Were you a Halloweenie?

Hope you weren't too scared by the economy and had a few treats for your audience this Halloween. It's really one of the best times to ease your way into the consumer conscience with some fun soft-sellin' before the holiday hard-sell.

North Face escapes the pedestrian

Just thought we'd highlight some cool ideas from the Philippines. These ads were done for The North Face for their 'Escape the City' campaign. Nice to see some risk-taking illustrations out there. It would be cool to see these animated with a kind of heavy hip-hop beat scoring the chase.

HRW gives you our Hollywood look-a-likes.

At our recent anniversary luncheon we played the always fun "Who would play you in a movie?" (These are the "nice" results.) Can you guess who's who, or better yet, solve the puzzle?

H1N1...2....3....4

Laughter is the best medicine? That's..what..you..think.

Aus-some animation

It's no secret that we love the Aussies. And in a world where type animation is so often used as a creative crutch anymore, it's refreshing to see it used as an enhancement to a concept instead of in place of one.



What is remarkable is that it's good, and they showed every word spoken (usually a personal pet peeve of mine with this technique). It's true-to-concept for a writer's festival where no word is taken for granted.

But remember when Donatos hit us with one of the first real doses of typographic animation in the new millenium? We were like, "Whoa. That's nice." Now, everyone and their brother has a "type spot." But if you're just panning the camera across a script and tilting a few words here and there for 30 seconds, then you should just pack up your Ford F-150 and go home.

Of course, there is the Girl Effect - the exceptional exception that proves the rule. And the exception that proves how vital music, pacing and simplicity are when you're trying to break down complicated subject matter to inspire action. Plus, with no V/O, it follows true to the golden rule of TV: "Try not to say what you're showing or show what you're saying."

Other exceptions I've overlooked?

Cause marketing, just 'cuz

Children's Miracle Network has teamed up with Xbox to give away a gameroom to one of the country's children's hospitals. The decision is based on online votes. Currently, Riley Hospital for Children is in 6th place with 10 days to go.

So if you're wanting to find out a fun way to help one of the city's great causes, vote early and vote often.



What creative twists can you put on helping causes to foster relevant and meaningful win-win situations with your products?

Giving WTF a bad name

The Wisconsin Tourism Federation is fed up. It appears the Web has destroyed the innocent meaning of its abbreviation. In fact, the blogosphere has teased the WTF in such a WTF! fashion that last week the organization took action. Henceforth and forthwith, the Badger State will be the home of the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin. The group cited the need to "rearrange the words in our name to provide a sequence that would no longer distract from our long-standing mission." TFS, TFW.

On the other side of the coin, the World Taekwondo Federation is steadfast, seemingly begging people to make fun of them in an effort to keep up on their skills.

In related news, the Lower Montana Area Orchestra, the Hungarian United Youth Association and Forwarding Metropolitan Librarians were all unavailable for comment.

9 dictionaries you've never opened

A tried-and-true rule of thumb is to write what you know. Of course, successfully marrying looming deadlines with wild imaginations requires finding the shortcuts to knowing a little about a lot, so you can craft a unique voice for your unique concept. Here are nine resources for words and phrases you never knew were exactly what you were trying to say.

1. Talk the Talk: The slang of 65 American subcultures

So you've decided to plunge your audience into a different world. Maybe one that you yourself aren't that deeply informed in. Don't just scratch the surface with a word or two you picked up watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. Add some authenticity to your scripts by getting a little silly with the slang used by those in the know from tattoo artists to flyfishers to online gamers to stamp collectors and more.

2. The New Joys of Yiddish

You have to ask? Sometimes when writing for broadcast or video, rearranging word order is a great way to present dialogue in a new and entertaining way without having to dig up some lost words from Samuel Johnson's dictionary that may go over your audience's heads (not to mention your creative director's).

The idea here isn't to grab words like "kvetch," "schlep" or "ibbledick" per se, but to take a cue from the beautiful arrangements in Yiddish syntax to make your wit more acerbic. Here you'll find eloquently backhanded phrases ("Smart, he isn't."), comical cries of dismay ("It shouldn't happen to a dog.") and the difference between ahA! and Aha!

3. How to Speak Southern

A classic from my grade-school days, this borderline exercise in dialect can easily be dismissed as a humorous detour, but it can also be a useful look into how pronunciation and accent can add life to voiceovers especially in radio and podcasting where so much relies on the talents' reads.

4. Urban Dictionary

This mostly user-generated online reference is funny, irreverent and topical. And in paperback. Here you'll find words and phrases that are signs of the times and sometimes even ripped from the headlines. ("Hiking in Appalachia" ring a bell?) Subscribe to the Word of the Day, and it'll unlock your mind to try to outdo the urbanites yourself, especially where the idea is there, but the word they've offered up isn't quite right.

5. How Not to Say What You Mean

Euphemisms are what make language fun. And oftentimes, you don't need to know what one means beforehand if surrounded by the right contextual clues. Again, another opportunity to dig deeper into what exists and maybe come up with one of your own phrases that's even better. And more branded.

6. Knickers in a Twist

Go beyond "guv'nuh" with this guide to British slang. It may even inspire your own take on Cockney rhyming slang. And remember, a clever idiom from across the pond can spice up even the most American of commercials, so you don't have to try to spoof Austin Powers to be funny. Please.

7. Baby Name Wizard

Searching for a good, believable character name? Try the Baby Name Wizard. Of course, the original online version is the true gem - a graphically inspiring resource that allows you to search by name or by year back to 1880 to really capture the essence of a certain time period with the Baby Name Voyager. Not to mention, it offers some sweet eye candy for creating dynamic user experiences.

8. Oxford Dictionary of Physics

Sound smarter without actually being smarter by swiping a few well-timed words or concepts from this tome.

Or if physics isn't your bag, try one of its companion resources in chemistry, math, astronomy and zoology among others. Who knows, you may learn enough to write a relatively unfunny hit sitcom.

9. Writing Dialogue

OK, so we're cheating a little, but this resource is a simple way to remind us how smart and succinctly real dialogue is written. It's a great guide for keeping conversations crisp, especially in our world where you only have seconds to sell your story.

I bet Packer fans think this is just HILARIOUS.

In honor of the big game tonight, here are some classic outtakes from the Brett Favre "cold feet" commercial. Hey, if he's up for this, Eggo Waffles should give him a call. Note the green screen monitors in the outtakes before a generic boat montage was inserted in post. Makes me wonder what would've been better inserted into the final....Maybe his retirement press conference(s)? A Wrangler commercial? Footage of someone in flip-flops? On second thought adding something clever would've taken away from the concept. Right? Can't decide.

(The finished spot will play at the end.)