Welcome to Room 116

IKEA coming to Brooklyn

Nike Trial Van

http://www.nike.com/europerunning/#events|trial_van

I guess this could count as Retail?  Love the line, "No sales pitch. Just shoes, advice, and water."

From PSFK

Topps cuts up Morrison's suit

I remember when I was a kid growing up, Topps baseball cards were like the cheapest and uncool compared to those other shiny cards from Upper Deck and Fleer Ultra.  Don't know how the trading cards industry is now but while I was watching the NBA draft, they mentioned something that really stuck out.  Adam Morrison's suit was going to be cut up and put with his rookie draft card.  Now that's something pretty out there and interesting.  Draft day cards are usually the boring cards in that they mostly feature the player wearing a cap and in a suit.  This is a weird, yet refreshing idea to selling basketball cards.  I feel sorry for the kid who gets the piece from the back of his trousers.

From ESPN:

The humorous side of this signing situation is that each version of his first card will have a unique gift on it -- a piece of his draft-day suit.

"I found it kind of weird," Morrison said. "But I always liked getting a little memorabilia growing up. They asked me if I would care if they cut up my suit. I said, 'Go ahead, man.' I've only worn a suit twice in my life and both times, they were forced upon me. A collared shirt is as nice as I get."

Interactive media

http://lifecomesatyoufast.com/main.htm

Nationwide Insurance did a wonderful job of telling people how important insurance is to their lives.

The Story Booth by JetBlue

Came across this over the weekend at Rockefellar Center.  JetBlue setup this area with a booth that records people's experiences and thoughts about JetBlue.  The theme is based on the new JWT/NY campaign that launched with a spot from the JetBlue CEO.  If you've seen it, you'll recognize it by the funky animation. Talked to one of people setting up and he said it's built from the idea of StoryCorps .  There was also a booth with postcards that vistors can send to their friends about Jetblue. 

Once secure inside, there's a virtual flight attendant that goes through the steps.  You begin recording by saying, "Dear JetBlue" and you end by saying, "Sincerely, Your name and where you're from."  It's pretty weird going in because you feel like you're going into some space shuttle.

Also if you're in the neighborhood, check out the NBC store across the street.  Once there you'll find two of my favorite TV characters, Triumph and Dwight.

Gamekillers

So, a couple of us were at Stool Pigeons the other night enjoying a nice draft beer when we get some nice branded cups. The Axe Effect. Lucky for us, the bartender let us take them home.

Here's what it says if you can't read it from my poor picture taking skills.

"Carl
Romance vs. Bromance
Keep your cool. Axe Dry"

On the back,

"Your buddy, pal, and part time Gamekiller. Carl's a good guy, but talking college hoops, playing 'foos or arguing over your first pick in the fantasy football draft will only take you away from the girl and straight into No Woman's Land, a place where Carl feels most comfortable. The Axe Dry wearer keeps his cool by not being susceptible to Carl's repeated invitations to bro-out. While his intentions are good and he means well, going home with a girl is a lot more fun than ending the night figuring out video game cheat codes on the couch next to him."

And logging onto Myspace, you'll see they have their own profile:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=59516497

Smart or bad mix of creative + media?

WaMu gives away real money

From Felixyip.com:
To promote Washington Mutual's new free checking program, they've gone to giving away real $2 bills.  Why two bucks?  Well, WaMu wants to treat you to one ATM fee and all other future withdrawal fees from other ATMs .  Does this apply to NY?  Will people be switching banks like they switch cell phone carriers?

For more pics (that's Felix's hand in the shot above) and to read about how he actually ignored getting the pamphlet twice at different locations in Chicago, check out his blog here.  There's good things to come this fellow Adcenter guy and this is a great find.

FedEx Shirt

From this cool site, Advergirl.  I like her WOM sections of Word of Mouse and Word of Mouth. 

The work above is from BBDO/NY

Infiniti: "..In Black" on BET

This coming Feb 9th @ 9pm, Infinti presents 5 African-American visionaires (Painter, Director, DJ, Architect, Dancer) on the BET Network.  I think this is a type of branded content for television.  The PBS-like clips are average and I don't think I would watch the show after visiting the website.  I hope it doesn't just air what's already playing online.

Now what will Infiniti do for A Study in White?  In Blue? I would have hoped for some relation to the cars but I don't get it.

www.infiniti.com/black 

From the website: "Infiniti in black" is Infiniti's celebration of the African-American influencer. An extension of our commitment to bringing innovative design and contemporary culture to everyone, it is a presentation of artistic success and stories of emerging talents.

Adidas- Be the ball

Nice concept from TBWA in New Zealand.

Download adidas-betheball05.mov