http://www.facebook.com/TropicanaCanada#!/TropicanaCanada?v=app_4949752878 

Tropicana shed some light (and plenty of OJ) on the permanent darkness Canadians living up north deal with during winter months.   First a Facebook group complete with photos and videos, and now their top TV spot, we checked it out and compiled our thoughts:

“ A cute idea, but not sustainable. It’s not like they’ve leave the article sun plugged in forever. Or during the times of darkness in the Arctic.”

“It’s also unlikely that the local stores even stock Tropicana. And I don’t even want to know the eco-footprint on this little gem of an idea.”

“It’s made a lot of the industry blogs: I think you guys are bang-on re: sustainability and carbon footprint.  Also: while the final execution does look cool, the whole thing somehow feels really forced to me.”

“But it’s a good ‘forced’.  It simply connects with the brand and tells a nice story for the viewer.  Instead of donating money or time to a cause, they delivered an interesting experience to the folks up north and, in turn, delivered an interesting experience to us.” 

“Happily they’re doing this through a real event, done docu-style and it’s a fairly authentically positive feeling all around. I liked it the moment I saw it on Creativity and, you know, I’m wild for the modern ads that are grounded in core human truths.”

 Summary:  Thoughtful and inspiring, but with practicality an issue.  They made people happy on an artistic level, but the faux sun won’t stay forever and the free juice will run out. 

On a note closer to the basics:

“Getting sick of hummable little folk ditties as soundtracks though.”

 As well, to gain a little more insight; some comments from the Facebook group:

“I cannot believe how unauthentic and frivolous this is. For the sake of the connection of an ad to your tagline, you disrespect the situation in which a community lives in, in northern Canada by “brightening one day” with a balloon. So the next day, the place is back in darkness (actual and metaphorical) and the Tropic…”-Maya

To the response of…

“There’s always someone to make a good deed look bad! I think it was wonderful to travel so far to brighten someone’s day, even if it was only one day!!”! -Dinah

 

Seems the thoughts are like night and day…

After months of speculation that Adam Giambrone, chairman of the TTC, would enter the Mayoral race in Toronto, a viral miss (or perhaps even mess) staring Giambrone himself is setting Torontonians a flurry.  The video satirically shows an eager Giambrone “training” for the Mayoral race, if you will.

It appears the Giambrone camp is looking to strengthen his public image, particularly among youth, after increasing pressure and criticism of the TTC of late.  Most recently, the snoozing TTC collector twitpic which hit the interwebs last week.

While being viral online seems like an easy and foolproof method to get in touch with young people, the fact remains that youth are much more practical than people give them credit for.  We see this again and again in our research here at Youthography.  For the Giambrone camp to think that young people are so flighty and distractible that an un-funny viral video would trump something which affects their daily lives, like say, poorly managed TTC, is quite out of touch with reality. The bottom line is that a mediocre viral video will not and cannot overshadow Giambrone’s reputation with the TTC.

The general out of touch-ness of Giambrone’s strategy really makes us, and young people all over the blogosphere, wonder – does this guy even get it?  In addition, the immature tone of this video begs the question, is Adam Giambrone actually “Ready”…or maybe not?

Written by Kanan Korthari, Manager – kanan@youthography.com

Apparently in the bail bond game (not to mention the pest control game, yep, seriously) for at least a few years in the Baltimore area, Bishop Barry released in the middle part of 2009 what is quickly becoming a bit of a meme of the moment now.

The catchy call and response of “Bail Out! Bail Out!” is up there with Tina Fey’s “Dealbreaker” to be sure and, at this juncture, who knows where this could go. Will it gain new, and lasting, life in an SNL or Jamie Fallon skit? Will memographers capture its potent essence and hit us with online tributes thereby guaranteeing it some sort of viral history?  

Whatever the case, it’s damn great at breakthrough and brand awareness, and it’s cheap. As such, it could very well be in position soon to gain access to the pop cultural advertising vaults – right next to the famous BluBlocker rap.

Athletes who tweet, blog,or appear on a reality show is old news. Athletes with their own channel? Leave it to Chad Ocho Cinco to offer a $4.99 iPhone app that allows you to access videos, tweets, and even ask him for advice.

What we love about this? Just about everything!

• Firstly, Chad is hilarious. He legally changed his last name last year from “Johnson” to “Ocho Cinco” so that he could wear that name on his jersey. Why? He plays in number 85. Of course even a basic study of Spanish tells you that “8-5” is different than “85” but who cares. BTW, he changed it during “Spanish Heritage Month” in 2008.

• He still dances, does stunts and gets fined by the league when he plays. He’s worn fake Hall of Fame jackets, danced with the mascot, proposed to a cheerleader, and once filled in for their starting kicker. He leaps into the stands when he scores…at the other team’s stadium.

• The app was partially written by Cincinnati Bengals back-up quarterback Jordan Palmer.

• When the Bengals were featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this summer, sports blogs spent a lot of time talking about his personality: he’s an ass, but a really likeable one. He’s hilarious and hugely popular and a perfect example of a human brand: he represents an attitude and a style that the young people connect with. He’s “New School.”

For a sample of his antics, check out this YouTube tribute video.