I hate TV ads

I really do. They get in the way, they’re usually too stupid for words (Auckland Glass will never see a dollar of mine. Never) and they get muted the minute they appear.

And yet, a good TV ad is really good. The UK has some of the best, and I’ve chucked a bunch of good ones in here (bunnies!).

This irks me. How can I find ads that I actually enjoy? Is it just the comparison with crap ads that makes them enjoyable? I even like the Fold ad that Vodafone produced:

(we’ll claim it as a local ad even though it was thought up by a couple of Poms and filmed in Australia. It’s as Kiwi as I am) and the bit I really like is that the whole thing hinges on the actor’s ability to do sleight of hand and so drop the things he folded without making it obvious he was doing that. Brilliant – without him, the ad would suck.

Fair Go did a piece on the making of the Fold ad which you can watch here.

I don’t know what Spike sells but I do like these ads.

Enjoy.

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Journalism

Journalism should inform. It should evoke an understanding, preferably at a deep and emotional level, that the reader didn’t have before. It should afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted (yes, I’m quoting, no I’m not googling).

The Australian, along with most of the world’s media it seems, has been covering the Australian bush fires in all manner of depth and lurid detail but none of it strikes a chord as much as this report which, despite its awful headline “How we cheated flames of death” is one of the best pieces of writing I’ve seen this year.

“They warn you it comes fast. But the word ‘fast’ doesn’t come anywhere near describing it.

It comes at you like a runaway train. One minute you are preparing. The next you are fighting for your home. Then you are fighting for your life.

But it is not minutes that come between. It’s more like seconds. The firestorm moves faster than you can think, let alone react.”

Hattip: Richard York

What to do next?

So the course is over… two days of workshopping social media.

The take aways from that (not including curry) include: a clearer picture of what I’m going to do for the company’s social media strategy; a better level of understanding of Australian corporate/government department life; a loathing for Dell’s decision to change the way their laptops charge (meaning I couldn’t charge the damn thing with anything other than a this year charger (so many thanks to G for the loan of hers) and a blog.

What to do with the blog is a big question… it doesn’t have a purpose as such beyond demonstrating how easy it is to set up a blog and I fear (FEAR!) blogs that don’t have a mission. It’s too much like wanking for my fancy.

So I’ll keep this up for a bit and play with embedding stuff and whatnot. For now.