Evil Creative Director Says

My Guess Would be Swedish Death Metal

What Kenny Powers Means for The Future of Advertising

By now you've seen him, the brash, arrogant and hilarious Kenny Powers, new spokesman for K-Swiss athletic footwear. Kenny berates, cajoles, swears a blue streak and promotes K-Swiss "Tubes" like they were the most innovative product since canned ham. Kenny is of course the creation of Danny McBride and the main character on McBride's HBO series Eastbound and Down.

Brash and arrogant spokesmen are nothing new. There is in fact a glut of them at present. They are over-the-top confident, beyond macho to the point of wink-wink caricatures. Most Interesting Man, Old Spice Guy, Keith Stone, the smug asshole who does the stand-ups for another shaving cream, the name of which escapes me. Even DQ is in on the act. The Fabio vs. Old Spice Guy manufactured "war" commencing today on behalf of Old Spice is an example of taking it way too far. The fact that I'm aware of this stunt shames me. Full disclosure: I myself created a character about a year ago named Ronnie Reed, a redneck landscaper with no shortage of confidence, and also multiple children by various women. (He's still looking for a gig, so call me, John Deere.)

K-Swiss is taking it beyond over-the-top to a different place, a place where we all live. In short, they allow swearing. And not just swearing of the mild variety. This is Kenny Powers type swearing; prolific, masterful and again, hilarious. The TV commercials for McBride's K-Swiss videos are toned down, but what makes this campaign so different is the willingness on the part of K-Swiss to embrace the full power of the Powers character, as seen in this "uncensored" video.



I think this represents a major shift in the culture of advertising. I can't think of another brand that has gone to this length to embrace and reflect the current comedic trend. Not that cussing is new in comedy, but surely you've noticed that the network censors are a little less stringent these days with what gets bleeped and what remains. (I think I heard the word "dick" on a network show not long ago.)

If a brand tried this approach a decade ago there would be boycotts, backlash and instant resignations, followed by a rapid descent in sales. Today, I think the opposite is true. I don't have sales figures to back that claim up, but maybe a commenter can come along with some data. If nothing else, the videos are a hit. K-Swiss has broken ground here and allowed itself to be associated with the strange and funny cultural phenomenon that is Kenny Powers. I hope other brands don't see this success and try to copy it. They will though. A decade from now this approach will be mainstream.

All Your Cameo Roles Are Belonging to Will Ferrell

If, like me, you like your comedy wrong, rude, over-the-top, disgusting, completely inappropriate and yet surprisingly subtle at times, then you will enjoy HBO's new show Eastbound & Down, starring the mulleted special effects guy from Tropic Thunder, Danny McBride, and produced by Will Ferrell. It's the sort of material that makes you cringe and laugh at the same time, with McBride playing a washed up baseball star with no shortage of ego. It's not for everyone. Says one commenter at Entertainment Weekly:

ya always funny to see two idiots snorting coke, and what about the way he treats females & children? If you all think this is the funniest thing you've seen, then this world is really sad..

Why so serious?

Here's a non-broadcast bit featuring Ferrell as a Shelby, NC BMW dealer, mocking the local car dealer commercials we all know too well.

Paul Giamatti, You Are No John Adams

Episode Three in this grueling, never-ending biopic on HBO ended with our hero delirious in bed in Amsterdam, hallucinating and passing in and out of consciousness. The suspense is too much. Will he ever make it home to his brave and long suffering Abigail? Will he survive to become America's first Vice-President and the nation's second President?

Grueling and never-ending is known as "epic" or "saga" in TV world. Or better still, "Epic Saga."

See John Adams vomiting on his Atlantic crossing as he seeks French help for the revolution. See John Adams go into a coughing fit as he appeals to the government of the Netherlands for cash. See the viewers turn away in droves. See HBO scratch what have become pretty empty heads of late as they ask, "Where did we go wrong? It's a political season! We had the Internet saturated in banner ads for months! Everyone loves Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney!" Yeah. And we watched the first few installments. And then many viewers said, "Shit, I don't know if I can take another episode of this."

But still, we'll likely see Paul Giamatti get a gratuitous Emmy nod for what will be considered his "moving and courageous" performance.

"OK, Paul. In this scene you're coughing - and I mean really, really coughing. Coughing your lungs out and gonna blow open your stomach coughing. I want to hear it, Paul. Also, give me that eyes half-closed thing you do so well - and add a touch of the world-weary cynic head-hang that you're famous for. Ready, Paul? Great. and...Action!"

Fake 3D Model Making in Photoshop

Looks much better in larger view

Fake tilt shift photography of my street. I like this effect. Here's a Flickr group devoted to it.

Pretty simple. Grab a bird's eye view of your locale using MSN's Live Search Maps. Gausian blur most of the shot, pump up the saturation and contrast and dim the sun a little and you have the instant illusion of a model railroad city. OK, a really detailed model railroad built by professional model makers. Or like that old one for HBO.

Lord, There Goes Johnny Appleseed

I was a huge fan of the hard-to-fathom "John From Cincinnati" on HBO. I couldn't fathom it, and that was half the draw. The brass at HBO foolishly killed the show after only 10 episodes. They've since replaced it with nonsense like "Tell Me You Love Me," which is supposedly oh-so-groundbreaking because it shows raw, hand-held camera, no-soft-filter sex. I've watched it. It's a sappy soap-opera with occasional sex, some of it between people in their late 60s. Uh...no thanks.

So, I gave up on trying to get HBO to reconsider their idiocy. The actors, the directors, the creators and producers have all moved on to other efforts. Some fans, however, are dying much harder. Last week, the faithful took out this full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter. Could've used better art direction and copy, but I like the quote from The Mescaleros song (featuring Joe Strummer), which was the theme song to JFC's opening. (Watch that little film. It's a work of art by Rock Paper Scissors and A52.)

