Look. We all get those stupid emails that fly around the office. You know the ones I am talking about: racist/sexist/generally bogan oriented jokes that go on for paragraphs, Jesus’ effigy in toast and those unfortunate photos of obese Americans that were too sexual for Funniest Home Videos.

This was not one of those emails.

A colleague recently sent this particular video to me and the part of me that still laughs hysterically at racial stereotypes reared it’s ugly head. 

 Basically it is a news clip sourced from a local news channel in Alabama, centred on the unfortunate victim of an attempted rape and her brother that almost apprehended the victim: Antoine Dodson.

I won’t go on to describe the video because I think the larger than life Antoine speaks for himself…

The original video has over 5 million views and counting on Youtube while the autotunes song inspired by the clip (made by New York based satirists) has over 12 million Youtube hits and recently  hit the top 25 songs on iTunes singles charts.

Dodson has also released a range of merchandise featuring his best catchphrases, and frankly I can’t wait to get my hand on a “hide ya kids”  t-shirt.

One of the most hyped movies of this year has been Chris Nolan’s Inception, which is currently confusing Neanderthal bogans the world over.

I did really enjoy Inception; it had a killer cast, was genuinely suspenseful and Chris Nolan did a fantastic job at juggling five realities simultaneously.  I still am sitting at my computer over a week later listening to Hans Zimmer’s killer soundtrack.

Inception is also great because it gives audiences something to talk about after the movie has ended; mostly “that scene” at the end with the spinning top totem.

I love hearing people fight over whether Cob is dreaming, awake, or more perplexingly, is the whole thing is his mind to begin with?

However Inception suffers a little like other Nolan movies such as the Dark Knight where the action sequences are edited in such a way they are a little difficult to follow (much like Ken Watanabe’s sketchy Engrish accent, harro?). I found myself saying “what the what?” a few times in the snow fortress dream where characters shooting at each other seemed to all be one in the same.

Inception comes after a truly dismal string of blockbusters like Sex & the City 2 (Racism & the Desert) Twilight Eclipse (just eat Bella Edward, that way she will stop whining) and Clash of the Titans (more holes in that plot than a Newtown “ladies” bar). Inception is one of the more original action movies out recently, with so many screenplays of late being drawn from graphic novels.

So I do wonder a little bit, am I so in love with Inception simply because it rocks, or am I just starved of decent films? I think the answer is probably a bit of both, Inception borrows liberally from the Matrix and to be perfectly honest, Nolan could have inserted a lot more crazy physics defying stuff like the fold-over Paris sequence. Towards the end I found myself longing for more visual paradoxes rather than Bond-style snow chase sequences.

All that aside I really do believe Inception was one of the best movies I have seen in ages, and it really has saved me a lot of awkward silences lately. My go to question when I have nothing else of interest to say to people who I’d rather choke on than talk to is “have you seen Inception yet?”

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I love my comics dearly. I love it even more when they are made into kick ass films (I’m looking at you Sin City, and NOT you Daredevil and Fantastic Four). 

But what I REALLY REALLY love is when people make weird pop-culture pastiches with comic book characters (you may be having a WTF moment right about now).

With the release of Iron Man 2 in cinemas this week, I’m glad I’m not the one wearing metal armour, because it would rust from all my excitement induced urinating.

It seems I’m not the only one, as people with more creative juices (and less-serious bladder control issues) have made these awesome videos to tide people over until Thursday.

First my favourite fictional media outlet: the Onion spread the buzz that Gwyneth Paltrow gets a massive punch to the face in the film (which would be karma for her painful Best Actress acceptance speech).

Then Youtube effect man reubenpac has mashed up a collection of classic movie scenes featuring Tony Stark in all his armored glory.

None of these videos are claimed as a part of the official movie marketing strategy from the studio; they had their own cool interactive trailer.

It is just cool to see a (I hope) really awesome movie generate marketing ripples across the internet.

See all the videos in their glory below.

Gwyneth face punched.

