The Candidate We Truly Need

Video courtesy of Coudal Partners.

My First Infringement (So Far As I Know)

I got an email today from Josh Moshier, who discovered the above ad for BookRenter.com on Facebook. I've spammed BookRenter with several "cease and desist" emails, and I've filled out an infringement form with Facebook as well! We'll see if I get any response.

UPDATE (1/26): I got a response from Facebook - they want a screen grab of the infringing image, and the URL that the ad links to. I've sent the picture of the ad in my response (thanks again, Josh!), but I don't have the URL. If anyone sees this ad on Facebook again, could you please click on it and send me the page address that it links to? I'd really appreciate it.

UPDATE (1/29): Josh found the URL for the ad (thanks yet again!), so I've sent that along to Facebook. They'd also like to get a screen grab of the entire page where the ad appears, so if anyone out there sees it, please get an image of the whole thing - a screen capture, a digital photo, whatever - and send it along to me. Thanks, everybody!

UPDATE (2/4): Facebook contacted me again to let me know that they can't find any evidence of the ad, so they believe it to be pulled. BookRenter has also written to notify me that the ad has been pulled from their end, so I really think it's gone at this point. Thanks again to everyone for their support!

Who's Laughing Now?

NEW YORK TIMES: Homemade YouTube Video Lands Singer in a Web Ad
By SARA IVRY - Published: December 10, 2007

If, as the song goes, video killed the radio star, then homemade YouTube heroes like Tay Zonday have put a hit out on traditional advertising.

In April, Mr. Zonday became an Internet phenomenon after he posted a no-frills video for the song “Chocolate Rain” on YouTube featuring his earnest delivery and his deep voice, which he likens to that of Paul Robeson and Barry White.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Zonday, a 25-year-old graduate student in American studies at the University of Minnesota whose real name is Adam Bahner, posted a follow-up called “Cherry Chocolate Rain.” But in this case, the flashier video was an ad. With a little help from the rapper Mista Johnson, Mr. Zonday extols the virtues of Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper, a soft drink that will be available nationally from January through April. (Since November, it has had limited marketing in four states.)

Soft drink companies have often based ad campaigns around pop singers, but they are usually mainstream acts like Michael Jackson or Britney Spears, not an online curiosity like Mr. Zonday, who does not have a record contract.

“We’re doing this to try to do something fun and different and connect with consumers who might not see more traditional media,” said Jaxie Alt, the director for marketing at Dr Pepper, which worked with True Entertainment, a production company, in August to approach Mr. Zonday about reworking “Chocolate Rain.” Neither Mr. Zonday nor Dr Pepper would disclose how much Mr. Zonday received for the "Cherry Chocolate Rain" video.

In the months since it has been up, the video for “Chocolate Rain” has had roughly 12 million hits. “I probably posted it like millions of other people upload themselves singing or doing ordinary things in their lives, and I think that’s very much part of our time, part of our culture,” said Mr. Zonday. “It’s not something one gives a whole lot of more thought to than sending an e-mail or making a phone call,” added Mr. Zonday, who has also landed a television commercial for Comedy Central.

The newer video, for “Cherry Chocolate Rain,” has more than one million hits so far. The newer song has the same melody as the original but different lyrics. The viral approach “was very, very deliberate from a marketing standpoint,” said Shari Solomon Cedar, True Entertainment’s vice president for programming. “Our task was to get something in front of a tech savvy, younger audience, to break through and bring awareness that way. That’s what we achieved.”

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We're encouraged to think that there was a fat payoff at the end of the chocolate rainbow, but I wonder. Since experienced screenwriters are struggling to get their fair share of internet revenue, I hope Mr. Zonday ran out and got an agent and/or an entertainment lawyer as soon as he got the call. I doubt I would have at his age, but I imagine one of the biggest reasons for trotting out YouTube posters is that it's a lot easier and cheaper to 'negotiate' with a grad student than a established recording artist. If the experiment works, I would imagine the gap between budget and revenue is huge.

If he did cut a good deal, more power to him! Student loans aren't getting any cheaper.

Retro Gamer Builds 'Super Stick'; Freud Rubs Eyes In Disbelief From Heaven

GAMERTELL.COM: A super sized Atari 2600 joystick
Posted September 16, 2007 at 06:43 PM by PJ Hruschak

In the latest issue of Make magazine, there is a page (18, if interested) devoted to a project that would make any retro gamer drool.

Titled “Super Stick,” the brief article describes an oversized Atari 2600 joystick made for the I Am 8-Bit museum exhibit at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, CA. The joystick, created by Jason Torchinsky, measure 5 feet tall, approximately 15 times larger than an original joystick. It’s made of fiberglass, coiled hose and meal plates and took a month to build.

And yes, it works.

Attendees to the gallery opening were able to jump on the joystick and give it a go, stomping on the red button and enjoying the four direction goodness, playing an unnamed game projected onto a wall.

If you’ve not heard of or read Make, it’s a DIY magazine for gadget geeks featuring things like customizing your bike, LED sweaters and mobile movie theaters. It retails for $14.99 US, but worth the hefty price for all the fun projects it offers. It comes out four times a year.