Flirty Swedish Cider

Swedish ciders by Krönleins Bryggeri. Genius design.

What to Do, Who to Be?

For those in my class who are unsure of what they want to do, this website provides a great breakdown of different positions within an advertising agency.

-25- I Present to You My Portfolio

www.cargocollective.com/nooralmu

It’s a little bare but that only motivates me to create incredible work that I would be proud to put online.

This has honestly been the hardest term I’ve had at the UO so far. I’m anxious, overworked, and sleep deprived. But, in the words of Deb Morrison, if it was easy, than anyone could do it.

And, if it was easy, I wouldn’t feel a sense of accomplishment like I feel right now. I’ve learned a lot, had some fun, met some great people, and what makes it even more incredible is that this is only the beginning.

Beautiful Commitment

This is beautiful. There are no words. Kudos to the team behind the creation of this video. Your way of thinking is what drives all the good in the world.

-24- An Example of Great Thinking

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again! The United States needs to stop shying away from blatant condem advertisements.

The following video is an example of a ridiculously creative, almost revolutionary campaign run by Brazilian advertising agency, AGE Isobar. I believe it is an unprecedented way to use social media for a campaign. I don’t think it will be long before US agencies try their hands at this method.

So, how would you feel if you received a friend request from your unborn child?

-23- The 5 Finger Discount

I loved this article on AdWeek. Robert Klara discusses the increase of shoplifting during the holiday season and lists a few items that I would never have thought were commonly shoplifted. Meat, anyone?

-22- Shock Value- in the Best Way

Again, I love public service announcements particularly when they’re done by advertising professionals. To make something creative but that also informs the public on important issues – I think there’s nothing better.

This particular PSA caught my eye on AdWeek.

 

We all know the precarious situation of clutter in advertising. You need to cut through the clutter but also keep in mind that you’re adding to the clutter. As a result, advertisers resort to drastic techniques often involving issues that offend most people to ensure their advertisements get heard and seen.

However, every now and then, an advertiser creates an ad that has just the right amount of shock value. This PSA is a perfect example. The message kicks you in the gut. It’s not scare tactics, but the truth: blunt and unfortunate.

And I absolutely love that the PSA acknowledges the fact that there are people who cannot afford cribs. This PSA does everything; it educates and assists.

-21- Tide: Disappointing, Unimaginative, and Damaging

I cannot believe it has taken me all term to blog about this Tide advertisement.

Tide’s commercial has been weighing on my mind all term. When I first saw it on television, I wasn’t outraged, or upset, or offended; I was disappointed in Tide. I view Tide detergent as a leader in laundry care. They have been around for decades, it’s the detergent my mom uses and it’s the detergent I now use. I trust the brand and the company.

I expected more.

I know quite a few members of the LGBTQ community and they would be quick to agree with me that this advertisement can be especially damaging to young boys and girls who do not feel comfortable in their bodies, who feel that they have been born the wrong gender.

Transgendered issues aside, this commercial stands for all the wrong things. What if a little girl is perfectly content with being a girl but she doesn’t want to wear uncomfortable lace and play with dolls all day? Does she deserve this polite contempt (I don’t know what else to call it) from her mother?

Even if this commercial is meant to be ironic (please go to my post about irony and advertising), just because Tide knows it’s ironic, I know it’s ironic, and Tide knows I know it’s ironic, it doesn’t mean it’s right.

Tide, the 1950′s texted, they want their gender ideologies back.

-20- Uhms, Filler words, and the Dreaded “Like”

Watch this first:

For those readers who do not watch How I Met Your Mother (shame on you), the premise of this particular episode revolved around Robin’s (an early morning news host) overuse of the filler phrase “but, uhm” and how Ted’s students had made a drinking game out of it. From the clip you see Ted and Barney playing the drinking game.

As a huge How I Met Your Mother fan, I laughed hard during this episode, as a person who says “like” and “but uhm” in nearly every sentence, I cringed. I couldn’t help but worry about how unprofessional and uncertain I sounded. The other day, I went to a professor’s office hours, and I found myself saying “like” repeatedly. There were moments when I was trying to figure out what I was trying to say but I couldn’t get past ”like.” “Like, like, like, uhm. . .” It’s as if I were possessed by a filler word demon.

I didn’t like it (correct use of the word “like”).

The sad part was, I really enjoyed this professor’s class and would have loved to have an intelligent conversation with her. After that moment, I became almost hyper aware of filler words. I paid close attention to lectures that day and found that none of my professors overused filler words, even when a student’s question threw them off guard.

However, whenever students spoke up, their brief responses were riddled with “uhms” and “likes!”

As a journalism major, I know the importance of speaking clearly and with certainty. I know that my love/hate relationship with “like” could work against me in a job interview or it could cause others to not listen to my ideas.

Filler words bug the crap out of my mom, my professors, me, and most people I know. So, why is my generation so intent on breaking apart our sentences with words that mean absolutely nothing?

I decided to google “how to stop saying like” and received 33,600,000 results. Seriously.

However, I checked out over 30 results and many of the articles voiced people’s annoyance with filler words rather than actually providing tips on avoiding them.

Is there any hope for me to speak eloquently and not like a 12-year-old, gum-smacking girl?

-19- Ad Teachings

I had two hours until my next class started and decided to sit in a cafe instead and browse some of the links that other people in the Creative Strategist recommended. As a result, Ad Teachings has quickly become my favorite site. The creator, Suzanne Pope, compiles various advertisements she’s seen and explains why some work and why others do not. She also critiques work that students submit in to her. I think this site is great for anyone starting out in advertising. She provides many different insights and I could (and did) spend hours looking through all the great ads she has posted.