AdVerve 81 - Postgiving

We hit all the bases this week, folks -- from Twilight duvet covers to wince-worthy holiday ads to Occupy Wall Street. WE EVEN COVER TWITTER PROFILE TERRORISM! Kicking off with a quick 3 for 3, we roll into the holidays and wrap up with a long and glorious rant about bad Twitter profiles (examples included!). Sorry if you were one. (Not really. We still like you, just take a few exclamation points out of your elevator pitch.)

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AdVerve 80 - Halloweeness Edition

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Primal fears will always make great movies, and we hit all the points this ep: our favorite horror flicks and why, the best villains, and an opening tribute to the best villain-slash-hero of them all: Steve Jobs. All that angry action, coupled with Halloween ads, reflections on the ethics of stealing, the mindset of startups, race in costume, and when the world will be ready for an evil unicorn movie.

(Also, whatever happened to movies about sea monsters?)

Our movies of choice:

- The Exorcist
- The Shining
- Silence of the Lambs
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Countess
- I Am Legend
- Juon (English version: The Grudge)
- Paranormal Activity
- The Saw series
- The Friday the 13th series
- 30 Days of Night
- The Lovely Bones
- The Hunger
- The Addiction

Linkaphoria:

- The Method Method
- Apple iPadfomercial
- Joshua Hoffine's horror photography
- Bill's Instagrid
- Angela's Instagrid
- Halloween ads: Axe and Agent Provocateur

AdVerve 79 - The Show-Stopper

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First, an announcement. LADIES AND GENTS, WE GIVE YOU ADVERVEBLOG.COM, a labour of love that incorporates the magic of Make the Logo Bigger, Live & Uncensored and Darryl Ohrt's Brandflakes for Breakfast. (Some math: Bill + Angela + Darryl = BAD. THAT'S DESTINY!)

Here's our launch article. Follow with great enthusiasm and mass. Also, expect more Darryl action on future podcasts.

This episode kicks off on a battle of the films, then drifts fast and loose into TV show territory. Breaking Bad plays a starring role and Angela demonstrates once again that she can work a Buffy reference into any conversation -- in this case, Bill's reflection on the heroization of white male criminals. (Jack the Ripper wiggles his way in somehow, too. Who do you think he was, by the way? This guy or this guy?)

Movies we're dying (not literally though) to see? Red State and This Must Be the Place. WATCH THAT SHIT!

You also find out what stars get us going and -- and! -- what our superpowers are. It's a show-stopper like no other.

Linksophrenia:

- Kevin Smith protests the protesters at his "Red State" Sundance - not mentioned on the show, still worth watching though
- The hyper-awesome OK Cupid blog
- Jetpacks' awesome AdVerve Blog post. Credit also goes to him for our Supergroup comic up top
- Caustic Soda's Jack the Ripper episode
- Dior's new Charlize Theron ad

AdVerve 78 - The Rapture

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Wait, that’s the end of the world, innit. WELL IT’S NOT. We have more AdVervial goodness for you people and that other stuff will just have to wait. Pick a topic because like a pot luck from hell, it’s in here. Movies to watch, commercials to avoid, and politicians to vote for. But wait, there’s more: Other podcasts of note and blog projects to read. Angela dishes on why Egypt is a swell place to visit and why the lira is was an even sweller currency. But we digress. Which is why you listen.

The Linkage You Need:

- Vintage Palmolive ad: "Most man ask 'is she pretty?', not 'Is she clever?'"
- Mohr Stories
- This Week With Larry Miller
- Big Lebowski
- Sarah Palin’s Grizzly spot
- The 3six5 Project
- The 3six5 Project, Chicago edition


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AdVerve 77: The Self-Interested Entertainment Purge

This would not work for monkeys.

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We breach hot social music solutions: Spotify, GrooveShark, Songify. Then it's a hard turn into licensing and piracy, dipping into the Netflix price hike, the true cost of content (if any) and Kevin Smith's latest (and last) directorial oeuvre (no more Chasing Amy for you). Angela squeezes in helpful facts about advertising to monkeys (sex and celebrity still sell) and lets loose on the unique qualities of ants. Bill wiggles in a vivid reflection on Tarantino and his Inglourious Basterds catharsis. It's an AdVerve ride like no other! Did we mention the hot eyepatch talk?

