the art of conversation

MyDavidCameron.com

 

We recently stumbled upon MyDavidCameron.com

It is a site using crowdsourcing to create their own online spoof advertisements, that then get posted onto the site (as long as they're decent). 

The website spoofs the Tory's campaign endline 'Year for Change' and plays on criticism that Cameron's image was airbrushed for their campaign poster. It uses the politics-of-and, which is a form of political airbrushing: you can't cut the deficit and not cut the NHS; you can't cut taxes and have better services (apparently).

Meet Alex. And Andy.

2010 (so far) seems to be the year for technology. After the launch of the iPad in January, February sees the launch of Alex, a computer that makes computers fun and simple to use. 

Alex was launched last night at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden by co-founders Barney Morrison-Lyons, Harry Drnec and Andy Hudson (father of Simon our Field Director, as seen on the video).

Alex has been developed in response to people's anxiety around computers: confusion about how to use them, fear of breaking down etc. Alex's founders hope to have found the simple answer to those looking for more reassurance in simpler performing technology. 

Incidentally, Alex was named after Alexander Graham Bell who remarked the telephone's great feature was it could be used intuitively by anyone.

Nila Watch 3

John Pilger, Michael Moore, Peter Tatchell, move aside. Our own campaign against questionable food service delivery van advertising, is really starting to bite.

One of our very first blog posts in 2006 (sexist or effective?) alerted the world to the strange case of the photos on Nila delivery vans.  

(Our poll, however, revealed as many people thought it was effective, albeit in a gratuitous way, as thought it was sexist or offensive.)

Moving swiftly on, we then noticed that the Park Royal organisation had (possibly) responded to our blog and revised their whole art direction and creative strategy. Maybe they held a pitch and got a new agency in. 

The new phase of the campaign saw bikinis and innuendo being replaced by a tasteful couple smiling very close to some beans on toast. Toasty!

IN THE MEANTIME, A GUILTY PINT

 

I went on a brewery tour, organised by my neighbours in Greenwich, to a micro brewery on an industrial estate near Charlton, home of Meantime Brewing and learnt a whole new philosophy of beer. 8 out of 10 pints drunk in the UK are fizzy chemical piss, according to the owner, who is doing for beer what Green & Blacks did for chocolate. Having tasted the brew I have to agree with him. Like all quality products it takes some getting used to, but once you do so it's worth it. And they make light coloured beer as well as dark; true lagers because what is sold in pubs is not really lager at all.

The owner believes the beer industry has taken a wrong turn in putting all their investment into brands and advertising while cutting back on the maturation time of the beer.

Brands eh? Well if it's a crime then I'm guilty, but I have to admit he has a point. Let's hope we also have a culture of innovation where new brands offering superior quality can break through for the benefit of all.

Dominic