Can Anyone Help Me?

Y'know, just when you think you've seen the last of the Nigerian Email Scams, another wave of these hits! For awhile there they almost seemed to disappear, but during the last month or so, whoa... full steam ahead. For those few who are still unaware of this horrible blight on the world, follow the link above to Snopes and get edumacated quickly. People do not have millions and millions of dollars they want you to hide for them, no matter how pathetic the story might be, they only want your information so they can empty your bank account!

This is a funny and sad joke site about the 3rd Annual Nigerian Email Conference.

I'd like to start writing people in Nigeria emails, they would go something like this (misspellings are on purpose):

Dear Friend and Collegue,

Good days. I am writing you in true confidence as I hope you are as solemn and confident as I have been led to believe by those trusted in US State Department facilities. My name is Captain America and I am writing you desperate for any foriegn assistance I may levy. Blessed be you and your families.

I will love to have long-term relations with you and share your foundations. My father was murdered recently by the Coca-Cola Empire and I am the only one left behind. He was a Prince in our province of Arkansas which the Bush regime titled him sixteen years ago before his death.

I was his only begotten son and I am the person who take care of his wealth now because I am the only child and my mother was abducted by space aliens long ago. My Fadder left us sum of USD 375,350,275 dollars (Three hundred seventy five, three hundred fifty thousand US Dollars and some change. About 4 billion Nigeria monies.) in a bank.

This money came from my late and sadly dead Fadders work with the poor and Exxon Mobil corporations (EMC) operating in Arkansas for the compensation of youths and crippled peoples. I don't know what to do with all that money as I am only a child and no nothing of such worldly things. But I need help to protect his assests in abroad trust so that the Clinton family cannot get their grubby hands on it.

I urgently need your humble and assistance to move all this monies to your bank account and I known you will strongly help me invest this funds wisely.

In this help I am willing to give you 45% of the total amount for your help in this transaction and another 10% annual after incomes to you, for handling this transaction, which you will have complete control over.

Please help as I know know one else in which to turn. I hope to commence transaction as soon as possible as the Clintons are currently desperate for more monies.

Sincerly, Capt. America

Memorial Day Weekend

Well campers, this weekend is the unofficial beginning of Summer and it is finally starting to feel like Spring. Typical Pittsburgh weather, but at least it is improving at the exact moment we want it to, so we have that. Believe me, I don't like to harp on the weather, talking about things I can't change has never held much fascination for me. But not being able to ride my motorcycle, only three days in May and one of those I got rained on, tends to put a new perspective on the issue. But I am of good cheer and this weekend is shaping up nicely.

It is hard to believe that I've been writing this blog for nine months now, having written 388 entries (which averages out to 1.4 entries per day based on a 30 day a month average), which isn't bad at all. With that in mind, and without any real point to this entry, I thought I would answer a few questions. This is an interview I had with myself a few minutes ago and I thought you might find it interesting.

Q: As a busy agency CEO creative type person, how do you find time to also write a blog everyday?

A: Good question. Mostly that has to do with being incredibly fast and super quick, wasting my lunch, getting up early and staying up late. It also has to do with being dedicated to doing it and prioritizing things. Client work always comes first and then agency business and then the blog. Keeping that perspective has helped. I struggled with it at first, but it has become more of a habit now. And frankly, many of the posts, like the last one for example, take no time at all to prepare. You see something interesting and put it up, bingo - post.

Q: Why write a blog in the first place?

A: Personally I think the idea that the head of an agency writes a blog is pretty darn awesome. Most blogs like this are simply posts about the company or press releases, and that isn't very interesting. But rarely do we see the kind of access that this blog gives the reader, the few that we have. But it gives me a chance to talk about a wide range of topics, not only the agency itself, but also the world that agency lives in. The world that I live in, what I find interesting, what I think about things that are going on. And finally, to just have some fun with it. It is evolving every day and I think that is an interesting process as well.

I would also hope that it gives the reader a sense of Giant and the kind of agency we are and that we strive to be every day. If it helps to achieve that goal, then it is worth it.

Q: You've often been outspoken about the agency community in Pittsburgh, have you taken any criticism about that?

A: Anything that I've said in the past has only been said because I sincerely care about this business, the community I live in and this agency. At the end of the day this is not a personal blog from an anonymous writer, but an extension of the agency and myself, so I have an obligation and a responsibility to that. There have been many instances where I have remained silent about certain issues or things that have happened, because of that responsibility. And it isn't something that I take lightly. For example, client confidentiality is the cornerstone of this business. I would never, ever write anything that would compromise that principle.

