AdVerve Episode 12: End of Yearness

It’s our end of year madness. While it may be a little pretentious of us to run a year-end episode after only 12 episodes, eh, so what. Some of what makes it into this one are things we never got to cover during previous episodes but which we proudly beat the hell out of now.

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We wander everywhere, from music and films to current stories floating around the net. Safe to say, we earn the explicit tag with this show. (Chapter breaks below, a loose guide at best.) Tarantino to Star Trek to Brad Pitt to Facebook sibling revenge sex lists and beyond, the show goes there. We’ve also included links to anything we mentioned throughout.

Humor me ››

The Future, As Scripted by Family

Uncle Who Speaks with British Accent Because He Spent, Like, 8 Months in the UK Once Many Years Ago (UWSBABHSL8MUKOMYA): Oh, so Angela couldn't come down for Christmas? That's too bad.

Mom: I know it's too bad. She changed jobs recently and decided to stay in Paris this season.

UWSBABHSL8MUKOMYA: Tell me if she needs any help. I still know a few people back in France, and they can do amazing things for her.

Mom: Oh?

UWSBABHSL8MUKOMYA: She likes children, doesn't she? She'd make a splendid au pair. The benefits for au pairs in France are unparalleled -- they even get their own rooms!

Mom: You obviously don't know my daughter. She's no au pair; she's more of a tour guide.*



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*My dad also emails periodically to ask why I won't stop fooling around and get a "real job," followed by the names of airlines he's heard need flight stewardesses. This is Reason #209483093 why you should consider what Alain de Botton says in this video. Family may love you, but that doesn't mean ... well, I'll stop there.

...But Can I Get it Framed, Though?

Mainstream access to high-speed internet, coupled with the introduction of social networks, has completely changed our social rituals and the things we think represent us.

I never imagined how this might affect the memorabilia industry.

In any event, the above is "My Year in Status," created for me by a Facebook app of the same name. I'll let you guess what it does.

Choose from eight beautiful designs!

Don't Think of Her as a Zombie, Think of Her as a Kind of Human Scarf.

There are probably a lot of things that can be said about this ad for Lanvin's Spring/Summer 2010 campaign, but my head feels empty.

For now that's fine: fashion ads are under no obligation to mean anything while provoking. Plus, Copyranter and ChatteringGem have already mounted their theories: Undead as the new dead? Homage to Generation Gaga?

If you dig deeply enough behind an ad's labyrinth of logic, however, there's usually a charming if forgettable story that means nothing to people outside the industry. In this particular case, Lanvin wanted to shoot coupled-up photographers with epic professional backgrounds.

Humor me ››

The Long, Gritty Holiday Decompression

Yeah, I know we still have New Years ahead of us, but might as well start grinding on some brainfood early so Jan 4 doesn't get you all depressed and looking for candles and razors and Enya.

AdVerve partner in crime (and blogga from anotha motha!) Bill Green sent me the above greeting. I think it is nice.

Anyway, as the season winds down and we recover from the funnel-fest of food, I imagine a lot of you are using your downtime to scope out Twitter, see what's hot or at least peruse-worthy. To help, as we traverse that short road back to the mills, here are some links that I promised myself I would read sometime today or tomorrow(ish):

• Top 10 Branded iPhone Apps of 2009 (AdAge)
• Twitter is Profitable. Your Argument is Invalid.
• 5 Ways Slideshare Can Help Your Business (Rohit Bhargava, who I find quite neat)
• 10 of the Biggest Lies in History (includes some faux Vermeer action, and my favourite: the Trojan Horse)
• US vs British Healthcare (for sounding smart and well-rounded when the moment is nigh)

A coupla links in French, for those of you that read it or want to make the best of Google Translate:

• Retour sur la gestion de crise Eurostar (Sandrine Plasseraud, who is loveleh and who thinks)
• Les Français décomplexés du porno. How porn is penetrating the mainstream -- couples watching it together, people being able to say they watch it without looking like sick sad potential pedos, etc.

And some fun shit:

• I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
• La Main Perrier (I'll write more on this later)
• Strindberg and Helium! If you liked Salad Fingers, you will quite enjoy this. (Thanks, Beeg.)
• Domino Day!
  
• Stefano Ferroni Photography -- generically Vogue on the surface, but pretty and a little stark. The Exhibition section also has some neat things:

• Gonna wrap this up with Violet Blue's Top 10 Sexy Geeks 2010, not just because Google can now index (and immortalize) evidence of my goddesslike countenance for time immemorial, but because... no, that's pretty much the only reason.
  

Mother London Breeds a Fresh Crop of Gullibles for Next Year.

Nodding to all the estranged princesses and Nigerian CEOs that overrun your email with promises of untold fortune, Mother London decided to write its own such letter and give the entirety of the Christmas budget to the first guy to answer.

Turns out that out of hundreds of emails sent, demanding a full name and bank details, only one guy was dumb enough sufficiently compelled by the belief in Christmas miracles to respond.

So they pay him a visit. With a suitcase full of cash. Which the winner in turn decides to......

...well, you just have to watch it. This definitely wins the race for best agency holiday greeting though.* Guess the rest of you slackers can just hang out and colour until January.

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*Actually this one by kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners was kind of all right. No, not really. What's ad land's fixation with self-aware body hair?