Lucky Dog Audio Post

Supposedly this terrific ad has been running during the Olympic Games but I haven't seen it on TV yet. Our local NBC affiliate has been too busy running spots about the messianic power of their chief meteorologist to promote anything else. So, thank you internet for the following charming advertisement that I haven't seen on TV:

Sea Orchestra from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.

The day before yesterday, we thought we were being soooo clever. We were working on a spot that required GPS SFX so we hopped in the car with Scott's Magellan GPS unit, programmed directions to Lucky Dog Audio, took a spin around downtown Little Rock, and recorded the Magellan beeping and cooing at us as we made all the right turns to get us back home. Awesome idea! Good job, Lucky Dog! Home run on the foley work there boys!

Nope.

The spot went to the client for approval and out came the gong. Spot's no good. Turns out the client has a Garmin GPS in their car, so all those Magellan bells and whistles mean nada.

Now it is time for reflecting on the task of creating authentic simulations of specific audio events when using new gadgets that are, as of yet, unfettered to concrete audio signifiers. And yes, we've been through this before. Several months ago we were working on a spot that needed a cell phone ring. We dropped a fairly ubiquitous ringtone into the spot and the client said, "Hey, that cell phone ring doesn't sound like my cell phone ring!" Not to sound like old man Wilson down the street, but it used to be a phone sounded like a phone. Not anymore.

Silent reflective pause.

So yesterday, our buddy Gary graciously lent us a Garmin GPS. Here's a shot of Scott pointing our Rode shotgun microphone at his (Gary's) unit (please refrain from commenting on this sentence).

We thought we were being soooo clever. . .

Nerve presents the 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of all time and like the "100 bucks" in the Bad Idea Jeans commercial, I foresee my morning evaporating.

It's like all those other Rube Goldberg machine ads, but more funny less better different.

Yeah.

That's it.

It's the same but different.

Meet a Flogos. It's a "mixture of soap-based foams and lighter-than-air gases such as helium" that can be shaped into a floating logo (float + logo = flogo). That's right, it's an air-born advertising event. "Mommy look! That cloud looks like Mickey Mouse." That's because it's been shaped from a stencil of Mickey Mouse. Awww. Flogos are environmentally safe, meaning that even though they only come in the color white, they are green. Flogos are safe to look at, just don't taunt a flogos. Especially if you encounter a group of flogos on a lonely street downtown at night. Large groups of flogos are called thugos (thunder + logo = thugo). Thugos are mean and unpredictable and are highly skilled at saying unpleasant things.

Do you do better work if you have an inspiring desktop? 365 desktop days of ad man Sean Nicholas Ohlenkamp of the inimitable TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Hate to go pimping someone else's work again but this TV ad from Jureeporn Thaidumrong of JEH United is so scary / brilliant it couldn't be passed up.

Product : Sylvania

Title : Picnic

Agency : Jeh United

Produced by : Phenomena

Broadcasted : May 2007

According to this article in AdAge, A&E has partnered with Holosonic Research Labs to create a billboard in SOHO that beams a discreet audio message to pedestrians walking down Prince Street. The effect is known as an "audio spotlight" and it leaves the listener with the impression that they are hearing voices inside their head. The weird effect is a perfect match for the promotion (the holosonic billboard promotes a series on A&E focusing on paranormal experiences) but it seems that New Yorkers are giving the adverting stunt mixed reviews. I especially like Gawker's take on the gimick:

The billboard says 73% of Americans believe and I'm assuming that that means 73% of Americans believe in ghosts. So if that's true, why try to convert the skeptical/not crazy 27% by beaming voices into their heads? That's just greedy. Also it leads to a lingering sense of serious mental violation. How soon will it be until in addition to the Do Not Call list, we'll have a Do Not Beam Commercial Messages Into My Head list?

Here's a big Lucky Dog Audio Post blog category climber - file under Advertising, Audio Goodness, Food & Drink, Music, Web Goodness, Words, and especially Luck.

(Originally we marked this only as Audio Goodness & Music.)