Having said that however, I also don't believe in presenting a false, sanitized version of myself either. Otherwise I'd be better off not wasting my time. I have opinions, knowledge and experiences that I believe I can share. It is often a challenge to present in these words the humor or good-natured spirit in which I think, so making fun of another agency because they win an enormous amount of awards could be seen as being mean-spirited. But anyone that takes my comments that way is simply looking for something that isn't actually there. For one thing, why can't we talk about something like that? The fact is, they did and they do. That's a fact, it is reported in the paper. I bring it up because I want to talk about it, I want that fact to be a challenge to my staff, to this community to do better. I don't think that is all that hard to understand.

Q: So, what next?

A: As far as this blog is concerned I don't know. I'd like to have more participation from others here at Giant, but I understand that work has to come first, so that is a challenge. The blog will be moving soon over to our servers and onto the regular website, so that's happening in the next few months. I have some ideas for more on-going features like "5 Questions", which has been very successful. So we'll see. The jury is still out on the big question, is it worth it? As fast as I am this blog still takes time and I am hopeful that it is time well spent. But like I said, the jury is still out on that. We aren't exactly setting records on visitors or comments or anything else for that matter. So we'll see. Nine months have passed and we'll see what happens when a year passes and determine the future of this exercise then.

Q: Any last thoughts?

A: Why? Do you know something that I don't?

Q: Well, I know you are having an interview with yourself and that is pretty darn pathetic.

A: Suddenly with the attitude, I knew there was a reason we never talk!


Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend! I doubt I'll be around until Tuesday, but you never know. Enjoy!

Troopies A Day

This is neat, troopies365 is a project on Flickr that I found this morning. Seems that he is taking a daily picture of his little Lego Stormtroopers helping out around the house and having adventures. The photos are excellent and there is a lot of creativity on display, just thought it was a cool little project.

The "A-Frame" Evolution

Print has an excellent look at the history of the "A-Frame", which is the design device of framing things within the a-frame formed by human legs. Mostly female human legs, but surprisingly just about anything honestly. They take a look at pulp book covers, movie posters, DVD covers, comics and more. Amazing how often this device has been used over the years and what the different uses mean.

It is worth a look. I am happy to say that I have never used this device myself, at least not that I can remember.

AIA National Convention in Boston

Last week was the American Institute of Architect's National Convention, which was held in Boston this year. I didn't get to go. But Stan and Jana did get to go and from all reports it was a great show. Overall. Our own efforts on the show go back to the very beginning of our relationship with the AIA, primarily because the show is such an important part of the planning each year. Mostly during the last three months, planning for the show has been running at a fever pitch here at Giant. For our part we were primarily concerned with presenting the new "Walk the Walk" campaign to the attendees, and making sure that the issue of Sustainable Design was top-of-mind.



This involved a tremendous amount of coordination between multiple parties, the client of course and their convention team, the company actually building the show itself, public relations, and ourselves. (Lots of others involved, and thanks to everyone by the way.) It is always amazing to me just how much work goes into these things, how much planning and coordination, shipping, printing, building, just stuff in general and how much chaos and then Whamo! A show happens. The real planning for these starts years earlier of course and goes on all the time.



We mostly focused on getting "Walk the Walk" into the show, from carpets (see above) to posters, t-shirts, mousepads at the virtual stations, screensavers, just about anything you could imagine, and lots of signage. In addition the Mayor of Boston selected a range of buildings in the city that "best exemplified excellence in sustainable design principles." That was well done by our PR partners at Peppercom.

From all reports, the show went extremely well. I'm going to try and convince either Stan or Jana to provide a more personal account of the show soon. Since I didn't get to go, did I mention that already?

Also, if you missed this, the AIA selected 10 projects in 2008 as outstanding examples of sustainable design. Worth taking a look at if you missed it.

The Future

When we live in a world where a man can fly, well then, we are living in the Future my friends. (Thanks to Eric for the link!)

Speaking of the Future, as I may have mentioned previously, we are hard at work on a major re-launch of our agency website. This effort is going to mean some changes here at the Giant Blog. I'll still be writing every day, and this will still be the best darn blog in the world, but it will be moving away from Google and over onto our own servers when the new site launches. This was the plan from the beginning. Well, actually the "plan" was that our current site would only be up for two months instead of two years! It was always intended to be a band-aid site to get us through to another major launch we had planned two years ago. But for lots of various and sundry reasons, that launch never happened. This one will. And incorporating this wonderful and insightful blog into our site just makes a ton of sense.

