See Chip's Presidential Campaign
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday. For information on this puppet's background, go to http://www.dale-brown.com/.
I Guess I'm Running for President ...
According to our friend Glenn Chelius, both Democrats and Republicans have been surprised by the success of my grass roots effort to become President of the United States. Frankly I was as surprised too! But click here to see the very entertaining video that documents my campaign ... and allows you to create your own. Thanks Glenn!
Sex Sells ... Sometimes More Tastefully Than Others
Paris, Las Vegas recently unveiled new print ads that are funny and tastefully done.
Not only does what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas but everything seems to be a bit sexier too. Above is one of the full page ads currently running in magazines. The only copy ... "Everything is Sexier in Paris, Las Vegas."
At the other end of the spectrum, this bus stop billboard would like to inform us that with the Wonderbra you not only get a nice lift but also a chest that can shatter glass. I wasn't aware that this was something women strive to achieve?
How to Get People to Read a Banner Ad
It's not often online banners get my attention. Usually they just evoke "Will that friggin' thing stop flashing?!" But Zippo has introduced an ingeniously inventive banner campaign that makes humorous use of the product's primary function ... heat. Marketers can learn from the success of these ads.
In three versions, vertical banner ads are cut in half. The top halves are fake ads. The bottoms are actual ads for Zippo. The top portions of the ads comically react to Zippo's flame below and then the halves come together to deliver information about the lighter. You can see the three versions here, here, and here. Go ahead, click on the first one ... it's funny.
Michael Phelps' First Swim
Where Were Dale and Leslie?
Above is a photo of the boat that was Dale and Leslie's home for the week following Tropical Storm Fay. It's 49 feet long and comfortably accommodated Dale, Leslie, their instructor and one other student.
Here's Dale below deck at the Chart Table. This is where he would spend considerable time pretending to read charts, pretending to calculate tide depths for specific times of day and pretending to use navigational tools to chart a safe course for the next day. This is also where he could pretend to get weather information on the two-way radio, check water and fuel levels, monitor the boat's electrical systems and scrutinize other operating systems. What he really did was wait for Leslie to walk by and ask her to do all of those things. So it was like he was back at the office!
