Got Guerilla Marketing?

Poor Steve. Frustration gets the better of this businessman, and Cisco Interrated Communications gets a fabulously affordable marketing and PR campaign.

This video has all the aspects of great guerilla marketing. It's not a typical ad, and it looks like it is actually happening. The view from the security cam and the reactions of the people in the hotel make it all seem surreal. Where is Iain you ask? Who knows, but Cisco Integrateted Communications will show you how to prevent something like this from happening. Though you might not know that from just looking at this ad. The very end of the video flashes a website: www.donthaveameltdown.com. You have to go there to see just what this short is about, but eventually it will lead you to Cisco. This trail of virtual breadcrumbs is what's new in marketing. Don't let the name fool you, guerilla marketing isn't something to be feared. Take advantage of it. People have been bombarded with tacky Taco Bell commercials for far too long. It's time to think outside the TV Box and create something that is truly attention getting. I'm all for a little guerilla tactics to get a good point across, and so is Cisco.

Deus Ex Machinima

Machinima (pronounced /məˈʃiːnəmə/ or /məˈʃɪnəmə/), a Portmanteau of machine cinema,[1] is a collection of associated production techniques whereby computer-generated imagery (CGI) is rendered using real-time, interactive 3-D engines instead of professional 3D animation software. (Wikipedia)

Sometimes when I'm bored, I like to do an ol' YouTube search for something exciting to watch -- maybe a little Shakira video here, or a Beyonce montage there. Everyonce in a while, I will think I'm clicking on an authentic music video, but I will come across 3d animations moving inhumanly in time with some pop song. I have always wondered what the heck these were.

Well Dr. Weisgerber has yet again enlightened me. Apparently these animations are Machinima's and they are no small feat. In fact, the phenomena is more than a hobby for some people. 

Machinima.com is an online resource for any and everything machinima-related. People can upload their creations, blog about what they have done, get the latest news, and talk with other content-creators. 

Seeing a need to categorize the art form and foster its growth, the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences (AMAS) was formed. It is a non-profit organization whose main mission is the development and advocacy of the machinima industry. The AMAS also holds film festivals for machinima and exemplary productions are recognized through awards nicknamed the Mackies.

And now ladies and gentlemen, I leave you with a beautifully constructed machinima video featuring Katy Perry's hit single "Hot n Cold", sung in 'Simlish' (the language used by characters in the EA game The Sims 2). Enjoy. 

If you are interested in dabbling with this art form, I recommend a good ol' fashioned google search on the topic. There are hundreds of resources that will tell you what is the latest with Machinima!

Just for Kicks

Ha. It has now happened to YOU.

Never Gonna Give, Never Gonna Give.....

"You never think it will happen to you. Then it does, and you can't believe you fell for it," says Amy Shypailo. 

Amy Shypailo, 21, recently became yet another victim of a sometimes cruel -- but always entertaining -- internet meme. 

Amy Shypailo was Rick Roll'd.

The Rick Roll is no new phenomenon. However, it's effects are considerably long term. It can take a Rick Roll victim years to recover. Once that vaguely familiar synth beat enters the brain, and that velvety baritone voice fills your earbuds, it may never leave. 

I have shared this story with you because Rick Rolling is touted as a simple Internet Meme [a neologism used to describe a catch-phrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the internet] when in reality it is much more than that. 

Rick Rolling is the result of someone's creative abuse of the video sharing network You Tube. However it does not end there. Rick Rolling quickly spilled over into real life. Red-headed men in trench-coats and black dress shoes popped up in public places, regaling the crowd with stirring renditions of the 80's tune. The internet meme literally came to life.

Rick Astley must be more than happy that someone did for free what a PR professional would be paid thousands of dollars to do. Someone made Rick Astley relevant again. 

Still not clear on what Rick Rolling is? Don't worry, one day it WILL happen to you. If you need a more explicit definition of the term, wikipedia does a pretty good job of laying it all out there.