We've always taken our website very seriously here at Giant, but we've certainly gotten off that bandwagon the last two years. Mostly that happened because of staff changes and increasingly successful actual paying work, the combination of which has been a speeding bullet we've finally started to catch up to. It happens, but now we are back on track and things are looking good again on that front.

More updates will follow as we get closer to an actual launch date. Speaking of the future, here is something from the past. Our first "official" website homepage for your viewing amusement. When you rolled over one of the heads, it made a funny tribal noise. Lots of people actually liked that. And no, it actually wasn't pink or salmon, the compression of multiple jpegs has really distorted the color on this version.



[ Click to embiggen! ]

GEEK AD WEDNESDAY: Cyberdyne Systems

Welcome to the first GEEK AD WEDNESDAY! Who knows how long this'll last, but for now I am planning on doing this every week. What exactly? Well I was thinking the other day about those poor misunderstood evil corporations in movies and other works of fiction. Almost always the bad guys, the fall guys, the first ones to get the finger pointed at them and blamed for everything that goes wrong. I mean really! And then I thought, what they need is some advertising! Or at least, a semblance of advertising. Wouldn't it be fun to create advertising for these evil corporations? So that's what GEEK AD WEDNESDAY is all about, creating ads for fictional corporations. I'll let others decide how much fun it actually is, but I had a blast with this first one.

Our first evil corporation is the much-maligned Cyberdyne Systems Corporation featured in the Terminator series. Was it really their fault that some future-tech was found in an old warehouse that proved to be the key to unlocking the neuro-net artificial intelligence, which they were contracted for by the government, and provided the much needed security this nation depends on? Was it their fault that system, known as SkyNet, became self-aware and almost destroyed humanity? Ok, maybe that last part was their fault after all.

Anyway, I found this recruitment poster/ad for Cyberdyne that I thought you might enjoy.


[ Click to embiggen! ]

And of course, this is all intended for fun and amusement. No relation to actual evil corporations is intended or implied, and all rights remain the sole rights of whoever owns the rights, such as Universal Studios or those responsible for creating the character in the first place. This graphic is presented under Common Usage and no rights are implied. Just for fun after all.

AVATAR and the Uncanny Valley

Jim "On top of the World" Cameron has never been known to keep his opinion to himself. If you are not aware of it, Cameron is hard at work on a new movie called "Avatar" that is due to be released next Summer. Apparently this movie is hugely complicated and is being shot in the very latest razzle-dazzle 3D technology whiz-bang thingie. So Cameron makes us all drool when he says things like this:

“Avatar will make people truly experience something. One more layer of the suspension of disbelief will be removed. All the syn-thespians are photo-realistic. Now that we’ve achieved it, we discovered CG characters in 3D look more real than in 2D. Your brain is cued it’s a real thing not a picture and discounting part of image that makes it look fake,” said Cameron. “Avatar is the single most complex piece of filmmaking ever made. We have 1,600 shots for a 2.5 hour movie. It’s not with a single CGI character, like King Kong or Gollum. We have hundreds of photo-realistic CG characters.”

He is referring of course to the Uncanny Valley. That strange inner brain thing we Humans have that tell us, deep within our reptilian stems, that something just isn't right with that zombie across the street. The closer something gets to actually looking Human, the more negatively we respond. This has been a huge issue in CGI movies like Final Fantasy, Beowulf and others. Creepy doll people doing creepy doll people kinda stuff, freaky man!

So Cameron claims Avatar solves this issue by being so clever with the 3D? Well, if anyone else had said that I would be poo-pooing, but Cameron is one of the few people I'd believe. I hope so. But we'll just have to wait and see won't we? Anyway, thanks to /film for the story, just something else to stay alive long enough to see.

5 Questions with Randi Minerva

I've written about our involvement with the MDA and the annual Muscle Team Event before, but I thought it would be great to hear more about it from someone on the other side of the equation. I've worked with Randi Minerva on the Muscle Team event for almost five years now and she (and the entire staff!) are amazing, incredible and wonderful people to work with. That isn't praise either, it just happens to be the truth. I am very honored to be a small part of this effort and this organization. So, let's get to the questions.

