Cool things are happening
The Resurgence of Pabst Blue Ribbon
Somehow a not so independent brand went from a cheap Southern beer to a cheap badge of hipster-ism. Perception goes a long way.
The Object-Idea
"It’s not enough for people to like your product. For them to really LOVE it, somehow they’ve got to connect and empathize with the basic, primal human drives that compelled you create your product in the first place. The Purpose. The Idea."
Experiments in the Laboratory of Consumerism
The history of advertising never ceases to fascinate...
Westerners versus the World: We are the weird ones
"We live in this world with police and institutions and pre-packaged food, TV, the Internet, watches and clocks and calendars. Our heads are loaded with all this information for navigating those environments. So we should expect our brains to be distorted."
Meaningful Objects
"Ask anybody about the most meaningful object he owns, and you’re sure to get a story — this old trunk belonged to Grandpa, we bought that tacky coffee mug on our honeymoon, and so on. The relationship between the possessions we value and the narratives behind them is unmistakable. Current technologies of connection, and enterprises that take advantage of them, surface this idea in new ways — but they also suggest the many different kinds of stories, information and data that objects can, or will, tell us."
Department of Cool Music Videos
Lissie - incorporating live weather
Arcade Fire - incorporating your childhood home
Department of Cool Videos
Jeremy Rifkin - the Empathic Civilization
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g&w=520&h=317]
Steve Jobs - 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&w=520&h=415]