Aside from just how much people enjoy making themselves into tv characters (in this one, you choose a body, accessories, etc to make yourselves into a 60s Mad Men character), I’ll give AMC major props for the final process – the download screen has not just the standard wallpapers (above), but also download formats for Facebook and Twitter icons. SMART.

After Discovery Channel created this inspiring video, which pays homage to its shows and to the world at large, fans were inspired and began making their own ‘I Love the World’ videos on YouTube. Discovery Channel created a playlist on their own website to highlight some of these great videos.

The original campaign was created by 72andSunny for Discovery Channel. It was directed by James Rouse, with further credits here.

And here’s an xkcd Boom De Yada mash-up that Ianiv is just crazy for:

And a gaming parody:

Here is Dirty Jobs star Mike Rowe doing his own rendition, joined by other Discovery Channel stars:

There’s also a Canadian version of the campaign which features stars from some of our original Discovery Channel Canada shows:

Souces: Wikipedia, Briefing Room

The grand re-opening included a red carpet, a catered assortment of snacks, wine & even gift bags. Despite the untimely breakdown of the A/C it was a great event and a chance to look around the new store concept. Although the store is mostly the same, there are a few new changes. Primarily you notice this in layout – with sections spiraling off a central hub, and with the addition of the integrated Apple Store.

So, will this new store concept have a positive impact on the bottom line? It’s hard to say. I think for those people already shopping at Future Shop, it will improve the experience and offer more products. However, I’m not sure I’d be compelled to go to Future Shop vs Best Buy. And if I were in the market for a Mac, I’d shop at Apple. That said, I think having an integrated Apple Store will go a long way to upselling customers who are looking for laptops but have not pre-decided on a mac. 

Check out the reviews from some other Vancouver bloggers:

• Derek Miller (aka penmachine) – "Can Future Shop Distinguish Itself?"
• Roland Tanglao – "FutureShop redux – how about an "All Genius" Staff?"
• John Biehler – "Future Shop gets an Apple Store"
• Gregg Scott – "Is The Hub The Future of Shop?"
• Raul (aka hummingbird604) – "A bunch of geeks at the Future Shop Park Royal opening"
• Tris Hussey – "Future Shop Park Royal Highlights the Connected Home and Tech Coolness"

If I missed anyone, drop in your link!

Tags: future shop, vancouver, futureshop, electronics store, hub store

In just 13 weeks, you can have your very own WALL•E remote-controlled robot. Disney has begun pre-sales of this new action figure. It can talk, dance, play music, follow you around (with obstacle avoidance sensors) and lets you create more than 1000 action sequence combinations. His eyes even light up and blink. The WALL•E robot has audio and motion sensors to mimic curiosity and responsiveness. He has real working treads and arms that can move & hands that can grib & rotate.

Play modes include Follow-U mode, Explore mode, Dance mode, MP3 Music mode and Program mode plus he has an interactive Talk Back feature

So cute!!

Tip thanks to Buzz on twitter ; Tags: wall-e, walle, wall e, WALL•E, wall e toy, wall-e robot, robot, disney, action figure

The website notes that the company specializes in Private Label Water, so it’s some other company that has slapped on this "Canada" label. I’m curious if they’re even allowed to put the flag on the bottle in this manner.

What do you think?

Tags: canada, canada the water, marketing, bottled water, whole foods

In the video, various car parts from the 2008 Ford Focus were made into musical instruments. And then played, orchestra style. The innovation behind a creation like that – amazing. (It’s not the first time this has been done – read here)

The ad was released earlier this year in the UK. Some info on the creative team:

• Ad by Ogilvy & Mather (London)
• Executive creative director Greg Burke
• Art director Dom Sweeney
• Music by Craig Richey
• Sound by Bill Milbrodt (great interview here)

Info via duncans.tv Tags: ford focus, bill milbrodt, music, car parts, advertising

Evan Biddell shared that very loud music is key to his creative process. He’ll listen to the same CD over and over, organizing his work flow around the beat. When he gets stuck, he’ll switch to a new CD. Sometimes that means abandoning a design idea, one that no longer fits the music.

At the end of the sessions, the audience was encouraged to ask the panel questions about their own work. One question was about how to differentiate an online lottery – Evan’s suggestion was web cam strip poker!

Tags: evan biddell, vidfest, vidfest08, vidfest2008, vancouver, tech, project runway, digital festival

A half an hour before the store opened, a crew of highly-energized Apple employees came out to cheer on the crowd. At 10am, the doors opened to applause and hundreds of eager people filed in for their free Apple shirts and a look at the new store. The store is deceptively large – it seems small, but is actually quite big. It’s filled with row upon row of Apple gadgets I’d love to buy!

Check out some other Apple Store experiences from John Biehler and Buzz Bishop, and watch Buzz’s video of the line below:

Tags: apple store, apple, mac, vancouver, pacific centre, opening, apple store opening

The Pizza Hut P’Zone started to get some heavy promotion here in Vancouver, both on radio and television. The first time we heard the ad we were in the car.

The P’Zone makes sense in the context of the Pizza Hut brand, but it seems like someone didn’t do their homework on the name. About how the name sounds, not how it looks.

In the ad, P’Zone is not pronounced like "P [space] Zone" it’s pronounced in a very slurred way, and sounds a lot like "Pezone" or, as Ianiv pointed out, "Pezón". And that’s not a good thing.

See, Pezón means nipple in Spanish. The radio spot really makes the whole word-similarity come alive. In the radio ad, a guy is "pumping" two P’Zones because they are so big it’s like lifting weight. However, now all I hear is a guy "pumping Pezóns". And the end tagline is something like "grab a Pezón."

Tags: pizza hut, pezon, p’zone, pzone, p zone, calzone, marketing, advertising, branding, words, language

This store has been a major pet peeve of ours. We moved to North Vancouver about a year and a half ago, and thought very little of the Sleepers store on 3rd & Lonsdale and it’s Store Closing signs. Sucks, but stores close all the time.

But that was a year and a half ago. And the signs are still there. Since they are not nice signs, even, and they are this glaring yellow, it’s beyond annoying. I would never will a store to close, but if they are not going to close, could they please take down those damn signs?

This incident is just about as bad as the store where we bought our sofa. It had a "sale" sign so big that it was one letter per window. And their "sale" was on for at least a year.

Some basic business lessons to learn from this:

• You are not on sale if the sale is on every day for more than a year
• You are not closing if you stay open for at least a year and a half past since when you put up the signs

Both practices are misleading and dishonest. And really really annoying.

Tags: sleepers, marketing, misleading marketing, business, business practices, sale, sales