There are a few things in life that are sacred for me. I like Boxing. I love Tequila. I love the beach. I live to travel. The other thing? I love the Muppets. (For the Muppets I love, click here.)
I grew up on a lot of TV programs, just like the rest of the 70's/80's generation. My childhood consisted of religiously watching - and I mean, it was a CARDINAL SIN to miss any of the following programs: Wonder Woman, The Greatest American Hero, Man from Atlantis (sucked so brilliantly!), Hulk, Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. But from all those tv shows, if life depended on watching, it was Muppets all the way.
That was the one tv program that you totally knew you were going to laugh at, hysterically. It was sort of safe sort of what did he say fun that no other show could deliver. So you can imagine my surprise and delight as a true fan when after 12 years, Jason Segel decided to bring them back in full force. Yes, the movie is awesome. AWESOME!
It's a fun family movie for those of you who don't know much about The Muppet Show and it's a total tribute to all the fans out there. I went with my boyfriend, who is not a huge Muppet fan, and he laughed all the way 'til the end. On the other hand, there I was, smiling, laughing and... yes... also fighting back tears. Why? I guess I remembered a moment of my childhood, I remembered sitting in front of the little TV my mom had, giggling and thinking how awesome they were. I seldom remember being a child, so of course after the first few seconds, I felt like a kid again. For the price of a theater ticket, a great memory returned. So yes, for me the movie was a joy to watch.
The premise is very simple. The Muppets have gone their separate ways and there is a situation in which they all need to get back together to save the day. Yes, the usual. The thing about this movie is that Segel writes a great, funny script - and makes jokes about musicals as well. I won't dare to spoil it for you, but what I can say is that you get to revisit your childhood, and even find yourself singing songs you forgot about. For more you should see the trailer below.
Take your kids, take your family. Trust me, you will enjoy it, fan or not. I will at least promise you will smile all the way to the end. Hey, not so many movies can achieve that, you know?
So, in conclusion. Mahna Mahna.
Love, Me.
Nov 30, 2011
Advertising is all lies: How to make food look tv ready.
Hey kiddies! Look how we cheat so you get hungry!
Some people are not meant to be organized.
Sad, but true. I have been working in this business long enough to, at last, understand that this is just a fact of ad life and that we can't do shit about it. You can be as organized as a mob family all you want, brother or sister, but if your client isn't, then you are in for long hours of work - which have no reason whatsoever.
Yes. Hang on kiddies, place your hands inside the vehicle and enjoy the long as shit ride of "getting your ad approved". We'll be traveling at speeds of 1 mile an hour. If you want slow, we'll give you slow ... and painful. We don't want you to be effective, we don't want you to manage your time wisely. Nah, that is for pussies. We want you to hurry up and wait and wait and wait.
Oh yeah, and we'll say that it's rush, because everything is just that, rush. But at the end of the day, it's rush because some dickwad did not do his/her job, didn't prioritize enough, or just daydreamed from 9 to 5 so that when they actually tried to figure out what they needed to do, they found out they are way behind on loads of projects. And you know what? You are paid to get that shit done, no matter what else you need to do, what other clients might have asked for work in an organized and timely manner.
This is not their problem, it's yours. It's my problem. And no, you can't work overtime or get in earlier so you can help to organize the projects. Take my word for it, you can come in at 7am if you want and be all productive. By 1pm all the work you tried to make in advance, you know, to help out, will be revised and changed so much that all the hours you already "tried" to speed up the process were just a waste of time.
I for one cannot understand, but I have sort of made my peace with it. I cannot help people get organized, cannot help plan their projects better, cannot make people handle their schedules more efficiently. I have to understand that my time will be wasted at least three times a week, I will endure getting changes at the last minute, incomplete and sometimes without making sense.
Some people are paid to save lives, I am paid to move the logo to the left a little, at 9pm.
Ah. It's a wonderful life.
Yes. Hang on kiddies, place your hands inside the vehicle and enjoy the long as shit ride of "getting your ad approved". We'll be traveling at speeds of 1 mile an hour. If you want slow, we'll give you slow ... and painful. We don't want you to be effective, we don't want you to manage your time wisely. Nah, that is for pussies. We want you to hurry up and wait and wait and wait.
