Pat Yourself on the Back, Internet!

There's something about the Internet. (See also: interwebs)

Yes, it's true that there are plenty of bad, evil things on the Internet. (See also: trolls, Nigerian Prince scams, dog's speaking English)

But at the same time there can exist a great force of good; a place where destruction, ridicule, and trolling just simply don't happen.

You can look at three recent examples of this.

Golden Ted
First up, the homeless man with the "Golden Voice." When his story hit the interpipes immediately the people got to working and now Ted Williams has another chance at making his life right. Huge kudos to the redditors of Reddit for pushing this story.

Red Cross: #gettngslizzerd.
This was an interesting, easily overlooked story. Gloria Huang, a Social Media specialist with the Red Cross, mistakenly tweeted on Red Cross' twitter account instead of her own, shout out to Hootsuite. Despite the "rogue tweet" getting removed by Red Cross, Michael Hayek from Dogfish Head Brewery took it upon himself to rally Dogfish Head beer fans and create a donation campaign for the Red Cross built off of the #gettngslizzerd hashtag.



No Red Cross parody twitter accounts rose from this, just a lot of people hearing the call to action from a beloved brand and doing what they could to make light of a simple, permissions error. Red Cross got donations, Dogfish Head got brand recognition, and Hootsuite even sent everybody some coozies!

Not bad, Internet.

RoboCop Comes Home (or Take that Mayor Bing, the People want Murphy)
Dead or alive, you're coming to Detroit (RoboCop Statue). What started as a tweet to Detroit's current mayor, Dave Bing, has ended in RoboCop (formally known as Officer Alex Murphy) returning to the streets in statue form. The collective Internet saw this tweet, saw Mayor Bing's response that there were no plans to erect a RoboCop statue and hopped into action by using popular crowd-funding site, Kickstarter.com. Surprise, surprise, they raised the money they needed to make this dream a reality. To see them actually build it, well that's a whole 'nother story.

And although I don't agree with the following revamp to the "Spirit of Detroit" statue, it does look kinda cool.



Just goes to show you; there are people on the Internet who dare to care and will help at a drop of hat for a cause they feel is cool, entertaining, or just the right thing to do.

So pat yourself on the back, Internet. You done good.

Also, tough call on which way of the spectrum this falls:



Sean Sutherland Associate Account Executive/Anti-Troll Troll

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The Truth about Hummers

truth
–noun, plural truths
/ Pronunciation Key[trooth, trooths]
1. the true or actual state of a matter.

2. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like.

3. the state or character of being true.

4. an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude.

Let’s face it… the truth is subjective, which means it is based off of the perception of the individuals involved. Where one person sees good, another may see bad. Where one person sees the cup half full, the other sees it half empty. Cops will routinely tell you there are three sides to every story: Person 1, Person 2, and the truth that lies somewhere in between.

Truth in Advertising
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the following truth-in-advertising rules apply to advertisers under the Federal Trade Commission Act:

§ Advertising must be truthful and nondeceptive;
§ Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
§ Advertisements cannot be unfair.

Remember the 1990 movie Crazy People in which Dudley Moore plays an advertising executive whose idea to write "honest" advertising copy like the following lands him in an insane asylum?

“Volvo... they're boxy, but they're safe.”
“Porsche...you can't get laid in one, but you will once you get out.”

Brutal, beautiful, in-your-face honesty is something seldom seen in today’s marketplace. The real truth, however, is that every marketer feels they are writing about their products and services—and only their products and services—when they write the words “above expectations,” “value-add,” “110%,” “better than ever,” and “Return on Investment.” But these words are so ubiquitous, they have become cliché marketing copy. So, the real meat of successful marketing these days is in the succinct delivery of a product’s or service’s features and benefits.

Enter Hummer.

Advertising Age recently reported on GM’s new Hummer campaign, which I perceive to be pure brilliance in strategy and tact (http://adage.com/article?article_id=121560). As gas prices continue to soar, there are those who say Hummers represent all that is wrong with America today. “The brand came to represent an icon for all things evil,” AdAge reports. Many argue that they are ugly, road-hogging, gas guzzling behemoths… an unnecessary and unreasonable vehicle in a time when the auto industry should be focusing on manufacturing vehicles that will make us less dependent on foreign oil. Just look at some of these blog postings:

http://bakersfield.typepad.com/neighbors/2005/10/hummers_the_roo.html

http://supersaps.blogspot.com/2005/04/i-hate-hummers.html

http://sarahmarchildon.blogspot.com/2004/12/i-hate-hummers.html

So evil, apparently, big-time musicians don’t want to be associated with the brand (even for a LOT of money!).

To diffuse the “icon for all things evil” perception, GM’s agency Modernista (Boston) recently created a very practical, emotional, and eye-opening campaign called “Hummer Heroes.” The new campaign will feature print, television, and a new microsite dedicated to those passionate about the brand and those who have used their vehicles in times of crisis. The campaign features one Hummer owner who laments: “Nobody asked me what kind of fuel economy I was getting” when he was delivering water via Hummer to Hurricane Katrina victims in remote locations. Good point, lest we forget that an overwhelming majority of Hummer owners use their vehicle to drive to the mall or the grocery store, not to respond to crisis situations.

However, as the AdAge article so poignantly highlights, these vehicles were built for very specific purposes and have come to the rescue of many individuals in times of need. (The campaign mentions that Hummer has agreed to deliver a total of 72 vehicles to the Red Cross to help them respond to crisis situations.) To shift the focus to those vehicle attributes and uses and the unselfish actions of those who have used their vehicles in crisis situations is pure strategic genius. Kudos to Modernista’s creative team.

Not sure how many more vehicles the ad campaign will help sell, but it certainly may succeed in changing the perception of some Hummer Haters into Hummer Lovers. And, let’s face it… deep, deep down inside, I bet even the Haters have a secret desire to get behind the wheel of one of these mega-macho-machines. Having taken a test drive on one of their dealership courses, I can honestly say it’s a powerful experience (disclosure: I do not own a Hummer).

Not sure what the tagline will be for the new campaign, but if their goal is to create Hummer Lovers out of Hummer Haters, a good starting point would be “Everyone loves a Hummer.” Don’t we?

Jason Cohen, Director of Marketing

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