Do affluence and advertising stunt creativity? 20 April 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Affluenza, Entitlement, Imagination, Modern culture.add a comment
I noticed an article posted to a friend’s Facebook status this afternoon that sounded worthy of reading. It’s titled Letting the Joneses Win and addresses both American affluence and, tangentially, creativity. Meredith Whitmore wrote the article to talk about her reentry into the United States after five years abroad in East Africa and China.
Living life outside the reach of American advertising, for example, was much more serene. It was also freeing since I had space to ponder things beyond how my abs look, the kind of car I drive or the clothes I wear. In fact, I’d been living in areas where many people wear the same clothing almost every day—without their friends (or Stacy London) staging an intervention.
So reentering our consumer-driven, image-mindful country felt like jumping naked into a glacial lake. (Well, at least my shock and audible gasping were probably pretty similar.) I came home to American friends who were ashamed to carry the same attractive, perfectly useful purse for more than a few months — forget about wearing a sweater twice in one week.
As terrible as it may sound, during my first days back I wanted to smack several people and yell, “Get over yourselves!” Instead, you’ll be relieved to know I bit my tongue and tried to smile a lot . . .
But in parts of the Third World with few resources and even less income, I have watched boys play with Coca-Cola bottles for an entire hour. And they didn’t feel at all deprived. Resourceful to the core, they could have fun and be creative with lots of things we wouldn’t even consider in the West.
Yellow is more yellow on the truck 5 March 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Basis for designing well, Color, Design, Siloam Springs.add a comment
For years — and years — I’ve had a fascination with the Yellow trucking company. This stems mainly from the paradox of the business’ name and color of their logo. The name is “Yellow,” but the logo is distinctly orange.
This dichotomy was probably a very intentional part of the company’s original branding scheme, for whatever reason. Even with this knowledge, however, the mismatch still bothers me — which very well may have been their reasoning.
Running to the post office today I spotted a Yellow truck sporting a new logo. This newer, slightly Web 2.0 esque design actually bears a tinge of yellow running through its core.
I must admit that, yellow or orange or both, I approve of this new incarnation of the company’s identity. Alas, it’s apparently not going to last that long. “The trucks and trailers for Akron-based Roadway and Yellow Transportation will soon sport a new, supplemental logo: YRC. And at some point — the parent company won’t say when — the Roadway and Yellow names will be replaced by YRC,” according to Ohio.com. The following image from the Under Consideration blog places Yellow, Roadway and YRC logos next to each other.
I’m not really feeling the new YRC logo; it’s trying to do too much, and the type seems unintentionally askew. I will be, in fact, sad to see the Yellow brand disappear. For whatever twisted reason, it’s been a part of my personal visual iconography since childhood.
Just for kicks, here’s a photo of the old Yellow logo from ToastyKen’s Flickr photostream.
LinkLuv: Laid off architect takes Lucy approach, & some color theory 6 February 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Architecture, Business of art, Interior design.2 comments
A Seattle architect, laid off twice in the last year, set up a booth giving advice for a nickel at the local farmer’s market. Click on the video to watch (will open in a new window).
NPR cites new research suggesting reds are better for detail oriented tasks such as proofreading while blues are better for creative tasks. Color theory always fascinates me.
Gifting: Beware of the doghouse 9 December 2008
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Christmas list.2 comments
I hesitate to post this since it’s an ad, but it’s a darn good ad that actually uses the phrase “thoughtful gift.”
My wife has actually expressed interest in a new Dyson. Is a Dyson better than a “dual bag?” The video also reminds me of a man I know who cannot bring himself to buy impractical gifts for his wife. Poor guy.
Saatchi & Saatchi did the video. Visit the campaign’s website here. There is an amusing and institutional audio loop on the website that goes through things wives wish their husbands would or wouldn’t do. Some of them are kind of funny, such as “Stop checking out other women in restaurants” and “Express your feelings.” There is also “Talk more, but don’t interrupt” followed by “Speak less.” Um, which is it?
High School Musical, cereal? 29 October 2008
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Design, Modern culture, Personal reflection.4 comments
I’m just curious, who would actually purchase a cereal that’s called “High School Musical?”
