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Want to Save Money on Your Cable Bill? Don’t Call Michael Bolton

March 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Optimum - Don't Call Michael Bolton

Big time 90s warbler and comedic actor (you’ve all seen his turn as a pirate in Lonely Island’s ‘Jack Sparrow‘ video) Michael Bolton may have sold millions of albums around the world, but according to a new ad created by Mother New York, he’s fed up with getting phone calls from people who dial his number by mistake when they are trying to reach U.S. cable company Optimum.

The ad’s premise is that the cable company and Bolton share a very similar number phone number, his being 866-200-7152 and Optimum’s is 866-200-7151. Now Bolton can’t trim his hedges (no, that’s not a metaphor), create pottery, wash the dog, or go bouncy-bounce on his trampoline without being interrupted by people looking for great deals on TV, internet and phone.

If you do call 866-200-7152 (and really, you know you want to), you’ll get Bolton’s answering machine, where you can not only hear his pitch for Optimum and choose 1 to connect to the cable company, but you can also “press 2″ to hear him shred on a guitar, “press 3″ to hear how he warms up his voice, “press 4″ to hear him speak Spanish, or “press 5″ hear a funny joke (it’s not that funny).

[via Adweek]

USA

Filed Under: Music, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Foresters Insurance Challenges North Americans to Take Daily ‘Tech Timeout’

February 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Forester's Tech Timeout Challenge

In a new year-long campaign launched February 5 ‘Tech Timeout‘, Life Insurance provider Foresters is challenging families (and I assume couples and individuals) to take a scheduled break from all electronic devices and spend time reconnecting with each other in more meaningful ways.

The campaign ad features people completely oblivious to other people and their surroundings, while distracted by their tech devices. The clips shows a man entering the wrong house, a girl runs into a light pole while texting, a wife pours steaming coffee into her husband’s lap, and a group of tennis players are oblivious to the game they are supposed to be playing.

The situations while outrageous, aren’t far from the truth. It’s behaviour that most of are either guilty of ourselves, or that we observe everyday.

In a press release to announce the campaign, George Mohacsi, Foresters’ President and CEO said, “Foresters purpose is to champion family well-being and we do that through quality life insurance, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. We are always looking for innovative ways to help families spend time together and challenging them to ‘disconnect to reconnect’ is a simple way to turn our purpose into action.”

A recent Consumer Electronics Association study reported that the average US home has 24 different consumer media and communication devices, including multiple televisions, computers and smartphones and some believe the proliferation of these devices contributes to a sense of social isolation even when you’re in the same room with other people.

According to the Center for Digital Future, in 2008, 28 percent of people said that being wired has resulted in them spending less time with family members, a significant increase from the 11 percent reported in 2006.

In my opinion it’s like everything else, it’s about balance, and being aware that while technology can enable us to connect with like-minded people, friends and family on the other side of the world, it should not isolate ourselves from our relationships in the real world.

Whether you participate in Foresters’ challenge, do you think you could take a daily break from all technology devices?

USACanada

Filed Under: Digital Culture, Financial Services, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Famous Robots are on the Move in GE’s ‘Brilliant Machines’ Campaign

November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

GE - Brilliant Machines

Last week pictures and short clips of robots began to appear on the Brilliant Machines Tumblr.

A picture of K.I.T.T., the talking Trans-Am from Knight Rider driving down the twists and turns of Lombard Street in San Francisco was shared. Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet was spotted leaving the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. Apparently, while we’ve distracted by zombies, South Korean dance crazes and Black Friday sales, the machines were making their move. Or were they?

On Thanksgiving, it started to make sense with the release of the ‘Robots on the Move’ (embedded below) ad. The clip shows the robots; including K.I.T.T., Robby, B-9 (from Lost in Space) and one that kind of, sort of looks like Number 5 from Short Circuit, making their way to GE headquarters where they are joined by Star Trek: The Next Generation android, Data.

The ad was created by BBDO New York, and was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

[via FastcoCreate]

USA

Filed Under: Advertising & Marketing, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Make Noise, Go Fast: Nissan Promotes ‘Z’ With Voice-Driven Radio-Controlled Cars

November 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nissan Voice Driver Cup

Anyone who has ever played with toy cars can tell you that the way you make them go fast, is to make the engine noise yourself. Nissan and their agency TBWA/Hakuhodo have collaborated to create voice-driven versions of radio-controlled four-wheel-drive models based on Nissan’s Fairlady Z Sports Car.

The first race, the Japan GP takes place on November 10 at the Nissan Galley in Yokohama, with visitors controlling the cars with their voice in person. The events will be broadcast live via UStream on the Voice Driver Cup website.

On November 17 (but just for 24 hours), everyone around the world will be able to join in and control the cars from their own computer using their microphone.

I’ll be rehearsing my car engine noises, see you at the starting line.

[via DigitalBuzz]

Japan

Filed Under: Automobiles, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

AT&T Reveals Shocking Evidence of Photobombing by Ghosts

October 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

AT&T and HTC - Ghostbombing

With only a few days to go before Halloween, it’s comforting to finally confirm what we’ve all known for years. That ghosts have been gleefully photobombing our precious photo moments for years.

