Poor Britney

One thing I find challenging about the state of news media today is its topsy-turvy sense of priorities. There is unrest in the Middle East, multiple civil conflicts and disease in developing nations and enough national unrest and debt to make John S. McDonald roll over in his grave yet Britney Spears' on-again off-again relationship with rehab is the dominant story of the moment.

Okay, okay I expect one story about her shaved head or rehab but when her every uninteresting, unimportant or non world-altering move is reported on a minute-by-minute basis, you wonder where our integrity has run off to as we continue to ‘drink the Kool-Aid’ as media consumers.

I say ‘Poor Britney’ in the title of this musing because whether this is some large-scale scandal cooked-up by her publicist or a real life debacle, you've got to have some compassion for someone who's had her every second of her life poked and prodded. Yah, yah, I know people say ‘who cares, she's got millions’ (or billions), but at the end of the day, money doesn't buy happiness as evidenced by the recent goings-on in her life.

New Year, No Condo, New Adventure!

I'm elated. We've finally sold our place in White Rock. It all became official today.

I feel blessed that the whole experience was positive and that we discovered new talents. Most importantly though, we had lots of fun and the renovation didn't hurt our marriage. If that sounds like a weird statement, it's not as there are many articles documenting how renovations can seriously impact relationships.

Now we can move on to our next adventure.

Since we'll be sans housing for an undetermined period of time from the end of March forward, we took the opportunity to spend part of April in Maui. Although we'll be working while there, it will be great to be in a warm climate and live island-style.

New Year, New Hair

2007 is the year of trying new things. In the spirit of spontaneity and adventure, I got my hair done in dark brown today! It's a little lighter than Cameron Diaz's tresses but it's still pretty dark for me. I felt this was a necessary step in living life to the fullest and getting an idea of what life's like as a brunette.

Other new adventures this year include yoga and snowboarding, although, I have a long way to go before master/fully enjoy each activity.

Next goal to conquer, doing the splits.

2007 Super Bowl Half-Time Show

Questions and comments re: Superbowl half time show:

1. Sweet Prince singing favourites like "purple rain."

2. Who is the white-clad tambourine girl? She stole the show.

3. With all that rain, how did the dancing back-up singers not slip...yikes.

4. Love the giant opaque/shadow cloth

5. Fiewf, no wardrobe malfunctions this time around. Thanks to Janet and JT for ensuring that all half-time shows will be absent of current songsters. However, I know the Prince is an all-time fave for many people, and let's face it, that's the superbowl's audience - a diversified "many people." So, rock on Prince.

Super Bowl XLI Commercial Round-Up :: HOT or NOT?

I don't watch the super bowl for the football; I watch it for the ads.

Being an ad-lover, I decided to publish my thoughts on this year's biggest 2007 super bowl commercials. If advertisers are paying up to $80k per second, it better be worth it.
(Note: not every advertiser is mentioned here, just the noteworthy spots. For a complete list of 2007 advertisers, go to ifilm.)

Rating system: Hearts (out of 5) (0=worst / 5=best, fab, genius)

::5 Hearts::
Chevy HHR - Dancing Men
->Excellent because makes you laugh out loud until point of tears and gets the point accross that "men can't keep their hands off" the car/truck. Kudos to chevy's college challenge winner. One of this year's best!

Coke - Give A Little Love and it All Comes Back to You
->Excellent because coke positions themselves as the first step in the random acts of kindness outflow. (note: I think this is the commercial's tv premier, but it's been playing in movie theatres for awhile)

Nationwide Insurance - K-Fed
->Excellent and whitty marriage of celebrity and brand. Britney's estranged husband exemplified the Nationwide's campaign message "life comes at you fast" ... "a nationwide annuity guarantees you money for life." Need I say more?

::4 Hearts::
Doritos - Check-Out Lady
->Great because it touts and highlights the chips' flavours in a humerous way. Hummm, what was she doing under the register?

GM - Suicidal Robot
->Great because it gets the point accross that GM is obsessed with quality though the eyes of a robot --trying to symbolize GM's precision in making cars.

Coke - What Else Haven't I Done
->Great because sends a good message about living life to the fullest and pairs this human ideal with Coke.

GMC - Acadia
->Great because facinating take on the personal cues which make the car 'so unique...' (can't find commercial right now)

::3 Hearts::
Budweiser - Fake Dalmation
->Good because spot paints compelling story of a down-and-out, plain-white dog who becomes a celebrity for a day when he gets mud splashed all over his coat and is transformed into a dalmation. The connection to the brand is bud is the king of beers, the dog felt like king for a day... Best part is when the beauty queen hugs him at the end and gets mud all over her. A cute classic.

Sprint - Connectile Dysfunction
->Good because plays on two common problems in life. I will not go into further detail.

Garmin - Evil Mapisoris
->Good because clearly executes the point that maps are annoying and Garmin's GPS products solve headaches.

FedEx - Moon Office
->Good because insinuates that FedEx will a)take care of shipping to/from tough locations and b) is a hero to businesses because of what it can achieve.

NFL Network - Janet Reno's Superbowl party
->A commercial that brings Jimmy Fallon, Martha Stewart, Janet Reno, LL Cool J and David Beckham together is just funny.

::2 Hearts::
Snickers - After the Kiss
->Okayish because funny + awkward at same time. Will have people talking and drive traffic to website to see what happens after the kiss....what really happens is they want people to vote for their favourite snickers commercial and the winning commercial will appear on FOX. OOOOOH exciting. NOT. But the public love outcomes they can impact. American Idol anyone?

Pizza Hut - Jessica Simpson Cheesy Bites
->Worth mentioning because they are providing continuity by featuring Ms Simpson again this year with the ironic catch-phrase "cheesy bites, my one true love" hum, how appropriate.

::1 Heart::
Go Daddy.com - Marketing
->Not so great, could have been better. Using sex to sell is so beer-commercial-like. Since when are domain names sexy?

Super Bowl XLI Commercial Buzz

The fact that millions of bloggers will be lending their amateur opinions to the likes of world-wide or US-based brands is a dream come true for advertisers. Every person who disucusses their tv spot on the news, in person, over the blogosphere or in a forum generates extra media value.

Case in point - the K-Fed Nationwide Mutual Insurance commercials. Prior to the spots airing at the superbowl, they had already received 137-million web viewings and generated 5-million dollars in ad value one week before the game.

Another tv spot to generate buzz before the Bears and Colts battle for the trophy is GM's robot spot. Not only has the domestic car company released a trailor-teaser reel, but they've also created a blog (or not?) with a bunch of the same postings -ha ha- because the character is a robot... Either way, GM's commercial is a typical campaign to get people's attention and then point them to their website to see the robot's fate.