Great idea, poorly executed
2007.07.25 08:01
With the release of The Simpsons Movie just around the corner, there have been all kinds of promotions thrown at us over the past weeks. From rebranding 7-11s around the country to QuickEMarts to a couple of websites, their is no lack of market awareness. One of the problems with so much promotional material has been some of the lack of QA in the production pipeline.
The Simpsons Movie site is a great bit of entertainment, although there are far too many "Coming Soon" placeholders for my taste. A web site is constantly evolving and adding tags like that just showcase the lack of planning and foresight by the marketing execs involved with this production. I can accept that, however, because the items they have on the site are engaging and work. That cannot be said for one of the more recent additions to Springfield.
There is another Simpsons site that allows you to upload a photo and have it "Simpsonized". This site is a complete hit or miss; actually it's a miss. I have been trying to get something to work on the site since I discovered it over the weekend. Not once, in literally almost 50 attempts, has proved fruitful (those 50 attempts do not include the times the site did allow entry; either by error request or session control).
This would be an example of how not to do a movie tie-in. The site leaves the visitor with nothing but frustration and nothing of the "reason to believe" marketing folks so often use in their creative briefs. This launch date for the movie was established long ago, yet like so many ill-conceived promotions, they did not allow enough time to produce the products to the level that the market has come to expect from a global entertainment company.
For example compare the Simpsons movie site with Disney/Pixars Ratatouille. Hands down, the mouse or in this case the rat, delivers on the promise. Now, I don't want to say the Simpsons have jumped the shark, but I think the lack of attention to some of these major promotional materials does not bode well for the Simpsons (both the movie and the recent lackluster seasons).
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Speech Bubbles
2007.07.16 08:05
Something fun, but mostly useless for commercial prospects, is Speech Bubble. Installing this into your browser allows you to add a speech bubble to any photo on the web and share it with your friends. There are some sites that will not work (i.e. Flash, larger sites like NY Times, etc.) but overall it is a fun diversion for you and your friends on a slow afternoon.
Dylan Seuss?
2007.03.10 10:50
Dylan Hears a Who. One of the funniest albums never produced. This combines the wit and genius of Dr. Seuss with the legendary style of Bob Dylan. It is one of those albums that you wish was real; especially now with such a burgeoning market of quality children's music. For anyone who watches Jack's Big Music show, they will get it.
flickr fun
2006.12.14 08:05
Just found out about this from Boing Boing. Two little bits of holiday fun for your flickr library. Add a note to any of your images labeled "ho ho ho hat" and it will place a Santa Hat on your image. Add another note labeled "ho ho ho beard" and it will place a Santa Beard on the image. That is a little bit of fun for the holiday season.
Charlie Brown Christmas redux
2006.12.12 14:53
I just got an email from a friend with this link to a version of the Charlie Brown Christmas as performed by the cast of HBC TV's hit Scrubs. This is no simple reading of the script, but rather a re-interpretation by the cast. It is funny, a little blue, but mostly funny.If you are If you are a fan of the show, you are aren't you, you will love this version. With all due respects to Sparky.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
2006.12.11 11:42
Watching this cartoon as a kid, and countless times now that I am a father, I always wondered whatever happened to these puppets. A few years back I was at Kevin Smith's comic book shop in Red Bank, NJ and saw a couple of great books on the production of the cartoon, but it never really stated what happened to the puppets.
Well they were found last year. Well only a couple of puppets survived and they were in pretty bad shape. Here is a nice bit of info on their restoration and some nice pics.
Web DNA
2006.08.07 07:41
This is another thing I love about the web. I found this on the RapidWeaver Forums and thought it was an intriguing way to showcase data. Enter the URL you wish to have reviewed and this site will generate a visual representation of your site. It reviews the code and generates the image based on several criteria: H1 is brighter than H2 is brighter than H3, etc., table is brighter than TR which is brighter than TD, DIV layout is brighter than a table layout, and on. A semantically coded site will appear brighter than an invalid page.
How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb?
2006.06.20 16:24
This is one of those jokes that has made it around the internet multiple times. That does not negate the fact that it is funny and holds some semblance of truth. If you are not a geek, like myself, than please ignore, but if you are a member of some online forums you will recognize some of the descriptions. Read More...
Let the games begin...
2006.06.09 08:03
One of the greatest sporting events in the world starts in Germany today, The World Cup. The opening match is between Germany , the host country, and Costa Rico kicks off a month-long competition by the best 32 teams in the world. The first World Cup was held on July 18th, 1930 and quickly became a sporting and financial success that continues to this day. Most Americans cannot comprehend the fervor around this sporting event, but to compare it to our sensibilities it is the SuperBowl, World Series, NBA Championships, the Stanley Cup, Kentucky Derby and the Indy 500 all rolled into one package.
Our American team has played well and has the opportunity to do better than they have ever before. The Americans are in Group E, along with Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic. We have a talented roster of great athletes but whatever the outcome, this will be a great series for any sports fan to watch. If you want to watch some great action plan on watching at least one game.
Fun with Flash
2006.06.05 13:46
This site just goes to show what a little imagination and a good toolset can do for you. Despite its seemingly rudimentary protagonist, this is a great bit of animation and storytelling that made me laugh out-loud. If you are okay with cartoon violence, than this is a clever animation and worth checking out.
Website valuation
2006.06.05 13:02
Found this site, Leapfish, and thought it was somewhat amusing. They claim to offer an appraisal of your domain name. If they are accurate, my domain is one of the more valuable assets I own. Either way, it is a fun bit of speculating.
Cool and somewhat useless
2006.05.31 15:48
Pixar's newest film is about a week away, but you can check out some of the fun at their