Friday, 12 March 2010

Ian Ross caught with hookah

Speaking of political incorrectness and Ian Ross.

Did we happen to mention last Friday night’s AIMIA Awards?

Well…

While it was an enjoyable night, no advertising event would be complete without a little vice.

So after the show the clickDM team indulged in some hookahs.

In this case, exotic Turkish ones.

And while they had a strangely minty fragrance about them, they were needless to say smoking hot.

CLICK FOR EVIDENCE.

Thursday, 11 March 2010

You’re a real doll, Babs

Lucky for us – especially Ian Ross – advertising has mostly avoided the scourge of political correctness.

Which is just as well because often the best advertising is about finding, then celebrating or confronting the truth in all its messy human inconsistency and frailty.

It ain’t always pretty.

Or PC.

Which is probably why Mad Men is so loved.

Not only because it celebrates the golden age of advertising. But because it captures an era when men were men and women were – how did they put it back then? – dolls.

Which makes it very fitting that Mattel has announced the addition of Mad Men characters to its equally un-PC Barbie range.

As the New York Times reports:

The pairing of Barbie and “Mad Men” is more interesting than the typical licensing agreement because of their shared history. Barbie was introduced in March 1959, and the first episode of “Mad Men” is set in March 1960.

“‘Mad Men’ represents so beautifully the universe that created Barbie,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, because the series is about the selling of the American consumer society.

To be included are Don Draper, wife Betty and colleague Roger Sterling. Oh yeah, and Joan Holloway, the agency’s office manager and Roger’s one-time mistress.

And who could blame him?

She really is a doll.

Friday, 26 February 2010

Three cheers for Hockley

THE DM GROUP quarterly catch-up is a time for all of us to get together, talk about the work we’ve done and have more than a few drinks.

Now you’d assume a quarterly catch-up happens quarterly but it’s actually been 12 months since our previous catch-up.

That meant some of our more enthusiastic colleagues had 12 months of pent-up PowerPoint slides to get out of their system.

So to keep things moving, we had a strict five-minute time limit with the option to buy an extra minute with a shot.

While there are plenty in THE DM GROUP who love a chin wag, none more so than digital planning director, Craig Hockley.

Craig decided to buy two extra minutes before he even started speaking and ended up having to down a third shot by the end of his presentation.

See, we said he’d fit in.

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Why does Craig have to sing every morning?

Because if he doesn’t sing his ‘Got me stuff’ song before he leaves home, he inevitably ends up forgetting something important.

Like his glasses.

Which he found very inconvenient today as he went about his usual senior art director business.

That’s why our ever helpful, handyman/production manager David Findlay made him a new pair.

Isn’t it amazing what you can do with just some pipe cleaners and duct tape?

One thing’s for sure, Craig will be singing every morning from now on.

Friday, 22 January 2010

Small bickies make a big impact

This week THE DM GROUP took time out from our efforts to contribute to another – PLAN’s Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

Which is why our inhouse frau Kristin spent all night baking.

For a small donation you could choose from her homemade apple cake, cherry cake and chocolate muffins.

But as our CSR team explained, even small bickies can have a
big impact.

For instance, $50 will provide a family with a household kit of cooking utensils.

While $100 will provide temporary shelter for up to three families
or a School in a Box Kit for 30 kids.

Hmmm…

Not such a half-baked idea after all.