1. How long have you been with the MDA and how did your involvement begin?

I have been working with MDA since January of 2000. I have a Pubic Relations degree from California University of Pennsylvania. I always knew I wanted to work for a non profit. My first job out of college helped me to get my feet wet for the “real world” of fundraising. I have loved it ever since!

2. I'm often surprised how few people know what else the MDA is involved in, can you give us an idea of the scope of the MDA?

Many people are familiar with MDA because of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon and all the money that is raised through that, however we are so much more. The Telethon is actually a small part of what we do. There are more than 200 local MDA offices across the country that raise funds to benefit the registered families that are living with a neuromuscular disease in that area. MDA covers 43 different neuromuscular diseases including ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). In Pittsburgh MDA supports 2 clinics at UPMC, local research, a Summer Camp for children at Camp Kon-O-Kwee, and provides assistance with the purchase of and repairs of durable medical equipment. We also provide information to connect members to additional resources.

MDA raises money year round to provide services to our members. Fundraising events include Lockups, Shamrocks Against Dystrophy, Fill the Boot, Telethon Sponsorship Opportunities, Social Events, Legal Leaders, Ride for Life, Family Oriented Stride and Ride, and Corporate Golf Outings and Bowling Events.

3. How did the idea for the Pittsburgh Muscle Team come about?

Muscle Team® is a trade marked social event that MDA does in larger cities across the country. Other cities include New York, Boston, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Houston and Charlotte. Muscle Team® events have great success in markets with great sports appeal such as Pittsburgh. Charlotte and Pittsburgh’s events are unlike most cities in that there is no sit down dinner and it is more of a fun relaxed atmosphere. When the planning for the event began the Pittsburgh area of MDA did not have a social event on our menu of yearly events, now we have 4 with several others being planned.

4. How has the involvement of Giant in its development helped ensure the success of the event?

Giant has branded this trademarked MDA event and made it specific to the Pittsburgh area. Bryan and his team have helped to connect us to key business leaders and encouraged their support of the event and remains an important member of the Muscle Team Committee.

5. What has been the impact of the Muscle Team event in our region?

In only four years MDA has raise over $770,000 through the Muscle Team® event. We have received high visibility for the event and the organization. We have fostered great relationships enabling us to fund more research, secure a more accessible location for our summer camp, and connect many Pittsburgh business leaders to our families and our cause.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions today Randi. And keep up the great work!

It Ain't All Pretty

I would guess that most people would like to forget the embarrassing bits of their careers. Those moments when integrity and common sense are thrown out the window? If you are in the advertising business you know what I mean. And no matter how shiny and impressive someones resume might sound, believe me, we all have those moments in our past somewhere. I know I do. (Not very many, but that's not the point here.) And I am not afraid of mentioning them, as long as you keep it to yourself. Deal? Yes, I have on occasion lowered my standards in an effort to make something happen. I'm not proud of those moments, but I do believe they serve a purpose. For one thing, they teach us a very valuable lesson about ourselves. And hopefully we learn from them. And second, they tend to keep the lights on. And that isn't something to be overlooked.

In this case, this particular spot was part of a much larger campaign. But this one was holding things up, the client and I just couldn't come to a resolution about the creative approach. The entire rest of the campaign hinged on this one spot. So yes, I took a big step back and wrote the following. Which certainly isn't the worst thing I've ever done, that one will stay buried for all time and no amount of begging will get me to share it with you. (Mostly because I can't, I don't have a copy of it. Whew! Or else I probably would share it.) Be gentle.

Going Green: Buy A Used Car

Wired has a great story about going green and buying a car. Around the office we often talk about the hidden story behind "going green", the types of things that no one talks about. Such as the fact that it takes 113 million BTU's of energy to make ONE Toyota Prius, which means you buy the car with a huge carbon debt already attached to it. For perspective, that's about 1,000 gallons of gasoline. And the Prius needs to go about 46,000 miles before it pays off that debt. This isn't even considering the consequences of hybrid technology on the environment after the car is finished, I have yet to see a report on that subject. Although I do know that many rescue and fire companies are complaining about the Hybrid's tendency to electrocute them as they try to cut through a wrecked vehicle.

I'm not against Hybrids. But certainly the technology is only a stop-gap measure until something better comes along. Such as BMW's Hydrogen 7 series maybe?

