Wal-Mart just got a little bit cooler. For the moment anyway. And it did it by hanging out with that cool kid called Coke.
Wal-Mart and Coke have teamed up for a holiday campaign which is screening in American cinemas and online. It includes a Sesame Street-esque ditty and more white teeth than a cage dive in South Africa:

An American survey was undertaken in October 2007 to explore the recent decline in sales and consumer perceptions towards the Wal-Mart. It found:  
28% of all consumers developed a more negative opinion …

2008 was a pretty remarkable year. Looking back over the year there were plenty of moments which were a catalyst for discussion, laughter, sadness or celebration. Here is a compilation of icons, images and events which resonated with me and made 2008 a year that I would remember:

There were four things that I realised as I put this together…
1. Although the subject matter is not always timeless, certain images communicate attitudes, lifestyles and culture better than any detailed description.Examples: Corey ‘party boy’ Worthington, Sarah Palin, Where The Hell Is …

I know. All the commercials at the moment are very pretty. Plenty of cute kids, warm cooked meals, happy families and smiling faces. But this does not resonate with everyone. There is a niche market out there for the Christmas grinches – those people who open all of the advent calendar windows at the start of December, eat both of the turkey drumsticks and give used stockings as gifts (I actually know someone who does this).
Here are five commercials which Christmas grinches will love:
5. Torture and Christmas brought together …

I know everyone quotes Seth, but I love this quote from his blog today:
“Traditional advertising is inherently selfish. It interrupts in order to generate money (part of which pays for more interruptions). That approach doesn’t work at a cocktail party, or at a funeral or in a social network.”
Great analogy for convincing clients to employ ’social experts’ in addition to traditional advertisers.

Image from SydB42

The new TVC for Hungry Jacks Angry Whopper burger wreaks of familiararity. This is the TVC created by MJW:

And this is a TVC for BCF which was made by Ideaworks and launched earlier this year:

Using an opposite behaviour to demonstrate an ideal behaviour? Check. Casting a stereotypical nerd? Check. Triple M go-let-your-balls-out soundtrack? Check. Russell Crowe as a dodgy breakfast announcer inspired voice over? Check. Hmmm.
I’m not saying it is intentional… but not saying it is original.

This morning I read Michael Sainsbury’s opinion piece in The Australian regarding Fairfax’s inability to maintain consistent brand values across online and print mediums. It included this insight:
“But The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age brands have been scarred by their print and online incoherence. Some even argue that often fluffy and irrelevant internet content is starting to fatally drive the papers, particularly the Sydney Morning Herald.” 
And it got me thinking, what if we took this to the total extreme and the popularity of online stories solely determined the main …

The Queensland Government has succeeded in producing the cheesiest anti-alcohol ad campaign since Domino’s launch of the triple cheese pizza with cheese stuffed crust in a cheese box campaign. This is it:

It is part of the ‘It Feels Good To Say No When You Want To Say No’ campaign which is aimed solely at young females to discourage them from excess drinking.

If this was targeted at primary school aged girls or Hannah Montana groupies it may be passable… but this is aimed at females who are already going out two …

The other day my friend Katherine was listening to her iPod while waiting for a bus to work. Out of the blue, a homeless man reached out and presented her with a Christmas card. This is it:

From what I can see, it reads:
“All best… fun week… ipod music… all best 2009… thankyou ted”
It is then rounded off with a personalised drawing of Katherine with headphones in.
Throughout the week I’ve been whinging and bitching about clients not slowing down leading up to Christmas, having to go Christmas shopping all weekend and …

Gather around. I’m going to tell you the fairytale of a product that became hugely successful without ever talking to their consumers. My story begins here… Did your mum ever use Lucas’ Papaw ointment as the answer to your bike accident grazes, wasp nest disturbing stings and drunk mistake rashes? It seemed that it was the go-to product for all things bodily. The MacGyver of body ointments.

Lucas’ Papaw has existed for over 80 years. In this time, they have only ever made small tweaks to their product and packaging. …

This week I have been rummaging through a pile of music to try and find the right song for a brand ‘mood tape’. It proved to be ridiculously frustrating. What came to mind was the number of songs that had been beaten to a pulp by hoards of advertisers, sports highlight editors and fireworks soundtrackers. They are no longer uplifting, inspiring or exciting. They now tell me you are boring and unimaginative.
As a result, I am proposing putting a ban on the top 10 overused songs. Not necessarily bad …