So the issue of cloning has been a hot debate ever since the world’s most famous sheep, Dolly, hit the news media back in 1996 as the first mammal to be cloned.
Ever since then, people have been trying to clone everything. Heck, it seemed like everyone was obsessed with the topic so much so that many of us had to sit through horribly unfunny movies about cloning.
Well, fast-forward to 2010, and cloning has met design in a rather unique way, courtesy of a young man named Philipp Stolenmayer. What has Philipp done that is so great you want to know? Well, he cloned himself through the design of a life sized papercraft model.
Yes, I know it’s not a true ‘clone,’ but there is no doubt that it is quite awesome. Philipp outlines the steps to his project here if you are interested in giving it a go.
If that seems a bit ambitious for your first papercraft project, let us know. We might have something for you to practice with. We’ve been kind of obsessed with papercraft lately. If you’ve been following us on Twitter, you might know what we’re talking about…
So, you may remember a few weeks back when we posted about a fictitious story that caught my eye on The Onion. In said story, a man supposedly proclaimed his ‘devotion and love’ for the Pepsi brand during ceremony at a convenience store where he was surrounded by a small group of friends and employees.
In all seriousness, consumers are proclaiming their love for brands more and more these days and in very unique ways. From tattoos, to ‘Liking’ a brand on Facebook, brands mean more to consumers today than ever before.
All that said, I’m not so sure that The Onion story was all that far-fetched because late last week I stumbled upon an article on USAToday.com about retail wedding trends…
So, it appears that more and more, people are pledging their “I do’s” to their significant others, while in a retail establishment. You won’t believe this, but this includes having weddings at places like T.J. Maxx and Taco Bell. That’s not all though…. Include Home Depot and Cold Stone Creamery on that list too! It’s pretty unbelievable to me, but hey, I only got married at The Cincinnati Nature Center’s Krippendorf Lodge (which I highly recommend by the way!).
Be it brand loyalty, saving money, or the desire to be a little different, people are actually going through with this, so there’s not telling what’s next. Is it good for the brand? I can’t see how it could possibly hurt. Is it good for the bride or groom? Well, if you are “self proclaimed Maxxinista” (make sure you read the USA Today story relative to this comment) or a Chalupa fanatic, perhaps you can shop or get your Mexican food fix on before/after the ceremony. If you bring a whole wedding party, they can join in on the fun too. I’m sure these brands won’t complain about anyone spending a little money before or afterward the ceremony, so I’d say it’s a win-win.
I’m just going to go on record and say that I don’t understand Sketcher’s Shape-Ups. Apparently, nor does anyone else because according to a story on USAToday.com disputes about whether they work or not, are safe or not, are cool looking or not, etc., have yielded no definitive answers either way.
It doesn’t matter where I side on this really because I don’t know enough about these to make an accurate assessment, but I will say that Joe Montana is part of their marketing and Joe knows sneakers.
Leave it to bacon and bacon fanatics worldwide to continue pushing the envelope on creating new culinary delights in the bacon food group.
Yes, there is a bacon food group. There is an ad campaign about it right now, helping to increase the knowledge of consumers so they meet their daily minimum, if you don’t believe me:
It's true!
Well, the kind folks at Uncrate.com recently helped inform the world that there is a new innovation in the bacon category: Bacon Moon Pie.
Sweet-Tooth meets Meat-Tooth
Do you like marshmallow, bourbon, maple syrup, dark chocolate and bacon, among other things? Well, this slice of heaven is for you.
We are a company comprised of many foodies (and one member of the United Embassy of Bacon), so it’s always great to see new food evolutions taking place. Connecting your “sweet-tooth’ with your ‘meat-tooth,” it only serves to make it that much better.
So consumers have often shown their love for brands in a variety of ways, some more endearing than others.
At one point in time, the pinnacle when it came to a consumer showcasing their love and dedication to a brand may have been the simple act of cutting the logo of the brand in one’s hair.
This took the top haircut spot recently, surpassing the faux-hawk.
