Are You Ready For Some Football? I am.

First Sunday of the NFL season and I am like a kid on Christmas morning. I actually woke up this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep. And helping me get all tingly for the big day, a new ad campaign by Nike -- Leave Nothing. I love the new TV spot with Shawn Merriman and Steven Jackson. It kind of has an NFL films vibe, but brings you in even closer. The spot, directed by Michael Mann is just a part of Nike's new campaign. They have a pretty cool interactive website too and will be launching print ads. Sadly though, Nike got one thing wrong...since their site is Flash I can't link directly to the high-res video and in fact I can't even link directly to any page except the home. Below is the YouTube version, but it really doesn't do this ad justice...so if you have the energy or the time check out Nike's Leave Nothing site and once you get through the intro click on the "see more action" button in the bottom left corner. I wish it was easier. Anyway, enjoy the ad and the start of the NFL season.

Internet People

The other day I stumbled up a new video online -- I know shocking -- called Internet People, a wonderful tribute to the history of the viral video. (I think the only thing it is missing is Miss South Carolina and probably only because this video has been in production for awhile.) Wacthing this reminded me of so many hilarious videos I have watched on YouTube over the past few years. It's funny to thing that this "viral video" craze is still so young. I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed that I pretty much get every internet phenonmenon this video references. Some of the videos, I even remember who sent them to me first and even where I watched them. Ah, the joy brought to us through this crazy series of tubes. So anyway, here is one more viral video to be passed a long...a tribute to viral videos. And it is no surprise that in the few days since this has been posted it's views have increased exponentially. Oh, and if you don't understand anything in this video, you have got a lot of catching up to do. Enjoy.

Defending The NFL's Image, Give Me A Break

The New York Times had an article today called Mending a Bruised Image, about a new ad campaign the NFL is launching on TV and online to remind the fans not all the players spend their money on dog fighting, strippers, and drugs. Apparently Brady Quinn will be saving up his earnings to pay for law school. And did you know Vince Young's tattoos represent the women in his life...how sweet. But at a time like this, where the image of the NFL's players could be at it's worst, these ads seem forced. Shot in black and white and highlighting the off the field good deeds of some squeaky clean players makes my stomach turn. Really, is this what is going to change our image of the NFL? I doubt it. Watch the ads for yourself at the New York Times website. Sadly, The New York Times' website doesn't allow me to embed video, so you'll have to click through to watch these feel good spots for yourself (once they are up on YouTube, I'll embed away). In my opinion, the only way these ads are going viral, is if we are sending them around to laugh at how over-the-top the attempt is to make us feel good about our football stars.

Each player's ad:
Braylon Edwards
Willie McGinest
Brady Quinn
Vince Young
Matt Hassleback

Hunger Gets What Hunger Wants

I'm online too many hours a day. I often have Gtalk, AIM, and MSN Messenger going all at once. I have my work email and my personal email. So, pretty much, the majority of the time I'm connected. And just like the rest of you, I am part of what makes viral videos viral. I can't tell you how many im's and emails I got showing me the finest South Carolina had to offer up for Miss Teen USA. Who could help but pass the video along and share the laughs? So, with the plethora of video links I'm sent in a day, I'm shocked when I see something I think is hilarious, for the first time, on that box in my living room with the dancing pixels, ya know, a television ad. Last night, for the first time, I saw this spot for Ballpark hot dogs and I gotta admit, it made me laugh. I don't know if this is going to make me buy any more processed meat, but I figured I'd share a funny ad I can relate to anyway. I know from experience, hunger gets what hunger wants.

My Hunger "Computer"

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Identity Theft

When I was 17, over the summer, I worked on an independent film called Magic Rock. A tale of a summer camp, the mean owner who wanted to close it all down, and the campers who pulled together...yada, yada, yada. The movie is irrelevant, however what is of the utmost concern to me is of course being credited on IMDb for my work. After all, if the internet says something, it must be true, and if god forbid the internet doesn't say something, well then I might as well not even exist.

