Media Mandible

Will Obama Be Elected On Guilt?

miconian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:31:19 +0000

A friend of mine recently tweeted this entertaining video on how to talk to racists: The key takeaway is the importance of focusing on actions rather than thoughts. You don’t call someone a racist, because that’s a statement about their soul that’s impossible to prove. Instead, you call out their provably racist words or actions. It occurred [...]

I Was A Strange Online Media Buyer

miconian — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:32:18 +0000

Mainly in that I didn’t take bribes. I mean, I took them, but I didn’t consciously make decisions based on them. In fact, I once had to make a choice between two publishers, and one of the two took me to the US Open. I chose the other publisher, because that was the only way [...]

Tardis PC

miconian — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:28:44 +0000

My little contribution to wepc, FM’s latest project.

The Tao Of Blog

miconian — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:52:41 +0000

The main distinction between eastern and western thought is the focus on the individual versus the universe as a whole. In the west, you can be a very good person, a virtuous and selfless person, but the focus is still on what kind of individual you are, what kind of individual you choose to be. [...]

Facebook Non-friendship And Real Life

miconian — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:55:56 +0000

A couple of days ago, I changed my Facebook status to “Michael doesn’t even like you; accepting your friend request was just easier.” This was actually an exaggeration. Although I am Facebook-friends with some people whom I don’t actually consider friends, there isn’t anyone I’ve friended who I actually dislike. Nevertheless, someone I consider an actual [...]

guerilla theatre meets guerilla marketing

miconian — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:40:14 +0000

Two nights ago, my friend Julie Fotheringham gave an unsolicited performance at Judson Church. Julie has applied to perform at Judson in an official capacity three times, and has always been turned down. So this time, she showed up and performed for the crowd immediately after the scheduled show had finished. Some interesting marketing stuff going [...]

Korean Star Suicide And Occam’s Razor

miconian — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:00:08 +0000

Choi Jin-sil, a South Korean movie star, allegedly killed herself recently out of humiliation after widespread online criticism of her single-mother lifestyle. Widespread public anger over Choi’s death is giving support to the government’s plan to crack down on the web, putting it under “martial law.” (Martial law? No http requests after 7pm, perhaps?) The NY [...]

The Difference Between Metaphor and Affinity

miconian — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:59:09 +0000

Microsoft’s latest ad campaign shows people of all occupations, colors, and creeds proudly exclaiming “I’m a PC.” The implication, of course, is that John Hodgeman’ dorky character from the Mac ads isn’t an accurate representation of the type of people who use Windows. But here’s the problem. Hodgeman’s chubby, white, bespectacled, clumsily dressed self isn’t supposed [...]

vampires and the future of advertising

miconian — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:26:27 +0000

Before Alan Ball’s new HBO show, True Blood, premieres this weekend, let it be said for all who don’t already know that the future of advertising has already been changed. It’s not just that the massive campaign for True Blood involves blogs, tweets, and dating sites from inside the fictional universe of the show. It’s also [...]

Aristotle And The Art Of The Banner Ad

miconian — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:54:52 +0000

I have spent a great many meetings and emails explaining to designers, copywriters, and creative directors what makes a good interactive (”rich media”) banner. My thesis can be pretty much boiled down to this: a) The initial interactivity should not be a hard sell, i.e. it should not involve the user clicking through to another site, [...]