Not only is it another form of advertising for the brand, but hey, this looks pretty killer and who wouldn’t want a haircut like that whether they liked the brand or not, right?
Of course there is always getting a brands tattoo on you (oh and if you need help with that, just see our earlier post on how you can find a good tattoo parlor via your iPhone), but come on, that’s still not showing a brand the love they deserve.
Well, thanks to the gang over at The Onion, we now know that at least one consumer showed his true love for a brand recently. They reported that earlier this week in a Circle K convenience store in Redmond, OR, Bryce Thompkins proclaimed his devotion and love for the Pepsi brand. Apparently only a small group of employees and close friends were there to see the ceremony.
Details from The Onion’s report:
‘”I love Pepsi,” Tompkins vowed as he offered the clerk two crisp dollar bills, symbolizing his willingness to sacrifice for Pepsi, and received 71 cents in return, symbolizing the portion of the two dollars that Pepsi does not cost. “Always will.” The solemn union of man and flavored soda was commemorated by a small bit of printed paper, which Tompkins declined.’
Now I ask you as you read this, can you say that you show the same dedication and support to the brands you use and respect? Our connections with the brands we use everyday are changing and Mr. Thompkin’s actions are a testament to that. I’m will to bet that as brand advocacy by consumers continues to evolve in 2010, we’ll see more of these types of reports.
So in short, take a cue from Mr. Tompkins and show the brands you love, some love.
The 2012 Olympics so far have not failed to entertain with each announced design choice/uber-Britishy production number, and things over in England have just gotten a whole lot crazier. Meet the mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville:
The press have been particularly unkind to this newest Olympic development. Barry Petchesy, of the Deadspin blog, describes them thusly: “Wenlock and Mandeville, their cyclopean eyes representing England’s Big Brother police state, were unveiled today. You might as well just sacrifice your firstborn now and get it over with.” Both the Telegraph and The Independent have ridiculed the choice as well.
Waldi
Mascots were originally introduced during the 1972 Munich Summer Games with Waldi the Dachshund. Subsequent mascots have seen the full spectrum of acceptance, from the much-reviled Izzy (Atlanta 1996) to the recent superprecious Vancouver mascots. Olympic mascots are important for two reasons: the more altruistic Getting Kids Interested In Sports, and the more practical Merchandising Bucks (Wenlock and Mandeville will be sold as cyclopean digital cameras, among many other things).
Izzy and the Vancouver 2010 mascots
It will be interesting to see how the new 2012 mascots fit into the overall Olympic plan, till then my only question is, Why so angry-looking, Wenlock?
You know that feeling where you want some KFC so bad that you’ll do anything to get it? And if anything or anyone gets in your way, you’ll go crazy and start flipping tables/chairs or staging sit-ins right?
Well, imagine you want that KFC, you have a coupon you got off the internet and you go to get your chicken on and the staff at your local fried chicken establishment won’t take your coupon.
What else is there to do but cause a riot, right?
Hard to believe, but it happened in Japan last week. Next time someone has to be a bit more careful to ensure fraudulent digital coupons can’t be made. But hey, it shows digital couponing works if the offer is good enough!
So our fair city of Cincinnati has been getting dumped on this week by good old mother nature. I like snow, I don’t love it, but it could be a lot worse as evidence by the beating that Washington, DC has taken.
Now, I’m not a Meteorologist and the HQ blog sure isn’t a weather blog by any means….. but I can tell when people are excited about their jobs and bring a passion to their work and Jim Kosek @ Accuweather, you my friend, are that guy. Why am I posting this here, well, I guarantee you will laugh hysterically at the videos of this guy’s forecast.
Thanks to mother nature, Jim is getting all kinds of play due to his crazy antics and manner of presenting the weather. I’m coming across him on various newcasts talking about his manner of delivering the weather and online in blogs, twitter, etc. If this storm never happened, I don’t think I’d have found Jim.
If only we all had a local weather man who truly tells it like it is and makes the story fun/interesting when they tell it to you.
