Grown Up Thinking

I’m a gigantic geek for the Academy Awards every year. It’s like my Superbowl. I wonder if my parents got worried when I was throwing Oscar parties in my basement at age 5? Well, in all of my years as an avid enthusiast for all things film, I must admit that I never thought twice about the Best Animated Short Film category. Imagine my delight when I noticed 2009 winner Logorama, a short 16-minute feature consisting of a plot built with over 2,000 (!!!) different logos. They’re all there: Ronald McDonald, Mr. Pringle–even the MGM Lion in what is certainly a vivid, eye-popping display created by the French collective H5. I’m a true nerd enthusiast for the strategy, artwork and beauty of logos and branding, as are probably most of us creatives here at Mr Youth. This is like logo porn for a design dweeb rockstar like me. The plot is a bit all over the place; nearly every natural disaster occurs throughout its duration–including an Xbox earthquake! But I think it’s a fascinating look out into our branded world. Sure, we’re inundated with literally thousands of logos everyday. But I doubt most consciously think about the emotional connections (good or otherwise) that they have with these brands–or wildly imagine how the filmmakers anthropomorphize these iconic logos that literally weave in and out of every moment of our lives. You can catch a glimpse of the trailer below or shell out a mere $1.99 to purchase the film on iTunes. Kudos to these masterful directors on a well deserved win at the Oscars. And kudos to this year’s Oscars for validating my increasingly overwhelming geekdom.

Logorama by H5 from Grafik Magazine on Vimeo.

From outlandish one-on-one encounters to themed bar nights, ChatRoulette has swept the nation with its unapologetically uncensored take on the classic internet chat. Marketing types around the world held their breath wondering who would be the first brand to tap in to the 500,000+ unique users per day.

And the winner is…. French Connection. The international clothing brand has launched a ChatRoulette competition challenging participants to use the service to seduce a woman in exchange for a $250 voucher. Risky move for an international brand, considering the proliferation of shady stuff going down on the site. But foolish or not, they’ve been getting a lot of coverage for being the first.

Only time will tell if ChatRoulette can become a useful tool in the marketer’s arsenal. Thoughts?

Growing up as a teen in the late ’80s and early ’90s was much simpler on so many levels. I never remember hearing the words economy, terrorism, war or debt. Instead, my thoughts were left to my dreams and curiosity. Since the library was not the place I aspired to be, and the Internet was far from reach, I was left to my imagination about much of what the world had to offer.The catalyst for my dreams growing up as a teen were the icons I looked up to and aspired to be like. Long before celebrity scandals were everyday news I, like many of my peers, were left with the innocent feeling of putting my heroes on impenetrable pedestals. Bobby Brown (see: mug shot), Charles Barkley (ditto), and yes, Brandon from Beverly Hills 90210 were at the top of my list.

No matter whom I looked up to as a teen, every icon had one thing in common … cool. They acted cool, dressed cool, talked cool and walked cool.

Fast forward to 2010, and the headlines are much different as are teens’ perceptions of their icons. The Internet, camera phones, and Perez Hilton have exposed those who might otherwise be teens’ everyday heroes as frauds or creeps, and there is little left to the imagination. The halo of cool has become blurred and faded with yet another flash from a TMZ photographer.

Enter the “age of anti-cool” for the modern teen. With each new celebrity wart exposed, the notion of hero and idol has virtually disappeared only to be awkwardly replaced by the likes of Michael Cera, Shaun White and Glee. Today’s rising teen heroes are largely embraced because of their flaws rather than their airbrushed perfection. We are entering an age that celebrates and promotes imperfection.

Teens are infatuated with Shaun White not only because he is an American teen icon* that is a killer snowboarder but because he is in many ways as relatable as the free-spirited, pimply kid next door. Michael Cera (or Jonah Hill for that matter) is not as easy on the eyes as Jason Priestly once was, but who would you rather spend a night playing Xbox with? Glee celebrates the inner shower singer in all of us that just wants to belt out some “Journey” … and something about that feels so right.

Social media has made the anti-cool acceptable and widespread. No longer does today’s teen need to be a cheerleader or sports jock to fit in. There are meet-ups for Star Wars geeks and tweetups for Circus Freaks and everything in between. Pepsi, long seen as an arbiter of teen pop culture, no longer uses the likes of Britney, MJ, Madonna or Shaq in its ads, but instead a promise for everyday people to make a difference.

Is your brand still hiding behind the bright lights and makeup of a paid celebrity shill to tout your wares? Or are you embracing your warts while becoming more authentic and relatable? The jig is up for fooling teen consumers with a paid endorsement by their heroes. Now you must earn their trust by letting it all out and embracing the anti-cool.

This article appeared as part of MediaPost’s Engage:Teens Publications. To read the original post, click here.

The arrival of March means many things. Winter coats are being tucked away into the backs of closets, flip flops are making their premature debut and the buzz of March Madness starts in offices, apartments and dorm rooms across the nation. This year, Hulu (the commercial-supported website that streams video of TV shows and movies) is partnering with Entertainment Weekly to put its own spin on the traditional basketball tournament by sponsoring a voting-based Best In Show Tournament.

Voting opened on March 1st and the ultimate champion will be crowned on April 5th with the prestigious title, Best in Show. While it’s still too early to predict the mass popularity of the competition, I think Hulu is doing a great job of providing unique interactive ways for its users to stay connected with the site beyond streaming video. One drawback: I do not see a sharing feature anywhere on the site to share the competition and my votes within my social networks.

And for now my predictions: I think Glee and Family Guy will showdown in the semi finals against Lost and 24. Ultimately, I think Lost will take it, appealing to a wider fan base than my beloved Glee.

Anyone care to make a wager?