This little piggie waited in a big long line!

Perhaps the scariest thing this Halloween won't be the darkened alley's, costumes, the amount of candy you'll end up eating or even well crafted Halloween Haunts but another H word..... H1N1. AKA swine flu.

I'm sure companies like Kleenex and especially Purell are going to do extremely well this fall and winter. Purell even has a "Swine Flu" button in it's home page:
http://www.purell.com/index.jhtml

The news is everywhere, panic is setting in and opinions are flying about what to do about the looming epidemic. Parents are refusing Halloween for their kids, business people won't shake hands and line-ups for the flu vaccine are literally around the block as people line up to get stabbed with the needle of "protection".


( The Globe and Mail, 2009)

Governments are also doing what they can to spread a more ubiquitous prevention tactic - proper cleanliness. Communication include techniques include coughing into something (tissue or sleeve) and wash your hands properly (I'm completely disgusted at the amount of people who think running their hands under water is cleaning... try some soap next time).

However, who is getting their message heard and who is being tuned out?

The British have done a much better job (in my opinion) at getting the attention of viewer. Their tactic BIN IT. KILL IT. Memorable and effective. Living in Canada I'm not even sure what their approach has been and had to research it.

The Globe and Mail summarized it the spot as: "featuring a racially diverse array of Canadians behaving cautiously and properly: a mother and daughter washing their hands together, an office worker squirting an alcohol-based sanitizer into his hand, a woman at lunch sneezing into her arm, a man spraying disinfectant on the door handle of his fridge, and a miserable-looking fellow laid out on the couch blowing his nose into a tissue." .... YAWN.

Check out these spots and let me know what you think:

BRITISH (April 2009)


BRITISH (October 2009)
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1847321790?bctid=46291688001

US (August 2009) - Center for Disease Control Contest Winner


CANADA (2008) - only one I could find to share

Halloween: Skin is in.

Halloween is just around the corner and as parties and plans are being made, do you know what you're wearing? Or how much you're not?

It seems as though Halloween has become an opportunity for the ladies to dress more like hoes. Is it because I've grown older and it's no longer a scary witch or pretty bride that is the best costume or is there really a shift in costumes?

I'm more of a witty kind of costume girl and it's the ones that make me laugh and say "oh i get it!" that makes the night for me. However, when faced with a costume idea block and quick search for ideas on google, I'm bombarded with some fairly racy suggestions.

The Globe and Mail today ran an article sharing my thoughts and apparently business is booming for tight fitting, sexy costumes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/celebratory-skin-why-sexy-costumes-are-hot-sellers/article1337884/

I also couldn't help but laugh at this video posted by College Humor (warning: foul language in the video)


This video definitely helps to understand the lengths some girls go to make any costume a sexy one that they think is hot.

Mean Girls the movie about high school social structure does a really great job of pointing out that "it's the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it..." ]



So what are you going to be this year for Halloween? Sexy Sexy or Frog?

They'll give you the finger.....

Not having a USB key when you really need it can be really annoying. It's an easy way to transfer files or to take files with you. Now imagine having all that storage capability at your finger tips... or more correctly IN your finger tips.

Jerry Jalava is just the man with the technology. He lost the tip of his finger in a motorcycle accident and instead of rocking a stump or a normal prosthetic, he decided to upgrade to a finger 2.0. Now his finger tip is actually hiding a USB key and when he needs it, he can just pop off his finger, insert the finger into the USB drive and away he goes.

Some people might think that's just plain odd or gross, while others may agree that it's a pretty clever way of turning a negative into a relatively useful positive. Jerry is thinking it's time to upgrade again - this time to an mp3 player perhaps? Is Apple ready to launch the iFinger?

I just had one question for the guy: You've already lost a finger tip in a motorcycle accident, which too bad but relatively non-life threatening... so knowing that accidents can happen - why aren't you wearing a helmet?



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7949018.stm

Really got me with the Goats.....

The first time I saw the jumping goat ad from Telus, I wanted a baby goat of my own. Of course I'd only want it for about half an hour when I could kindly return it to the farmer from which is came.

Telus is about to offer something much more than goats, announced this week, Telus and Bell are FINALLY going to be offering the wildly popular Apple iPhone. http://www.telusmobility.com/en/ON/home/

So far in Canada, there has been a monopoly on the iPhone through Rogers, which might be the "most reliable network" but dodgiest customer service (through informal poll of users).




http://www.rogers.com/web/content/iphone3gs?cm_sp=Consumer-_-Wireless_iPhone3G_0809_Eng-_-iPhone3G_WIR_PRE_slot4

The world of wireless telephones is growing exponentially. "Smart" phones have erupted in the past couple of years - remember the original Blackberry that as floating around the office with only the very senior personnel? It seems ancient now. Even the non-smart phones offer increased access to the web, advances messaging systems and applications. So are computers becoming phones or phones becoming computers!?

Now consumers have to choose from phones offered by Blackberry, Apple, Palm, Google and Microsoft.




That's right! Microsoft has announced it's own smart phone called the Windows Phone (don't over stretch your marketing genius there guys....) it will be able to access the internet, email, an application store and it can open word and excel files.. So let's all give it up for Microsoft with a big warm welcome to last year!

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/meet/default.mspx

Harper Harmonizes..... who knew?

Released yesterday to the world of youtube viewers and Globe readers was the Canadian Prime Minister rocking out with Yo Yo Ma to a famous Beatles song. I couldn't make this up if I tried...

Prime Minister Harper took the stage at a gala at the National Arts Centre Saturday October 3, 2009. Although I'm no voice coach or a judge on American Idol, I think he did relatively well - minus hitting the high notes, though I might be concerned if he had a falsetto like Justin Timberlake, that would just be weird.

A few questions:
1) Was this a media stunt to show the more interesting and human side of Harper as talks of an election heat up again? He must be aware of the power of the internet, knowing it would be posted, shared and talked about... and posted, shared and talked about... etc.

2)Will Rick Mercer be having a field day with this one? I can only imagine the hilarity that man must be finding in this right now.

Please welcome the Canadian Prime Minister to the stage as he rocks the Beatles hit With A Little Help From My Friends

The 80's sure were funny...

We laugh now at the crazy 80's: the fitness craze (Let's get physical anyone?), teen wolf, side ponies that were crimped and in a hot pink, acid washed scrunchies... oh, the list goes on.

Have you stopped and asked yourself: what will we laugh at asking ourselves "seriously?" tomorrow? How about: Leggings and Ugg boots, or sunglasses worn by Kanye West... or the Snuggie!

The Snuggie is an incredibly unassuming successful product. It is essentially a housecoat/bathrobe on backwards. Yet, it's been wildly successful, check out the ad:



Do you want one? You probably laughed at the ridiculous situations. But is that why is was so successful - because it was so ridiculous? The internet and specifically things like youtube, have given consumers a forum to parody this product - which in turn has actually made it more successful. As the internet evolves and developes, the way products are made successful will also change, evolve and adapt. I can't wait to Snuggie 2.0.

So why didn't this gem from the 80's take off? Maybe all it needed was a good parody and social forum..... please, enjoy - I did.