My favorite ads, Jay-Z’s ad agency

I’m sure most of you have probably seen the new TV spots for Gatorade’s new drink, G. The big buzz around this one, at least online, has people asking, “who the hell is the kid at :26?” I will answer that question, but first, does anyone think this ad resembles something Nike-esqe? For example, it’s similar to the TV spot for Nike’s Zoom Lebron VI. Aside from the fact they’re both black and white, Lil Wayne happens to appear in both of them (doing the voice over for Gatorade and featured a few times in the Lebron spot). Interesting, considering TBWA LA did the Gatorade spot and Wieden was responsible for the Lebron spot.

Anyways, the kid in the Gatorade spot is Jason McElwain, a kid diagnosed with a form of autism, who pulled a T-Mac and scored 20 points in 2 mintues. Amazing. Thank you TBWA LA. You guys and girls did an amazing job, but I’m still wondering what “G” is? Is it a drink? Will you tell us at the end of the campaign? I NEED to know.

This is slightly old news, but Jay-Z has an ad agency. It’s called Translation Advertising and focuses on advertising targeted to different cultures and ethnicities. Very cool. I’d love to get involved with them.

I think it’s awesome that Jay-Z got involved in the ad world. It’s fitting considering he has done an excellent job of marketing himself over the years. After all Jay has already rapped, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” Nice work Jay, I look forward to seeing Translation’s work.

Not-So-Happy Holidays

OK. So I know its been A LONG time since my last post. I’ve been busy though. No, seriously.

Anyways, my internship ended in september and it was by far THE BEST experience I ever could’ve asked for. I am currently in the interview process and lets just say I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to make it home for Christmas. First time ever. Ever. It really sucks not being with your family around Christmas and I hope it never happens again.

Unfortunately, we have had some CRAZY weather in Portland and my flight got canceled. The next available flight was on December 27th, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being home for Christmas. Damn you Horizon!!!! At least I’m not stuck in an airport…

OK. Well I have to go finish sulking in my sorrows, but I promise I’ll update this more. Until next time…

Connectivity

We’ve been working to release this new campaign for Converse… Check out the NEW MUSIC VIDEO by Pharrell from The Neptunes, Santogold and Julian Casablancas from The Strokes.

The Professional

Wow what a week it has been already. On Saturday I said goodbye to Eugene for the last time. Man am I going to miss that place… I guess. It got four years of my life and I can safely say those were some of the most amazing years of my 23 year old life so far. College was awesome and I think I’m going to miss it, but at the same time I think I’m ready for a change… and that’s exactly what I got.

Monday was not only my birthday, but also my first step into the “professional” world. I guess it was a fitting birthday gift because I’m 23 years old now. 23?! That’s hard to believe. Where has the time gone? I swear I still remember my first day of kindergarten. OK. Maybe not. But it feels that way. Anyways, my main gift (in my opinion) was the internship I got at Wieden + Kennedy. I love this place. Let me say it again. I LOVE THIS PLACE. I don’t think I could have had a better intro into the working world. Everything about W+K is awesome. The people, the building, the work. I love it all. There has not yet been a single minute I’ve regretted being there.

So right now I’m in a transitioning phase and I’m currently living with my aunt and uncle. This is really cool because I don’t have to pay rent, but honestly, I really need to get something closer to work. My first day at W+K I had to be there at 9:30 am. I woke up at 7, caught the bus at 8, got into the downtown around 9 and walked the rest of the way to work. Now don’t get me wrong, commuting is not a bad thing at all. It’s good to “go green.” I’m just sick of spending an hour on the bus in the morning everyday. Anyways, let me continue with my first day. I got there at 9:30, met a few other interns and took a tour of the agency. I was then assigned a desk (or a cracked table) with a computer and phone. That’s right. I have my own phone line and it kicks ass. The rest of the day I met the three other people I was working with (all amazing people) and got familiar with the agency. After work I went out with one of the guys I work with and got some food and a beer and after that I was exhausted. I walked to my bus stop around 10:30 pm and ended up missing the bus, so I had to wait another 50 minutes until the next one came. It then took another 50 minutes to get dropped off so I didn’t get home until midnight. After that it was lights out.

My second day I got to sit through client pitch meetings and all this cool stuff that made me feel important. At this point I’m trying to keep my mouth shut, but at the same time I can be a very vocal person and I feel like an idiot when I don’t say anything. I just don’t want to put my 2 cents in towards something I have no idea about. Oh well. In time I’m sure I’ll be able to participate more, but for now it’s just killing me not being able to add to the discussion.