Oh yeah, and we'll say that it's rush, because everything is just that, rush. But at the end of the day, it's rush because some dickwad did not do his/her job, didn't prioritize enough, or just daydreamed from 9 to 5 so that when they actually tried to figure out what they needed to do, they found out they are way behind on loads of projects. And you know what? You are paid to get that shit done, no matter what else you need to do, what other clients might have asked for work in an organized and timely manner.
This is not their problem, it's yours. It's my problem. And no, you can't work overtime or get in earlier so you can help to organize the projects. Take my word for it, you can come in at 7am if you want and be all productive. By 1pm all the work you tried to make in advance, you know, to help out, will be revised and changed so much that all the hours you already "tried" to speed up the process were just a waste of time.
I for one cannot understand, but I have sort of made my peace with it. I cannot help people get organized, cannot help plan their projects better, cannot make people handle their schedules more efficiently. I have to understand that my time will be wasted at least three times a week, I will endure getting changes at the last minute, incomplete and sometimes without making sense.
Some people are paid to save lives, I am paid to move the logo to the left a little, at 9pm.
Ah. It's a wonderful life.
Nov 23, 2011
Nov 22, 2011
How to make an amazing TV Ad. Chevy's "My Dad's Car"
Shit. I saw this spot three times over and over yesterday and I still get teary eyed. Incredible, amazing, beautiful.
Here's the extended version. *Teary eyes* I'm such a wimp.
Nov 19, 2011
Social NOTworking
I love technology. I love how it simplifies my life. 10,000 songs and the Internet in my pocket? Awesome.
What I do not love is how “social” technology has all but ruined social interaction. What ever happened to face-to-face communication?
To eye contact?
To someone giving you their undivided attention during conversation?
To sitting through a movie without the bluish glare of dozens of smartphone screens distracting you?
To driving without having to dodge texting drivers?
To giving a presentation to a captive audience in your company’s conference room?
To the joy of receiving a real letter, written by hand and sent with a stamp?
To truly caring about what’s on the minds of your handful of friends (not your 400+ Facebook friends)?
I truly question if people have become more social, because I am having a tough time trying to get through to people on personality alone.
Nov 14, 2011
The Rookie Syndrome.
I need to start off by saying that I have no beef with rookies. I was one, at one point of my life, like many of you out there are right now. I was scared. I didn't know shit. I had no clue on how to do many things. I made a shitload of mistakes. I got yelled a lot for that. But then... like everything else in life, time passed and I earned my wings. I have much respect for younglings starting out, mostly because I know all that you will have to endure to get to the promise land... if there is a place like that, anyways.
Now, while I did not know a damn thing when I started at this hell hole of a business, there is one very huge difference from when I started out and today. You see, we have a sort of Rookie problem now. All around ad agencies, they are placing rookies in very important positions. A huge wave of low paid/no experience workers are being given the opportunity to take brands and develop campaigns - not knowing one thing about the process. Oh, and it gets worse. It's happening on the client side as well. So now we have two sides who have not a single idea on what to do, but hey kids, let's do it anyway to see what you come up with.
I have been noticing for quite a while now because I've seen it, my friends have seen it. For some weird reason I didn't say anything until one Rookie pissed the hell out of me, asking some idiotic questions and bingo, there I am shouting: why does this person does not know A BASIC AD AGENCY ITEM OF INFORMATION? Come on. I mean basic. What? You want an example? Sure! I'll give you loads of them. In fact... why don't we do a "you might be a redneck approach?"
If you don't know that you need to get all logos in either vector form or high resolution psd, you might be a rookie.
If you ask for revisions in single calls, knowing that you will be charged for every instance, you might be a rookie.
If you want a background music for your radio spot that you have on your iPod, you might be a rookie.
If you send me a logo that measures 1 inch by 3 inches and you need me to trace it, you might be a rookie.
If you need a campaign for right now... then you might be a rookie.
If you make your print ads in photoshop... then you might be a rookie. (And if I get one of your ads, I will fly to your house and punch you in the face, by the way.)
Look. In ad agencies we need to be responsible and make them learn the ropes. You can't give me an airplane and say, hey Me, fly this fucker to China. Yes, I can try to fly it, but that doesn't mean we won't get killed or have a disaster of a flight. Rookies are there to endure the learning process like the rest of us. They get to little by little feel the living hell of working in an ad agency, so that when they sort of grow up they have the correct tools to survive, both inside the agency and with the client. It's a very dangerous gamble to leave an account to people who don't have a clear idea of what to do. There are some clients out there who will eat them for breakfast, period. I've seen it. Ugly sight.
