The Succulent Wife's Favorite Things

Painted Hands as Art and in Advertising

I haven't had a chance to investigate this further, but I'm definitely noticing a trend with hands being used as a canvas for art and for advertising. What could be the underlying impetus for this wave? Inspired by body art in general, tattoo art? Or, is it that in our blasé -ness for all ordinary medium, hands are presenting a fresh... face? Do hands add a more "human" touch to the product presentation? Whatever the inspiration behind this trend, I like it!

For example, this Animated Hands collection called "Animani" from the artist Mario Mariotti

And this campaign by AT&T:

Celestial Seasonings Campaign - Visibly the alternative to mega calorie drink

I love the simple and oh-so clear visuals of this campaign. Even if trying to have any addict make the switch from a venti-caramel-frappuccino-with-whip to a green tea that one needs to prepare themselves is quite the stretch, the campaign still has merit.  It  does illustrate the consequences of drinking the Starbucks frothy brews very effectively. It simple and clever and highly visual. Might just take Celestial Seasonings a little time to meet their converts...   

Emmys.com - Clever Billboard Campaign

For those of us not born with a laptop on our laps... It took me a second to realize that there was something incongruous with these images. The younger set might never notice...

This campaign announces that broadband television is now eligible for the Primetime Emmys. 

Adi Dassler - The Real Story and the Real Person Behind Adidas

Maybe it's my "duh" but it never occurred to me that the Adidas brand was actually named after a specific person.  I love this Adidas campaign. There is nothing better than a real story to make a brand come to life and have it mean something.

Enjoy!

Free Air Guitar Campaign

Humor at work to create a memorable and effective campaign. We immediately understand that this radio station - which will most likely be remembered in the viewer's mind - is one that will inspire you to groove and rock.  Too clever.

via longtail.com

JWT's list of 80 People, Things & Trends to Watch in 2008

If you are of my generation, you know JWT as the J. Walter Thompson Agency. They've been around, under one moniker or another since 1864 and are the world's fourth largest agency.

Anyhoo, here are some of the things that they have pinpointed as the "To Watch" items of  2008. Interesting that poor Benazir Bhutto made the list.  Looks like JWT is on to something. Not sure what they mean by some of the terms listed here, like "sturking" or "women juggling men" (is that literal? a  movement??, what???), but we are we are bound to find out as the media starts talking about it.

1. Africa (foreign investment and development in)
2. Antibiotic backlash
3. Assisted marriage
4. Beijing 2008
5. Blue replacing green as the environmental movement's color du jour
6. Brain exercises
7. British actress Keira Knightley
8. Carbon tax
9. Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang
10. Classical musician Gustavo Dudamel
11. Climate sightseeing
12. Continuation of comebacks (Indiana Jones, The Cure, etc.)
13. Cooperative consumption
14. Couch surfing
15. Country branding (Oman, Indonesia, etc.)
16. Designer Phillip Lim