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Every now and then, there’s a mashup so goofy, so absurd, that you can only listen and try your damnedest not to die with laughter. This is one such mashup. (Source: GYBO)
Also worth noting, the upcoming Gray Tuesday. Having heard the album, I can safely say that this is far more awesome than the Grey Album ever was. And I’m not just saying that because they mashed Doctorin’ The Tardis into Holiday.
A foreword: I am not against advertising. Advertising can inform, entertain, and drum up interest. I believe in the power of properly directed advertising. The problem with advertising, of course, is that it’s never targeted properly.
Back in the days before the rise of the internet – oh woe, how far back 10 years looks! – bands would hire street teams. Groups of rabid fans would disseminate as much info about their respective band in hopes of bringing in more fans. These street teams, of course, still exist – trying to leave any show in NYC always leads to hands full of quarter cards and freebie CDs.
However, the idea has migrated online and mutated into a new, somewhat frightening idea; organized groups of (take your pick here) “agents”, “marketdroids”, or “opinion leaders” who will try to subtly drop your product into the consciousness of the world. Up to now, my closest run-in with one of these was when Creative Commons partnered with BzzAgent, and Suw, valiant disruptor that she is, picked a fight. Eventually, CC and BzzAgent parted ways, thankfully.
In any case: I’m not against street teams, even online ones. But there’s a certain degree of finesse required, a bit of savoir-faire needed to make yourself blend in a little better into the landscape as you try to get your product out there.
Yesterday, I received an email that was, well, lacking the subtlety such a campaign requires:
From: Lauren xxxxxx@m80im.com
To: Dan Dickinson
Date: Nov 29, 2005 7:53 PM
Subject: Spartan Total WarriorHi, I just found your The Warriors blog entry: http://vjarmy.com/archives/2005/10/vacation_postcard.php and I think you may be of some help to me. I’m reaching out to you on behalf of M80 & Sega regarding Spartan Total Warrior. This award-winning game is the first console title from the Total War series. Since you are a fan of The Warriors, I thought that you might be interested in posting the press release or a review of the game on your blog? You seem like a reputable influencer, so I think you’d be a big help to us. Please let me know if you’re interested!
Thanks!
Lauren, M80
Before I get going on what’s wrong here, let me make clear the following:
That said, here’s why the message failed to entice me.
The referred to “Warriors blog entry” does indeed contain references to Rockstar’s recent release of The Warriors; unfortunately, it was literally three sentences:
The Warriors, while not a perfect game, is probably the most enjoyable beat-em-up I’ve played since Final Fight. I just tore through the movie tonight, and Rockstar really has got it down to an almost uncanny degree. Full review coming in the near future.
The remainder of the post was largely about my vacation. While I am all in favor of having my ass kissed about my eloquent writing prowess (including using terms like “having my ass kissed”), I also appreciate having my posts actually read, rather than skimmed.
Look at the language: “help to me”, “I’m reaching out to you”, “I thought that you”, “help to us”. If you’re coming to me as a new contact, your reputation sits right in the middle of the neutral land. You may not have any strikes against you, but you also aren’t owed any favors. Why should I be helping you?
Yes, I am a fan of The Warriors. This makes me want to do certain things, but posting press releases isn’t one of them. Especially press releases for games that aren’t The Warriors. Especially when that game came out over a month ago.
“You seem like a reputable influencer” is the weirdest, back-handed hybrid compliment/appraisal of my worth that I’ve ever gotten. If you’re trying to emphasize that I seem to have sway over other people’s opinions, could you please try not-talk-ing-like-a-ro-bot? So please, online marketing teams: just try a little harder. If you’re going to reach out to someone, take a little time to learn about them before you send that email. Give it that human touch.
So picture this – I’m trying to gently slide into the NYC blog scene, at least the portions of it I find non-intimidating. I go to a Slice Club meetup and am bewildered by the number of people I don’t know. But there, sitting right near me, is a nice young girl who it turns out has also gone to Cornell. And she brought cookies.
This is how I became friends with Youngna Park – one of my absolute favorite photographers EVER !!!
