I LOVE Being a Nerd

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I was sitting at home this afternoon, chilling out, watching something on television. During the commercial break an ad for Bush's Baked Beans came on, and as I watched it, I realized I was analyzing every bit of the commercial. So I had to come in here and find out what I could about the brand and it's history, as I judge the commercial.

Here's a time line I found via the Bush's Web site. Bush Beans
I'll highlight it

So Jay Bush, the actor in the commercials is an actual family member. And as far as I can tell this business has always been a family owned business. I think that brings a lot of loyalty and respect to the brand. People see something that is still thriving from it's deep roots and they feel the need to stick with it as well.

The basic concept of each ad stems from a 1995 ad with Jay Bush and his dog Duke. The ad actually won a Gold Effie that year.

I actually think the dog is such a crappy middle-American appeasement that mocks the national intelligence, or no, just underestimates it. But maybe the dog provides the necessary recall for the brand.

So to me, keep it in the family, ditch the fucking dog. But what do I know, it seems to work! Do they seriously need to do as much advertising as they do, just to maintain the market share? It's beans for fuck's sake.

Here's the ad:

Between A Rock and A Hard Place

I hate to drone on and on in this thing about the pathetic pondering that dominates my mind these days. It makes me seem depressed. I don't think I'm depressed...maybe I am.

My dad always used to say my mom was never happy where she was at. She lived one place and wished she was in another. But when they moved to that other place, she was just as unhappy to be there, if not more.

What if it's not that one just can't be happy where they are, but simply that where they are is just not where they want to be? It's getting away from what they really hate and settling for something they can just barely tolerate. It's just the only viable alternative because of any amount of factors--age, where you are in life, money, anything.

And maybe it isn't the place, but the people and the things we surround ourselves with.

As friends, the four of us always found a way to have fun, even when we were underage in a city where everything "fun" required a certain age. We could make a good time of a night driving around blaring an ipod. They're all going to party it up in the capital this weekend and I wish I could drive there and meet them.

this ends abruptly but I had to leave suddenly while typing it, then I lost the feeling for this entry. NEXT!

HELP!

You know what makes starting up a business so horribly difficult? People in your field are so freaking reluctant to give any sort of advice or aid. At least in photography. I have asked a friend of mine who works all over Texas for advice on lens use, what kind of filters he uses and stuff about photoshop, and I swear he never ever gives me a real answer. It's like he doesn't want me to make any sort of headway on this whole thing. I've emailed other local photographers askign questions and making job inquiries, and I never even get responses! There's not even a "thanks for your interest, but we don't have any positions available" or "thanks for liking my style, but..." So I'm slowly trying to figure it all out myself. I've always helped anyone that asks me for assistance. rude!

Enough Creativity to Light Your Mind on Fire.

This is without a doubt the most innovative ad I've seen in a long time. It's a video projection on the side of a building, an ad for HBO

read about it via AdAge here: Voyeur

neat.

Found this ad while surfing the web. from back in January I guess. good one tcm. good one.

No one that watches Family Guy wants to see Bill Engvall. Different crowd.

I guess the way some people get their ideas for stories is by browsing Digg
for information that other people have already posted and dug up for them, because HEY! it's less work that way!

I swear I saw this story on Digg 2, 2 WEEKS ago, maybe more, and today it's a featured article in Adage?
Is the the only real way to discover an anomaly, other than watching the show itself? I was sort of annoyed by the crassness of the author at first, but then thought, hey-- maybe he's just taking what he saw on digg and elaborating on it for his less delving colleagues. And that's cool I guess.

Whatever, I guess they did have to do research on past instances of snipe advertisement, and get opinions of ad creatives to quotes...

I guess you might say that's all Gawker and every critic blogger does, find interesting things someone else has posted and give their opinion on it while crediting the origin. So here I am to continue the pattern. I guess i just thought AdAge people were a little more credible.

Sometimes it just skips a generation...

Imagine stepping into a public restroom and having to decide:

Do you use the stall with the pubic hair on the toilet?

Or the one with the faint smudge on the toilet seat that could be one of 2 things?

Squatting or not, it's still a serious choice.

If I weren't in an office building, I'd choose outside over both.