The Maley Daily

Ladies and gentlemen… the cherpumple.

The current leader of the Brand Bowl, Google’s Super Bowl ad was a nice departure from the content and tone of the rest of last night’s offerings.  It’s quiet, it shows you what Google actually does, and above all else, it’s a simple story that’s succinctly told.  It makes you feel something.  And that’s powerful stuff.

I’m currently taking one of the more challenging classes I’ve encountered in grad school.  It’s a class about ideas and the creative process.  We don’t sit and take notes while the professor lectures.  Instead, we present our ideas on a variety of creative marketing challenges, whether creating new business concepts, designing new products, or re-positioning brands.  It’s the bright spot of creativity in a largely data-driven curriculum, but boy, it’s difficult.

It’s easy to see how so much advertising fails by experiencing the creative process firsthand.  No matter how brilliant the idea, the execution needs to boil the idea down to its essence, its emotional core.  I know it’s my left brain beating up on my right brain when I hear myself look at some of the executions that I’ve produced and think, “Boy, this really sucks.”

So I’m particularly delighted to have stumbled upon this clip of Ira Glass of This American Life discussing the learning curve of the creative process.  Before he was successful, he says, he produced a lot of crappy work.  The key to success is not giving up when you notice yourself producing work that’s not up to your standards.  Eventually, you’ll get better, but it takes time, hard work and deadlines to become truly great.

Via Chicagoist, a Budweiser ad shot primarily on Chicago’s Brown Line.  Great blend of Chicago cityscapes with subtle visual effects.

It’s a Friday afternoon during the summer.  Why are you sitting at your computer?  Time to go have fun - and eat some ice cream and cake (and cake!).

(via)

Even though I’m not the target consumer for fast food restaurants or Hardee’s in particular, I still love that this ad appeals to my inner twelve-year-old.

Sure, it’s disgusting… but we’re talking about Hardee’s here, people.  Even McDonald’s is too classy for something like this.

The integrated “Name Our Holes” campaign, which invites fans to submit their own names for the new product, has received attention from Entertainment Weekly, Gawker and Dan Savage, among others.  Not all of the attention is positive, of course, but it’s generating some buzz for a brand that hasn’t been as relevant lately.

CKE has been hurting recently, so it will be interesting to see if the gross-out campaign will lead to a bump in sales over the short term.

What do you think?  Funny or obnoxious?  Terrible idea or not?

Video playback of Jorge Columbo’s cover of this week’s New Yorker.

He notes that while using Brushes he can create art in the dark now, and in front of people without them noticing.  Not to mention that, while standing around in Times Square for an hour, he’s able to make art that is then published on the cover of a magazine.

I’m continually amazed by the steady stream of small revolutions coming from the App Store.  Apple gets it.  Where is everyone else?