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Jul 26 / 2:30pm

Stupider than Facebook? Diesel reclaims stupid, sets up facepark.

by Jen Corbett

Facepark

From that brand that's named after a kind of petrol that you put in cars and trucks but is kinda worse for the envirosystem comes an idea I  totally heart. It's like, a total exhibit of social creativity but for, you know, the nonline world.   

That brand is Diesel and in Germany they've followed up their global "be stupid" campaign, with an altogether timely version of Zuckerberg's brainchild with this response: Digital is for smart people, but we're stupid. A thought which naturally led them to think, Instead of wasting our lives in front of computers, let's waste our lives in the park. And so they created an analog version of facebook. Facepark .


Those crazy Germans staged an event which attracted thousands of people to grab a piece of cardboard and use it to interact with friends and random strangers in a park? Yep.

It's more than that, however, because it seems like everything else, it's a whole analog movement in stupid. Like facebook, facepark is open to everyone. To join, all you need to do is take a big cardboard and cut out a piece where you can put your head. Then you walk around the park and start using the familiar Facebook gestures and interactions with friends and random strangers.

There's a lot of the usual except for real life - including foam hands that poke real people, and a cardboard cutout farmville.

What I like about this video is that it has been crafted to say something special about social media. That it's inherently social, right down to our behaviour in real life. Which more often than not, is inherently stupid.

I guess you could say this pretty bang on brand act of social creativity. I'm really loving how they are extending their campaign thought.

They're also connecting with with a core irony that is central to the social zeitgeist of the millenial market. (Which is apparently "over" facebook these days). So even when it comes to facebook, they've essentially owned it. And that's real smart.

via digitalbuzzblog and viralblog

Diesel-facepark

Filed under  //  be stupid   branding   diesel   facebook   news   social creativity  
 
Jan 26 / 1:19am

Coca Cola's happiness machine makes me happy

by Jen Corbett

There's something strangely satisfying about the enjoyment we get observing surprise and delight on other people's faces. And that's pretty much what this recent youtube footage of ordinary students, in an unremarkable cafeteria in a College,somewhere in the USA reminds us of.

Watch as you see this Coke machine, like any other ordinary Coke machine, starts giving out free stuff. The glee unfolds as the machine, quite literally dispenses "happiness" in the form of coke bottle after coke bottle, balloon animals and flowers, pizza and reaches a particularly epic finale.

The online-only video was released two weeks ago and is one part of  Coca Cola's "share the happiness". The interactive effort designed to better connect teens and young adults with the brand OUTSIDE of traditional tv advertising. To do this it pulls together facebook, twitter and youtube to pull off an astoundingly effective social campaiign. 

At the time of writing, the video has had 1,101,283 views on youtube alone. The video was made public ONLY via  a tweet from the Coke Twitter account and from their Facebook fan page.

“Where will the happiness strike next?”.

The video / interactive work is by Definition 6

Filed under  //  coca cola   facebook   interactive   jencorbett   socialmedia   twitter   viral   youtube  
 
Dec 10 / 11:45pm

How to perform Facebook Suicide

by Jen Corbett

Here's a fantastic idea. It's a new form of digital liberation. Facebook suicide.

It's an effort by an Italian Imaginary art group called Les Liens Invisible. 

It's several people who will remain imaginary who come from Italy or somewhere near it. 

Awesome. 

Their  "Seppuku" is alive and well as a website  

(Seppuku is the word for the ancient japanese samurai act of dying by plunging a sword through their stomach. ) 

And It's point? to try and prove that you are more than your virtual identity...

With over 20,000 people having joined last month. It's a spoof yes. But a pretty sensational one. It's gone pretty "viral" .

Course, I would argue something along the lines of "what is identity ? " ...but that's just me.

I wouldn't do it or encourage it because frankly I love facebook. But here for anyone who wants to are the instructions:

To take the final step, you simply type in the same information you use to log onto your Facebook account including e-mail address and password. (The site says it does not save the information.) Then choose one of six templates for the memorial page and compose your “last words.” After that’s entered: curtains. The profile is deactivated. (If you want back on Facebook, just log in and your account is reactivated.)

The group have also created a Google maps parody and a Flikr parody if you want to, check them out.

Filed under  //  art   digital   facebook   jencorbett   suicide   viral