Titanic

Dirty Dancing

VS Hugh Grant

Two weeks ago was one of those “well duh!” moments in the world: Ricky Martin confirmed he is indeed a “fortunate homosexual” (whatever that means).

Well I don’t know about you guys, but I could pick that one coming a proverbial mile away. I mean, at his height Ricky as just about the most desired man in the Western World. That kind of attention would send even the most conservative straight man into a well-publicised sexual frenzy, a-la Russel Brand. 

The only ladies I ever saw Ricky shaking his bon-bon with was in his film clips, and even that was always done in bondage-chic leather pants.

But of course Ricky is now 38, and it seems approaching 40 is the time to hang up your open necked silk shirts, take care of your kids and of course: release your biography. How timely to give such an "earth shattering" (*cough*) announcement. I wish him well.

But honestly, Ricky was in the closet for a good decade or so, and everyone knew it.  The only closest-case worse than him is Alan Jones (Whose social diary photo with Matt Mitcham at the Funky Trunks launch party a couple of weeks ago never fails to amuse me).

It made me start thinking what else was “in the closet” in the media that everyone knew about, but nobody explicitly stated it; and more I thought about it, the more I saw it everywhere.

There are countless people and issues in the media that are like Ricky “afraid to come out of the closet”.

For starters, everyone knows the “War on Terror” was really just George Bush out for control of oil in the Middle East.  I am pretty sure it is the Liberace of closeted political agendas.

And no kids, that is not Bert Newton’s real hair; Kennedy was not a faithful to Jackie O; that was not Michael Jackson’s real skin tone and ladies: most of you will poop in front of your obstetrician when you give birth.

But the closeted agenda even more important than all of the ones listed above: the Australian internet censorship in the works is not about protecting children from sensitive materials, it is all about fulfilling Christian fundamentalist Steven Fielding’s personal agenda.

I am sure I am missing many, many more.

But what really is important here is that while Ricky Martin concealing his homosexuality is potentially not hurting anyone but himself, real agendas that are ethically questionable are being cleverly disguised of their real purpose in the media every day.

It is time to get them out of the closet, and into light.

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Let me precede this post first by saying: I like Sex & the City.

There, have said it. I am a man and I like… no, love Sex & the City.

I love it mostly because it is pure escapism: sex, cool clothes, drama, wit and sexy ladies. Who cares about reality?

The television show itself was huge, millions tuned in to watch the explicit exploits of neurotic Carrie, conservative Charlotte, cynical Miranda and exhibitionist Samantha. The show brought sex out from behind closed doors right onto the brunch table on a Sunday, and made dozens of brands such as Manolo Bhlanik household names. Carrie and the ladies lived in a bubble of designer clothes, cocktails and er…cock, that became the somewhat unattainable aspirational lifestyle model for women.

This is where the commercial success of the show lies. Because the characters live a consumerist lifestyle of epic proportions, product placement was organic to the storyline and was never really considered inappropriate.

By the time the first movie came around, brands were literally salivating at the thought of being associated with the movie. The built in fan base guaranteed high exposure to an international audience and the show had a track record of turning any product Carrie and co were seen with into the must have item of the season.

Even as we approach the release of the 2^nd movie, items that have been photographed on the actors in public shoots or featured in the trailer have sold out at retailers. The Brian Atwood’s studded Loca pumps snapped on Sarah Jessica Parker’s feet on set, sold out of the shoe within three days on Net-A-Porter, despite a $725 price tag. Even Parker herself is utilizing the 2^nd movie as a vehicle to promote her own financial interests, featuring her own fashion label in the myriad of clothes.

No wonder New Line Cinema considers this movie "the Super Bowl for women”.

But it is not all one way, Sarah Jessica Parker acknowledges that without the brand partnerships, the movie would never have been realised. The first movie relied heavily on Mercedes Benz, the vehicle of choice for Mr. Big.

But honestly, is this new movie really an exercise in art, or commerce? The show walked a fine line featuring brands so blatantly; its only salvation was the sexual social commentary. The new movie certainly does not appear to be as explicit.

I couldn’t help but wonder… has Sex & the City just become Days of Our Lives with better outfits?