Building A World-Class Agency: Part Five

{ This is the fifth part of an on-going series in which I detail the vision statement of Giant Ideas and how it relates to building the world's best creative agency. Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 are available by following the links or doing a search. }

By treating our client's business as if it is our own.

I remember back when I first started working on television commercials. In those days, many years ago, I was just a Junior member of the creative team involved in the creation of the campaign. I can still remember sitting around the table, desperately trying to learn as much as I could about how the process worked, listening to the more Senior creatives talking. One thing jumped out at me and stays with me to this day. The Creative Director was telling the Account Director that the 250,000 dollar budget was just not enough to work with, we needed more money. They had a heck of an argument about that believe me.

Now, today, I don't remember if that was a justified request or not. Either way it doesn't change the fact that in this business we often lose focus on what exactly we are doing. I've seen it a million times, and that was just one example. A quarter of a million dollars, half a million dollars, several million dollars or only a few thousand, whatever the amount might be, these are real figures that we are talking about. Actual money. Money that in many cases could buy a family a home, or represent several year's worth of salary for a working man or woman. This isn't Monopoly money. It all comes from somewhere and someone had to work hard to make it. (More than likely.)

The point being, it is our responsibility to treat our client's budgets, their very business, as if it was our own. Perspective cannot be lost, or else we will be.

I've certainly spent millions on behalf of my clients over the years, the amount isn't the issue here. It is the due diligence, the respect, of those budgets that truly matters. It is incumbent on us as an agency to make sure, to the very best of our abilities, that those dollars are spent as wisely, appropriately and effectively as humanly possible. Or at least it is here at my agency. I can't speak for anyone else, nor would I want to. They can do what they want. I'm sure most agency types would agree with this statement, hard to imagine anyone that wouldn't. But then I also know for a fact that this isn't always the case at other agencies. So there it is.

But this statement doesn't only address budgetary concerns and lack of perspective regarding the kind of numbers we often deal with. It also addresses a fundamental respect for your particular client and their business. A respect that goes further than the surface and deep down into all aspects of your dealings with that client. A respect for their time, their employees, their goals and ambitions, into every aspect of what makes them your client to begin with. This isn't to say that you should agree with your client in everything they do, certainly not. But respect doesn't presuppose agreement. It only enhances agreement. I've always been comfortable calling a spade and spade. In fact, most of the time that's why clients hire us in the first place, because we are not afraid to give them our opinion. In many ways, that's why they hired us in the first place. But respect, perspective, appreciation, these are all factors that - if they exist - make giving that opinion and having it heard, more likely.

At least that's how I see it and how I expect my agency and its employees to see it.

Indiana Jones Round-Up

For those of you interested, /film has a nice round-up of the early reaction to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (whew, say that five times fast!). Right now the movie has a 73% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is excellent for a Summer Blockbuster. The movie opens on Wednesday and is the big release this Memorial Day Weekend. Even though I won't be seeing this one early (sad Bryan.) I will be running my thoughts on it after I do see it. Whenever that might be.

End of the Week

Boy, I don't know about the rest of you, but by the time the end of the week rolls around... well, the old creative juices are certainly at a low ebb. Let's leave it at that. I often find that Friday afternoon is the most difficult time to write a post. I don't think it's the alien probe in my head or anything, but simply a result of a typical long and punishing work week. Oh poor me, running my own agency is so hard, boo hoo. Ok, I get it, lay off and grow a spine or something. Sure. I'm with you on that, gosh knows no one wants to hear me whine. Fine then.

So what did we learn this week?

• We learned that sometimes it takes a long time to crack into a new client. I can't talk about it right now, but we're currently in the midst of two major projects for a major national client. That process took four years to happen. Another great example of not giving up, of being tenacious, and hanging in for the long haul.

• I learned that a good guy at my former agency was laid off last week. Apparently only one person that I worked with over there almost seven years ago is left now. And no, none of them left of their own accord. And no that news gives me no joy, what kind of person do you think I am? It isn't good for them and it isn't good for the agency community. And no, the rumors that the agency here might be closing are a decade old now, so I don't believe 'em.

• I learned (once again) that lawyers can be stupid. And smart, all at the same time. Funny huh? Not!

• I learned that LOST giveth and LOST taketh away. And yes, I am a huge LOST fan if you didn't know that already.

I learned other stuff, but already my energy is running low and I have to leave in a few minutes. Have a great weekend and I may stop by for a few along the way.

