JabrWoky - Following the white rabbit since...

Time Scales

In his essay in the fascinating book 'Eternally Yours: Time in Design', Brian Eno throws in a quote from mathematician Freeman Dyson (originally published in Stewart Brand's book 'The Clock of the Long Now') which goes like this:

"The destiny of our species is shaped by the imperatives of survival on six distinct time scales. To survive means to compete successfully on all six of them, but the unit of survival is different at each of the six scales. On a time scale of years the unit is the individual. On a time scale of decades the unit is the family. On a time scale of centuries the unit is the tribal nation. On the time scale of millennia the unit is the culture. On tens of millennia the unit is the species. On the scale of eons the unit is the whole web of life on our planet."

An interesting explanation on the long-term context of life on a mathematical scale. On a similar note I stumbled on an ad for Glenfiddich whiskey (by 180 Amsterdam)which plays on a year scale of human emotions and motivations. The copy goes like this:

"A day is a step. A year is a tango.
A day is a tourist. A year is a traveler.
A day is a chance encounter. A year is love.
A day is a frustration. A year is a melody.
A day is a thought. A year is a philosophy."

Makes me wonder if the creatives for this ad had a stroke of inspiration from the Freeman Dyson quote. The ad can be viewed below.

Indra Sinha - Rediscovered

I remember a few years back when I had just started grad school at the VCU Adcenter I stumbled on the bible of copywriters (at least the ones who were in the copywriting program) called 'The Copy Book'. It was there that I discovered some interesting advertising characters like Neil French, Bill Bernbach etc. But there was one name in there that quite captured my interest, and that was an Indian bloke called Indra Sinha. And my initial thoughts were like how the hell did this Indian dude get on to this list of caucasian writers. He seemed like the perfect misfit. And that's exactly what I liked about him the further I started reading about him. And with an iconoclastic ad like the one below for which he won some D&AD pencils, it was no surprise that he was on that coveted list.

It's been a while since I last heard anything about Indra and today came to know from the Booker Prize announcements that Indra's new book 'Animal's People' was on the final shortlist. His fantastic interview about the book and it's purpose is here.
As I move on figuring out my place in the ad world, I rediscover Indra again. Only this time he has left the ad world and moved on to other more meaningful and interesting things. And it is fantastic that he is alive and kickin on the web. All sorts of interesting viewpoints and stuff to read on his site.
Like I was reading about the topic of the reuse of old ideas here (like how the Honda Cog ad was actually inspired by the Fischli and Weiss short film 'The Way Things Go'). The latest Sony Bravia 'Play-Doh' denials is covered here. Indra has this interesting piece on the same topic - in this case the famous 1980's Levi's Laundrette ad which had a predecessor in a Hamlet Cigars ad (the laundrette one from this collection from the 1960s). Especially in a digital age where everything is becoming more open and shared and new ideas emerge from mutations of old ones, Indra's explanation is quite apt that an old and used idea should not be wasted if it's a natural fit for the brand:

"I don’t for a moment think that John Hegarty or Tony Scott would stoop to purloining someone else’s work. I prefer to think of the Levi’s ad as a tribute to its predecessor which, although not one of the best Hamlet ads, was an idea so natural for Levi’s that it proved simply too good to waste."

A whole bunch of stuff to read on his site. It's a delight to see him active and inspire us online. Keep it rockin' Indra!!

food for thought

Found this on the back-side of the menu of an Arabic restaurant here in Singapore. The graphic visual is great with the victory sign, copy and the Palestinian flag blending in perfectly. Never seen an ad of this sort on a menu.

I am wondering if other restaurants would permit this message to be on the back of their menus.

india poised

This is a stunning piece of advertising. When the demise of the TV commercial is much talked about everywhere in the media and advertising marketplace, this 90 seconds commercial is one of the best I've seen from India and captures the state of the nation succinctly. And with Amitabh Bachchan as the narrator it's a short ad masterpiece.

shining entertainment

Here's two fantastic ads (in the likes of Dru's total entertaining yet not disrespectful or intruding on the people kind-of-way) for Happy Dent brand chewing gum from India done by modern India's ad storyteller Prasoon Joshi, who is the South & South East Asia regional director of my employer McCann Erickson. So it's a bit of agency self promotion, but totally worth a watch for the sheer fun and colorful, rustic exuberance of the ads.

This is the new one that is airing in India now.

This one is the older one which had aired two or three years back.

great political ad

Sometime back I had blogged about a fantastic palindromic poem. Recently I got to watch this great ad that sort of works on the same idea. It's not exactly palindromic, but its a very simple and clear (considering the fact that its for a political campaign!!)demonstration of a well thought-out piece of communication.

Nike 10K

Here's yet another Nike outdoor brilliance from Argentina. (Courtesy of Flickr: Live4U)
More ads from around the world can be checked out at this Flickr pool.