Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

I thought the commercial was a parody of ubiquitous pharmaceutical ads. The announcer starts, "Grow lashes. Grow longer, grow fuller and darker lashes."

Unfortunately it was a real ubiquitous ad. Thank God the FDA has approved Latisse — "the first and only prescription treatment for inadequate or not enough lashes." Seems the same company that brought us Botox — botulism for beauty sake — recently launched a cure-all for wimpy lashes. I'm no alopecia hater. I've even worked on clinical trials for hair growth. Clearly everyone is entitled to eyelashes but this is further proof that elective cosmeceuticals are the growing trend.

Get used to it folks. There's less hassle for pharmaceutical companies in products that focus on lifestyle and not just life. People in wealthy developed regions choose to pay for these treatments. Therefore price pressures and perceptions of health entitlement aren't in the mix. Heck, diseases like Cancer and HIV are just too hard and take too long to research. I only wish the same developed regions wanted to pay for treatments that helped them breathe better, increase mobility or prolong quality of life. Research dollars would flow.

Luckily, I was graced with long, dark, luxurious eyelashes. No Latisse for me. But unleashing a little botulism on a few laugh lines…hmmmm.

Everyone with sight knows Shepard Fairey's famous "Hope" image of Barack Obama. It was everywhere during the campaign. That image is now smack in the center of a three-way copyright spat between the artist, the photographer and The Associated Press.

I fell in love with Fairey's work through his Obey campaign. The boldness of his work rises out of skate and hardcore culture developed from extensive use of stenciled appropriated images and collaged intricate flourishes. The images are conceptual, compelling, entertaining and super tasty.

The Associated Press is suing Fairey for copyright infringement of their Obama photo taken by Mannie Garcia. Fairey actually sued them first. That's another story. Fairey has said he used the shot as reference for his image. He claims fair use for artistic expression. This is not new. Andy Warhol made a fortune this way. "Webelieve fair use protects Shepard's right to do what he did here," says Fairey's attorney.

Mannie Garcia, the original photographer, was on assignment at the press club to cover George Clooney who was sitting beside then unannounced candidate Obama. Garcia says he shot hundreds of photos that day and didn't even know "Hope" was based on his photo.

"I've been on the campaign for twenty-something months says Garcia, "I would see the artwork, I would photograph it, and think what is with this image? But it didn't snap. It never occurred to me it was my picture…It's a really cool piece of work."

Okay here's the deal. Fairey used a commonplace image to draw from. Certainly if you put them side by side you'll see the reference. You'll also see the difference. With respect to Mr. Garcia, he shot hundreds of photos that day and thousands over the course of the campaign. This image could belong to anyone that happened to sit in front and slightly below Mr. Obama.

While there remains uncertainty on how this case will affect future intellectual property issues, one thing is certain. Shepard Fairey's work is about the art of appropriation. The medium is the message. This street artist, known for being arrested 14 times, now has historical work in the National Portrait Gallery. He'll inspire a group of disenfranchised apathetic design students to pursue the career. His credibility will grow with his audience. This whole brewhaha just makes his work more noteworthy and him more cool.

My colleague Ben Requena found Pepsi's new rebrand design strategy online. I didn't hate the rebrand until AFTER I read the document. This is the kind of BS that makes companies hate agencies. Like watching a tribute band, I was both compelled and repulsed. It was deadly interesting in its irrelevance.

I'll break down the highlights. God, there are so many.

• Historical Pepsi brand ethos creates a new trajectory forward

• The vocabulary of truth and simplicity is a reoccurring phenomena

• Strategy is based on 6000+ years of shared design philosophy, making an authentic "Constitution of Design"

• The Pepsi DNA has origins in the "dynamic of perimeter oscillations"

• Pepsi single-handedly reinvented 2500 years of mathematics, geometry and physics (I'm paraphrasing)

Capstrat has several major rebranding projects clicking right now (granted, none for Pepsi). I would be so busted if I uttered a word of this drivel. C'mon! Perimeter oscillations! Is this document for real?

We've all been there. In brainstorming you're tossing around seeds of ideas, then faster than you can say "Beelzeboob" some yahoo evokes the evil power. "Let me play Devil's Advocate."

You can throw away the fragile idea. This simple phrase lets people claim no personal responsibility by raising questions and concerns that kill vulnerable ideas. This role is poison to creative thinking and pervasive in the corporate environment. The Devil's Advocate is wily too, often masquerading as a dose of helpful reality.

Reality? Sure. Like delicate children, ideas don't enter the world fully formed. They WILL need development. The WILL need examination. They WILL need challenge. Brainstorming is not the time, though. Let them grow a little first.

Okay, so it's reality but helpful? Not at all. There's no more powerful death to innovation. That role only casts negative doubt with Z-E-R-O investment in progressive thinking. These normally nice people mean no harm. But when possessed, doubt intended to review an idea effectively puts the kibosh on it. It takes far more work to build an idea.

I’m a missionary for Devil's Advocate free zones in concepting and brainstorming. If you summon that evil power I'll exorcise it out of you with the power of Idea Angels.

Can I get a witness?

Much ballyhoo was made about the record $3 million price tag for a 30-second spot. Heck, Miller Beer even based their one-second commercials on this. They received considerable buzz for that, too. Unfortunately, many spots won’t be buzz worthy next year. A few exceptions will be Pepsi Max–with its indelible pneumonic, “I’m Good”– telling guys it’s okay todrink diet soda. Slapstick rules. After watching this several times, I’m still in awe of how they pulled some of this off.

Speaking of diet soda, Coke hauled out the way-back machine to get Steeler Troy Polamalu paying homage to Mean Joe Green’s famous Coke spot. The twist of bringing the brand lawyers in was smart and on strategy.

Did you find the Anheuser Busch spots irritating? Clydesdales are your mascot. We get it.

The careerbuilder.com spot was fun and memorable…you hate to go to work…people talk down to you…etc. Unfortunately, that joke is tired after one viewing, though. Other notable spots were Monster.com with its relatable moose butt, Denny’s “Serious Breakfast” and the smart Teleflora talking flowers.

All advertising slots sold out only one day before the game. If you watched you noticed a higher-than-normal number of NBC/Universal promos. My guess is they were filling a few 3 mil slots themselves. One spot that felt like an NBC promo turned out to be for Hulu. “TV Star” Alec Baldwin tells of TV’s evil plot to soften our brains. While I doubt it’ll have the staying power of Apple’s “1984” it certainly felt like a big introduction.

There’s considerable concern about the viewing of commercials because of TiVo. However TiVo reports viewers tend to pause and rewind back to previous commercials they enjoyed. Probably won’t be doing a lot of that this year.

What do you think?

 

PS: Check out my pal, Will Langley's hit list!