Diesel Sneaks: Not for Running

Rather than position itself as just another running shoe, Diesel took a slightly different approach to punting its sneakers. They're not made for traversing the nearest asphalt path on a quest for futile glory; they're made for kickin' ass (and, by implication, takin' names).

The :60 web video that propagates this ideal depicts a Diesel sneaker in demonstration mode. Witness while the asses of dentists, evil neighbours, mimes and Third World dictators are judiciously kicked. As a bonus, you get gratuitous slow-mo of their facial responses.

Humor me ››

Neither Ad, Nor Sense, in GOOG Mobile's Latest

Whatever you think of Google's ad efforts in general, you'll probably agree they're usually more coherent - more relatable? - than this bad-boy.

The first minute of this piece is all you needed to get a sense of what they were pushing. After that it's basically just, "Pizza. Pizza. Pizza." Right, you're understated and yet self-effacing. We get it. All ten minutes of it.

Will people hang around to backpat watch? (I didn't.)

If that weren't bad enough, the tagline is "Where you are is what you search." I think I get what they were trying to do, but I just don't see how "pizza" can be a general location, unless they mean that if pizza is what you want, then wherever you are, it's the only void that matters right then. At least where your search engine of choice is concerned. There has to have been a less existential mindfuck of a way to say that, though. (How 'bout "What you want, where you are"?)

Lots more where that came from!

V + V.

Electrolux's Vac from the Sea

For its most current campaign, Electrolux takes it upon itself to boat out to the middle of various seas - where yonder lay islands of discarded plastic! - to recuperate goodies for making new vacuum cleaners.

We give you Vac from the Sea.



Nice way to take a small but role-modelesque stab at a growing problem. (While scraping some brand cream off the top. Although curiously, it hasn't enjoyed much buzz since its June launch.)

Now, whose job is it to be promoting this bad-boy?

Une nuit Parisienne

My friend Compulsive Tog sent me this, and it gave me warm-fuzzies. C'est là où je vis quoi !

It's a Fact.

Via.

Kicking CAPTCHA and Improving Online Ad Experience - in One Fell Swoop?

Not a bad idea. It solves problems today and is an example of solid thinking. What risks there are, the gains are too good not to leap in and find out. (As long as I don't end up typing BUY R0LEX WATCH $99.99 thirty times a day. That sh!t would be wack!)

Via my homie over heeere.

Ladies and Gents: AdVerve xtranormal!

AdVerve episode 47, Edward Boches Deconstructs the Universe, was late this week due to scheduling issues and other fun and games. We discussed that newfangled Diaspora thing, dystopic love stories set in the very probable future, Mashable's unwitting promotion of social media slavery and why you're not getting your Foursquare Player Badge if a group of Gen-Y chicks have anything to say about it.

But don't take my word for it, play the show. In fact, @fairuse calls it a two-time listen and @ChrisHavranek said it was a gem, and that's cool because how often does a podcast get to be a precious stone? NOT THAT OFTEN. Unless it's Aladdin's. (Okay, that was reaching. I'm sorry.)

Also, AdVerve homie and quotations extraordinaire Howie of Sky Pulse Media took the time out of his life day to do something objectively insane: with help from xtranormal, he made a wee AdVerve video and drew dialogue from previous shows. (Mostly the invective-ridden things, like that time I called SEO tweeters spambots with blood, and the time Bill said PR treats him "like a FACKING fax machine.")

Seriously, guys. This is going to be awesome. And also, our faces really do look like that.

Password Reuse, and Just Generally Going Evil.

Kindle: Cheap, Convenient Poolside Reading. Like a Book, Actually. (Scroll Down for Sexy Poll Action!)

This ad for Amazon's current $139 Kindle went live on YouTube Monday and has already got 1.4 million views. It takes a shot at iPad's glossy screen and, by comparison to Kindle's own cost, its much glossier price.

I always feel uncomfortable about the notion of bringing the competitive arena to low cost. You can be lowballed until there's nothing left from which to profit; it isn't really solid ground.

Humor me ››

Cockedey's Time Lapse of Tokyo

This stunning time lapse of Tokyo, worth watching just because it pulsates with strange visions, gives the city alternate tints of dreamscape, well-oiled machine and great animal. There were moments when it was like a forest, with the lights of planes blinking haphazardly in the dark, and when the enormous body of a train would interrupt the flow of smaller, faster things, like a snake reposing on sand.

