Cute, But Vicious
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/.
Interesting Numbers
What do you invest in?
The priciest car ever sold at auction in North America is a 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante Coupe that went for $7.92 million at the recent Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance. The last time this Bugatti sold was in 1974 when the buyer paid $60,000. Adjusting for inflation, the car appreciated 2,858% in 38 years. During the same period:
- IBM stock went up 206%
- Merck went up 898%
- Exxon went up 1,105%
So you'd have done better with the car!
Collectors Will Buy Anything
Band leader Paul Shaffer paid $32,500 at auction for Godfather of Soul James Brown's medical bracelet. I guess I can understand the attraction to a collector. But it's interesting that a family member thought to save such a thing with the obvious intent to sell it.
Tough Shirt
A bulletproof polo shirt from Miguel Caballero can withstand a slug from a nine-millimeter revolver. The shirt costs $7,500. People who purchase this shirt must have some serious enemies. And if they're that serious, they're probably smart enough to just aim at your head.
When You Can't Be Creative, Be Sexy
Having been in marketing for quite some time, I can attest to the challenges of working on business-to-business campaigns. There's only so much creativity you can throw at the wall about a new kind of software before your head explodes. Of course the easiest way out is to hire a big breasted model, a dude in a tuxedo and layer on an endless supply of metaphors and double entendres.
Apparently, that's what happened at the marketing firm that was hired to do concept work for their client, Fortify ... a security software company. The firm came up with a Las Vegas-style Web site idea, The Golden Server, which allows for predictable dialog and "cups full" of humor.
If you click on the link to visit the Web site you'll see that it offers up a geek's dream; technical jargon interspersed with teasingly tantalizing enticements from a bubble-headed blond. It is sort of fun to "throw" the dice with your mouse. But they should have used a puppet instead of the geek in the tuxedo.
VW Rampant Baby Maker 3000
Now here’s something that’s creative and popular. If you have some time to kill and have some headshots that you can easily upload, then go to the VW Routan Babymaker 3000 Web site. You can upload your photo and the photo of someone from the opposite sex and see what your baby would look like. It’s pretty funny … especially when you use photos of friends … and then send them the results.
This is a very clever extension of VW’s Routan campaign that uses Brooke Shields as the spokesperson in the car maker’s TV ads. In the ads Shields claims that women are having babies just so that they have an excuse to purchase a Routan … which is the perfect family car.
Vicious but Cute Security Products
Who says that elements designed to keep people away can't be inviting? Certainly not Sweet Dreams Security in Great Britain where safety and security elements are "functional but fun." Butterfly-shaped razor wire, teddy bear shaped padlocks and lace embroidered Beware of Dog signs are some examples of the whimsy interjected into products usually designed to be foreboding and unattractive.
The Sweet Dreams SecurityTM butterfly razor wire is the most vicious but cutest product to date. Standard razor wire has been transformed from a purely threatening object into one that is highly playful, yet every bit as effective. Is it just me, or is this just completely insane?
