I'm Late for Soccer Rehearsal

Genius in a :30 is hard to find, but FedEx is on a roll. This one  is titled "Exchange Student." Writing, casting, storyline - all perfect.



By BBDO New York.

All Around the World - Gotta Spread the Word

Cha-Chingular

Freelance Fred's been on the case of what will likely end up being called a "misunderstanding" between BBDO, their client Cingular and a musician named Levon Helm. Seems BBDO used one of Helm's tunes and is not paying.

That ain't right. Now, if this whole Web 2.0 social media next big thing was meant to do anything, it was meant to get things done. Right wrongs. Share ideas. Collaborate.

Spread the story and tag your entries with BBDO, Helm and Cingular. Might as well throw AT&T on there too. You know the social media strategists and brand reputation management types don't like tags with negative connotations and will work to correct. I am not familiar with Helm's work, though I know he was pretty popular in his day and his group influenced a lot of other musicians, so he likely has some cash stored away, but still, it's the principle. You think anyone would try to do that to Mick and the boys? Take their music without paying? Crusty Ol' Mick would sue them straight to Hell (where he keeps a legal residence) and they know it. Let's get Mr. Helm some money.

Disclaimer: I'm locked into a Cingular contract. This is an actual line from the contract: "...until the end of the world or until Jesus returns, whichever comes first."

Catch the Wind

If you watch the Sunday morning news shows, you'll note that the breaks seem to be filled with spots for giant corporations like Boeing, USB, Dow, Archer Daniels Midland, AT&T, etc. They always seem to follow the same formula. Show a bunch of multi-ethnic people all around the world, staring or smiling at the camera while a narrator talks in vague terms about what this company does. Usually, they are "changing the world, one person at a time" or some such drivel. When the :30 or :60 is over, you're still pretty clueless about what the company does.

But thrown in the mix this morning was this :45 spot for GE. This is the sort of commercial that elevates the art of commerical making. I looked up the lyrics and it seems the catchy song is "Catch the Wind" from 60s hippie folksy Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. The spot tells a cute tale with a great finish while explaining what GE is trying to do.



Don't know much about Donovan, but as far as him "selling out," this isn't nearly the kind of sellout you see from other musicians (Aerosmith, anyone?) and it's sure a far cry from the Stones Rice Krispies jingle of 1964. (Yes, click that Stones link. It's worth a laugh.) My guess is the hippie Donvan said "Wind Power? Yeah - I can get behind that. GE, you say? Wow. They've got lots of cash, don't they? I'm in."

Other cool tunes that were used in ads: Spoon's Jaguar contribution

St. Patrick's: A Day - Not a Season

BBDO has been doing the Guinness "Jib-Jab" styled TV spots, with the two cutout brewmeisters bopping around in crude South Parkian fashion, falling into Monty-Pythonesque slapstick mishaps as they congratulate each other with "Briliant!"

They're fine, funny spots most of the time, except this time of year, when Guinness and BBDO try to sell us on the notion that "St. Patrick's Season" is forthcoming.

Shut up. We have reason enough to hate Hallmark and Wal-Mart for the ways in which they make up seasons and reasons to buy crap. We don't need to hate an Irish brewery, too. St. Patrick's is a day. March 17th. Always was. Always will be. Don't pretend to extend this celebration just for the sake of selling what only a select few can stomach.

I won't go on about the awful taste of this warm sludge, the color of untreated wastewater. In America, we've come to expect that beer was meant to be served one degree above freezing, with a lime, on a beach, with your woman, maybe with some nachos. Warm beer and buttered brown bread may suit you and your mates in the smokey pubs of the Old Country, but this is the New World, and our St. Patrick's celebrations involve wearing a bit of green for one day. That's all.

Disclaimer: The author of Where's My Jetpack? is an equal opportunity blogger and fears for his life when insults of products might be misconstrued as insults of entire countries or cultures. Some of my best friends are Irish and I've even been known to enjoy a couple of U2 songs. I believe in an individual's right to choose his or her own beer without regard to color or creed, but rather on the content of the beer's character. You are free to buy and drink your liquid bread, or your porkchop in a glass, and I will defend that right as I toast you from the beach, hoisting a chilled, crisp Corona Light. With a lime.