (thanks, John S. I was looking for this but couldn’t find it. When I was at college Tony just described it to us and I thought it was amazing. Very pleased to have seen it at last):

Oh, and this amazing one (thanks, S&C):

This one:

And this classic (thanks, J):

They are the best ads.

Here’s a lovely new campaign for Sail & Anchor beer from Droga 5 in Sydney.

The real kicker for me is that the copywriter was my former AD, Cam Blackley, and the Art Director is my former AD, Daryl Corps.

Now they’re the CD and Head of Art at Droga 5, so as you can see I was really just holding them both back.

Congrats, guys. The writing’s really good, as is the art direction and typography.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE5Ip60_HJk

This is part of a mental health initiative that was shown in schools and went online late September. It’s now due for a limited release in the cinema.

Mental health, eh?

I can’t claim to know a great deal about the subject, but I did once have a bit of a weird turn around 1998. I arrived at work as normal then felt a massive urge to hide under my desk and start crying. Not sure where that came from, and by the end of the day I felt much better, but when I mentioned it to other younger creatives at my agency a couple of them revealed that the same thing had happened to them. I wondered if it had anything to do with the large indirect financial pressures that are sometimes placed on very young shoulders. No one comes out and says that this million pound production budget has a hell of a lot riding on it, but under the surface that’s all quite clear and everyone knows it.

I think HR departments are a little more comprehensive these days, but I don’t think there’s much in place to catch people on the way down.

If you want to read more, this post is quite interesting.

If you’re going through anything, try NABS, or visit your GP.

… this.

I love PES.

His stop-frame animations are so witty and charming, as well as being truly original:

The good news is that he’s made the shortlist for next year’s Oscar nominations for this lovely little short.

Enjoy.

PS: if you want to hire him, he’s repped by A+/Academy.

Following the odd ad featuring Kiefer Sutherland, Acer have now employed Megan Fox to greater effect:

I recall disliking the Kiefer one because it didn’t seem to have anything to do with his real personality, just a character he played on a show that was cancelled years ago.

This one, however, plays well on the unemployed Hollywood bimbo image of Megan Fox.

So the lesson is: If your ad makes some kind of sense, and has a good script, then it might not be shit.