So here is the deal -- there is another Adam Rosenberg on IMDb. Apparently quite the assistant, as he is credited with being an assistant to producers Scott Rudin and Jonathan Glickman on bunch of movies like Team America: World Police and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (of course I wish I was the one who actually worked on those movies, but I digress). As it turns out, my Magic Rock credits are attached to Adam Rosenberg the assistant's IMDb page. And, yes I had multiple credits, as this was such a low-budget movie I managed to be an assistant location manager, prop master, and also nab non-speaking part as a counselor. This assistant, who happens to have the same name as me, must know he is stealing my IMDb glory, what a punk.

As it turns out, Adam Rosenberg the assitant is not the only Adam Rosenberg on IMDb. There is also an Adam Rosenberg credited with a role in Spaceboy, whatever that movie is/was. So to differentiate IMDb lables the assistant Adam Rosenberg (I) and the Spaceboy thespian Adam Rosenberg (II). So looks like I need to find a way to turn myself into Adam Rosenberg (III) and get the fine work I did on Magic Rock credited in the proper place...because I want to be able to say I have an IMDb page and put a ridiculous picture of myself on it, plain and simple.

So I am going to see if I can figure out the IMDb help section and figure out how to fix this injustice. I'll be sure let you know how it turns out.

Clark and Michael: What The Internets Were Made For

If you don't know Michael Cera, shame on you. If you only know him only from Superbad, I suppose I can forgive you, but you are late to the party. If you have loved him since Arrested Devlopement, you are a better person than me...I must confess I started my love affair with the show after it was canceled and therefore am partially to blame for Fox giving it the ax. Simply put the kid is hilarious...each of his facial expressions is sure to make milk squirt out my nose.

But I want to make sure anyone reading this knows about my favorite project of his: Clark and Michael, a web series, each episode about ten minutes long, that he and his equally hilarious pal Clark Duke wrote, produced, starred, and directed. The plot: Clark and Michael are working on a script together for a TV pilot which they are pitching to different networks. It's shot documentary style and if you like The Office, Arrested Development, or Curb Your Enthusiasm, you will love this, I promise. And each episode has about ten quotes you won't be able to help but repeat after you watch...I don't even want to share, as they are delivered so much better by the duo themseleves.

Okay...so I know what you are thinking. My favorite Michael Cera project is a web series...or better yet, what is a web series? I wasn't convinced either until I watched. But these two are so funny that I found myself eagerly awaiting each Wednesday for the new episode to be posted to their site...and now find myself quite sad that all ten episode have been posted. Now my Wednesday mornings have regained their place as, well, meaningless, besides being just a little bit closer to the weekend. Clark and Michael play off each other so well, I dare say they have better chemistry than Cera does with his Superbad co-star Jonah Hill.

So check it out, and tell me this isn't the funniest thing you have seen him in yet. I can only hope CBS (who funded the project) hands these two some more bags of money and more episodes are in the future.

Here is a preview of the series, to check out all the episodes go to Clark and Michael

Alien Virus Flick Misses Chance To Go Viral

Well here goes my first post on my very own blog. I suppose it was only a matter of time. And my first post is inspired by the latest alien body snatcher movie The Invasion. But I'm not here to tell you how good or bad I thought the film was...though I can say I am glad I saw a free screening and didn't actually have to pay...and I am pretty sure the 21% tomatometer speaks for itself. This post is about a missed opportunity by the movie marketers. So here is the deal -- people in the movie start acting, well, not themselves, and Nicole Kidman uses her detective/psychiatrist skills to do some investigating. And where to all the bestest detectives go? Google of course. So when a patient uses the phrase "my husband is not my husband" Kidman sends the googlebots out to find out what's going on -- turns out other people -- all over the internet are saying "my husband is not my husband," (probably a phrase Kidman used herself after ex Tom Cruise found Scientology) "my wife is not my wife, "my son is not my son" and so on, you get the point.

So with an opening weekend less than $6 million, I feel confident saying something about this movie could have been marketed better. So here's the pitch, my grand idea; before The Invasion was released why not fill the online landscape with some people claiming "their loved one wasn't their loved one." Why not start some blogs, not blatantly tied to the movie, where people were asking for help. Why not some videos on YouTube with desperate wives, husbands, and children seeking help because "person x is not my person x." Maybe even some MySpace pages. Who knows. My only point is that the opportunity for a cheap attempt at a viral campaign was there for the taking. When I got home from the movie, I Googled the phrase and was surprised to find nothing related to the film. So in my humble opinion, missed opportunity to use the interweb to help market the film.