I admire the grassroots effort by these die-hards and hope HBO is watching and listening. They've pissed off plenty of subscribers of late. Now they've got an army of surf-noir fans knocking on a very closed door.

Fine print: JFC was a "hated it or loved it" show. If you fall in the "hated it" camp, please spare me your "Dumbest. Show. Ever." comments.

It's Not TV, It's HB - Oh Crap. Him Again

Click to see what the masses are saying

If you’re a fan of Larry David, sorry, but I’m still burned that HBO got rid of "John from Cincinnati" and keeps shows like this on the air.

I gave Larry David’s "Curb Your Enthusiasm" a try. In fact, I’ve given it five or six tries. Each time, I sit there wondering when the jokes are coming. This guy’s pathetic life is not funny to me. At all. His whining antics and ho-hum pabulum got stale back in the 90s when it was called "Seinfeld." And yet, people apparently love this guy. In one recent episode, there were cameos from Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Steven Colbert, David Schwimmer, Nathan Lane and Jerry Seinfeld.

This guy has power and clout. And I will never be in charge of programming at HBO.

Testing the Power of Social Media

If you have a Digg account, do me a small favor and Digg this story. Trying to rattle some cages at HBO and prove to them that the Internet is Big and Huge.

It's in response to HBO's cancellation of that controversial and unorthodox show on Sunday nights, which I thought was excellent.

read more | digg story

It's Hard to See When Your Head's Up Your Butt

If the rumors are to be believed, HBO will not be renewing the cult hit John From Cincinnati, which is a big letdown for this cultist. The pundits, bloggers and people who actually make a living prognosticating about such important matters all predicit the axing of this show by HBO, just as the subscription network did to David Milch's other creation, Deadwood.

I don't watch too many shows religiously, but I've really enjoyed this one. HBO brass are looking at Nielsen ratings, which only reflect the raw numbers for a show that is just 9 weeks old. They aren't measuring loyalty or the fact that those who watch this show often watch it again just to pick up the very intriguing and well-written dialog. I've likened the conversational interplay in this show to modern Shakespeare; it's just twice as smart as anything else out there. I'll be the first to admit that the show has a few really, really bad actors, but they're canceled out by a few really, really good ones.

It's mysterious, hard to follow and it has a huge WTF factor, which your average American doesn't want to to be bothered with. They're more interested in American Idol and other assorted trash. "Show us humliation! Show us people eating worms!"

HBO knew when they launched this show that the audience would be small but loyal. If they do cancel, I'll be giving Showtime serious consideration. And don't you know HBO will be sure to release the whole season on DVD. And then they'll scratch their heads when it sells well.

That's how we do it in IB.

Move On, America. It Was Only a TV Show

The discussion over the ending of The Sopranos has now reached the Op-Ed pages, with Maureen "The Dowdy" Dowd comparing Tony Blair's exit from British politics to the ending of that show. I have the benefit of never having become addicted to the show, so I don't care one lick how the writers either A) let everyone down or B) ended the series in a brilliantly inspired way. (Any series that ends with a Journey song is not very inspired, as far as I'm concerned.) People are comparing The Sopranos to Shakespeare. I'd rather watch Tiny Ninja Theatre doing Shakespeare. Besides, you know poor James Gandolfini needs to shake that image in the interest of continuing his career. And it might take forever to shake that image. Think of Bob Denver as Gilligan, wearing that goofy sailor hat until he died.

The show that replaces The Sopranos is John from Cincinnati. I know "replaces" is utter blasphemy to many a Sopranos fan, but give it a try. In fact, give it two tries, as the writing is excellent and the acting better than most. I had to watch it twice just to get all the dialog, as many characters are spitting out some pretty briliant lines that I wanted to catch again. I'm a little predisposed to become a fan of this show, as I am familiar with it's setting, Imperial Beach, ("The Most Southwesterly City in the US") California. Sort of a nasty, slutty stepsister to cooler places like Mission Beach, Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach, San Diegans don't much like to hang out there as it's got a reputation for pollution and no class, being the last American city on the West Coast and neighbor to Tijuana. (And I knew a person who knew a person who found a giant cockroach in a burger purchased in IB.)

HBO's companion site to promote the show is a little weird and hard to figure out, but then so is the show. (Use the search box. Go ahead and type in your favorite cuss words.) Critics are calling John from Cincinnati "weirder than Twin Peaks" (which is complete bullshit) and struggling to make sense of it. Again, it's a TV show, and while that may pass for high art in our culture, I'm sure writers David Milch and Kem Nunn will tell you they are not Shakespeare.



UPDATE & BONUS DISCOVERY: HBO is offering a sneak view of Episode 2 through "HBO on Demand," a pretty killer service (if you have HBO) that amounts to an "extras" feature on a DVD. Not just teasers of Episode 2, but the whole episode. HBO isn't "officially airing" this show until Sunday, but you can watch it now. No promos for it on the channel, no plugs on the website. Nothing. Word of mouth. F-ing testimonial, baby. I watched it. It's good.

Disclaimer: I'm not on HBO's blogging payroll. Yet.

The Scent That Sets Her Apart

Big Pharma for Big Love

HBO's show about a polygamist family in Utah is just plain bizarre - and well written. This spoof ad promoting the show is excellent. But I love spoof ads, especially ones with lots of juvenile not-so-subtleties like bananas, hotdogs, sprinklers popping up and more. (Note the extra special gag with a very high MSHI* rating as the husband holds the rake in the background as the three wives sit at the table.)

*Middle School Humor Index