(Also, don't forget to ping Angela and force her to watch Big Lebowski.)

Link derbyshake:

- “When Advertising to Monkeys, Sex May Sell, Too”
- @WeArePrimates
- Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber (READ THIS SHIT)
- Kevin Smith and Wayne Gretsky
- Kevin Smith and Prince

AdVerve: Spirit of 76

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Not just because it’s episode 76, but we were supposed to record over the Great American holiday that was the Fourth. Instead, work took over and we’re actually closer to celebrating Bastille Day as co-host Angela prepares to kick it live and uncensored, French style. So what’s new in this one? We actually cover a Wrap Of Cannes and her trip there on behalf of Yahoo! But wait, there’s more: Official French grammar watchdogs - yes they have them - why The Dude wears a bathrobe and why no guy outside of a Big LeBowski convention ever should. You will not believe the places we go. Or maybe you will. Listen you some.

Linky-loompas:

- Paris Syndrome strikes Japanese
- Yahoo Scene's Cannes Coverage

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AdVerve 75: Socialfication

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Aka, another ‘cation’ episode, aka, wherein your two cohorts in ad podcast deviancy wax rant poetic about social media hacks and posers, among other things. It’s been a few shows since we went off on those deserving of our... going off, so why not social freaks? What, you were expecting a cake for our 75th episode? Maybe next time.

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AdVerve 74: McGameification.

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Aka, that big, juicy badge in the sky. It was one mic/two guys as Bill took a roadtrip to Savannah to join one of his co-strategists in crime at BFG. The Frenchman Known As Cyril Guichard (@luxregina) went live and uncensored as we kicked back for a high-rolling adventure on the topic of gameification.* It’s probably a word you're sick of, but he takes us deep into the philosophy of gaming, and why sites that "gameify" – like Foursquare – aren't games, per se (but will need to be).

Want more? We also find a way to pose that age-old question: can social media sites like Twitter really be used to construct the governments of tomorrow? Learn all the nuanced answers to this riddle, and others, this week. WE EVEN TALK 3D. Of course we also take our trademark™ left into fun areas like politics and discuss how Gen My dealt with the end of Osama, if at all.

(Also, learn why you're becoming a symbiant.)

Linkfegnugen:

- Heineken Star Player
- Cyril's blog on Luxgames.net

*Gamification or Gameification. Spell it any way you want, we don’t judge.

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AdVerve 73: World O’ Wheaton

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Alongside special guest Ken Wheaton (@kenwheaton), we cover stuff from book publishing and promoting, to the rise and further decline of American airline service, to whether advertising will protect us from the maniacal ambitions of Donald Trump. (Angela tries broaching the topic of The Royal Wedding, but ultimately fails to make it stick.)

There's also a smidge more Southern Comfort for those of you riding Bill’s ongoing fascination with his new homeland.

Linksomania:

- Ken Wheaton’s blog
- Ken's Book, The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival - get it before Amazon runs out!
- Advertising May Be the Thing that Saves Us from Donald Trump
- TINY MINY MINUTE SUITES


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So, What's Going On, Exactly?

To distract you, we give you electro.

It's been a few weeks since we've published a 'cast, and no, it's not because we've decided to screw all of you and call it quits. The honest-to-goodness goes something like this:

• Managing the six-hour time difference thing is tough, especially now that your two hosts with the mosts have full-time agency jobs. When Bill finally leaves work, Angela's like, oh hell no, I am not conscious.
• Bill's family has just moved in! Yay! That means big transitions.
• Did we mention our jobs? Wow, agencies just eat you. They just eat all of you.

We're still committed to keeping AdVerve going, because frankly, it is one of the things that makes us feel alive. If you want, you can send us an email and tell us what you're thinking about on advervepodcast@gmail.com. This is probably also a good opportunity to catch up on shows you missed.

