19 of the Best Super Bowl Commercials, Plus 1 That Won't Even Air

Brendan Collins — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:40:24 -0500

Everyone knows that if your team isn't in the Super Bowl, the biggest (perhaps only) reason to watch are the commercials. Some companies have decided to leak their own Super Bowl spots online so ad geeks have something to drool over before Sunday night. Fast Company has just about all of the currently available spots right here. Keep in mind, each of these commercials cost their companies $3 million to run.

SoBe

Fast Company featured this video yesterday, which features three enormous NFL players pirouetting and dancing with lizards.

Burger King Offers Free Whopper For Ditching Facebook Friends

Brendan Collins — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:47:59 -0500

Would you de-friend ten of your Facebook friends in order to get a free Whopper? Burger King thinks you will. Released on Jan. 1, the Whopper Sacrifice facebook app asks users that very question. The app, from the offbeat advertising gurus at Crispin Porter + Bogusky (profiled in the June issue of Fast Company), is the most aggressive online venture that Burger King has yet undertaken.

Has Google Become "Teh Evil"?

Brendan Collins — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:28:17 -0500

Google is losing consumer confidence. It recently dropped below the top 20 of companies that consumers feel do the best job at safeguarding personal information.

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Brendan Collins — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:30:04 -0500

It's hard not to agree with foreign automakers here. The collapse of the US auto industry would certainly bolster the sales of overseas cars, but at the same time nobody wants to see millions of people out of a job. Less jobs = less disposable income = fewer cars sold. While nobody is forcing American consumers to buy American cars, their mere presence (in a post-Big Three-bailout world) hurts the potential rewards for the more efficient and successful foreign companies.

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Brendan Collins — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:51:06 -0500

I've wondered the same question: what happens when we have Presidential candidates who have been on Facebook (and other social networking sites) for 30 years? The electorate will have a scrapbook of their entire lives. If you're a young person, there's essentially no way to avoid having your life documented online to a certain extent. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Comment on Node ant

Brendan Collins — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:41:33 -0500

Smart move by Twitter. Who knows what Facebook stock is really worth? On top of that, it's unlikely that any company this big will be worth a serious investment during these tough economic times. Twitter's best bet is to stay above the Facebook fray and do its own thing.

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Brendan Collins — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:15:36 -0500

This is a good idea, and it's not a new one either. The historical model has been that cool new technology NOT designed for "nonpassionates" has eventually trickled down to the hoi polloi. There's no reason to think that this will change. The tough part, however, is designing a new product that's accepted by both the early adopters and "nonpassionates" alike.

No Capitol Gains: eBay Bans Sales of Inauguration Tickets

Brendan Collins — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:42:05 -0500

This week, eBay is getting some positive feedback from Capitol Hill. The online auction giant recently agreed to ban the sales of tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony in January, in cooperation with California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D). Sen. Feinstein is drafting legislation to make the scalping a crime, so eBay is putting their foot down on peddling the free tickets (available through your local member of Congress). This comes after some tickets -- which have yet to be distributed -- were selling for as much as $40,000 a pop.

Comment on Node ant

Brendan Collins — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:43:18 -0500

Those kids are adorable.

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Brendan Collins — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:55:39 -0500

Here's an analogy: if your car is sliding backwards down a snowy hill without chains on the tires (e.g. the US economy), the car can't get back up the slope. But, if your car does have chains on the tires (chains being equivalent to an economy unencumbered by decades of mismanagement and neglected adaptation), then you're good to go.

The point: the US simply has too much holding it down to recover quickly. Why not let the new guys on the block have at it for a while?