Check out the new trailer for Sex & the City below…

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/sex-and-the-city-2.html?showVideo=1

Happy Easter everyone! And an even happier Easter to Nestle who I think will be needing a little cheer after what I imagine would have been a slump in chocolate sales, all thanks to our friend Facebook.

Ahhhhh Facebook. Where do I begin with Facebook? The social media tool that has changed the way we connect, the death of Myspace, abhorred office timewaster, blah blah blah. 

I both love and hate Facebook. I love it because it unites me with my friends, especially those who are beyond my geographical sphere (or I am too lazy to call). But it also leads to silly things such as friends undergoing a crisis updating their Facebook status with contemporary pop badly disguised as their own poetry.

FYI: In the air tonight by Phil Collins is not prose poetry.

Facebook is a great opportunity for companies to reach their target audiences in new and dynamic ways, I think one of my favourite campaigns was when Burger King were offering free Whoppers if you sacrificed ten people from your friends list.

Suddenly all those people from college who you never speak to had a new purpose in life: to get me burgers.  The campaign was swiftly removed because it went against the ideals of Facebook, but Burger King generated even more publicity out of the incident and got some kudos for creating an offbeat campaign.

 But one should always remember that Facebook is essentially a social tool and thus if you are a company you have to navigate very tricky waters so you don’t end up with pie on your face. Case in point – Nestlé’s recent debacle with Greenpeace.

It all started when Greenpeace decided to campaign against the use of palm oil in South East Asia. Palm oil is obtained by deforestation of rainforests, which in turn has catastrophic effects on the biodiversity of the area.

Food giant Nestle was sourcing palm oil for its products from Sinar Mas, a company accused of illegal deforestation in Indonesia. Greenpeace targeted Nestle by producing a video of an office worker eating a orangutan finger from a Kit-Kat packet and then producing visuals on their website that manipulated Nestle logos.

Nestle had the video removed from Youtube which then led to a tsunami of negative comments posted on their Facebook fan page including this gem: “I am crazy about chocolate! But Nestlé, never again!!!!!!!!!!! You are bad, bad people. A horrible company. Boycott Nestlé!!!!! Killers!!!!!!!!!!!” those are some hostile exclamation marks indeed.

Initially Nestle thought it best to censor any negative comments off the page and warned any alterations of their logo would be removed; however this only added fuel to the fire. Comments on their fan page got even more hostile and consumers were calling for a boycott of products in the lead up to Easter.

Nestle eventually pulled Sinar Mas as their supplier, but continue to use palm oil, and have only committed to using sustainable palm oil products by 2015. Currently Nestle are doing a very good job of posting recipes and official statements with upmost regularity on their fan page to disguise the torrent of angry posts that continue to plague the site.

It is now hard to distinguish what is the bigger news story, the fact that Nestle are using products that lead to deforestation, or they have committed a massive faux par through misunderstanding social media that has seriously damaged their image?

Clearly this is a case of a large company with an extensive history of using traditional advertising not recognising the power that exists within new media platforms. If this debacle played out within any other media arena, my guess is Nestle would have had a crisis communication plan to deal with it.

I mean really, the video of a man eating an orangutan finger was a smear campaign at best; it was really their bumbling high-handed antics afterwards that caused the most outrage.

Oh well, it seems only April sales figures will be able to discern who was the victor in this scenario. Consider this your consolation prize Nestle; at least you were not on the back end of this Facebook calamity.

It seems that Tourism Australia have finally got their act together and decided to send the “Where the Bloody hell are you?” campaign to proverbial farm upstate (very timely considering Lara Bingle’s career has gone to the dogs). And it’s about time.

I mean seriously, for a multi-million international campaign, they really did not anticipate how foreign countries would act to the potentially offensive language, and certainly did not account for the fact that “bloody” as an Australian slang term certainly does not translate in to foreign languages very neatly.

