The Thicket

Ads in my newsfeed

Notice the ad text at the bottom of this feed.  First time I've seen Google-like ads in the RSS feeds in my NetNewsWire Lite.  Advertising is more resilient than cockroaches when it comes to finding a new place to go when other places become less fruitful.

The New Xbox?

Buzzscope.com has posted 2 pics of what may be the Xbox 2 (aka Xbox 360). See them here: http://www.buzzscope.com/news.php?id=1838. We'll know more when it's officially unveiled May 12 on MTV.

Oregon's other shoe company gets viral

When you don't have MJ or Tiger, coming up with a light hearted, reflective, movie short isn't such a bad idea.  The animation isn't goundbreaking and the music isn't grammy award winning, but this little short from Brooks just plain works.  For those uncomfortable with the Nike brand persona, Brooks fills the circle of life void nicely.

PR Rookie Blogs from Day One

From Micropersuasion, Blake Barbera is embarking on his career in PR and blogging from the beginning.  Congrats on your first placement, Blake!  I suspect his counterparts are just staring at him with tilted heads like dogs watching TV. 

Plone Bootcamp - D.C.

Interested in diving into Plone? Our good friend Joel Burton and the local Zope/Python Users Group of D.C. is hosting a week-long bootcamp in D.C. - May 9-13.

Registration has just kicked off and it looks as if Joel has setup a great program.

Here's the link to the Bootcamp site: http://bootcamp.zpugdc.org

Joe Jaffe beats Nike's agency to punch

Released just after Tiger's huge winning shot at The Masters, Joe Jaffe's unofficial ripomatic creation for Nike is getting reported in mainsteam media now.  Nike and their agency have no comment.  I suppose they're stunned, still wondering how they didn't think of doing this.  Check out the video (you'll need Windows Media Player) and wonder along with me whether agencies for major brands shouldn't portion a slice of their budgets for opportunity and news-driven spots, if only distributed via the net.   

Adobe buys Macromedia

Analysis on this story to develop throughout the day...here's the press release.

They Know What They Are Selling

selling themselves of course.
is DC (shoes) making the brand or are we making it for them?
surely a bit of both.
they launch from the skateboarding world and are working their believable "cool"
into marketshare everywhere.

oh yes, here's the link (another online video email campaign) - does your brand feel this alive?

can't resist this honesty that will sell you (or your kids).

For the Next Generation

Soon you'll be finding Marvel comics back in 7-Eleven stores. Bravo. I couldn't be happier. DC Comics, I hope you're considering something similiar.

For over 15 years, the comic book industry has dealt with declining sales. Thankfully things have changed in the past several years. Some titles are now selling 150K to 200K copies per month. Still, this doesn't compare to the late eighties when many titles sold between 700K to even 1 million. Why the decline happened has been an open topic for years (over-speculation of the market, competing entertainment forms like video-games, too expensive, etc.).

Why am I happy? Because comics will be more accessible to kids again. I was hooked at the age of 6. Most of my weekly allowance was spent on comics at local 7-Elevens. As a result, I became an advanced reader and writer in grade school. More importantly comics inspired me and others to become illustrators and designers (and most are still collecting today). As sales declined, the target audience shifted from kids to adults.

Now the focus is on both. Marvel and DC Comics have boosted their offering of kid-friendly titles. And Marvel will be distributing age-appropriate titles to 7-Elevens. Hopefully more kids will experience the fun and escapism of comics. And maybe they will inspire another generation of artists and art directors.

Read more about the Marvel/7-Eleven partnership here: http://www.comicon.com/thebeat/archives/2005/03/marvel_announce_1.html

Food Force

Admittedly, I'm a video-game junkie. I play games much more than engaging in the linear world of TV (okay -- I do watch American Idol). While I love games like Halo and Devil May Cry, it's refreshing to see others that are considered edutainment. The U.N.'s World Food Program has produced a kids PC-based educational game called "Food Force." It's designed to teach kids about the ongoing problem of world hunger. Read more at http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/04/14/hunger.videogame.ap/index.html.