Q: Why Would Cadbury Make A Video With A Gorilla Drumming To The Tune Of In The Air Tonight?

A: “Well it just seemed like the right thing to do. There’s no clever science behind it – it’s just an effort to make you smile, in exactly the same way Cadbury Dairy Milk does. And that’s what we aim to continue to do; simply make you smile.”

This mirrors exactly what I said yesterday about the need for both authenticity and intention in an ad—the existences of which are still debatable in the drumming gorilla spot, in my opinion.

Thanks to John Gruber.

Interlude: I Always Knew That Even The Two Most Disparate Fields Of Knowledge Intersect Somewhere

But I never imagined that this one would almost perfectly fits the context of the other: Christianity and Branding
.
The problem: they are fast losing impact and relevance thanks to people’s suspicion, distrust and weariness.

The difference: one’s about God, the other, about the product.

The similarity: there are 3 questions, the author wrote, that are at the core of a postmodernist’s accusation against Christianity (my commentaries and attempts are relating the subject to the Advertising industry are italicized):

1. First: “Why should I trust you?”
   This is a classic. Anyone in the business would know that we’ve had this problem since the 60’s.
2. Second: The question “Isn’t that just your reality?” talks about how relativism—“whatever works for you”—is at the core of a casual Postmodernist’s philosophy.

   But Mr. Richardson also wrote that relativism “has its plus side” in that “People are open to Jesus, they just don’t consider him the only way…[therefore,] I try to engage them in who Jesus is and not that the others aren’t correct.”

   This is where Christianity and Advertising intersects. The best way to grow your brand in a sea of products is to communicate what and who you really are, not what the competitor does worse than you do.

3. Third: The question “What good is Christianity?” is a question of utility and relevance.
   In the context of branding, this would be: “What good is your brand/product?” This is another question that should be close to the heart of any ad guy/girl.

   Mr. Richardson continues, “The question of the uniqueness of Christ is not primarily philosophical. People are not looking for theological comparisons but for attractiveness, relevance, and usefulness.”

   Religious people like to think that normal people would probably like to know how their beliefs are better than the rest. Advertiser like to think that customers would probably like to hear about why their brand/product/service is better.

   Nonsense. Customers don’t care for the same thing advertisers care for: hot ’n heavy, high-and-mighty messages. They are looking at how the brand/product/service is attractive, relevant and useful to their life; they are looking for ‘the right fit.’

In closing the piece, Mr. Hill suggested that the way to counter even the most relentless questions and accusations—fair or unfair, informed or ingnorant—is to “Be intentional and authentic in your friendship. Their response to my overtures can’t determine whether we stay in friendship. If it does, then it’s not a friendship but a manipulative ploy to get them to become a Christian. It’s a difficult paradox to reconcile.”

Here’s the golden rule: it’s not wrong to go ahead and have an intention of selling a product, but be genuine about it. That’s it. Intention without genuineness is, like Sony PSP’s graffitti campaign, universally despicable. Genuineness without intention is, like Sony’s PS3 “Baby” spot, simply bad advertising practice—in an ‘OMGWTFROTFLBBQ’ kind of way.

Look, if we all embrace the golden rule of intention and genuineness, maybe people wouldn’t come to hate advertising in the first place.

Yes?

Good night.

Is This Not One Of The Best Wedding Invitation Site On The Internet?

By a thoughtful mix of ASCII art, gangsta-inspired beats and animated GIF, Emma ♥ Paul had successfully won my heart.

Song and/or Artwork Of The Moment IV

8-Bit Pimp by A-Rival. It is indeed the first song that had succesfully put the words “bonafide pimp playa” and “Bionic Commando” together in one verse.

Untitled by Jason Huang. NOTE: the artwork is unusually large in dimension, so I kindly ask for your patience while loading.

Good night.

Watch Your Apostrophes

That is all.

We Are Calling For Authors, Contributors, and Writers That Can Write Sufficiently Good Musings On Various Web Ephemera

Especially among the 15–25 people that seem to religiously visit Link En Fuego. But really, it could be anyone.

Leave a comment here or email me at brampitoyo at hotmail dot com if you are interested.

Not incidentally, this is also a good way to figure out if WordPress’ Blog Stats have been giving false reports on unique visitors all this time.

Good night.

Just So You Know, Reincarnating In Tibet Without Government Permission Is Now Illegal

Right when you thought that they couldn’t hit any lower.

And so it is: in ten years, playing a barely religious track from an iPod knockoff will require prior fulfillment of all tax break form.

Note the italic.

Good night.

Q: How To Considerably Speed Up Your Windows Vista Computer

A: Delete Windows, then install Linux. (NOTE: D’oh! I forgot to link to the article when I published this post. I’ll try my best to track its source. Sorry.)

NOTE: He did put a smiley in the end of the post, so I am in the dark about his true intent as well as if I am supposed to chuckle or wry at his remark.

All I can say is, “Say that again?”

Good night.

Because I Heard Myself Secretly Whispering “No, You Haven’t Had Enough Variation Of Flexagons To Go Around Yet,”

Here’s Antonio Carlos M. de Quieroz’s drawing of “all possible hexaflexagons up to [the] order [of] 10.”

As if that wasn’t enough, he also wrote HexaFind.

Song and/or Artwork Of The Moment III

Mohabbat Ka Khazana by Indialucia is a masterly fusion of two seemingly disparate musical styles, Spanish flamenco and Indian raga. I said ‘masterly’ because other attempts at producing such type of music usually falter to either end of the equations—unwittingly becoming more Spanish or more Indian. This one achieves that rare balance.

Nila by Walton Ford, the “Audubon on Viagra.”