Today (my third day) I decided to drive to work because I was going to look at apartments after I got off. To make a long story short, I got pulled over driving home and got a $240 ticket for busting a U-turn. How whack is that? I guess I’m used to Eugene driving where that shit flies, but I can understand why it doesn’t in Portland… I just thought the cop would be more understanding, seeing as my plates and license are out of state. Come on man! I just moved here!!!!! There goes my graduation money. Bastards.

Overall, my first 3 days couldn’t have gone any better and everyday I look forward to going to work. I can’t wait to see what the next 3 months bring at Wieden… Hopefully a job.

On another note, the NBA Draft is coming up and everyone knows I’m a sucker for the draft. I’ve heard all these rumors and speculation about trades and crazy shit like that, but honestly none of them make that much sense. I hope Chicago takes Rose and Miami takes Beasley. I do however, think it’s in Miami’s best interst to trade the pick considering they already have Marion and he didn’t opt out of his contract. I’ve also heard a lot of rumors about Oregon native Kevin Love and I would really like to see him go to New York even though I doubt he will. Love is an excellent passer and I think he’d work well in D’Antoni’s uptempo offense. Who knows? Well I guess we’ll all know tomorrow…

Oh and one last thing… Shaq is way too funny. I can’t believe he got his cop badge revoked for this.

Graduation!

Wow it’s been awhile since I last wrote. It’s been pretty busy this past couple of weeks… I just got back from Atlanta on Thursday and on Saturday I officially graduated from college.

Let me start with my adventure in the ATL. The ad team and I traveled to Atlanta last week to compete in the National Student Advertising Competition. We had previously won the regional competition, which qualified us to compete against 16 other teams in the national competition. I had never been to Atlanta before and from what I saw I thought it was a really cool city. I also love soul food and Atlanta had plenty of that. Anyways, we got there Friday night and then practiced all day Saturday to prepare for the competition on Sunday. When we competed in the regional competition we were the last team to present, however this time we were third. So we got up early Sunday morning and presented to a panel of 6 judges from AOL. The presentation went well, however the Q&A was a little rough and I think we were all a little uneasy about how we did. The winner was chosen Monday at lunch and unfortunately we didn’t do that well. We all knew the judging was completely subjective, but I don’t think our place was justified. A lot of teams actually suggested changing AOL’s products, which we decided not to do. I mean we were assigned to create and advertising campaign. Let me repeat that: an ADVERTISING campaign. We didn’t want to tell AOL their products sucked and suggest them to change, instead we wanted to create kick ass advertising that would engage users to use their products. I could bitch about it forever, but that’s because I’m mad we didn’t win. Oh well. Such is life. Overall though, I had a great experience and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I consider everyone on ad team a friend and I hope the best for everyone.

On Wednesday we departed Atlanta back to Eugene. The plan was to fly to St. Louis then Seattle then Eugene. That didn’t happen. We ended up getting stuck in Atlanta due to weather conditions and by the time we made it out we had missed our connecting flight in St. Louis. We ended up staying the night in the St. Louis airport and flying to Chicago and then Portland. I had never spent the night in an airport before and I knew there was no way I could sleep. So my buddy Matt and I decided to make a music video, chronicling our adventures in Atlanta and the St. Louis airport. We did everything off of my MacBook and it came out really well. I’ll try to post it later, but lets just say it’s a tribute to America.

Anyways, we made it back to Eugene on Thursday and started preparing for graduation on Saturday. My family arrived on Friday and I got to kick it with them for the weekend, which was really cool. It’s always good to see them and it meant a lot that they could be here for my graduation. So on Saturday around 10:30 I officially graduated college. i still can’t believe I’m done. It’s a really surreal experience and I’m actually kind of sad about it. I’m going to miss everyone! I guess it’s just the conclusion of one chapter of my life and the start of a new one.

On another note, check out this website I found. It’s crazy. Most of the photos are retouched so much, the person looks nothing like they do in real life. I don’t know how I feel about this because people are constantly comparing themselves to the people they see in magazines and the truth is these people aren’t even real.  Scary stuff. It’s no wonder people’s self esteems are down when they strive to live up to a standard that’s not even real…

Internship

I am now the happy owner of an internship at W+K working on the Converse and Nike Golf accounts.

Goo Punch

I had to post this. It’s the Goo Attack.