I know the economy is dead and that in order to function, there are some shops out there who are paying almost nothing to people who have just graduated college. But I'm sorry, college does not prepare you for the real ad agency life. No way. Unless you have worked in an internship during your studies - and YOU ACTUALLY WORKED in the field of what you are wanting to do in the future, you have not one clue of how it is. Not one. Sorry.
If you are starting out, by all means run to your garden variety agency and beg for a job. Fight for a way in and LEARN. If they give you a crap job filing shit or bringing coffee, do it but quickly get near the department you really want to be in and get cracking on learning what goes in there. Don't be a cliché, don't be the young dude or dudette who just doesn't have a clue.
Learn. Develop. Grow. Make us proud.
Much love to all those who are still learning. Me.
Now, while I did not know a damn thing when I started at this hell hole of a business, there is one very huge difference from when I started out and today. You see, we have a sort of Rookie problem now. All around ad agencies, they are placing rookies in very important positions. A huge wave of low paid/no experience workers are being given the opportunity to take brands and develop campaigns - not knowing one thing about the process. Oh, and it gets worse. It's happening on the client side as well. So now we have two sides who have not a single idea on what to do, but hey kids, let's do it anyway to see what you come up with.
I have been noticing for quite a while now because I've seen it, my friends have seen it. For some weird reason I didn't say anything until one Rookie pissed the hell out of me, asking some idiotic questions and bingo, there I am shouting: why does this person does not know A BASIC AD AGENCY ITEM OF INFORMATION? Come on. I mean basic. What? You want an example? Sure! I'll give you loads of them. In fact... why don't we do a "you might be a redneck approach?"
If you don't know that you need to get all logos in either vector form or high resolution psd, you might be a rookie.
If you ask for revisions in single calls, knowing that you will be charged for every instance, you might be a rookie.
If you want a background music for your radio spot that you have on your iPod, you might be a rookie.
If you send me a logo that measures 1 inch by 3 inches and you need me to trace it, you might be a rookie.
If you need a campaign for right now... then you might be a rookie.
If you make your print ads in photoshop... then you might be a rookie. (And if I get one of your ads, I will fly to your house and punch you in the face, by the way.)
Look. In ad agencies we need to be responsible and make them learn the ropes. You can't give me an airplane and say, hey Me, fly this fucker to China. Yes, I can try to fly it, but that doesn't mean we won't get killed or have a disaster of a flight. Rookies are there to endure the learning process like the rest of us. They get to little by little feel the living hell of working in an ad agency, so that when they sort of grow up they have the correct tools to survive, both inside the agency and with the client. It's a very dangerous gamble to leave an account to people who don't have a clear idea of what to do. There are some clients out there who will eat them for breakfast, period. I've seen it. Ugly sight.
I know the economy is dead and that in order to function, there are some shops out there who are paying almost nothing to people who have just graduated college. But I'm sorry, college does not prepare you for the real ad agency life. No way. Unless you have worked in an internship during your studies - and YOU ACTUALLY WORKED in the field of what you are wanting to do in the future, you have not one clue of how it is. Not one. Sorry.
If you are starting out, by all means run to your garden variety agency and beg for a job. Fight for a way in and LEARN. If they give you a crap job filing shit or bringing coffee, do it but quickly get near the department you really want to be in and get cracking on learning what goes in there. Don't be a cliché, don't be the young dude or dudette who just doesn't have a clue.
Learn. Develop. Grow. Make us proud.
Much love to all those who are still learning. Me.
Nov 12, 2011
Nov 10, 2011
Nov 8, 2011
Ah, Petra Jordan. I will see you some day.
Via theplanetd.com. Click at the name of the post for more amazing shots.
Nov 4, 2011
Answer me this: Reality Check!
I want you to answer the following questions as honest as you possibly can. Let's do a "how are you doing" evaluation, ok? Ready? Set? Go.
1) When was the last time you took time to go to the movies?
2) Can you remember taking more than 15 minutes at your office to do absolutely nothing?
3) How many times during a week you find yourself talking about work to your loved one when you get home?
4) How many times do you complain about your boss/work/career in a month?
5) When was the last time you went to a beach, a park or any other setting to just be, in silence and joy?
6) Do you have time to pamper yourself in a month? How many times?
