Grown Up Thinking

Media Post writer Kelly Samardak reports on our carnival-themed holiday bash and touts it as the gold standard for events.

And wanna see the superultraamazing dance team (ahem)? This is us at the beginning of  ‘Beat It.’

Just in time for the holidays, JetBlue has opened a posh boutique in Manhattan’s hip Meatpacking District…but you can’t buy anything there. The store is touting it’s exclusive line of travel products (The Flyer’s Collection) to help you cope with the oh-so arduous task of flying with “the other guys.” The jokester stunt is definitely eye catching. I would totally drop some dough on my personal favorites: the Marshpillow (a pillow made of marshmallow to help you cope with stress, hunger and comfort) and the Yumbro robot (dispensing friendly compliments and Terra Blue Chips. Holla!)

Feel free to pop over and browse the entire collection on 14th Street & 9th Avenue near the Mr Youth offices or check it out online on JetBlue’s Facebook page. Stunt marketing like this is nothing new, of course, but I commend JetBlue for not taking itself too seriously. When brands engage consumers in new and hilarious ways, people certainly take notice. Although my mother can’t buy me anything from this exclusive collection for the holidays, I’ll certainly accept a JetBlue flight (hint, hint).

What’s better than reading GrownUpThinking? Being able to take our social media musings on the road.

To thank our loyal followers for keeping up with both GrownUpThinking.com and our Fresh Ideas newsletter, Mr Youth hooked one lucky reader up with a brand new Kindle. Happy Holidays, Barret R!

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Much like Dave Carroll and his 2008 plea to United Airlines to fix the guitar they busted, Freya Svensson has turned to song (and YouTube) to air her concerns about customer service with a huge brand (this time, it’s Volvo).

Instead of writing an angry letter, consumers will now write scathing blogs posts. Instead of asking to speak to the manager, they’ll turn to their social networks. Thankfully, these examples show less vitriol and far more humor, but act as a definite heads up for brands to listen and respond.

Foodspotting: way better’n Urban Spoon.

Stella Artois YouTube Channel: Beautiful creative curation from a brand that manages the tricky balance of honoring its roots while still seeming fresh.

Well, let’s face it. The new Stella campaign in its beautiful entirety.

The World’s First Crowdsourced Magazine Cover: would have been even better if it was executed by Good (another crazy obsession of ours).

The Body Image Project: Picking up where Dove left off, and adding a dedicated social media angle. Check our their Twitter handle- great practices in a very short time.

Canon Freeze Tag: how can you NOT love this execution?!?! Besides. It features a great track from the Go Team, a band frequently heard in our cube when we need a boost mid-afternoon.

221B: a splendid use of Facebook Connect to promote the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Dark, compelling, beautifully designed and effective (NOT like Welcome to Fight Club, which we wanted to love but was just totally arbitrary).