By time-lapse photog Samuel Cockedey. The music is Woob's Paradigm Flux (Tokyo Cut). Read making-of interview.

HTML5 Developers: Starter on Microdata

Webmonkey provides a nice little explanation of what microdata is, plus a very good example and a link to data-vocabulary.org, a good starting point for ensuring that search spiders don't lose the plot.

SEO: still important, and be glad. The roadmaps that exist today are sufficiently rich that it doesn't have to feel like alchemy.

'HAVE A BREAK ... HAVE THE MESSIAH.'

We sometimes forget that chain letters remain a popular way of destroying, in one fell swoop, the respect others have for you while commandeering an unenjoyable 2.6 minutes of their lives.

Kit-Kat didn't, though. AND BOY DID IT WIN SOME POINTS IN THE NETHERLANDS. Break me off a piece of that JC.

How Google Instant Will Change Search

Read. Weep. (Because ha-ha, more work for you!!!!! all of us.)

And the Worst Part Is, It Made It to the 'Important' Box.

I got this yesterday and was sitting here thinking, really? Already? Didn't this feature come out, like, last week?!

And I'm not sure whether I should be like, "Go you! You've found really good ways to game the system and released them as fast as your little fingers could tap!" ... or whether I should be like, "Dagnabz, now I'm just gonna have three Gmail tiers full of bullshit."

Beautiful CGI Work: 'Classroom' by Studio Aiko

This walk-through of the little nothings composing a digitally-constructed classroom is so restrained, so austere, that you're surprised when it's over because you wanted to continue.

Make things tenderly. We can still be artisans.

Infographic: Global Social Network Ad Spend

Click to enlarge. (You'll have to.)

What's Up Google's Sleeve Today?

"An event you won't want to miss." That's the oft-repeated slogan from the invitation Google's sent to Silicon Valleys crème de la crème for its search keynote, 9:30 AM Pacific, at San Francisco's MoMA.

Since, speculations have taken seed everywhere they could find a little soil. For example, the particle movement simulator logo that appeared on Google.com yesterday brought back latent questions about whether Google may release a breakthrough on its ongoing quest to be able to search your DNA.

Humor me ››

AdVerve Episode 46: Social in the South

Play the show now.

Who’s taking Alabama social? The same crowd that brought Little Debbie digital. Luckie & Co.’s David Griner (@griner, TheSocialPath.com, AdFreak.com) joins us as we talk social in the Deep South, the meaning of transparency, various merits of Alabama, and why you shouldn't tease BP employees on vacation.

It’s a ride. A social southern ride.

Humor me ››

The Gestures of Reading

There's an intimacy inherent to touching and manipulating a book. I don't know that it's like that, visibly at least, for any other medium. (In particular I'm thinking about the intimacy associated with navigating your own phone or computer, but you can't see any of those familiar gestures taking place. Most of it happens with slight finger-twitches of a cursor, and rapid eye movement.)

Part of João Machado's The Effect of a Book, Extending Beyond The Form. Via Swiss Miss.

Exploiting Fear on Interwebs

Chuck Patterson was SUP surfing with friends one day when two sharks joined them and circled around for 15 minutes. Rather than have the encounter deter them from surfing there again like it would for mortals, he returned to the same place the next day at the same time with a Go Pro HD HERO camera at the end of 10 foot pole.

- Petapixel

Bill knows I am irrationally scared of carnivorous sea creatures. Bill knows I spent the last two weeks trying to learn a fetish sport in treacherous waters - even as my heart palpitated and I could feel The Fear™ broadcasting the smell of my dangling legs to all teething animals within a 5-mile radius.

So he sends me this.

AdVerve Episode 45: Digitally Speaking

Play the show now.

Kelly Eidson of Ad Age Gen Next fame, of I Need A New Job So I’m Going on a Job Trek fame, now of senior digital planner at Modea fame, joins us for a discussion on the still-there digital divide.

Sighs matter, because we again attack the issue of traditional vs. digital agencies and who gets a shot at the lion’s share of the work. Plus, we cover the skinny on agency life in Virginia vs. New York City, what defines "really good work" and what happens when a client finally decides to take that wild plunge with you.

We *may* have even taken a shot or two at account people. BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM. So sit back and download some digital love. OR download first and then sit back.

Linkage:
– Stayfree Ultra Thin fun!
– Carmichael Lynch/Harley-Davidson fun!

(Image.)