In a section of town 10 minutes by car from our ad agency, a 24-year-old man beat up a 29-year old male for stealing an iPod “about 10 years ago.” The reaction of the shocked public? “Now, THAT’S a grudge.” Compare this with the gleeful shriek of the fully engaged ad geek: “Now, THAT’S BRAND LOYALTY!” Note, in news reports, there was no mention of the brand of brass knuckles the knucklehead used in the assault. And there’s a lesson here. Well, two lessons. One, unchecked rage often leads to felony charges. And, two, when a marketer expects fierce brand loyalty, they should expect to promote the brand fiercely. iPod, iMac, iPhone, iAnything — all backed by hugely solid media weight and a hefty presence throughout the entire marketing chain.
pop culture
iRate over iPod
by Nancy Kirkpatrick - Friday, July 9th, 2010hello iPad
by Tim Piazza - Monday, February 15th, 2010
After months of speculations and rampant industrial espionage, Apple has finally let the cat out of the bag and introduced the iPad to an eager audience in San Francisco and around the world. Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, this new breed of enabling technology will have its appeal in just how many gadgets it replaces, not what it does that’s new or different.
Goodbye Television
The iPad plays video, either downloaded through iTunes or streamed over your network from the internet. It’s a half inch thick, one and a half pounds in weight, and you can take it with you from one room to the next, to the car, to the airport, to anywhere. This completely changes the video entertainment experience. Goodbye TV. Goodbye DVD player. Expect to see iPad compatible digital TV tuners in the coming weeks and months. 
the Beatles come together at Abbey Road
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Monday, August 31st, 2009Here is a very cool commercial for the new Beatles Rock Band music video game. Some of the shots are from 1970 and others from 2009.
It’s great to see the joy and happiness on their faces, even though you know it was their last album together.
Can you guess which shots are new and which are old?
…and though the news was rather sad.
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Monday, July 20th, 2009
Walrter Cronkite, the last of the great (in my opinion) television newscasters, died last Friday at age 92. At his peak, more than 20 million people tuned into watch the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. He was an anchor back when anchors were superior journalists first and foremost, long before they were “pretty faces” or “talking heads” or “personalities.”
Those of us with enough seasoning probably remember his nightly coverage of the Viet Nam war and his reportage of the Kennedy assassination. And who can forget the unabashed joy that overtook him during the moon landing, one of he few times he let emotion intrude upon objective reporting.
Conkrite’s last news broadcast was March 6, 1981. Here is a tribute/spoof Johnny Carsondid about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrP5FLOszyM
the death of Sky
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Sky Saxon of the Seeds passed away on June 25. One of the great garage-rock bands of the 60s, Muddy Waters called the Seeds “America’s Rolling Stones.” The group had two hits, Pushin’ Too Hard and Can’t Seem to Make You Mine.
Besides the music, the Seeds were involved in two of he strangest video artifacts from the 60s. One is an appearance on a typical sixties sit-com, The Mothers-in-Law. Listen carefully and you can hear their music referred to as “gassy.” The Seeds’ music was also used in a dance video by the late, great Betty Page.
like a rolling beatle
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Recently in Rolling Stone Magazine, Bob Dylan mused that he would someday like to write some songs with Paul McCartney.
Well before you could say “These times they are a changin” Paul responded that he would be up for it, any time at all.
Rumor has it that the pair are going to meet up this summer and spend a couple months writing songs and putting together an album. And they’ll get a little help from their friend, a drummer named Ringo Starr. Which means it will be all the surviving Beatles and Dylan together. It’s getting better all the time.
the who get blown to smithereens
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Monday, May 4th, 2009
Some say the first rock opera was The Village Green Preservation Society by the Kinks. Others contend it was Tommy by the Who.
And, of course, the purists say there is no such thing as a rock opera.
However, forty years ago, the Who released what was billed as the first rock opera, Tommy. It marked the beginning of the end of rockers trying to adopt classical artistic pretensions. Was it opera? Who cares. It rocked like a mother.
In honor of Tommy’s 40th birthday, the great 80s rock band the Smithereens is releasing its version of Tommy. Not just one song, but the entire album with cover art work reminiscent of the fabulous EC comics of the 50s. Read more about it here. Listen to a sample here.
Vending Machines Make Fresh Pizza on the Spot
by Matthew - Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
The real question will be: Will it be a good pie? I guess we’ll have to save up our quarters and find out ourselves sometime soon. Ah, the future. I think HG Wells predicted this one, or maybe that was just something I saw on Futurama?
Go go go go! That seems to be the sentiment of the entire world these days. We want everything quick and cheap. This is the drive-thru generation. With that mentality comes a new “invention.” A pizza vending machine!
Yes, pretty soon in the UK and later the US you will be able to walk up to a vending machine and get a pizza. Not just any pizza, a freshly made and cooked pizza. That’s right, the vending machine mixes the dough, throws on the tomato sauce, adds toppings and then, through the power of infrared technology, cooks your pizza. This all happens in a blazingly fast three minutes right before your eyes. I’m not joking, check out the video after the jump!
here, there and everywhere a Beatle
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Friday, March 20th, 2009
You may not have heard of Jack Lawrence. But you probably heard his songs. One of them, “Tenderly”, launched the career of Rosemary Clooney. Another, “Beyond the Sea” was the breakthrough hit for Bobby Darin.
Lawrence died last Saturday. He was 96.
Interestingly, he wrote a song at the request of a buddy of his, attorney Lee Eastman. The song was called “Linda” in honor of Eastman’s daughter. Years later, she ended up marrying Beatle Paul McCartney.
McCartney later bought the publishing rights to the song about his wife. It’s part of the MPL portfolio of songs.
You can learn more about Jack Lawrence here!
source: newstimes.com
World’s largest diamond heist foiled by litterbugging
by Randy Rohn Executive Creative Director - Monday, March 16th, 2009
Remember the ad jingle, “Don’t be a litterbug, because every litterbit hurts“? The mastermind of the biggest diamond theft in history can attest to the truth of these words as he spends time in an Italian prison after almost pulling off the perfect crime. This is an amazing story that is sure to make a terrific movie. It includes suspense, an intelligent caper and disarming sophisticated anti-theft devices with such household items as ordinary hair spray.
Read the full story here!
source: wired
