DIY Halloween

I’m a huge fan of Halloween. Not because I’m a fan of trick or treating or because I’m into anything spooky (I’m the biggest coward ever!), but because I’m a huge fan of dressing up. This year I took it too seriously and did not one, not two, but four costumes. I’m especially a fan of making my own costumes. It’s, like one of my professors said, a chance to be an Art Director and show your creativity.

American Apparel knows this, and is using people’s need to show their creativity as a way to promote their brand and the versatility of their clothes. In their yearly Costume Contest, customers upload their homemade costumes to show off and be scored. The prize is just a a$100 gift certificate, but there’s already 1,163 submissions for this past Halloween.

I’m not going to re-post any of these, but I’ve decided to show my favorite homemade costume made by one of my good friends.

Rejection Hotline

I thought it was really mean when I found out about The Rejection Hotline (Click here for your local number), but now I know why it exists.

So here’s how the story goes. A guy approached a girl at the bar, she gave him her business card and he left these:

Horrible VoiceMail

Too funny! talk about being full of himself. He’s the perfect example of the kind of guy that deserves to be given the Rejection Hotline number.

Via Smitten

All Together Now, Again.

Remember how I was obsessed with an ad and decided to have a little fun with it?

Well, someone decided to one up me, but they decided to have A LOT of fun with it.
Isaac, a friend from London who likes videos and pictures (a little too much if you ask me), decided to prove himself worthy of big projects and show his talent.
He decided to give up a looooot of his  time to pay homage to the ad in a way more labor intensive way.

I’m impressed (and kind of jealous!)

Amazing work Isaac.

Expense-a-Steak

Expenseasteak.com is a genius micro site for Maloney & Porcelli’s a NYC steakhouse that has found an interesting way to get you to eat there: make the company pay for it.

This stunt from NYC agency Walrus goes beyond digital marketing in a page that’s both clever and charming. You simply have to enter the total of your Maloney & Porcelli’s bill and it will give you a pdf with a series of realistic looking receipts that add up to the exact amount you spent.

What better way to break through the mold then to have a humorous approach to the recession.

It’s advertising at it’s best, but I wonder if anyone has dared to use the fake receipts, especially with the amount of buzz the web page has gotten.

Random Things

Stolen from LakeJane

Moleskine Art

I bought a moleskin more than a year ago thinking I was going to fill it up. I didn’t know what I was going to fill it up with, but it’s still there waiting. Some might call me capricious, but I’m just easily distracted by bigger and better things (or so I like to tell myself). 

I found an amazing post on The Jailbreak  about Quoteskin a perosnal project by graphic designer Lee Crutchley who uses his pens and a Moleskin to illustrate  some of his favorite quotes, thoughts and music lyrics. 

Some might say I’m easily impressed (it’s a virtue), but I do admire his ability to take two simple objects and a simple concept and turn it into something that makes me smile.  Here are some of my favorites:

For more click here.

And to make me feel even more useless here’s a link to the My Moleskine 2.0 Exhibition which shows even more creative things to do with your moleskine.

It’s Raining MJ Gloves

This VMA promo for a Michael Jackson tribute definitely stands out from previous humor-centered VMA promos. It also stands out from other Michael Jackson magazine articles, tributes and music video marathons that flooded the medias after his death. This video has a more respectful mood yet it manages to show that the King of Pop will get an iconic tribute.

The  “like not other” tagline, the things falling cityscape and the soft music makes me thing of the Bravia adverts here.

Random Things

Some things I saw online today that made me laugh:

• A list of the Top 33 Most Deadly Substances: We’re basically not safe to eat, touch or get close to anything. Some of those things are too cute to be posionous!
• How spoil your dog : Yes, I love lists, and yes, I think fur for dogs are ridiculous.
• Pimped out cars: Really? A bedazzled car?!
• Jacob or Edward: A twilight themed crop circle. What is wrong with the world?

Via Presurfer and Geekologie

World of Paper

Simple product. Great ad.

I guess I’m never going to be allowed to complain to myself about having a dull client when BBDO México made this visually intriguing ad about a simple lined notebook. I love it.

more about “World of Paper “, posted with vodpod

The tagline says : All good ideas start with paper. I agree.

Buddah Pears

I’ve seen a lot of webpages report on the Baby Shaped Pears that are being grown by a Chinese farmer. He’s been trying to figure them out in 2003 and he reportedly grew 10,000 pears this year. In my opinion, they look more like Buddah than a baby, but no matter what they look like they’re not worth the $5 pounds he’s selling them for. He makes them but putting a plastic mold around them at what he’s emasured to be the perfect time and taking them out of the mold before the ripen.

I find them very creepy, and wouldn’t consider eating one.

Click here for more examples of unnaturally shaped fruits and vegetables.

From a marketing point of view it would be interesting to see if brands would dear to dwell into this. I won’t be surprised if we soon see Mickey shaped apples in Disney World or Logos on certain vegetables.