The Friday Breakthrough is Ottawa's weekly roundup of some of the Internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office.
1. Ten Word Wiki may provide you with a few minutes of enjoyment on this Friday afternoon. Pretty self-explanatory, this site describes random things in exactly ten words. For example, here's the entry for Canada: "Similar to America, except more laid-back, worse at hockey." Whooooa! Them's fitting words. Someone needs to remedy that entry, stat!
2. Just when you thought getting dumped the old fashioned way was depressing, just wait until you hear about Bradley Laborman's company IDUMP4U. Not feeling up to being a decent human being and ending your relationship yourself? Well, you're in luck. For a measly $10 fee ($25 to end an engagement and $50 to initiate a divorce), Mr. Laborman will take it upon himself to call your significant other and break the news. He then uploads audio from the call to the IDUMP4U website, a "therapeutic" act, according to him.
3. Finally, a shout-out to Paul Chaney, the fabulous keynote speaker at the very successful inaugural Ottawa Web Marketing Club event yesterday morning. Check out his blog for some key insight into social media: The Social Media Handyman.
Tim Hortons is in a bit of hot water due to a marketing misstep. Their latest television commercial is a touching one, so much so that many viewers were moved to learn more about the featured family, the "true story" that this commercial was based on. The problem there is that there isn't one.
Dakshana Bascaramurty of the Globe and Mail burst everyone's bubbles today, reporting that Tim Hortons spokesperson David Morelli says the commercial was in fact based on "an amalgamation of stories". Cue eye-rolling by cynics everywhere.
Does this fib take away from the commercial? It is still heartwarming and patriotic, but it would definitely be even more so if we knew that it was 100% authentic. What do you think? Are you disappointed in Tim Hortons for misleading the public or should we expect such little white lies in today's advertising realm? Let us know what you think!
The Friday Breakthrough is Ottawa's weekly roundup of some of the Internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office. For the duration of the Winter Olympic Games, the Friday Breakthrough will be dedicated to reviewing The Good, The Bad and The "What Were They Thinking?!" of the marketing of the Vancouver Olympics.
Part Three: What Were They Thinking?
And now, the hot mess of Olympic marketing blunders. First up, I must discuss the train wreck of Olympic uniforms that we had to endure during the Olympic ceremonies. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a lot of countries’ Olympic threads, but some were so hideous. (And yes, for any naysayers, Olympic gear has EVERYTHING to do with marketing). Germany takes the cake on the worst uniforms. Pink for girls and blue for boys – I wish I were kidding. Sure, my fashion expertise is limited to episodes of “Project Runway” and my LouLou subscription, but I mean come on! Heidi Klum must be throwing up right now. I couldn’t seem to find a pick of the German uniform disaster, but look for them during closing ceremonies. Trust me, you won’t miss team Deutschland. It’s a bad fashion wreck, you won’t be able to take your eyes off. Also, there’s a good chance you’ll feel better about your grade 8 sewing assignment in Home Ec class. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have you walk away without viewing a most excellent Olympic fashion faux-pas, I have included a pic of the Norwegian curling team.
Next up: bandwagon jumping of provincial tourism served up with the subtlety of Kanye West. Sure, the spirit of the Olympic Games has always diluted by the onslaught of advertising, sponsorship and press, but am I the only one who finds the constant running of the B.C. and Ontario tourism ads blatant attempts to cash in? I just have one question for British Columbia Tourism: How many of them ACTUALLY call B.C. home?
So who has reached the summit of ultimate Olympic blunders? The hot mess goes to Cold FX. There are several spots featuring Canadian Olympic athletes, all touting the benefits of this cold remedy. Uber cheesy and filmed with the quality that makes you think that local community programming has a bigger budget to work with. Also, the copywriting on the Clara Hughes spot reminds me of feminine hygiene ad from 1962 or something: “I guess it’s not a secret any more.” No Clara, it’s no secret that Cold FX seriously needs to reconsider their advertising. In the words of Charlie Brown: “Good grief!”
My apologies for not attaching the soon-to-be classic Clara Hughes spot, blame it on YouTube. If you’re any Olympic fan at all, you’ve already seen it 74 times at least and if you haven’t - go watch the Olympics!
I hope you enjoyed this three part series, I sure did. Be sure to catch our post-Olympic Friday Breakthrough next week.
Haven't you heard of Chatroulette? All the plugged-in web-savvy peeps out there have. It's no surprise that Mr. I-Have-Over-Four-Million-Followers-On-Twitter, Ashton Kutcher himself (@aplusk), has been caught in the act. Chatroulette is a website that connects users with one other random user at a time, for communication via webcam and text. Apparently, its appeal crosses borders and even species (see: Catroulette).
According to good old Wikipedia, the site was launched in November 2009 by a 17 year-old high school student in Moscow. It will certainly be interesting to see how this service evolves or if it's just the flavour of the week.
I can't bring myself to try it, even in the name of The Daily Breakthrough, because I just don't want strangers popping into my home via my computer screen. Thanks, but no thanks. All this talk of webcams and invasion of privacy reminds me of a terrifying news article I read recently. Check out this unbelievable story about a Philadelphia school that spied on its students using webcams on school-issued laptops, in an attempt to find a few missing computers. Welcome to 1984, ladies and gents.
I agree that you should at least watch the video (I have not yet tested the app). With that said, here's the video:
This video also makes me really want an iPhone. Again. As soon as Canadian companies stop charging ridiculous amounts for wireless Internet service, I will so get one. (After I get a Kindle, of course.)