Anyhow – Youngna was in Barcelona last week, and in the most cosmically unfair thing ever, had her bag (and thus, camera) stolen. Why do bad things have to happen to good people?
Dens (of dodgeball fame) has set up a Paypal fund-raiser, and I invite you all to contribute if you have a couple bucks rattling around your Paypal accounts.
I never thought I’d see the day, but Katie pointed out to me this morning that Apple has a Music Of The World: Japan page up right now, which includes my absolute favorite J-band ever, m-flo.
While the selection is limited to two albums and one EP, both of the albums are absolutely fantastic. So if you’ve been meaning to pick up the recently released Beat Space Nine or 2004′s epic Astromantic, you can – at least for now.
If you need more convincing, here’s my review of Beat Space Nine. Long story short, go buy both of these now.
It appears the box my sites are on is getting hammered with spam mail, which is spiking the CPU, which is not allowing MySQL to do much work, which is of course slowing VJ Army/Pop’n Navy/the forums/the wiki to a grinding halt.
I’m doing what limited things I can. Hang in there, folks.
So Mario Kart DS uses a very secure method of assigning friends; you have to get their 12 digit number, and they have to get yours, and you both have to type it in. There is no way to add someone you randomly race against as a friend, and there’s no chatting method – so really, you HAVE to seek out people’s friends numbers.
And Nintendo, in their infinite wisdom, decided to ban giving them out on their boards:
You are not permitted to share your NWC id or friend code on a post, in your profile, through PM, or in a sig. Please do not discuss other ways of sharing codes either…This policy was created by Nintendo of America and we have been asked to follow these rules.
To emphasize: There’s no method of chatting or any sort of interraction in game – you race, nothing more. Can’t chat, can’t do anything with voice, you have NO interaction. You can only add friends that you physically have exchanged codes with. And now, you can’t exchange codes through Nintendo’s boards – you can’t even DISCUSS exchanging codes through their boards.
For all this talk about Nintendo “getting” how to do online play, steps like this sure do seem bone-headed.
Oh dear. This one is going to haunt me for years.
Google recently introduced some neat free stats for webmasters, and being the eager webmaster I am, I decided to sign up and enable myself.
What I found is that while many of my top search terms are reasonable (“quicksilver os x”, “play asia”, “ny1″), my #5 Top Search Query and my #1 and #2 Top Search Query Clicks are, in the words of Rob Huebel, “un-savory”. And the problem is, I know why – at least partially.
This one is potentially not safe for work. You’re going to have to click through for the rest of the story.
Mine is 223397 828744.
If you’re playing Mario Kart DS and have a code, let me know and I’ll be happy to add you.
I think T-Mobile is having an identity crisis when trying to market the Sidekick. There’s three main market groups that the Sidekick appeals to – geeks, gossip girls, and hip-hoppers. Geeks get stuff like the SSH app and the new spreadsheet app. Gossip girls get the Juicy Couture Sidekick and the like. The hip hop fans get a lot of ringtones.
But sometimes the marketing gets way too ambitious.
Over the last few days, a port of the 1982 Sega arcade game PENGO has appeared in the Sidekick App Catalog. The description is drop dead funny, and it reads as follows (boldface is mine):
Fujin brings you PENGO; Sega Mobile’s sharp-dressed penguin. The arcade hit from 1982 returns from the deep freeze. This is the most accurate penguin simulator Sega has ever produced. Variable difficulty settings let you sling ice at your own pace. Pengo was leading the good life, just cold chillin’ in his red tux. That is, until the Sno-bees appeared. These haters are out to front on Pengo’s lavish lifestyle, and that just won’t fly with this bird. Now Pengo’s got to defend his crib by squashing the Sno-bees with blocks of ice on each level. And then there’s another kind of ice on the board — the diamond blocks, which add some serious bling-bling to your score when lined up. And speaking of score, Pengo saves your top score, so you can show your crew just what you’re worth. For old-school gaming on your new-school Sidekick, go with the king — Pengo.
Wow, who knew Pengo was such a pimp? Also, the “most accurate penguin simulator” line cracks me up way too much.
PREVIOUSLY: Losing All Hope Is Freedom
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Fox is the most clueless network on television.