We love you guys, and we'll be back on air soon. Promise. For the time being, chill out and listen to Swingset Committee.

AdVerve 72 - Southern Ad Law on the Skids

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Michael McSunas (@adlawguy) of law firm CBS – the guy we'll call if things go awry – joins us to give perspective from the legal point of view. We cover everything from incest gameshows (they exist! ...don’t they?) to legal precedent in cases involving both source protection and blogger disclosure. Sprinkled in is an uncomfortable discourse about death and whether your online "assets" count as property; if so, who do they go to?

For those following Bill's southern evolution, Mike tosses in a swashbuckling funeral tale. And in case you were wondering how any of this comes together, Angela manages to string it all along with everything she learned at MIPTV, that scary place in Cannes where TV networks sell each other what they'll be selling you, all year long. (And if you're in Japan, yes, you may just get an incest game show.) It’s techno mind tricks & legalese and it’s not for the faint of heart.

Linksopolis:

- Official trailer for Tiffany Shlain's "Connected: An Autoblogography about Life, Death and Technology." Her keynote talk here.
- Piracy: a path to innovation? Matt Mason's full 30-minute talk at MIPTV.
- Cmp.ly: the new short-linky way of disclosing.
- Baroness Greenfield talks about how the brain is changing as a function of technology use.

AdVerve 71: Autobahnned

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Where we get AT&T’s Director of Social Media Chris Baccus to join us for among other things, gas station taco talk, organic food, and why Detroit does deserve a second chance. So yeah, pretty much what you’d expect from a guy who works for a telecom. It is nothing short of pure aural delight the likes of which you haven’t heard... since the last episode. Yes, we even get him to work in an f-bomb and as we also discuss the general online disdain for mobile carriers.

Linkage:

- Chris on Twitter
- His Auto Marketing blog.
- Him on Dallas Food Nerd.
- The brilliantly named GAS STATION TACOS.
- Barfblog.com

*OF COURSE ADVERVE & CHRIS DO NOT SUPPORT DRIVING AND TALKING ON CELL PHONE TOUCHTRONIC DEVICES.


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Adverve 70: Fashion-Punting on Twitter & The Trouble with Airlines

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We run a solid flowing gamut from customer service on Twitter to what travel's lost post-9/11. We throw back to Vinny Warren a little, ruminate on the pros and cons of unexpected fame (is it ever unexpected?), and where the New York Times went horribly, horribly wrong with its payment wall.

Angela also rants heavy on the merits of Monocle, the little print publication that could - and could so, so good.

Linksomania:

- Edward Boches buys a shirt on Twitter
- @NordstromDave
- How Sharpie uses social media
- Monocle (read this shit!)
- Werner NCAA ladder fun
- BusinessWeek's profile on Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé
- Beer for textbooks
- AdVerve episode featuring Vinny Warren, the man behind the Wheat Thins
- @Chrismacho
- Bandwagon likeness
- Sheex - the bedsheets for the active bedtime man

Adverve 69: Supermoon to Super Mario

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We hit you with some old-school 5 for 5, running the gamut from natural disasters to sports marketing. Bill also wilds out on pet rights, and the whole thing basically devolves into a rumination on horror cinema. Vampires and zombies manifest heavily as usual, but no opportunities for a Twilight or Buffy joke are taken. (This means we’re maturing.)

Hell, there's even a little tangent on hot music streaming sites! We hope we lead you to something magic for your ears.

Super Linkamaroo:

- Supermoon (& on Flickr)
- Samsung Galaxy microchip art
- Grooveshark
- Soundcloud
- Hypemachine
- Daytrotter
- The Hood Internet
- Mad Decent
- Some Kind of Awesome
- Said The Gramophone
- RCRD LBL
- Super Mario live action
- FPS Mario
- “Undeveloped”
- DDB Blog featuring Angela's singularity manifesto
- BFG Comm Blog
- Bandwagon

AdVerve 68: Twitteropa

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It’s located somewhere between Utopia and SxSW. What are we on about this week? Things like... how pop culture is subtly changing as a result of technology, and even how changing technology has affected not only cartoon culture, but advertising and what we're being taught about human behaviour in entertainment. Take the animational revolution known as Pixar, which changed children's entertainment with Toy Story and as a result, entertainment itself. Cartoon life is now more intelligent than it ever was with complex values Buzz light years of your dad’s Acme anvil. The Incredibles, Megamind, Despicable Me and Up are cartoons that tell you that being a hero or villain means being fallible.

