marketing » Absurd Intellectual

Marketing vs reality

Posted by Amy Breen on 22 May 2010 Modern Life

May 222010

There are a lot of websites out there that try and help you pick the best hotel or resort for your vacation. They have pictures and reviews that are, let’s say, a little more honest than the sites hotels have.

Oyster.com, which reviews hotels for you, probably has the best feature I’ve seen so far. They call it Photo Fakeouts. They show a promotional photo for the hotel and then the (sometimes harsh) reality.

Like this room from a Jamaican hotel.

The ad:

The truth:

A lot of the marketing photos use clever cropping to hide the surrounding unpleasantries (like a hotel in Los Angeles conveniently leaving out the huge Macy’s right beside the pool area) but the above photo, apparently using photoshop to hide the fact that the king bed is really just two beds, is just a blatant lie.

Check it out the next time you plan a trip, so you don’t get screwed into thinking you’ve landed a jackpot room.

(via)

Short Film Friday: Logorama

Posted by T. Keith Edmunds on 16 April 2010 Everything Else, Modern Life

Apr 162010

Dedicated readers may know that I’m fascinated by marketing. In particular, I’m interested in the way certain aspects of marketing enter popular culture — how we assimilate fictional entities (such as Ronald McDonald) into our common experience. Fascinating.

The creators of the 2010 Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film took this idea to the extreme. What if an instance of popular culture — a big budget movie — was completely marketing entities and logos.

Filled with car chases, a hostage crisis, a romance (of sorts) and rampaging animals, Logorama is worthy of the multitude of awards it has won. (NOTE: Some aspects may be NSFW, depending on where you work.)

Logorama from Marc Altshuler – Human Music on Vimeo.

Introducing the Joby GorillaBike

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 15 March 2010 Modern Life, Photography

Mar 152010

If you’re a fan of the flexible Joby Gorillapod tripods (I am) then you’ll love this bike, which they had on display at photo trade show PMA 2010.

Of course, it’s completely useless as a bike, unless you really require a folding, pose-able bike, perhaps because your limbs are twisted and arthritic?

But it’s fantastic as marketing — I’ve seen it linked on multiple blogs, including this one, now. And just to encourage the corporate bigwigs who sign off on ridiculous marketing projects like this, I’ll give a little love to the other stuff that Joby unveiled at the show — Gorillapods with magnetic feet that you can stick anywhere, and an extra-large tripod head for more stability.

There’s a great report on all things Joby at Photography Bay.

I’m kind of jazzed for the magnetic Gorillapods, even though they are point-and-shoot-sized only (DSLRs, especially with big lenses, may just be too heavy).

I bought a DSLR-sized Gorillapod for my sister in law at Christmas (we had a $30 limit on our gift exchange, and I’m pretty sure I got it as a price error. She was happy). They really hit the sweet spot between stiff and flexible.

(thanks, Ryan!)

Pack your own toilet paper, save $200

Posted by T. Keith Edmunds on 17 August 2009 Modern Life

Aug 172009

I would not be surprised if the new marketing campaign launched by the Rancho Bernardo Inn eventually became the norm for the hospitality industry:

Called the “Survivor Package,” the hotel’s deeply discounted promotion lets patrons trim its standard $219-per-night rate on a sliding scale of deprivation, lowering charges with each amenity stripped from the room.

The most basic version: a room for $19 with no bed, toilet paper, towels, air-conditioning or “honor bar,” and only a single light bulb in the bathroom for safety. The next level up adds in a bed — sans sheets — for $39 a night. For a bed plus toiletries and toilet paper, the rate is $59.

Someone on a road trip, most likely, would rather fork over $20 to throw a sleeping bag on a floor of a safe room than to try and sleep in their vehicle in a sketchy truck-stop parking lot.

Not me, though. I’m thrifty (read: cheap).

New packaging sweeps away design cruft

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 9 June 2009 Vintage/Retro

Jun 092009

According to design blog idsgn (bookmarked!), companies like Nabisco and General Mills are launching new, retro-inspired packages. I couldn’t be happier!

The vintage-inspired packaging, from Kraft-owned Nabisco, focuses on a clean minimal aesthetic—gone are the countless gradients, glows, and warped type. While simple, it is a breath of fresh air on supermarket shelves typically stuffed with over-designed products. A nice way to reinvent a couple of otherwise boring products.

There are a couple of other examples on the site, as well as comments from a guy named Grant who hails form the U of Manitoba. It’s not me, but that’s a weird coincidence.

Now, about the packages: Someone tell me if they’ve spotted this out in the wild? Especially in Canada?

(Via a Swidinst tweet)