The new campaign is “There’s nothing like Australia”, which is suitably un-offensive, and has a lot of potential to become an interesting and multifaceted campaign. Tourism Australia is aiming for longevity this time rather than shock value, hoping that the new campaign would outlast a few Prime Ministers according to executive general manager of marketing Nick Baker.

In the gestational stage of the campaign, the Australian public are being asked to upload photographs of their favourite Australian experience and explain in 25 words or less why “There’s nothing like…”. The submissions are then turned into an interactive map of Australia created by the general public; it is hoped that real-life Australians flogging the country to foreigners will go better than barley-there-bikini-clad-bogans.

Eventually these submissions will then become a part of the multi-media campaign across TV, print and digital and there will be tailored ads that feature a specific location or experience.

Following this, Aussie director dujour Michael Gracey will create a video advertisement specifically for TV and online platfroms. Gracey has received a lot of kudos lately for realizing the Evian babies TVC which has had more than 20 million views on YouTube.

This campaign is a very interesting backtrack from the big in-your-face video production that was “Where the Bloody Hell Are You”.  It is almost like they are apologizing for slapping everyone in the face by giving them a hug.

The social media element is a nice way of personalizing the campaign, and at the same time securing public approval for what is essentially the face of Australia to a lot of the international community.

However it is interesting they are not engaging the international community by securing their involvement in the social media component to expand the breadth of the campaign. Surely some of the best people to sell us to the international community would be people who have actually been here?

We can only hope the days of capitalizing on the Aussie larrikin stereotype are over, there are only so many ways we can portray ourselves as a nation of utter idiots. Throw another cliché on the barbie?

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Move over Britney, it seems that the hottest musician spokesperson these days is Lady Gaga.

Not satisfied with already having recently acquired a major equity stake in Polaroid (the announcement of which gave Polaroid the most press they have had in years); a multitude of companies have been slapped across her latest video sensation: Telephone.

In this particular Tarantino/Natural Born Killers/Thelma and Louise mash-up extravaganza, Gaga whips out a Virgin mobile phone, has Diet Coke cans rolled through her hair, takes long and laborious shots of Beyonce through her handy Polaroid camera and even makes a sandwich with a bottle of Miracle Whip.

The video debuted online not too long ago, and since has generated close to 23 million hits, which is reaching the kind of viewership numbers than high profile television shows like Grey’s Anatomy received in its heyday in the US. 

It’s pretty obvious why so many brands were so quick to jump on the Telephone Pussy wagon.

What is unnerving for some is the “blatant” product placement going on for an artist that claims to be the most avant-garde thing since Marcel Duchamp.

However Gaga refutes her critics claiming that the placement of several items in the video clip is a commentary on over-consumption of material goods in American culture; the vomiting, gyrating bodies in the diner all dance under the American flag as a criticism of capitalist gluttony. 

However it could be argued that commenting on overconsumption by using traditional advertising techniques is in fact feeding the very monster you are fighting.  For someone who declares to be above the bubble-gum pop world (where you’re not truly famous until you are a brand ambassador) Gaga seems to be running with the sell-outs awfully well.

Product placement in film clips, and indeed in film in general, is a well-rehearsed practice. Die Another Day- the 21^st Bond film had the notoriety of being branded “Buy Another Day” by film critics after a recorded 20 companies paid $70 million to have their products featured in the film in a not so-subliminal manner (Halle Berry holding a Pepsi can in Pierce Brosnon’s face was not exactly subtle).

But what is the right path for marketers in this situation? It seems to be an advertising Catch-22; either a product is too subliminal to be noticed, or too blatant not to be criticized.

HOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BETTER.

Product placement it is all about synergy and balance. The core values of a brand should align with the values a celebrity projects; and the product placement should be done in a manner that does not hinder the artistic integrity of the musician, yet still connects with consumers.

Perhaps Lady Ga Ga could lay off the long-gratuitous shots of Polaroid cameras in her film clips, and instead, have Polaroid stands at her concerts for customers to sample their latest instant camera and take happy snaps of their concert experience.

After all, isn’t blatantly overshadowing a music icon with your product just plain…ahem... Ga Ga?

Watch Telephone is all its' glory below:

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