As predicted, Wii Fit was out of stockand many, many customers were after it. Nintendo have seriously hit the nail on the head with that thing. Guitar Hero: On Tour was also released today, which I've found hideously awkward to play. I don't like Guitar Hero at the best of times, but isn't it's selling point that it makes you feel like you're awesome at guitar? It doesn't really come across the same way on DS.

Yeah, the Jack Black-wannabe 'rockstar' took that ad from crap to ridiculous. And the kid looks like the guy from Skins. Instant fail.

I keep meaning to buy Batman Begins on DVD before I go and see The Dark Knight (the film, not the blog). I never thought there could be such a thing as a good Batman film (the old, camp TV was awesome though - KAPOW!), but I've been hearing good things. I sure hope there's an American flag scene.

More Other Stuff:

• I recieved an invite to YouAre.com! Yay! And it's even slower than Twitter... *no more yay*
• I've just realised, with all the 100s of websites that I've signed up to, my details have probably been sold to the criminal underworld several times over. Ha, jokes on them.

Bar Rafaeli takes-off her clothes for a Samsung commercial!

Sure, there's more to it, but here's the most recent thing i found that a brilliant team can make out of that:

And... another example would be the Sony classics we all know:

28 and Still Single?

It highlights the fact that by carrying a knife, young people are actually putting themselves at risk. Research has shown that knife carriers are more likely to be wounded by their own blades because the knife is likely to be turned on them.

I urge you to watch the ad, and share it. Impactful stuff.

The ad was created by Sonny Adorjan and Milo Campbell and directed by Kevin Thomas.

There is nothing simple about buying a car in this day and age. It's a stressful event and one that should be avoided like the plague by anyone with a weak heart, on blood pressure pills or likely to buckle easily under pressure.

Simply trying to choose between the small cars, sports car, saloon cars and 4WD's can bring on a migraine. Trying to decide what colour and 'package' you want on your car can leave you dazed. Making sure that the amounts on the final contract tally with the amount you verbally agreed can leave you completely confused - and often massively out of pocket.

Of course if you were to believe the advertising hype, then every new car on the market can and will make heads turn in the street. They can cross a mountain range without getting dirty and house an entire happy smiling family - with children who never bicker, scatter crumbs like confetti or throw up all over the shiny leather upholstery.

Putting aside this ever so slightly rose tinted image of those who drive cars, it is the ridiculous selling spiel of car ads that can make you shake your head in disbelief. For example, in a safety mad world full of test dummies and statistics it would surely stand to reason that an airbag would come as fairly standard in every car. Yet here some manufacturer still advertise them as a 'feature', along with the tyres, handbrake, engine and wheels nuts... Surely an integrated sat nav system and heated seats would be considered 'features', not those parts of a car designed to actually save your life.

Before going out on the great car hunt it is important to realise that the rules of the game over here are very different to the UK. For starters it is hard to find anywhere to go to actually get yourself a bargain. Dealers seem to close ranks to protect themselves from buyers trying to play one off one against the other and salesmen appear to be immune to any form of negotiating. A 'deal' is what is already written on the car's windscreen, anything else is apparently an insult. Even when searching on the Internet, the countless websites offering to secure you the 'lowest price possible' only charge you for the privilege and then lead you straight back to the local dealer you have already visited.

One of the biggest differences in the car industry here is that it can be just as cheap, if not cheaper to buy a brand spanking new car as it is to buy a used one. Whether out on the dealers forecourt, advertised in the Quokka or parked on the kerb of every roundabout at the weekend, used cars can be expensive to buy. This would of course give the illusion that cars hold their value well - a claim that is certainly made by every salesman about the particular brand they are trying to flog you. The only trouble is, that as far as the owner of the car is concerned, this is only partly true.

If you buy a car from a dealer and then decide to take that very same car back to trade in just 6 months later you might be in for a shock. Suddenly the 'value' of your car has dropped by $1000's. Countless excuses will be given as to why this car (the one in exactly the same condition as when you brought it) is suddenly no longer  worth what you paid. You will even be made to feel unrealistic, greedy and naive for expecting more back than they are offering. Yet drive by the forecourt a week later and you will no doubt see your car has miraculously regained it's value and is once again worth pretty much what you paid for it in the first place.

No one is disputing that every dealer needs to make some money, but why do car salesmen have to use every known underhand method from the 'How to screw your customer over' guide to selling a motor. Of course everyone knows that it's  going to happen, it's part of the game in a very cut throat industry - but why does it have to be so unsubtle that it becomes down right insulting. Hard sell takes on a whole different meaning, they may as well just pin you down and hold a crow bar to your jugular until you offer to pay them to take your heap of a worthless car back off you.

