The Other Drummer

Check it:

Looks pretty good to me. Expected, but good. Give them some time to mess around a bit and get really comfortable with the platform and I think it’ll be even better.

While this video demonstration alone doesn’t make me want to run out and buy an iPad right away, I’d definitely pay extra for a digital subscription along side the standard print version.

On a separate note, digital print publications (I may have just coined a new term) will have the ability to track effectiveness of advertising in a way never before possible. Think about it: instant A/B testing in a print publication. Push out the new edition, give it a week, then replace the lower performing of the two ads. Never before possible in “print” media. Plus, you can get data on exactly who sees your ad, for how long and whether or not they interact with it.

What did you think of the video? Did it get you excited for the iPad?

Perhaps you saw the bold move by Dove (traditionally a brand with a strong female target audience) to branch into men’s products with this ad:

Old Spice responded with this:

Point to Old Spice.

The other day I’m driving home and there was a little girl on the side of the road standing behind a card table with a sign hanging off the front which read, “Lemonade Kool-Aid 25 cents.” Smiling, I remembered back to summers when I was a kid and tried the same venture, so I pulled over, rolled down my window and said, “One cup please.”

The cute little girl smiled at me showing off a full set of braces. As she poured my glass I fished around for a quarter. As I looked up, she was holding out what looked like an incredibly small cup. I was a bit taken aback. It was tiny. It was one of the little Dixie cups kids keep near the sink to use while brushing their teeth. It was this size (see below), but not this cool because it didn’t even have a TIE fighter on it.

I handed her the quarter and thanked her. Then I looked in the cup. It was only half full. The little girl skipped happily back to her table waiting for her next customer/victim.

I took my 1/16 gulp of sugary water and pondered my transaction.

After doing a little research, I found that the cup size she used was 3 oz. Filling it only half full meant she sold me 1.5 oz of Kool-Aid for 25 cents. If I’m doing the math right, that means the retail/street value of a pitcher of Kool-Aid is a little over $11, or $5.50 per liter.

Since we Americans don’t do the whole metric thing, let me put it in more general terms:

THIS LITTLE GIRL WAS SELLING KOOL-AID AT MORE THAN $20 PER GALLON.

Her overhead: nothing – she probably stole everything from her mom.

And she doesn’t pay taxes.

I think I’m in the wrong business.

Stand image courtesy of here.
Cup image couresy of here.

Hunter was doing pull-ups on the shelves that hold our beloved CA’s and look what happened.

Paul has left us. We should not mourn for him, but for those of us who are left behind. He’s in a better place, or at least a place that pays him more money, and we should celebrate this progression. It is, after all, part of this fragile life we live. Instead of focusing on the void left behind, we should reflect back to the good times we had. Like that time you shot me in the leg with your pellet gun (I’m still going to get you back you rascal!) and when we covered Hugh’s office in post-it notes. Those are times never to be forgotten.

And so our dear friend Paul, we wish you the best and beg that you won’t forget us, the little people, as you continue on your journey. You left some very big shoes to fill and you will be really, really, really missed.

If a ladybug lands on your mouse, does that mean you will have good luck because it’s your mouse, or does it mean the mouse will have good luck? I mean, the latter seems kind of dumb because a mouse is an inanimate object, so it really doesn’t have any kind of luck at all. It has no need for luck. But if the luck doesn’t transfer to the owner of the inanimate object, then the luck is wasted, which is just sad.

Congratulations to Ryan and Gary who found out over the weekend that their Mrs. Fields poster got into CA. (Click the picture for a bigger image.)

Did I have anything to do with this poster? Well, I told them I liked it and thought it was a great concept. (It’s a good thing I didn’t think it sucked, or I would be looking really stupid right now.)

Does this great accomplishment mean anything to me? Directly, no. But now I’m cool by association.