How to sell your product

The recent Discovery Channel ad (see below) reminded me of some of my favorite commercials. The most effective ads, in my opinion, are those that entertain and surprise. The right song can make or break your commercial.

First, the Discovery Channel ad. Its just such a "feel good" commercial.



Next, the Sony Bravia ad featuring Jose Gonzalez singing "Heartbeats." I love this for several reasons: 1.) This isn't computer generated; they actually released hundreds of thousands of bouncy balls down a San Francisco street, 2.) The song is awesome, and 3.) We don't even know what the product is about until the end, but when we do find out, we think about how awesome this commercial would look on a nice HDTV.



These last two are both VW commercials featuring Nick Drake and J Ralph songs. I especially like the latter because the ending is such a great surprise. The look on all of their faces tells it all.

Window office!!!!

That's right, I moved into a new office this week with a window. I won't lie, the natural sunlight burns my pasty white flesh. I'm either a vampire or Irish. I don't think its both because I assume I would already be dead.

MOBA

So I went to see the new Indiana Jones yesterday (its pretty terrible, but thats another story). I went to the famed Somerville Theater which I have mentioned in previous posts. After the movie, I was down in the basement using the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom, I saw a section of the basement that was rather unusual. Right across the hall from the men's room is the newly opened branch of the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). It was AWESOME! Everything from velvet elvis' to sword brandishing warriors and flying unicorns. The centerpiece of the collection was the portrait of a man in his underwear; the placard stated that it was believed to be none other than John Ashcroft.

a very valid question

If you sent a message via homing pigeon to someone and wanted a reply, would you just attach another pigeon (trained on you of course) to that pigeon before you let it go? Sort of like a self-addressed stamped envelope? These types of things are why I can't sleep at night.

King of the hobos

Its the height of proposal writing season at work, and Ryan asked me to send him a bio of myself to include in his proposal. Here, presented for the first time in public, is the story of my life:

Robert McCormack was born on a humid Texas night in May of 1979. His mother, a girl of barely 16, birthed him outside of her Junior prom in the lobby bathroom of the Houston Airport Hilton. Not wanting to miss the final dance with Conner Neatly, star of the North Houston High track team and unknowing father of the child, she deposited Robert in a nearby dumpster among a pile of discarded pizza boxes and medical waste. Fortuitously, a group of transients was searching the area for cast-off boots and apple cores. The leader of the hobo clan, Ol' Scratchy McStevens, found the child Robert and carefully wrapped him in his bindle. Scratchy, who Robert would one day call Pa, raised the boy into a man. He taught him the drifter ways: the secret of hobo chili, how to read the hobo signs left outside barns and sheds, and, of course, the legend of the golden boxcar. As Robert grew, he excelled through the vagabond ranks, and eventually, with the help of the respected transient, Gerald Ford, became king of the hobos. Under Robert's reign, the hobos prospered. He worked to increase the number of air-conditioned boxcars; he made deals with tobacco companies and became the lead importer/exporter of discarded cigar butts; and, most famously, he established National Hobo Remembrance Week to honor his fallen vagabond brethren. But still he yearned for more. His years of hobo training gave him the taste for creating strict, quantifiable models and measures. He left the hobo nation to work for a small consulting firm. There he developed training models for F-16 simulators and computer-based training games. But, he knew that his destiny lied in this proposal. If you choose us for this contract, not only will you get the chance to work with a marginally competent mathematician, but also the former king of the hobos

T minus 3 months