We love surprises. And a pop-up store for a cloud computing platform qualifies as a surprise in our book. Amazon Web Services has set up shop at 925 Market Street, offering educational workshops, laidback coding lounges, and an “Ask an Architect” counter where you can do exactly what it sounds like. Apparently the bouncer is choosy, so we snuck some pics for those of you who aren’t suave enough to make it past the door.
Turning a virtual product into something you can see, hear, and touch? That’s a smart move. And it never hurts to provide mountains of junk food and beer to win those coders’ hearts.
Have y’all seen these recent ads for Sauza? Hmm. Hunky guy with muscles narrating against a kitschy backdrop. Wait, I’ve seen this before! It’s gotta be good, right?
Sauza Tequila, “The Refreshing Lifeguard” (2013) – 670,000 views
Hey! That wasn’t the least bit entertaining. Thanks for making my minute of procrastination totally not worth it.
Sorry – we’re making a point. Ever since W+K’s Old Spice campaign broke the YouTubes with 46 million views, it seems like everyone in the hemisphere has tried to replicate its success. Of course, male ad icons are nothing new, having been a marketing staple since the days of the Marlboro Man and the Brawny lumberjack. (Btw, have you seen Brawny boy’s 21st century makeover? Eesh. Someone should let him know mustaches are in again.)
If there’s one thing we’ve always preached on the mighty Mortarblog, it’s this: Be brave. Be honest. Be nice. (OK, that’s three things. We’re bad at rules. You should know that by now. Hush.) And we dearly love to point out examples of these qualities. So allow us to stand up and applaud the stones on Mazda’s brand team – it takes a ton-and-a-half of those to hand the keys to your brand to Sir-Doctor Stephen T. Colbert, DFA. “Did he just call it an Oldsmoblile? Did he just say “Mazda, It’s What’s For Dinner?” But that doesn’t follow the Brand Guidelines!”
You’re right, Imaginary Brand Manager’s Brain, it doesn’t. But – hey, put that tequila down – your customers don’t follow them, either. Because your customers are people. And they love it when you treat them like people.
What’s going on? Is this a giant, unexpected solar eclipse? Were the Mayans right after all? Oh. No. Wait. It’s just Eat24’s giant cojones, blocking out the sun. Taking the D.I.Y. ethos to new heights, they just decided to show up at SXSW with a giant bag of weed and a camera and oh, hey, is that Snoop Lion? Yes. Yes it is.
Snoop gets familiar with the Eat24 App. And guess who is now the Official Sponsor of Snoop’s (quite likely prodigious) Munchies? It’s perhaps the greatest product demonstration since the old Master Lock ad from the 1970’s. Well done.
For those of you who were face-deep in the guac during the commercials, enjoy our biased topline summary. For those of you who missed the game entirely, be glad your face muscles got to relax rather than violently cringe while watching the 49ers try to defend the pass. Any pass. Eesh. The 34-minute blackout was more fun to watch than that shoulda-been-a-comeback final play. It’s ok, though, because GIANTS. And now a message from our sponsors.
