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Worth Considering

In college I conducted a weird and probably misguided experiment in which I only spoke with a Chicagoland accent. As a result I found people warmed to me and struck up conversation in situations where they would normally avoid me or completely ignore what I had to say.

I found this telling. But one day, in a moment of emotional vulnerability, I broke down to a teacher and confessed everything.

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"Because I don't think I'm likeable," I answered, eyes filling with long-repressed doe-eyed tears, and I explained in a shaking voice why I might seem horrifically unapproachable or downright antisocial at-a-glance.

His brow furrowed in sympathy. He put a hand on my shoulder and, with an encouraging squeeze, softly proffered the following hypothesis:

"Angela ... maybe you're just icky."

I was speechless. The Chicagoland accent went away after that, and in similar situations, where I quietly resent people who don't seem to automatically intuit my preciousness or whatever, I remember it. Maybe you're just icky. It has probably made me a nicer person.

Toulouse Girls Charge H&M Grand Opening

All for love of the Sonia Rykiel collection? They apparently destroyed everything. And here I was thinking a WalMart-caliber retail stampede was a uniquely US phenomenon.

H/T to the ever-watchful Jeremy Danté.

AdVerve Episode 22: Plagiarism in Advertising

There isn’t any. Nothing more to see here, so move on. We kid! So we finally get to an “ism” episode that we had planned ever since our first show on Racism in advertising. This topic comes up from time to time, but usually only on ad blogs and only by people in the industry. Regular consumers? They could give a shit.

Homage? Tribute? Imitation? A rip? Inspiration? Direct lift? Copycat? Whatever you call it, we discuss all the issues surrounding a touchy subject with copywriter Dan Goldgeier of Partners + Napier. (In addition to being Ad Pulp columnist and regular Talent Zoo columnist, he’s also on Twitter.)

In addition, we go over why plagiarism is different in music, film and fashion. Because there, it’s not *just* plagiarism—it’s an homage, people.

An homage.

Play the show now:

Or download the show directly here. Or subscribe via iTunes:

Linkage:

• Old Spice horse spot, Gillette’s take on the genre, and a rider that pales.*


• AT&T “Hey” spot, the Bud classic.


• Coke spot comparison.


• Duval-Guillaume AIDS spot, and Travelers Insurance.


• Wrath of Cannes.


• Toshiba Space Chair Project, and the original.


• One shot scenes: Good Fellas, Clown Posse and Speed.

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*Get it? That was an homage to a Clint Eastwood film. Homage ftw!


(Image.)

Let's Hear It for New Dorks.*

Geeks now have an anthem ... and it's not that embarrassing. Unless it pisses you off that hipsters have appropriated the public façade of the geek, in which case, hey, be glad that geek's chic and accept that the hipster invasion -- which is temporary -- is part of the price you pay for the opportunity to get atrociously, flagrantly wealthy in a public space while being associated with some of the best thinkers of our time. Before dying!

Or something to that effect.

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*I don't like it when people call me a "dork" because it actually means "whale penis." I just don't think anybody has the kind of ... vigor? girth? ... necessary to merit the comparison.

Twitter's Long-Awaited Ad Strategy.

How often is it that the thing we've all been waiting for turns out to be exactly as imaginative as all the other things we already hate have?

Fairly often, I guess.

(In response to the secondary question still only half-formed in your mind: "pertussis" is whopping cough. You can still get that? Maybe they changed the name so people wouldn't automatically think about The Consumption.)