Thursday, July 23, 2009

I don't always like commercials, but when I do, it's because they're f-ing genius.

Surely you've seen the "Most interesting Man in the World" spots for Dos Equis by now. The ones with the gray-bearded man presumably in his fifties or sixties engaging in various Hemingway-esque pursuits ranging from bokken sparring to bench pressing Asian women at parties. The voice-over at the beginning of the commercial lets you know, "His reputation is expanding faster than the universe" or "The police often question him just because they find him interesting." "He once had an awkward moment just to see how it feels. He is the most interesting man in the world." The spot wraps up with our hero sitting at a table flanked by beautiful women. "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty, my friends."

This campaign by EuroRSCG is genius because rather than appealing to the lowest common denominator with ads showing poor saps drinking swill and trying to hook up with women, this campaign appeals to a more sophisticated crowd—interested in actually being interesting rather than feigning it in order to attract the opposite sex. They're pushing an image rather than the product—which is nothing new. It's just that this is so damn cool. The suave older gentleman, played by Jonathan Goldsmith, is brilliant. Perhaps the best thing is his actual endorsement, which is pretty non-committal. Almost in passing, he tells you, "I don't always drink beer ..." Huh? You'd better get out there and peddle that product like you mean it, buddy! Nope. He's just letting you know that as part of his general awesomeness, he happens to put down a couple of Dos Equis every now and again, and he'll do it when he's damn good and ready.

Now get out there and pilot a motorboat filled with beauty-pageant contestants by moonlight, arm wrestle a Cuban military officer, or release an enraged grizzly from a bear trap, and grab a Dos Equis when you're done. 

Twitter too ... brilliant! twitter.com/Dos_Equis_Guy 



Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Unspeakable acrobatic displays? I'm down.

Looks like Factor Films is about to drop a film in 3D—They Came From. It hardly looks sick at all ...



Friday, June 12, 2009

Homework

Yet another long gap between posts. If you're one of the 5-6 people that read this ... my bad.

Things have been hectic—in a good way. Been hard at work designing a new magazine from the ground up, and we just got the prototype back from the printer the other day, and well, I'm pretty darn excited. The marching orders were to create a magazine based on interior design, decor and architecture, break the mold in terms of aesthetics in the local market and not alienate our demographic—no pressure. The editor, Shellie Benson, and I worked our asses off on it, and again, we're very pleased with the result. Props to everyone who helped get this bad boy out the door. I'll be posting more of it on my site, but in the meantime, here's the cover ...




Sunday, March 29, 2009

Apparently we're f*cked.

Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design telling it like it is. If you click play, you will hear naughty language. You've been warned.


Sunday, March 22, 2009

Mayday!

May 2009 will be the last issue for Best Life, as the economic downturn has claimed yet another magazine. The Men's Health spin off was only five years old—even in magazine years, that's young. According to the Publishers Information Bureau, it was one of the few magazines to actually gain ad pages last year (as compared to the rest of the industry, which saw an almost 12 percent decline). Despite this fact, the publisher, Rodale, decided the magazine wouldn't be able to weather the state of the economy.

A friend recently told me that the current economy will weed out the bad publications, and only the good ones will be left standing. I can't get on board with that notion. Not when pubs like Best Life are going under. It's unforgiving out there and unfortunately the economy isn't always so discriminating. 

So, get out there to your local news stand and pick up your favorite mag. Renew that subscription you let slide—or better yet, start a new one. I just did ...




Sunday, March 8, 2009

Back from break

Holy cow. Long time since I've posted. Apologies everyone. Been very busy wrapping up a couple of projects (soon to be posted on the site) and I took a much needed trip back to Colorado to catch up with some friends and do some riding. Things that came out of the trip: I was reminded that snowboarding is a perishable skill, but still super-fun. Flying 40 feet and landing on your head in waist-deep powder is relatively painless. Grabbed a couple of beers with Eric Likewise from the Skateboard Market and Indylab will be doing some designs for their upcoming shop t-shirts. Fun. I also stopped in and visited some friends at One Tribe Creative, an agency based in Ft. Collins that specializes in socially responsible design and branding. They've got some great stuff happening, including the launch of onetribe.com, an eco-friendly t-shirt project that allows the consumer to give 50 percent of their purchase to global humanitarian efforts. 

Colorado Rocks.