The Gateway Drug

Is there a link between Reality TV and blogging? The "ME" generation raised on a diet of The Real World, Survivor, Trading Spaces, Apprentice and Project Runway has made the average person just as entertaining as the professional. By making "reality" the star, the drama of making it and the promise of learning something has cultivated a new audience. An accepted D.I.Y. culture that trumps the stale uniformed voice of authority. Would we feel so comfortable living our lives online (Facebook,MySpace,Flickr,Twitter) if it wasn't already normalized with reality shows?

Pretty in Pretty

Danielle forwarded this article about women-only cabs in Russia and the Middle East. Designated by their pink exteriors and female cab drivers, this micro trend is spreading to areas where women feel safer traveling together. Another positive side effect is that it has created opportunities for women to travel more freely and work a less traditional job.

You've come a long way, baby

TBWA Chiat Day | LA does amazing work and has been the mastermind behind most of the Apple campaigns (1984, Think different). So it surprised me when the iPod ads started to go downhill. The iconic black silhouettes against color backgrounds were perfect in 2001 and through the years it has morphed into something else. As details crept in to give texture and variety, it became a very un-Apple brand: this graffiti slinging, punk rock wannabe. For a client that is so proud of its advertising history, I know it can be challenge to keep a campaign fresh but this is going in the wrong direction.



As for the PC vs. MAC TV ads, they not only alienate the slightly-nerdy-but-still-cool-in-their-own-way-MAC fans but they are a simple positioning ad that is straightforward and linear.