Of course it is undoubtedly harder for dealers to make as much off your trade in here, with an automatic fixed fee to be paid by the dealer on a car before they can even hike up the price and try to resell it. But it's even harder to feel sorry for them, when they instantly try to claw this money straight back off you through overpriced paint protection products, tinted windows and extended warranties. A warranty that incidentally then ties you to a twice yearly service with the dealer in order to keep it valid.

There is a great list of all the tricks and cons used by car salesmen on the Web, one that is definitely worth a read. We did, and when we put the theory to the test unsurprisingly 9/10 of those who rushed out to meet us were true to the list and passed with flying colours.

Of all of the lines that we were fed, the most jaw dropping of all was that we would only be given a trade in price on our car when we had signed a contract to buy another car. Why? Because in her words 'the price they would offer changed from day to day'. As if. Did we look like we just fell off a passing banana boat with half a brain between us? To really add insult to the attempted day light robbery, when we said that we weren't ready to 'commit' to her there and then, she basically threw a business card at us and walked straight out of the door to the next unsuspecting customer. To say that the whole experience was more doom than Zoom Zoom Zoom would be a massive understatement. We hot footed it immediately and left her offending and definitely unwanted business card propped up in the branches of the nearest tree.

Yes I know that not all salespeople are the same. My husband worked in the industry for years and he certainly didn't work that way. But as is often the case (think double glazing salesmen and dodgy builders) it only takes one bad experience and a shifty individual to make you wary of anyone bearing down on you with an insincere smile and monthly targets to meet.

I'm glad to say that we did eventually find something of a rarity in the industry - a salesperson who was not only genuine, but also went out of her way to help us. She proved that it is possible to be nice without being smarmy, that you can sell without using thumb screws and that when it comes down to the customer, people will always be happier to buy from people, those that they like and respect, not those that try to patronise or bully them.

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This weeks advert is for the excellent Tetris DS. I love the style of this advert, as it not only gets the message of the game across, but looks great. It must have taken a lot of time and effort to prepare the dive for the advert, but it all paid off. The result has been a lot of fun for all those involved and a brilliant advert for us :D

-Jason

The more time people spend at your web site, the
more time you'll have to persuade them to buy your
product or service. Below are ten powerful ways to
keep visitors at your web site longer.

1. Provide your web site visitors with content they
can't read anywhere else. People will stay longer at
your web site to read the original content.

2. Remind your web site visitors they can print out
your content. They may browse around your online
store while it's printing.

3. Offer your web site visitors a freebie if they take
the time to fill out your online survey. They'll be at
the site longer and might b.uy something afterwards.

4. Offer your visitors free software that they can
download right from your web site. While they are
waiting they might read your ad.

5. Provide a huge online directory of information
that your visitors could search. The directory must
contain information your visitors would want.

6. Make sure all your web pages load fast or your
visitors will leave fast. Time is precious; they won't
waste it waiting for your site to load.

7. Tell your visitors what's offered at your web site
at the very beginning. If people are confused about
what's being offered they may leave too early.

8. Publish your web site professionally. People will
get turned off and leave if they see a lot of spelling
and grammar mistakes.

9. Make your site text easy to read. Most people
won't strain their eyes trying to read text that is too
small, light or bright.

10. Use headlines and sub headlines all over your
your web site that will grab visitors attention. It will
attract them to explore your web site longer.

Advert

This reminds me of an ad of equally brilliant stature by ICICI 'Global Private Clients' advert which had Shahrukh Khan in it. This one literally gave me goosebumps when I saw it for first time. You could actually feel Shahrukh Khan when he is talking. Excellent direction i must say.

Now the point of me writing this post is, which one of the stars is giving better leverage to the brand they are endorsing? Or are they really giving any leverage?

Aamir Khan pretty successfully manages to put his personality across through this ad film. He's changing watches just the way he changes his style. And this is only to get more out of himself, as he says. Whereas, Shahrukh also equally succeeds in moving the brand close to his identity in the ICICI film. His mysticism, the respect he commands and the title of being the 'Badhshah' of everything he does, is quiet easily established. So here, you have a bank who lets you live life on your terms, like a badhshah.

The other question thats haunting me is, who's more successful between these two films? Let's not think about the past ads that they have done. The post only pertains to these two films, as to who is leader when it comes to endorsing the brand. I'm seriously in a fix in choosing any one of them, though i can be a little biased towards the Shahrukh one.

Please post your comments and lets have a discussion. You can watch both the films below, incase you haven't seen them.

Titan - Be More

ICICI GPC

Above is a clip of Christina Aguilera singing in an advert for the Rock the Vote campaign.  I've watched it without the sound because I'm at work and I'm sure my office doesn't need to hear her warbling coming from my desk.  Her vocal range goes up and down almost as much as Jodie Marsh's knickers.