Stolen Art Warning!

[ Randie Snow, our super-awesome resident fine artist person whose show I was shamefully to sick to attend last weekend, sent me this story this morning and I thought I would share it with everyone. Heads up. Few things make me angrier than rights violations! Grrrrr. ]

A story which just broke a few days ago online is one both visual artists and art patrons need to know about. A book named Colorful Illustrations 93°C is being sold with stolen images and interviews from 93 artists across the world. The images were downloaded from the Little Chimp Society , some even with watermarks and copyright notices and made in this book which is being sold. The full story is here and images of the fraudulent book here . These criminals even included a cd of all of the images as well. Please spread the word about this crime and keep in mind how your images are displayed online. I hop that pro bono copyright and trademark lawyers step forward to help out the artist involved as well as government entities.

Read the rest of the story.

More info HERE and HERE.

Go Pens!

Tonight the Pens battle the Flyers and hopefully smash them into oblivion, thus ensuring their Stanley Cup Championship appearance and humiliating the hated Philly team in a four game sweep! Although I couldn't help but notice The Onion taking yet another jab at the sport of Hockey today. Anyway, huge deadlines don't care about obscure sports, so back to work.

The Death of Bob

In this business you learn to have a hard skin pretty quickly. Or you don't. If you don't it'll drive you crazy and you'll end up selling used cars or something equally not in the advertising business. One of the hardest lessons to learn is this, "Some of your best ideas will die horrible, painful, stupid deaths." They will. You can't avoid it. When I look back over my own 25+ year career I can clearly see the strewn corpses of many great and powerful ideas. Yes? You there, in the back row, you have a question? How do ideas die? Good question and unfortunately the answer is almost always the same. Stupidity and lack of vision. Although one could argue that those are both born of the same root cause, also known as ignorance.

In the case of poor Bob here, it was simply a case of a change in management. That change led to decisions being made to distance the client from the agency and time passes. An idea that held tremendous promise has now been killed apparently. I say apparently since I don't have any specific knowledge and can only base my opinion on the recently revamped and considerably down-graded website of a former client. HyperActive Bob was a great start to what should have been a great success. It is great branding work that I was personally very fond of. (Having not only developed the identity, but also illustrated it myself.) These things are much like our children, you give birth to them and raise them and then hope for the best. But, just like children, sometimes they can't care for or defend themselves from short-sighted pitfalls and lack of vision. And they die.

This might sound harsh and it might even sound like sour grapes. It isn't. Everyone that I knew at the former client has long since left and I don't know who they are working with now, nor do I really care. All I know is that Bob is no longer alive and I found that to be very sad news today. And so it goes.

Auto-Limiters: A Giant Idea for our time

Gas prices are soaring. Traffic accident fatalities account for over 40,000 deaths each year. High-speed car chases result in thousands of fatalities and untold millions in property damages. Road rage incidents are increasing at astronomical rates. And the statistics go on and on and on. Why then, I ask you seriously, do automobiles have the capacity to travel faster than the posted speed limit? I'm challenging you to think beyond yourself for a moment and don't just spout off with the first thing that comes to mind, think about it for a minute. Now, deep breath and let's try that again. Why exactly, are cars and trucks and SUVs and any other form of highway vehicle, able to travel faster than the posted speed limit? It doesn't make any sense and I have a solution.

Everyone is talking about CO2 emissions, lowering our dependence on foreign oil imports, safety, and other factors that are certainly worthy of debate and solutions. But why isn't anyone talking about the Emperor who isn't wearing any clothes? The elephant in the room is our stubborn, fatalistic desire to continue building vehicles that can actually travel at over 100 miles an hour! For what purpose? Now, before you crazy auto-enthusiast's get your panties in an uproar (and just so you know, I happen to be one of you!) hear me out. Listen to the plan and then tell me what you think. This makes so much sense I can't imagine why we haven't done it already. Ahh, technology... well, that's solved now. So here is the plan.

1) Every automobile that is computer controlled, those made after a certain year, are retrofitted with an RFID chip embedded deep within the frame of the car. Making it extremely difficult to remove. This chip detects the radio emissions of the sister chips embedded within the posted speed limit signs along the route of travel. Whatever the posted speed limit happens to be, this chip will only allow the auto to travel at that speed.

2) Exceptions are made for Police, Ambulances, Fire-Engines and other safety oriented vehicles. Although with traffic speed limited around them, I can't imagine they would need to travel at much more than a few miles an hour faster than that.

