Imagine Spot 1 - Super Bowl Ad NBC Rejected

Compelling.

This will not run during the Super Bowl.

East v. LaFollette

Last night I watched the East v. La Follette boys varsity high school basketball game at La Follette. What took place in the second half was absolutely ridiculous in my eyes. And I'm not talking about the game.

The East High student section was standing, as was La Follette's group. As they were chanting "Scoreboard!" after a big shot, a supervisor from La Follette decided to make them all sit down. Nevermind her own students were shouting "USA" which in kid-term means "You Suck Ass." Four of the East High students were asked to leave for causing a ruckus.

Not Ok.

This was after she harrassed them for eating popcorn in the stands, and took away their food from them. She monitored them as if they were animals in a cage, and had help from one of the East High principals.

Then, as the clock ticked down in the fourth quarter, East with a solid lead, the announcer made the distinction between which door the students were to exit from. La Follette to the east side of the gym, East to the west door. "It's so they don't fight," I heard a few people say.

How about giving these students a bit more credit. We expect them to behave like animals, like children fighting over a toy, and so they do. Separating their exits? How about we treat them like adults and see if they can actually walk thru the same door.

If not, what does it matter-they continue to fight outside anyway. It is a direct result of the behavior of their instructors, who do not raise the bar for their behavior.

Little Women said it best: "When you hit and humiliate a child, the only lesson she will learn is to hit and humiliate." Granted these children aren't being hit, they are being caged and underestimated. They are, in many ways, being humiliated.

You wonder why there are thugs and gangs in high school, why no one can keep a child under control. We are asking them to act out, asking them to disobey authority. How about letting kids be kids at games. Let them wear a baseball hat after the bell rings, and chant loudly for their varsity boys. How else to suck the life from a teenager, than to rob them of their teenage fun?

Facebook and Advertising

Is Facebook too crowded for ads?

For the record, I believe that social media has permanently changed the landscape of marketing. Tools now exist for consumers to control the conversation with companies, and smart marketers can participate and engage with customers more directly and honestly than ever before. That's a reality.

The sacred cow is the belief that Facebook and Twitter are the premier platforms for this revolution. As those platforms become mainstream, marketers like us turn them into forms of traditional paid media and they become less valuable as social networks. Facebook is already starting to resemble a tacky mall cluttered up with unwanted advertising and promotional noise. As time goes on, I predict that people will want to protect their closest community of friends and will find ways to block out everyone else. They will leave mega networks for smaller, more focused communities. If you really care about the principles of social media, start looking for the next generation of platforms because as far as Facebook and Twitter go, the neighborhood is getting too crowded.

But who's right? then there's this comment:

i just love it when people talk dirty...about Facebook. Let's get serious about all of this social media. it is fast becoming one of the great time wasters of our age. As time becomes more valuable to employers and productivity becomes more in demand, time-wasters will diminish from monitored at-work key strokes. Twitter and Facebook will be the first to go. Moments later paranoia will set in as layoffs set heads to roll. No one will be wanting to be seen with LinkedIn or Plaxo on their screen if it is perceived as a network-me-outta-here activity. Social Networks are just that. "Social." It will take a quantum leap on the part of client cultures to "get" the ways to leverage social media. And then it will be the client, not the agency calling the shots on how it is used. As long as advertisers continue to regard the Audience as prospective customers, they will never get it right.

I guess we'll see.

Tears....

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The Wreckers

What ever happened to the Wreckers?

You're not sure that you love me
But you're not sure enough to let me go
Baby it ain't fair you know
To just keep me hangin' 'round

You say you don't wanna hurt me
Don't wanna to see my tears
So why are you still standing here
Just watching me drown

And it's alright, yeah I'll be fine
Don't worry 'bout this heart of mine
Just take your love and hit the road
There's nothing you can do or say
You're gonna break my heart anyway
So just leave the pieces when you go

Now you can drag out the heartache
Baby you can make it quick
Really get it over with
And just let me move on

Don't concern yourself
With this mess you've left for me
I can clean it up, you see
Just as long as you're gone

You not making up your mind
Is killing me and wasting time
I need so much more than that
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Leave the pieces when you go
Oh yeah
Leave the pieces when you go
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Leave the pieces when you go

Bush was right

Rove delves into what Bush was right about...

To start with, Mr. Bush was right about Iraq. The world is safer without Saddam Hussein in power. And the former president was right to change strategy and surge more U.S. troops.

