I RATE ADS

jtherkal: Someone knows. Thanks to Gary for bringing this to my attention. Check out his blog.

Sony Bravia “Domino City” from Film Construction on Vimeo.

sjbooher: You know you love, jtherkal. Gush away.

jtherkal: Gush? Gush? While I do love the Sony Bravia ad series (bunnies & balls), I’m certainly not required to like all of the ads. Your gripe was that only people watching on HDTV would appreciate the vivid color in these spots. My love for them came from the life and beauty, which when viewed in HD really is great. This one misses the mark. I don’t feel inspired when I see this. The song makes me want to go to sleep and I don’t really care if I ever see this again, in HD or not HD. They’re trying to force more great spots out of the formula established by balls and bunnies, and it just doesn’t work this time. Sorry to disappoint you, C.

Why, Hasbro, why? Why did you murder Scrabulous?

Anyone living in the dark ages (or not working in an office with a computer) may not realize that yesterday marked the end of the glorious Scrabulous era; an era during which friends all over the world could compete in an online version of Scrabble on Facebook. It provided stress relief, a challenge, a way to stay in touch with friends, and more.

But in their infinite wisdom, the suits at Hasbro filed a lawsuit which ultimately led to the demise of Scrabulous. While it was clearly a ripoff of the Scrabble game–owned and trademarked by Hasbro–the online social networking version was doing more good than harm. A whole new generation of kids began playing Scrabble. Adults rekindled their love for the forgotten game. How could this possibly have hurt Hasbro? Were the developers of Scrabulous also selling an offline version of the game, distributing it to every toy store in the world, so as to strike a fatal blow to the ancient game of Scrabble? No. Instead, because of a refueled passion for the game, it’s likely that Hasbro’s sales of the physical Scrabble game increased. You can’t take Scrabulous to the beach, or play it at a family reunion.

Because I don’t work for Hasbro, nor am I one of the developers of Scrabulous, I can’t say whether or not Hasbro explored more rational solutions to their problem. Solutions like paying them for a brilliant adaptation of Scrabble and rebranding it. But I can say for sure that forcing them to take Scrabulous down was the wrong move. Bloggers and fans of Scrabulous all over America are cursing the name of Hasbro today, as they surf the internet looking for other enjoyable ways to wile away their boring day. That can’t be good for your corporate image.

Save Scrabulous.

In anticipation of the latest Batman movie, a couple companies (at least) have partnered with the makers of the movie for co-branded ads.

Comcast Triple Play:

sjbooher: I’ve actually seen this one on tv. Clever. “Some Joker blew up the mini-van.” Get it? The idea of a regular family living in Gotham City is funny, but the writers mailed this one in. Seems like they could have made this funnier and even more enjoyable. B-.

jtherkal: I have to agree. A normal family in Gotham City is fertile ground for comedy, but they didn’t quite nail it here. The fear toxin and the idea that $99 Comcast makes Gotham paradise is sort of funny. Well, maybe not the fear toxin. C+.

Domino’s Pizza:

sjbooher: I like this one more. Hahahahaha. The Joker owes her a car. What a fool he is… doesn’t he want his minions fed? Let the delivery lady be! They could have used a few more pizza shots, though. Nothing sells pizza better than pictures of pizza. A-.

jtherkal: I don’t really care for this commercial. I understand the goons’ motivation–pizza is delicious–but where is Batman? Why wouldn’t they just kill her when she got to the door? The Joker don’t owe nobody no car, bitch! I guess this doesn’t have to be logical, but I still don’t like it. Partially because Domino’s pizza is the worst pizza. D+.

On a related note, watch and enjoy:

jtherkal: Seeing the GTA ads around Brooklyn is pretty cool, since part of the game takes place there. These were spraypainted on the side of a building by Tats Cru, a group of graffiti artists who do some pretty cool murals around the city. About once a month the wall across the street from my apartment has a new Tats Cru self promotion piece. They come and do it overnight.

While it’s cool, I would have liked to see something a bit more creative than just painting up the basic print ad. You’re painting a GTA ad in Brooklyn, where part of the game is set. Let’s see some ingenuity.

Photos submitted by Clint Spaulding.

Already reviewed here.

I can’t argue with them picking this one. I’ll watch it over and over again.