But anyway, I'm not so sure this ad encourages people to vote as much as to not wear so much make up.  I've always had a giggle over at Dlisted whenever Michael K refers to Christina as 'Tranny Clown' and boy does this video drive his point right home.  She must have to wash her face in pure ethanol each night to get that gunk off.

I think this advert is a bit like a nightmare.  The baby is being rocked to sleep with a million-note lullaby, and opens his eyes slowly to see a red-lipsticked peroxide clown looking down on him.  Poor kid will never sleep again.

Yeah, I know I'm quite outdated. The shoes already come out in February but here I am craving to own one. haha I'm not sure why I suddenly fall in love with the shoes..perhaps, this ads already caught my eyes,oh beautiful gisele (I'm perfectly straight). Well I'm always own flipflops but its always the simplest one and price range: below rm20 haha.. But i figure I need a good, style and comfy sandal when my heels start to crack~~ ughrrr! Plan to buy Croc flat shoes.. but after impulse buying expensive flat shoes from pull and bear( I still love it ok). I think I need to save my money again for another expensive flat shoes. So I think Gisele Bundchen ipanema is just a nice choice.. Quite stylist and can where for any ocassion-the way I like it!

Hoping there are still available stocks!

Even our litter has high aspirations - I chuckled when I saw this on the car park floor this morning as I turned up for work. It made me think of a quote I keep on my desk:

"There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich" - Marlene Dietrich

Guardian

Good effort, but for an advert!?!

It's that time of the week again and this week i've selected a little gem from 2004, celebrating the release of Pikmin 2. I just find the idea of small people dressed as Pikmin collecting hotdogs inexplicably hilarious, and in tune with the the game (although it was more batteries and bottle caps than hotdogs) Anyway, I hope you enjoy it :)

---
Monday 7 July 2008 at 8pm on Channel 4

Dispatches: It Shouldn't Happen to a Muslim

On the third anniversary of the 7/7 London Bombings, political commentator and journalist Peter Oborne investigates whether these attacks and the fear of terrorism has fuelled the rise of violence, intolerance and hatred against British Muslims. He discovers that for many in the Muslim community, Britain is becoming a very frightening place. Dispatches meets a range of British Muslims who now live in daily fear, some because their homes are constantly vandalised, others because they or family have suffered devastatingly violent attacks.

An exclusive ICM opinion poll commissioned for Dispatches reveals the extent to which Muslims have experienced hostility, abuse and prejudice since 7/7. The same poll also reveals the general public's attitudes towards Islam and relations with Muslims.

Since the bombings there has understandably been much press coverage of the attacks and other terrorist incidents. Oborne investigates whether this coverage has had the side-effect of portraying Islam and British Muslims in a relentlessly negative fashion, leading to the demonization of a diverse group of two million people, most of whom have nothing to do with terrorism.

Dispatches commissioned a sophisticated study of press coverage from Cardiff University's School of Journalism. The research examined articles published in the British press over the last eight years and their depiction of Muslims and Islam. The troubling results of the study are revealed in the film.

Oborne also investigates the sources and accuracy of a rash of press stories that have entered the public consciousness – such as a London council 'banning Christmas' out of deference to Muslims and a 'Muslim hate mob' wrecking a house rented to returning soldiers from Afghanistan.

Oborne concludes that in today's climate the media say things about Islam and Muslims they would never say about other groups. When he replaces the word' 'Muslim' in some recent headlines with 'Jews', 'Blacks' and 'Gays' and shows them to members of the public, they find those headlines deeply offensive.

In his first interview since leaving the Metropolitan Police, the man who headed anti-terror operations on 7/7 and afterwards, former assistant commissioner Andy Hayman talks about the poor relations between Muslims and the security services.

There will also be an opportunity to put your questions to Peter Oborne in a live web chat that will take place on the Channel 4 website after the Dispatches programme finishes at 9pm on Monday 7th July.

---

I think I'm going to have to record it, cos I'll be attending a talk with Suhaib Webb around that time, insha'Allah. I missed a course that he was running this weekend in London, cos I had guests. {sad face}

But all things for a reason, eh? Alhamdulillah.

East London's very own friendly ad-murderer is wanting to move beyond merely defacing posters. His new ambition is to decapitate a TV ad. And I'm right behind him.

But he needs your help to do it. He's trying to raise £50,000 to buy a prime-time advertising slot. I've donated. Please get your wallet out and help him.

See what he has to say on his site.

This must have been a dream to work on .. you have to watch it several times as the attention to detail is quite something.