A legion of critics (including President Barack Obama) claimed it couldn't work. They were wrong. Iraq is now on the mend, the war is on the path to victory, al Qaeda has been dealt a humiliating defeat, and a democracy in the heart of the Arab world is emerging. The success of Mr. Bush's surge made it possible for President Obama to warn terrorists on Tuesday "you cannot outlast us."

Mr. Bush was right to establish a doctrine that holds those who harbor, train and support terrorists as responsible as the terrorists themselves. He was right to take the war on terror abroad instead of waiting until dangers fully materialize here at home. He was right to strengthen the military and intelligence and to create the new tools to monitor the communications of terrorists, freeze their assets, foil their plots, and kill and capture their operators.

These tough decisions -- which became unpopular in certain quarters only when memories of 9/11 began to fade -- kept America safe for seven years and made it possible for Mr. Obama to tell the terrorists on Tuesday "we will defeat you."

Whoa- Double Take!

A little makeup and this guy could pull a "Dave" for Obama.

Or a Doublemint Gum commercial.

Pelosi sure a class act

How rude.

Pelosi said one of her favorite moments from Inauguration Day was when Marine One lifted off the Capitol grounds, signifying former President George W. Bush's exit from Washington. "It felt like a 10-pound anvil was lifted off my head," she said.

Ugh. What a horror. I hope Congress rejoices when she's finally gone.

In the meantime, "said she will move far-reaching climate change legislation this year." Awesome, more worthless legislation for Americans to fund.

Homegrown W Love

Chippewa Falls contributes.

A product made by a Chippewa Falls company will follow George W. Bush throughout his final day as president and first day in eight years as a private citizen.

Cool.

The Poem and the Prayer

I thought Obama's speech was fine. He had a few good lines, and it'll be better in hindsight. Not as pleasing to the literary ear as I had hoped, but we'll see...

But I must espouse upon the after-speech ceremony. The poem? Hardly poetic. A million other choices could have been made. And the benediction?!?!? WHAT?

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around - when yellow will be mellow - when the red man can get ahead, man - and when white will embrace what is right.

Can't get much more offensive than that.

I am proud of our nation for coming so far to elect a half-black man to the Presidency of the United States. It is quite the distance from the days of hosing people down in the streets like animals, barring them from cafes and schools. We all should be proud, for letting go of the prejudices and wrong-doings of the past.

But it baffles me, that the people pointing out the discrimination and racism in the world, are black people. When I look at Barack Obama I do not see a black man. Sure, the color of his skin is darker than mine. But I've always seen a well-educated, eloquently spoken, devoted husband and attentive father who has the ability to move people with speech. It is all the black people that remind us he's black.

Well the discussion ends here. No one can tell me that black people have to start from further behind, that America doesn't give them a fair chance, that white people are still discriminating against them. No black man can back out of his responsibility and blame it on the government that doesn't support him, or the neighbors that don't understand his minority status.

I will simply point to our Commander in Chief and silence them.

Paint on George H W

A vandal got to a bronze statue of President George H W Bush. Not Ok.

Shortly before 2pm, Houston police got a call of criminal mischief in progress at the George Bush monument on Bagby at Preston in downtown Houston. Witnesses say a man who appeared to be homeless was using paint to vandalize the monument.

The man was described as having long blond hair, possibly in a ponytail, and wearing a plaid shirt. He may still have some yellow paint on him.

Hey dumbass: wrong Bush! My guess is he just wasn't smart enough to notice.

Defacing statues or any imagery of political figures (minus all dictators) should automatically cause people to lose their right to vote.

I don't understand why he was so upset. Our new President is now formulating the plan to lift him right out of his homelessness.

Emotions run high

Dana Perino cried.

The pentup emotion of the moment was too much for some of Bush's loyal staff, who stayed true as the ratings of their boss sank to historic lows.

Laura Bush cheerily waved and said "Bye, Dana" to White House press secretary Dana Perino as she entered the White House after greeting the Obamas. The moment was too much for Perino, who burst into tears.

White House officials said the Bush administration was over. There would be no last-minute executive orders or pardons, and the remaining staff began turning in their BlackBerrys.

Moving vans began pulling up right after Bush and Obama left for the Capitol at 11 a.m. Before leaving, Bush left behind a note for Obama in the top drawer of the Oval Office desk.

The custom is not to disclose the contents, but Perino said the general theme was "about the fabulous new chapter President-elect Obama is about to start, and that he wishes him the very best."

Good thing I wasn't the only one!