3) Those that have a need or desire to go fast in their sports cars still can, in specially unlimited tracks and designated areas. Just like today.

4) Cars built before the age of computers will need to have a special permit that allows them to continue riding on our roads. Penalties for speeding will be astronomical, in the thousands of dollars, as will the penalty for removing your RFID chip.

5) New cars will be built with the self-limiters already installed, no matter what fuel they run on.

That's it. Simple. Easy and incredibly safe and fuel efficient. Imagine just how much oil we would save in only a single year? How many lives we would save, families, friends and children. No more high-speed car chases through our neighborhoods.

I'm certainly aware of our love of the automobile and I share that love. But I think it's time for us to grow up and assume some responsibility for our insane actions, the millions of deaths, damage and wasteful depletion of our resources. This is an idea whose time has come, we can do this and we owe it to ourselves and future generations to do it now.

Thoughts?

Logo Mashups

Designer Mario Amaya has created some very interesting corporate identity mash-ups that I thought were extremely well done and that you might be interested in. Scary how real some of them feel. Enjoy.

Foam Cloud Advertising

And they say there is nothing new under the Sun! Well I say, "Phew!" to that line of thinking. They call them FLOGOS and while my reaction when I first heard this was probably a lot like yours is now, you have to see this in action. They have created a machine that forms thousands of little bubbles into shapes that can float into the sky. They are environmentally safe and can travel for over 30 miles and reach altitudes of 20,000 feet. Whoa. Seriously, this is pretty darn cool. And yes, I think the Pittsburgh skies need to be filled with someone's logo as soon as possible.

The link above will take you to the official website where you can learn more, or you can just watch this video.

The Blockbuster Museum

Historic 2018Blockbuster2019 Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past

5 Questions with Douglas Kreps

Our 5 Questions series returns this week with our first client participant, Douglas Kreps from Fort Pitt Capital Group. If I had a significant amount of money to invest (which, unfortunately I do not.) I would trust Doug and everyone at Fort Pitt with that money. Their story is much like ours, entrepreneurial minded people that struck out on their own and started a company that did things the way they thought they should be done. Which is probably one big reason why we've had such a successful relationship with them for the past five years. Although I could only dream of the success they've achieved, since they now manage assets in excess of one billion dollars, and yes, that's a billion with a 'b.'

Given the current state of the economy, I naturally thought it might be good to hear from someone that actually knows what they're talking about.

1. As a financial services expert, my first question has to be - Are we in a recession in your opinion?

We have thought we were headed into very slow growth, if not a technical recession, late last year. While we may not reach the technical definition this quarter, it is clear that the economy, led by significant home price declines, is not as healthy as we would hope. So far, our large multi-national exporters have carried the ball, but if the global economy continues to slow, we will be in for an extended period of below-average growth.

2. How has the housing mortgage crisis affected your business?

Not significantly. Pittsburgh did not see the speculative housing boom like California, Nevada, or Florida. Nor have we been hit with a downturn in manufacturing like Cleveland or Detroit. While we have seen evidence of some distress in our Florida market, it has largely been to those investors who made inappropriate speculative bets on real estate.

3. Fort Pitt Capital Group has experienced tremendous growth, what factors do you attribute to that success?

By focusing on what we do well, explaining our process clearly to our clients, having the courage of our convictions, and being upfront regarding our process. For some firms, capturing a rapid growth trend (think dot.com) can work in the short-term. But to grow consistently over time, a clear strategy and good execution will result in above-average growth. And you need to make sure that people know about you.

4. Fort Pitt has been a Giant client for almost five years now, how has that relationship
helped your business grow?

In a number of ways. First, the team at Giant helped us identify the most appropriate vehicles for delivering our message. While mass marketing may help sell groceries, targeted marketing is really what we needed to do. Second, Giant developed excellent creative content. Whether it was print, brochures, or television, the message has always been consistent, yet also fresh. Two Telly awards for our TV spots are evidence of that. Third, the firm worked to uncover new areas to consider in order to reach our targeted markets.

5. What advice would you give others looking for a successful agency relationship?

Well - if I give that away, the competition may do better! Seriously, any firm looking to build a successful marketing and advertising program needs to be willing to invest a significant amount of time, at the upper levels of the company, to make sure their agency understands the value proposition the firm is making. Then, a firm needs to be willing to take a few risks in their creative development. If a spot does not get noticed, there was no point in paying to run it.