There’s nothing food-like whatsoever about that name, real or implicit. It’s probably not the first time it’s been done, but have marketers (I’m one of them) no shame? This is positively absurd. If you must squeeze every dollar out of impressionable teenagers at least do it with some grace. At least act like you’ve tried to apply some elegance to your greed.
And on a completely different note, the phenom that has been High School Musical is interesting. When I was the age of the kids who’ve been eating this new series up, anyone who admitted to watching a musical would have been laughed out of the high school building. Personally, I’m not a big fan even as an adult, sans any juvenile peer pressure. I do like The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof. Mama Mia was actually pretty good once I realized it was supposed to be melodramatic (although there were two or three completely superfluous numbers that significantly weakened the overall impression).
I know some people disagree with me strongly on this point (my wife, for one), but creating a movie — or play for that matter — where people so randomly break into song and choreography is hard to stomach. I don’t need everything in my film and literature to relate to something realistic, but a lot of musicals just seem off to me. Good stories ruined by random musical interjection.
Smackdown: Tree vs. billboard 8 September 2008
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Aesthetics, Beauty, Community planning, Modern culture.1 comment so far
In one corner, an advertising behemoth with a state senator proclaiming, “Those billboards are important, they feed lots of families,” he testified at a hearing. “This is a tourism corridor. Tourism depends on billboards, not on trees.”
In the other corner, a Florida community and it’s beautification project. “That’s almost like someone coming in and saying you’ve got twins, and one of them is going to be sacrificed to save the other.”
Just to be clear, tourism does not depend on billboards — and in fact it may be dependent on trees in some locations. In the community corner, comparing the sacrifice of a tree to that of a baby is an equally stupid statement. However, the whole battle is a farce in my opinion. How can anyone — other than the mega-company and its lobbyists — think that billboards should win this fight?
A Florida homeowner put it best: “Trees are beautiful, billboards are ugly.”
After an appropriate public outcry, the offending company, Clear Channel Communications, backed off to a degree. Sixteen crepe myrtles had to be cut out of a median to ensure clear view of a billboard.
But they’re growing back. And the city grounds crew is letting them.
Photo from Wikipedia, of a defaced billboard.
Lookin’ Good for Jesus: Lip balm 12 February 2008
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Christianity.1 comment so far
I’m trying to remember if Betty Spackman mentions this product in her Christians and Kitsch book:
Regardless, the product was pulled from shelves in Singapore after retailers received complaints about the product, according to NPR. “Get tight with Christ?”
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Bad, bad aesthetics! 14 July 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Aesthetics.3 comments
Some months ago, maybe even a year ago, a new “generation” of banner ads was born. These ultra-tacky and annoying ads employ small characters doing a two second dance that repeats itself. This alien
cluttered up a Hotmail page, underneath an ad announcing that “Mortgage rates drop again in Arkansas.” Oddvertising is one thing — done well it’s entertaining and can establish a brand — but these dancers are completely irrelevant to the products being pushed. I’m guessing said products are borderline scams anyway, and I don’t know, after all of the recent news coverage of housing foreclosures, how many people would give such an ad the time of day.
More recent iterations actually use three or four second videos of people dancing. These dancing cartoons and people serve only to stand out on static web pages. Such a strategy isn’t bad in and of itself, but these poorly done ads are on the same level of horribly annoying local TV commercials for things like car lots, with their meaningless antics and yelling personalities.
I’m slowly switching from Hotmail to Gmail anyway, so in the somewhat distant future won’t suffer the affliction of such gaudy images.
Sao Paulo, Brazil bans all advertising 26 June 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Advertising, Aesthetics, Community planning.1 comment so far
“A city stripped of advertising. No Posters. No flyers. No ads on buses. No ads on trains. No Adshels, no 48-sheets, no nothing.”
Flickrite Tony de Marco is documenting the process:
I love the idea, decluttering the visual environment, getting rid of the perpetual brand noise around us saying “Buy, buy, buy” — encouraging a consumerist culture. But I’m not certain the old empty billboards are any more aesthetically pleasing. Read the Newsweek article for more opinions on this bold move.
