Cat Man Do
November 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Cliff shared this great animated cat video with me. The way animator Simon Tofield is able to capture such realistically entertaining cat behavior with such simple animation is spectacular. Tofield is an animator for Tandem Films, much of their other work is also entertaining. I really enjoyed Tofield’s tiger advertisement for Singapore Zoo and the extract from Flatworld makes me want to see the rest of that film.
Tags: advertisement, cat, cat annoying, film, kitten, kitty, man, man sleeping, simon tofield, singapore zoo, sleep, tandem, tandem films, tiger, tofield, video, zoo
Best Super Bowl XLI Ads
February 5, 2007 | 2 Comments
As always the Super Bowl ads are an equal draw for viewers. I’m torn because I truly love both the game and the ads, which makes a DVR a necessity for bathroom breaks…
Anyway, here are my favorite commercials from this year, basically these are my top five sponsors, multiple ads for each in some cases, followed by two ads that get special mention.
Bud Light - Rock/Paper/Scissors
Bud Light - Fist Bump
CareerBuilder - Jungle Office Warfare Series Unfortunately these are not embed-able. Damn CareerBuilder!
Darts & Jungle, Inc
Promotion Pit
Performance Evaluation
Siera Mist - Beard Combover
Doritos - Live the Flavor
Coke - Video Game (GTA)
Special Mention for Most Disturbing: Chevy HHR Car Wash 2007 Super Bowl Spot
Special Mention for Saddest: GM robot suicide dream
Tags: ads, advertisement, advertisements, beard combover, bud, bud light, budweiser, builder, career, careerbuilder, cheesy, chevy, coke, combover, crunchy, doritos, fist bump, GM, gta, hhr, jungle, office, paper, robot, rock, sad, scissors, sierra mist, smooth, spicy, suicide, video game, warfare, youtube
First Nintendo Wii Commercial
November 16, 2006 | 4 Comments
Nintendo is not allowing it to be embedded, but the advertisement is on YouTube. The basic premise is that two japanese men show up at a random person’s door and say “Wii wants to play”, they then come in and break out the fun. Apparently this is one of an initial set of four that will be released.
Update: Thanks to Justin for pointing this out, the official Wii site now has all four ads and the long version merging them into one.
Tags: ad, advertisement, commercial, Nintendo, video game, video games, wii
More Parkour - David Belle
June 7, 2006 | 9 Comments
Over a year ago Casey showed us a video about le parkour which was so fascinating I must have watched it 20 times. The main subject of this video is David Belle and thanks to Google Video, I’ve found more videos than you can shake a stick at.
David Belle, creator of parkour claims his motivation is in the freedom he finds in parkour. Basically this extreme sport runs under the concepts of free running through urban environments utilizing paths less conventional.
As a quick side note related to some details discussed in his biography, Belle’s father was in Vietnam and then became a firefighter. I couldn’t help but think of my brother. If history repeats itself does that mean my brother’s son could become like David?
If you have any doubt or questions about parkour, watch this professionally edited and choreographed David Belle chase scene:
Another professional video, this one for BBC One, featuring Belle’s commute home:
There is another group called the Yamakasi who practice a similar physical discipline. One difference between this and parkour is a greater concentration on freedom of motion as opposed to the quickest path from A to B. Apparently there was a Yamakasi movie?
Here’s a great video from the French TV station TFI with English subtitles that follows David for most of the 10 minutes, but includes the Yamakasi in the middle. A lot of the stuff shown and discussed here helps to explain Belle’s motivations.
Another video which is long, 8 minutes or so, but repeatedly awesome:
A bit shorter, but enough “holy F!” moments to make it worth a watch:
One of the things I find very exciting is when the routes change unexpectedly, or something about the route is surprising. For example, a guy starts to climb a bus stop, but when he reaches the top slips through a gap instead of jumping on top. Another example is when a guy jumps a gap and plants securely on a rail instead of clearing it. These moments give me chills.
If you’re anything like me you can’t get enough of these videos, so here’s a list of some others I love:
Hilarious Nike Advertisement
The best parts from the TFI video to a Super Mario Brothers theme
Original video Casey showed me
An American off to a good start
An Estonian dude
Tags: advertisement, david belle, estonian, freedom, hilarious, nike, parkour, sport, sports, super mario brothers, video, yamakasi
Apple Ads Justifiably Harsh on PCs
May 22, 2006 | 6 Comments
Apple recently began running a fantastic ad campaign that seriously harshes on PCs. The series of ads shows two guys personifying the two platforms. The MacOS guy is clearly cooler and more interesting while the dorky guy plays up the all business angle of PCs. All 6 ads are really funny and touch on issues like networking, viruses, software availability, restarting, iLife, and good press. Basically the Mac is shown as coming out ahead on all of these things.
Sure it’s marketing, but I think they pretty much hit the nail on the head. How can PC-centric environments continue to be justified?
Tags: advertisement, advertising, apple, iLife, mac, macintosh, networking, pc, restarting, software availability, viruses, windows
Pet Monkey - $18.95
March 7, 2006 | 135 Comments
According to this advertisement I found in 1966’s Amazing Spider-Man #44, you could apparently buy a “darling monkey” for $18.95.
The ad goes on to say:
The Squirrel Monkey makes an adorable pet and amusing companion. Show it affection and enjoy its company. Almost human with its warm eyes, your family will love it. These YOUNG monkeys grow about 12 inches high. Eats same food as you do (even likes lollipops, simple to care for and train. FREE cage. FREE leather collar & leash, monkey toy, and instructions included. Live delivery guaranteed. Only 18.95 express collect. Mail check or money order for $18.95 to: Animal Farm, Dept. MA-25 Box 1042, Miami Beach 39, FLA.
Now I understand some strange stuff went on in the 60’s but selling baby monkeys to random comic reading kids is just plain terrible. In fact, “squirrel monkeys” are now listed on the endangered species list. Of course I’m completely ignoiring the seahorses advertised above, somehow that’s slightly less disturbing.
Tags: ad, advertisement, animal, comic book, comic books, comics, monkey, pet, seahorse, seahorses, spider-man, spiderman, squirrel monkey
World of Warcraft == Birth Control
January 6, 2006 | 6 Comments
Watching G4 X-Play TV on my new iPod, I was pointed at this great homemade World of Warcraft Ad.
My favorite part of the ad is when they flash up on the screen:
Long term use of World of Warcraft may result in bloating, rapid weight gain, and repeated use of the word “Goblin”. Also your girlfriend will probably have sex with someone else.
The ad does seem to be in direct contradiction to this take on high school girls and video games.
Tags: ad, advertisement, birth control, blizzard, funny, g4, game, games, goblin, humor, ipod, mmorpg, podcast, pregnancy, tv, video, video game, video games, videos, world of warcraft, wow, x-play, xplay