NSAC, New York New York

Wow. It’s been a crazy past couple of weeks. Let me begin with the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). A few weeks ago the twelve of us representing the University of Oregon’s Ad Team rolled up to Portland to compete in the regional NSAC. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s an advertising competition where schools assemble teams and create an advertising campaign for a client. This year’s client was AOL Instant Messaging. The teams then present a 20 minute pitch to the client, along with several other judges. We had been working on this campaign since September and I think we were all anxious to see how it was going to turn out. We actually ended up working right up until about an hour before we presented. Anyways, we competed against 8 other teams, including the University of Montana (holla) and we WON. That’s right. Number one stunna. It was crazy because we ended up presenting last and presentations started at 8 in the morning with the last presentation at 4 in the afternoon. It was definitely hard to wait that long, but I think it turned out in our favor because we blew everyone else out of the water. It was basically the perfect capstone for the competition. I can’t even describe the feeling at the award ceremony when the judges said “and representing district XI… The University of Oregon.” It was such a surreal feeling and it makes me proud of everyone on the team because we worked so hard. Also a big shout out to the presenters: Carebear, Brina, JillyBean and Shawna. Y’all kicked ass. Much love to all of you and everyone else on the team. So in a few weeks we head to Atlanta for the national competition. I think there’s like 18 schools or something so this should be intense, but I’m confident that we have what it takes. Hotlanta here we come.

The next big thing I need to talk about is my New York trip. Last Friday, my good friend Alexa and I hopped on a red eye flight to New York City. What an experience. I can’t even describe how much fun it was. We flew in on Saturday morning and it turned out we couldn’t check into our hotel until 3 in the afternoon. So we stashed our luggage and explored the city. That first day we hit up Union Square and Time Square. Man, was it cool. I had never been to NY before and everything was just amazing. Sunday we went to a Yankees game. I have to be honest, I hate the Yankees because I grew up a Boston fan, but I had to go to Yankee Stadium seeing as they’re tearing it down after this year. It was crazy though because they played the Mariners and the first baseball game I ever went to was in Seattle at the Kingdome against the Yankees. Now here I am in New York some 15 years later at a Yankee/Mariner game. Oh and Derek Jeter is a boss for playing Diddy’s Victory song when he bats…Alexa. One more thing Alexa, tell Andrew what’s up!!! Jk.

On Monday we were off to some advertising agencies, including the one responsible for the Stacy’s Mom and “I would do anything for love” Dr. Pepper ads. It was crazy because the agency responsible (Howald + Kalam) was small with only 4 employees. Pretty cool though. Next we hit JWT, which looked like something right out of a Target ad. Each room was color coordinated. Very chic. Their work included the Dominos Oreo ads and the stuff for Jet Blue. Very cool. Tuesday we got up early and went to the Today Show, hit up the top of Rockafeller Center, took a bus tour and we went to another Yankees game, this time against the Indians. Again, awesome experience. Wednesday we went to BBH, which was really cool. They have the AXE account so I guess I wasn’t surprised when I saw the sexual nature of their ads. Great place though and they produce some exceptional work. Next we went to an agency called GREY Group and their big ad was the E*Trade baby. Honestly, I wasn’t as big a fan of the agency but that may have been because I only saw it from the creative side and I’m an account person. Regardless though, it was a great experience. Thursday was our last day and we tried to hit up Wieden + Kennedy but the woman who was going to give us a tour was busy. It was disappointing because I wanted to find out who did all the Jordan Brand advertising, but oh well. It was cool just to see the New York agency. It’s definitely nothing like the one in Portland, but still very cool and there is no doubt I would work there.

So what can I say about New York? It’s awesome. At first I was skeptical, but honestly I think I might like to work there for a year or two. Oh yeah and I’m still on the job hunt. I was able to score an interview for an internship with Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, which went well so hopefully that works out. I’m also waiting on another internship that I’m supposed to hear about later this week. Hopefully one of them works out. Well I’ll stop ranting for now. Until next time…

I need a job…

So I haven’t had any luck finding a job since my last blog. I guess I haven’t exactly tried too hard, but I’m in the process of applying for this internship so we’ll see how that works out. I’m going to head to New York City in May to check out the One Show so that should be pretty cool. I’m also going to check out Wieden + Kennedy in New York, which I’m stoked for because they do all the Jordan Brand advertising. The new one for the XXIII with Rip Hamilton wearing his hood is incredible and I want to meet the genius behind it.

I was watching the Suns/Spurs game the other night and all i can say is WOW, Bruce Bowen is quite possibly the dirtiest player in the NBA. No wait he IS the dirtiest player in the NBA. Here’s just a few of the players he has beef with: Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Wally Szczerbiak, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Francis, and most recently Amare Stoudemire. The evidence is there and we’ll see how he does in the playoffs, seeing as that’s his favorite time to get down and dirty. As of right now it would be a Suns/Spurs first round series, which would be just awesome so we’ll see.

The other day I was watching CNN at the gym and apparently there’s been an investigation at a Texas polygamist ranch. I guess they removed like 130 little girls from there because they were being sexually abused or something. Man. That’s some sick shit. All I want to know is why it took so long for this investigation to take place. Polygamy in general seems slightly sketchy and I can’t believe they allowed 130 little girls to live on this ranch. That’s not cool and I hope this guy faces the consequences.