Renowned (yet completely fake) ghost expert, Leslie Enlow PhD is here to confirm this activity, thanks (of course) to AT&T the HTC One X, which allows users to easily pull stills from video.

The video was created by BBDO.

[via Adrants]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

See Diane von Furstenberg’s New York Fashion Week Show Through Google Glass

September 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

DVF Spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week through Google Glass

Google Glass technology was front and centre last week at the DVF Spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week. The head-mounted devices were worn by the models, stylists and Diane von Furstenberg herself. It’s unlikely that the advanced augmented reality features of the device were ready and available to the wearers at the event.

However, the video and still capture functionality was being used, with photos being shared to the Google+ page and video compiled for DVF [through Glass] produced and edited by Greenpoint Pictures
.

In June at Google IO 2012, co-founder Sergey Brin announced that the public will have to wait until 2014 for the devices, while developers can get their hands on an “Explorer Edition” sometime early next year.

USA

Filed Under: Art & Design, Fashion, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Agency Creates Twitter-Powered Presidential Puppet Smackdown?

August 29, 2012 By 1 Comment

Smack a Candidate

Santa Monica-based agency Ignition are set on moving the US Presidential campaign away from a mudslinging match into a puppet smackdown with ‘Smack a Candidate‘. Smack a Candidate consists of a Barack Obama and Mitt Romney puppet controlled by the posts of Twitter users.

How does it work? When you hear something from one of the candidates that you don’t like, post a tweet with the hashtag #SMACKOBAMA or #SMACKROMNEY and the puppet will take of the rest.

Smack a Candidate bouts will take place right up to election day November 6. Each round is recorded and can be viewed on the site, or watch live as the presidential punches fly.

[via FastCoCreate]

USA

Filed Under: Politics, Social Media, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Kiefer Sutherland Goes Ballistic for Cupcakes in Jack Bauer-Inspired Acer Ad

August 20, 2012 By 2 Comments

Acer Ultrabook - Kiefer Sutherland's Dynamite Cupcakes

As anyone who’s spent an enormous amount of time on the internet knows, the cupcake industry is fraught with danger, conspiracy and international espionage. So, who would be better to get to the bottom of this nasty business, kick some ass, and blow up some stuff than Mr.24 himself, Jack Bauer.

Kiefer Sutherland reprises a Jack Bauer-like character in this new Acer Ultrabook spot. Using his tough-guy interrogation skills he finds out where to get the essential supplies, and then sets out to create a cupcake that best fits his ‘explosive’ personality.

The ad which was released in the U.K., France, Russia and Germany today was created by Mother London and directed by Ivan Zacharias for Stink.

[via Creativity-Online]

Watch the clip on YouTube

USA

Filed Under: Food & Drink, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Nike Japan Twists Their Shoe to Match Your Funny Face

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nike Free FaceMy mother would frequently warn me that if I made a weird face it might just freeze that way. Decades have past and many odd and twisted faces later it thankfully hasn’t frozen up.

Nike Japan has launched the ‘Free Face‘ website and is inviting people to come by and contort their faces for fun and profit.

The site uses facial and expression recognition via your webcam to capture an image or your face at both it’s relaxed and most twisted state. The site promotes the super-flexible sole of the Nike Free shoe. The more you can twist and contort your face the more twisted a 3-D image of the shoe ends up looking.

Once your image is captured it then competes head-to-head against others for votes. The face with the most votes each week ends up winning a NikeiD gift card. Contestants must be living in Japan.

The campaign was created by Wieden + Kennedy Tokyo.

Japan

Filed Under: Advertising & Marketing, Technology Tagged With: , ,

‘Fifth Avenue Frogger’ Features Real Cars in Real Time

April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Fifth Avenue FroggerWhenever I hear about Frogger, my mind goes back to the Seinfeld episode where Jerry & George return to their high school hangout for one last slice of pizza before it closes. There they discover that not only is the original Frogger arcade game still there, but George’s high score is still tops. George decides the buy the game and hilarity ensues.

It’s been nearly 14 years since that episode of Seinfeld was first broadcast, and over 30 years since Frogger was first released by Konami in 1981. In the game players must navigate a frog across a busy highway and safely back to it’s home.

Tyler DeAngelo, Renee Lee, and Ranjit Bhatnagar have created an updated version of the classic game that transmits real-time traffic from Fifth Avenue in NYC. The group is trying to get the project featured in the Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

To track the traffic on Fifth Avenue, DeAngelo mounted a web camera high up in a building with a clear view of the busy street and wrote code that translated the real-time position of the cars into live-streaming data. In the game the car graphics are mapped on to those positions in the game in real-time.

As a final stroke of genius, DeAngelo hauled out his hacked version of game to the sidewalk facing Fifth Avenue, and invited passing New Yorkers to play.

USA

Filed Under: Art & Design, Gaming, Technology Tagged With: , ,