We’ve been accused of taking too long to get to the point. ⬆ This is the point. ⬆ Read the post anyway.

So we’ve spoken before about brands and Radical Honesty. We’re going to speak about it again, as this is a lot for marketers to get used to. Remember, we’re the same people who used to go home and sleep like babies after a hard day of telling the world about Camels satisfying your T-zone. But so many nice folks sent us links to this Daniel Baylis article in Fast Company, that we figured we’d better pipe up once again.

It’s a good little article with a couple important takeaways. Like this one:

“The biggest misconception is that brand perfection is necessary before honesty is a valid brand strategy.”

That’s nice, right there. It reminds us that people, for the most part, want to like you. They’re not only looking for a reason to buy, they’ll even help you make your case. “But baby, we need that 75,000 BTU grill! For the children! Won’t you think of the children!?”

This one, too:

“In a recent report on transparency in corporate reporting among the 105 largest publicly listed multinational companies, it’s surprising to see that oil companies such as BP and ExxonMobil (also far from perfect) rank much higher in transparency than popular tech companies such as Google and Apple. And in terms of integrity, public perception of Google and Apple continue to fluctuate. If I were a PR executive at these tech companies, my palms would be sweaty.”

Excellent point. Say what you want about BP and ExxonMobil – they’re evil, but they’re reasonably on the up-and-up about it. Meanwhile, Google and Apple, two brands that once possessed halos as bright as supernovaas, now battle it out to see who can embrace the dark side of the Force more quickly.

Our point? We go on and on about Conversation Marketing because we believe your brand is part of a conversation. Moreover, we think you ought to be a good conversationalist. You already have impeccable etiquette – we’ve seen your posture and your Latin declination – don’t forget to use it. Be honest about yourself – customers have highly-developed bullshit radar systems. Have a sense of humor about yourself – better to beat the world to the punch. In general, be someone you wouldn’t mind being stuck in the corner at a party with.

The big finish? This – Mr. Baylis spent a whole lot of column-inches full of words telling you the following: Be honest. Be nice.

Thanks for reading.

Let’s start off with a shout out to all who serve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD3cgDRsDck

“Today, a proud nation expresses our gratitude. But we do so mindful that no ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service. For that, we must do more. For that, we must commit—this day and every day—to serving you as well as you’ve served us.”
—President Obama

OK, tissues down.

Speaking of gratitude and those who’ve served with honor, what’s this?

A moving-in gift from Mortar alumni Will Kim? That is just so thoughtful and classy and awesome. Thanks, Will.

Which brings us to the big Veterans’ Day Mortarblog Tie-In. Ready?  In the military, success is about knowing the person next to you has your back. Same principle applies in the trenches of the Mortar. Always has. Always will. If you’re a veteran, talk to us. You may not have traditional experience. But you probably do have perspective we could desperately use.  Also: none of us know how to fire an actual mortar, which seems wrong.

As for the rest of you Mortar veterans, is this a cheap ploy to shame you into sending us spiritous liquors?
We think you know the answer to that.

We like ads that make you think. Ads that don’t blare their message at you through a megaphone. Ads that inspire you to support a cause that was barely on your radar yesterday.

This new campaign from Dentsu Shanghai checks all of the above boxes. The idea is so powerfully simple, you don’t even need to understand the Chinese in the corner (but if you can read it, we wouldn’t mind a hint). We love that each ad tells a story through a single image that’s at once understated and cataclysmic. We will also promptly be returning the polar bear rug we recently purchased for our office lobby. (Just kidding. Too soon?)

The sophisticated-meets-cheeky, political cartoony illustrations hit the nail on the head, magnifying the idiocy of the hunter, and of the entire situation itself.

It’s like JT used to say: What goes around comes back to bite you in the delicate hiney region.

What’s your take on the campaign? (That comments section down there isn’t going to populate itself.)

Via Ads of the World.

Remember Pigs In Space?

Our pals at Bacon Salt did. And, from the Department Of “Damn, We Wish We’d Thought of that,” it inspired them to redefine the term “product launch.” As in, Bacon Salt is blasting into frickin’ space.

(OK,  more like, “they tied a cooler to a weather balloon.” Still…pretty rad.)

Behold Spacon-1, Interstellar Pork Delivery Vehicle – coupled to a 100,000 ft-rated weather balloon, equipped with a parachute system for re-entry, GoPro camera to record flight and GPS tracking device for recovery.

 

Sadly, the launch vehicle suffered a mission failure. (It popped.)

But still, they got to wear spacesuits.

We especially enjoyed Mission Control’s reaction to the vehicle failure:

Mortar salutes you, Bacon Salt. Today, bacon has reached out, and touched the face of God.

(Who, quite likely, would now liketh a washcloth.)