Of course at the other end of that spectrum, we also talk Jersey Shore.


Linkage:

- Chrysler tweet.
- FedEx tweet.
- Always remember: Cross at the green, and Aladdin before Toy Story.
- Speaking of: The Pixar Story doc.
- Sapient Nitro vending.

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AdVerve 67: Politicosi

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Did we go off on a thematically classic – for us anyway – stream of consciousness sojourn? Bet. Our love for Franco-American political discourse was matched only by our love for Franco-American recycling schedules. We then became winners as we discussed the fall and further fall of Charlie Sheen, replete with fond tales of rehab glory. How else to complete this trifecta of gray matter than with a look at the Oscars. THIS SHOW HAS IT ALL... AND NOW YOU DO TOO.

Also, quick note: when Angela talks about "redistribution," she's referring to redistricting. >_< Linkage:

- The book with no name shall be named: Strauss and Howe’s The Fourth Turning.
- Where winners live.

AdVerve 66: Relationships in Advertising

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Dear friend and fellow podcaster Bob Knorpp of the notorious BeanCast (@TheBeanCast) joins us to get intimate about relationships in advertising:

• How your personal life gets affected by your strange work, weird hours and random traveling
• How love can bloom in the damnedest ways
• How a combination of loneliness and drinking can make even the most stalwart ad soldier a slobbering mess of hold-me-closies
• How intimacy can bloom in many awesome, dangerous or dangerously awesome forms. We talk Father Figure Complex!
• Prioritising personal + professional time
• NEPOTISM <-- this is Bill's favourite

The whole thing wraps nahcely with our homegrown takeaway relationships-in-advertising advice. And there’s a few stories in there that as usual will probably get us all into trouble. We live dangerously in these here internets.

AdVerve 65: Job Hunting

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You've done it. And if you haven’t, God be with you because you’re gonna have to.

Bill and Angela do the straight talk on their experiences getting work in this business, specifically from the perspective of social media or those who claim to “do it all” in an environment where that's exactly what people seem to be wanting, but what nobody quite wants to hire. (Polyvalence is a bitch!)

In a shell of nut, we cover:

1) The Job hunt itself

2) What agencies are still getting wrong

3) Freelance vs. Staff (Pros/cons, etc.)

As a bonus yum-yum, we answer a question from listener/homie Chris Havranek:

How do you explain the disconnect between memorable ads for "normal people" and ad folks? For example, people like my mom don't always recognize the Old Spice ads, but they’re quick to mention the Doritos ad—an ad that was slammed by most critics—in this last Superbowl.

Also, we explain the show’s sporadic airtime (in case you ever wondered. But if you didn’t, ’sall good, go about your business).

Revolution 3.0: Sandmonkey on Egypt, the Internet and the Connected Fight

Egyptians hold shoes up high following Mubarak's speech on February 1. Showing the sole of your shoe is "a grave insult in Arab Muslim countries," sayeth MSNBC. Weird, no Kenneth Coles in sight.

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The revolution will be retweeted.* We’ve brought you a very special show this week. Renegade freedom blogger Mahmoud Salem (on Twitter as @sandmonkey), takes a good hour out of his revolution schedule to give us the skinny on what’s going on in Egypt (which is here, not here).

Salem was thrown into prison last Thursday for carrying medical equipment to injured protesters at Tahrir Square in Egypt. That same morning, he'd published this incendiary piece of blogging magic, and his blog was consequently shut down most of that day. After a hefty beating and the destruction of his goods (including his car), he was released when the police failed to put two and two together identity-wise.

As he says in the interview, “Every generation has a moment.” To that point, we dive deep, past Elliot Spitzer’s CNN segment on him to where this all started.