7) Do you take a couple of hours to lay in bed and do nothing?
8) When was the last time you read a book? No, I mean finished it.
9) When was the last time you saw your friends, had a couple of glasses of whatever and laughed?
10) How many times do you forget, in a month, about how great it is to make a living, regardless of how crappy your job is?
Yep. You're welcome. This is what we are here for.
Enjoy life. Much love, Me.
1) When was the last time you took time to go to the movies?
2) Can you remember taking more than 15 minutes at your office to do absolutely nothing?
3) How many times during a week you find yourself talking about work to your loved one when you get home?
4) How many times do you complain about your boss/work/career in a month?
5) When was the last time you went to a beach, a park or any other setting to just be, in silence and joy?
6) Do you have time to pamper yourself in a month? How many times?
7) Do you take a couple of hours to lay in bed and do nothing?
8) When was the last time you read a book? No, I mean finished it.
9) When was the last time you saw your friends, had a couple of glasses of whatever and laughed?
10) How many times do you forget, in a month, about how great it is to make a living, regardless of how crappy your job is?
Yep. You're welcome. This is what we are here for.
Enjoy life. Much love, Me.
A nervous bride at Kleinfeld Bridal. A true story.
I fell for the advertising, hook, line and sinker. But what I forgot about our job was a very important thing: while we work our ass off to make people get to that door and open it... it's the job of the sales department to seal the deal. And at Kleinfelds, they mean business.
I might have to backtrack a bit to make you understand this post. Ok, so I'm a nervous bride. Not because I don't love my hubby to be - I do, with all my heart. I just am famous for being afraid of getting married. I have always regarded myself as a "status quo" kind of chick who was ok with just sharing a house. But, like any other couple, my boyfriend wanted us to... well, be normal, I guess. And he knew that it was going to be a new experience for me - one that I embraced with joy. And sort of nervousness. A little.
So here I am. I'm opening the door to the place that will start it all. Nope, I had not purchased one single item of wedding related materials at that point in time. So opening the doors to Kleinfeld was the start of the journey for me. I took a deep breath and walked in.
What happened next is a blur. Why? Because at the end of the appointment, I felt drained, nervous, emotional, pushed. But it's the nature of advertising, I should have thought. They make you want to go there, so why not would the dudette in the store make EVERY EFFORT POSSIBLE to make the sale? Hm. Because for some products, I guess the hard sale is ok. But for emotional purchases, I felt that it needed to be done with style, class and sensibility. For the first time in my life, I felt what the second part of an advertising campaign looks like: once we get them in, it's their job to make them buy.
The thing is... not all customers are the same. I was a very nervous bride to be. So it would be totally logic that the person who takes care of me notices it and treats me with kindness, slowly. Not so. Come on, baby, let's show you what we got. Oh this costs 500 dollars. This costs 800 dollars. No, you read wrong. The price is 3,000 dollars, not 300. Are we getting this in white or in ivory? Oh, but why do you need to think about it? Come on, look how beautiful you look. You know, we can ship it in 6 weeks, FedEx. It'll cost you about 200 bucks more, but hey... don't you love how it looks? You look so tall/cute/lovely!
It was like an avalanche of selling lines, one after the other. And there I am. Still trembling, still talking about how nervous I am, how I don't know what I need to get, how I need to make things simple... To no avail. Let's get this estimate, honey. Let's go to my office and get the quote, ok?
It was all about the sale, plain and simple. It was not about me, the customer. It was all advertising.
But hey, the story ends with a twist. At the end of the night, I partied with my friends, had a lot of wine, laughed about my weird bridal story and decided: online shopping is the best. I'm happy to report that I already bought loads of wedding thingies without someone pushing me over the edge... at home... with my hubby to be nearby. And yes, I didn't get nervous.
My love from the soon to get hitched Me.
Nov 2, 2011
How slut can you go? The WAS Halloween review.
Mea Culpa. I have shown a small amount of boobage once or twice in my life when dressing up for Halloween. Hey, I was young, my boobs are something to be proud of, so I had no qualms of taking them out for a stroll. I thought sexy was cool, in a fun way. Age has come knocking on my door, generations are changing and now what I considered sexy is just plain boring. Now, female Halloween costumes have taken a turn to the... skanky?