Oh and I’m still pretty hooked on Facebook’s Scrabulous. If you haven’t played get on that because you’ll like it, but I’m still convinced it allows made up words. Speaking of Facebook, we were talking in my class the other day about how Facebook and MySpace are not really “social” tools. In fact, there’s really nothing social about them because you’re pretty much either playing the role of “creepy stalker” or writing on people’s walls, which is essentially like a prolonged game of phone tag. I guess it’s alright though because I can keep in touch with all my friends back home and in other places. I just don’t understand those people with 489 friends. Do you really know all those people? I doubt it because odds are you pass them everyday on campus and don’t even say hi.

Oh and one last thing, has anyone seen the video of the 16 year old girls beating on their classmate? It’s pretty fucked up and what gets me is that they filmed it and wanted to post it for people to see. I mean the idea was incredibly stupid in the first place, but the fact that they wanted to post it was just asking to get caught. Now these dumb girls are facing life sentences. Wow. Good job ruining your life.

Anyways, I really hope I get this internship so we’ll see how that goes. I guess if it doesn’t pan out I can always move back home and live with my parents. Yeah right. I better get that internship or a job.

Spring time, movies, basketball, scrabulous

Wow. Almost forget about this whole blogging thing. If I have any readers, I apologize for the lack of blogs. Anyways, it’s spring time, which means it’s my final term at the University of Oregon. What the hell am I going to do? The most obvious answer is find a job, but I don’t want just any job. I want to find something that’s unique, innovative and I know I’m going to enjoy. If there’s any Wieden + Kennedy folk out there reading this… hint hint you know who to contact.

Enough about me though, spring time is awesome here in Eugene for a number of reasons… The weather kicks ass, girls look nice, and everyone just seems to be in a better mood. I really can’t wait to hike the Butte here because once you get to the top there’s this plateau that looks onto the entire city. If you haven’t seen it, it’s pretty damn cool.

So I recently saw the movie I Am Legend. Honestly, it was everything I expected. Nothing new. As always though, props to my man Will Smith because he always brings a kick ass performance. My favorite part was at the end when all the zombies are breaking down the glass room and he finds the cure and shouts something like, “I can help. I can save you. I can save everybody.” I really thought he was genuine about trying to fix the problem he created, but in reality it was HIS problem. He f’ed up, to say it lightly, which screwed over the entire population. I guess the people with the best intentions can do at least as much harm as they do good. It sucks but it’s the truth. I just really hope the real cure for cancer doesn’t produce a mass amount of zombies.

Has anyone seen the new South Park episodes? Wow. Those guys never fail to impress me. The episode about Britney was absolutely ridiculous… Alexa check it out if you haven’t. The most recent one was a tribute to some movie from the 80’s called Heavy Metal. The episode was funny, but I might have missed some of the jokes because I haven’t seen the movie they’re referencing. That’s OK though, I think I saw enough.

I know March Madness has been on everyone’s minds lately, but has anyone been keeping tabs on the NBA? Man, it’s been crazy. The playoff picture in the east is ridiculous. The last four seeds are Washington, Toronto, Philly, and ATL. Wow. And Washington doesn’t even have Gil. Good luck in the playoffs to these four teams because they’re taking up valuable space from the western conference where a number of good teams are getting screwed. Oh well though. Everyone’s been talking about how they need to change the playoff seeds. I don’t think they need to be changed because it’s only one year. It’s not like this has really happened before so whatever. Tough for some teams, but they should know what it’s like playing in the west and who knows, maybe the east will be legit. Atlanta could win ONE game. Also, props to my man Chris Paul for being the best point guard in the league. He is a floor general and he gets it done night in and night out. MVP in my book.

Scrabulous on FaceBook is addicting. I know. It sounds lame, but it’s pretty damn fun. The only thing I don’t like is that it lets you cheat. In real Scrabble, the way our parents used to play, people can’t look up words. And what is up with some of the words it lets you spell? Qi? Yeah right. I actually played a real game the other night and got my ass kicked. I think I came in third out of four people, but it wasn’t my fault. I kept getting vowels. What the hell do I do with four E’s?

Last thing. The Air Jordan XXIIIs are impossible to get. I really just want to grab one pair so I can ball in them. Is that so much to ask Nike? I’m willing to shell out the cash and you can’t even provide me with the goods. I know Nike is trying to get all limited with their shit, but it’s called supply and demand and my demand is high.

OK I think i’ve been talking for a while now. Until next time… Peace. I’m out like the Cavs in the 07′ Finals.