AdVerve 63: Cryptomeat, Revolution + Still No Jetpacks

No answers yet to why this is not our reality. Or yours.

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Dave Wilkie of Where's My Jetpack? (@jetpacks) and Radio Free Babylon joins us for some good-natured ad blogger fun. And there's a lot of that to be had in this king-sized episode. We cover your questions, Old Spice Guy redux, revolution in Egypt, Taco Bell’s iffy meat situation, sexy robots ... and, hell, for the very last time, why we still don't have an even distribution of jetpacks in the world. (There may be in Japan. Can somebody check?)

We even squeeze in an outright Social Media State of the Union, as it were. (And yes, we know it’s the GEICO gecko, not lizard. Listen to see what THAT means.)

Linky do-dahs:

- The Community Maturity Model - the chart to which Angela refers when she talks about how corporations can benchmark where they are in terms of openness and how far they have to go.
- Old Spice Guy is back! Let's slip into his milky brown eyes together.
- Gitanes, the cigarettes of patriots. (French ones.)
- Don Marquis' Archy & Mehitabel.

AdVerve 62: Snookapocalypse

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We whip out an old standard: Five for Five, which takes us from life with two suns to Starbucks' fun-packed new iced drink size, Trenta (a whopping 16 ml bigger than the average capacity of the adult human stomach! Although nowhere near maximum capacity as this handy illustration shows).

Somewhere in there we manage to make (too much) time for bestselling author Snookie and her homies on The Jersey Shore. Is there hope for mankind? Ask again in 2012. If we're slathering on the sunblock at 10:30 PM, then the answer is no.

Clarification: On the show, Angela is uncertain whether it's melanin or melatonin that controls human sleeping and waking cycles. It is melatonin. Melanin is for skin and hair colour. (Albinos, for example, generally have none.)

Tinky-linkies:

- Will the Earth have two suns by 2012?
- True Grit (which Bill needs you to see on pain of death).
- Snookie joins ranks of Hemingway and Salinger (and she loves us all!) and parties.
- Wikileaks’ journalistic partners in crime.
- Trouble sleeping? Cue up Insomnia, One Hour Photo or The Fisher King.
- Starbucks’ Trentas Gigantus.

AdVerve 61: A Grand Communications Condom

But will it protect them from pop-ups? Via.

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Theoretical artist Ben Kunz (@benkunz) of Thought Gadgets and Media Associates kicks off the year with us in a conversation about what the cool kids are after: Quora, curation, and a bigger TV in the basement.....?

We also squeeze in some ruminations on the future of the postal service, Netflix and Ben's suspect affinity to the youngest son of the 12 sons of Abraham. Trust us though, it all comes 360° and wraps nice-and-tidy into the title which drew you hither: users manifesting a profound subconscious need for a communications condom.

AdVerve 60: Holiday Edition

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Aka, our Holiday Bonanza ’Stravaganza. Wrappin’ up the year like no other. (Not really. For a proper year-end wrapup, GET YOU SOME BEANCAST! Bob's two-hour special features John Wall, Ken Wheaton and US TRULY.)

We do a quick run-through of holiday likes and gripes, including agency cards, holiday traditions, films, ads and music. There's also a brief but beefy manifesto on why we hate flashmobs more than anything else made by man. It's a lot, so we stretch it out to 45 whole minutes. (Dig 45 minutes better than 30? We're kinda likin' it, but tell us what YOU think.)

Also, Bill goes off on a tear about hateables on Twitter. It's a riot times 10, and all the better for sending you off on your way toward 2011.

Link sausages:

- Stupid Dell XPS laptop flashmob in apathetic café setting.
- Burberry's bohemian holiday folk track.
- Modea's Buzzword Bingo.
- Help Luckie decide where to give.
- Have a half-assed crowdsourced Ducati Christmas.
- BONUS: A Christmas Story gangsta remix.
- BONUS: Chinese dude claims having sexual tryst with alien. (In French, but Google Translate that bad-boy.)

Image credit: Culturemob, for A Christmas Story: the Musical.