Thanks for stopping by and answering a few questions for us Doug, much appreciated.

MUTO Wall Painted Animation

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Where'd Bryan Go?

See Bryan. See Bryan working to get caught up at work. See Bryan not posting today cause he is sooo busy? Yep, that's Bryan, not writing in his blog again. Bad Bryan. Bad, bad Bryan. See Bryan crying? See Bryan looking around and wondering? Wondering where that narration is coming from? Crazy Bryan. Yep, he's a loon.

So, no real posts yet. Where has Bryan been lately? Follow the links and try to connect the dots.

Have you seen MOONVERTISING from Rolling Rock?

Michel Gondry has a new cardboard box.

Gerunding Movie Titles is pretty awesome.

This Indiana Jones Desk wallpaper image is pretty sweet. And it's free.

Speaking of Indiana Jones, Iconfactory has a set of Raider's themed icons for download. They'll be adding new ones.

You can see some good views of the new Penguins Arena by clicking the Updated Arena Pictures link.

Steve Rude is a great artist.

Happy Mother's Day

Any reader of this blog has probably noticed that one of my most frequent commenter's is my Mom. My Mom has always been my biggest fan, supporter and my moral compass. And today I just want to say Happy Mother's Day Mom!! You rock. (See? I managed to tie that into an advertising campaign.) She knows I tease. Isn't that one of the best things about Moms? They know us best, they see through us and see who we really are. They've known us at our best, our worse and everything in-between. I was very fortunate to have a wonderful and loving family growing up and I thank God for that blessing every day. I am also extremely fortunate to have both of my parents with me today. I know that isn't true for so many people today. My heart goes out to those that are missing their Mom today.

So, Happy Mother's Day Mom. You are the best. And yes, I will call later. :)

For those few reader's that might be wondering where I got off too, I haven't been feeling well the last few days and took some time off. Still not 100%, darn thing just doesn't want to let go, but I should be back in full force tomorrow.

A Free Giant Idea for Pittsburgh

We all know the Pirates stink. They have stunk up this once proud Baseball city for a decade and a half now. If you had a baby the last time the Pirates had a winning team, they'd be driving a car now! That's just pitiful. But amongst the dark clouds there is always a silver lining. So this Giant Idea is free for anyone willing to take it on. It would take someone with vision, guts and a little money to get it started, but this idea is huge. Are you ready? Brace yourself.

Start another Baseball team in Pittsburgh! Go ahead, think about it, let the idea sit with you a minute. Soak in the brilliance. I don't pretend to know anything about leagues, associations, or any of the other organizational details that would need to be worked out. I'm the idea guy. But it wouldn't be hard to do. It also wouldn't be hard to imagine this new team bringing in more fans than the Pirates in short order. Sure, the Yankees won't be playing them, but that's the only time the Pirates will be selling out the stadium. Here's how you do it:

1) Fireworks. This is Pittsburgh after all, so you'll need fireworks, lots of fireworks. The more the merrier. Set fireworks off at every opportunity, why wait for a home run? Hand out bottle rockets at the gate and let the fans decide. Fun for the whole family.

2) Hire Barry Bonds! Oh yeah, that's a Giant Idea. Imagine the PR, the pathos, the sheer madness that would cause. Heck, you'd sell out every game for a year. Whoa. Stop me Martha, I'm on a roll. (Apologies to Gary who originally had this Bonds idea, but his was for the Pirates and that doesn't count now.)

3) Build your park over on the North Shore! Nothing fancy mind you, in fact, the more like a cheap, traditional, little league park you make it the better. All the seats are the cheap seats! Let the fans grill in the outfield, have a water park for the kiddies, hold hot-air balloon rides, have a in-house clown, maybe even a panda on loan from the Chinese! Anything goes and sells big-time tickets. Go nuts.

4) So what do we call this team? Personally I like The Pittsburgh Rapscallions!! But you can come up with your own name I suppose. Whatever you call 'em, make it clear that these are the Anti-Pirates! They can play against local High-School teams so they win almost every game. Heck, fix it so they do. Every game is a winning game!! Whoo-Hooo! Finally, this town has a winner.

You might think I am joking. Granted, some of these ideas might not work, but the concept is still valid. Who has the guts to try it? The clerk at the store this morning told me my PowerBall ticket was a winner, so maybe I'll do it.

Anyone game?