Now it's slut time. The more slutty you can dress up, the better. How times have changed, Jesus H. Christ. What happened? Did Halloween suddenly gave licence for one day to get "sluttified"? And I'm not meaning showing a quarter of a boob, people. I've seen women go almost completely naked to events. Just put some body paint on, sister and you are ready to go. Get your groove on almost naked.
I get sort of pissed about this because while I was trick or treating the other night in a small neighborhood filled with kids, there was this group walking by. In it there was this 12 year old with a dress that, if I was her mom, she would have gotten grounded. Really short skirt, high heels. A sort of sexy witch, as I can remember. What shocked me was the fact that if that is how her mom dressed her up to go play with the kids, I can only fathom what she will go out looking like when she's 16. At 21... yep, she'll just go out fully naked, I supposed.
Let me get this straight. There is nothing wrong with having great self esteem that you dress up in a sexy kind of way. If you have the power, then by all means show what your momma gave you. But there's a difference in being sexy and looking like a slut. Like you will actually charge people for any sort of favor. So now the question is... do men fall for that shit? Do you guys see a slutathon in your Halloween party and do you think... yeah, it's my night to get some easy poonany?
Why does this bother me? Why am I being so old fashioned? Dammit because females still get shafted (pun intended) with a lot of prejudice. To this day. No, I'm not exaggerating one bit. At this day and age, I still can walk through a construction site and get awful things said out loud at me. I can still be driving and have some sexual deviant do some nasty hand gesture. At all my years working at an ad agency and giving more than a decade of work, I still earned less than my male counterparts. I still get male clients who refuse to hear my ideas and instead listens to my partner because he's just has a dick.
So when females go and demean themselves in a party to the point of taking a fun idea like looking cool and sexy to the point where it is completely sexual... and easy... you are then validating all that is still happening. And yes, there are PLENTY of more places where this happens. At Lollapalooza this year I saw thousands of women who looked like sluts... and were treated that way. Young 21 year olds so drunk and passed out that they didn't notice how stupid and sad they looked. And yes, they were almost naked as well. Body paint is not clothing! Pasties are not a shirt! Bikini bottoms are not pants!
So there it is. I guess times, they are a-changing. Anyway, hope you had a great Halloween. I sure did!
Now it's slut time. The more slutty you can dress up, the better. How times have changed, Jesus H. Christ. What happened? Did Halloween suddenly gave licence for one day to get "sluttified"? And I'm not meaning showing a quarter of a boob, people. I've seen women go almost completely naked to events. Just put some body paint on, sister and you are ready to go. Get your groove on almost naked.
I get sort of pissed about this because while I was trick or treating the other night in a small neighborhood filled with kids, there was this group walking by. In it there was this 12 year old with a dress that, if I was her mom, she would have gotten grounded. Really short skirt, high heels. A sort of sexy witch, as I can remember. What shocked me was the fact that if that is how her mom dressed her up to go play with the kids, I can only fathom what she will go out looking like when she's 16. At 21... yep, she'll just go out fully naked, I supposed.
Let me get this straight. There is nothing wrong with having great self esteem that you dress up in a sexy kind of way. If you have the power, then by all means show what your momma gave you. But there's a difference in being sexy and looking like a slut. Like you will actually charge people for any sort of favor. So now the question is... do men fall for that shit? Do you guys see a slutathon in your Halloween party and do you think... yeah, it's my night to get some easy poonany?
Why does this bother me? Why am I being so old fashioned? Dammit because females still get shafted (pun intended) with a lot of prejudice. To this day. No, I'm not exaggerating one bit. At this day and age, I still can walk through a construction site and get awful things said out loud at me. I can still be driving and have some sexual deviant do some nasty hand gesture. At all my years working at an ad agency and giving more than a decade of work, I still earned less than my male counterparts. I still get male clients who refuse to hear my ideas and instead listens to my partner because he's just has a dick.
So when females go and demean themselves in a party to the point of taking a fun idea like looking cool and sexy to the point where it is completely sexual... and easy... you are then validating all that is still happening. And yes, there are PLENTY of more places where this happens. At Lollapalooza this year I saw thousands of women who looked like sluts... and were treated that way. Young 21 year olds so drunk and passed out that they didn't notice how stupid and sad they looked. And yes, they were almost naked as well. Body paint is not clothing! Pasties are not a shirt! Bikini bottoms are not pants!
So there it is. I guess times, they are a-changing. Anyway, hope you had a great Halloween. I sure did!
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