Disney drops bid to trademark Day of the Dead

One day of online hell-raising was enough to get Disney to back off from their attempt to trademark the traditional Latin American holiday, “Dia de los Muertos,” for their upcoming Pixar animated movie. What do you think? I was once excited for this movie, but this episode has left a sour taste in my mouth. –Tania

Child Abuse Hotline Ad Uses Photographic Trick That Makes it Visible Only To Children

Great use of new technology leveraged to support a great cause. –David

What Is Facebook EdgeRank and Why Does It Matter?

Agency folks – If you have regular contact with social media, especially Facebook, you have probably heard about “the Facebook algorithm.” It’s called Edgerank and it’s a pain in the community manager’s backside when it comes to ensuring that your brand page is being seeing by the majority of your fans. Here’s a cool little infographic that explains the what and the whys.  –Yasmin

50 Funniest Moments From “The Office”

As The Office’s final season comes to an end, the best way to bid farewell is to look back and laugh at all the quirkiness the show has brought into our lives.

America’s 10 Best Hot Dogs

You would think it would be hard to screw up a hot dog but a surprising number of restaurants do. Here are some that get it right. SUPERDAWG!  -John

The Beat Goes On: How Vinyl Records are Making a Comeback

This story shares a risky example of how a similar promotional idea was applied to a nearly extinct industry with record results. iViva the vinyl! –Nan

Rudy Francisco

Rudy Francisco is a slam poet. This poem is kind of long, but bear with Rudy—because he will teach you the ways of love and by the end of his video you’ll successfully be able to poetically talk your way into the heart of any beautiful woman, or man, who works at Starbucks. –Josue

Baby Mugging

Some creative parents with lots of time on their hands have come up with a new Instagram craze: #babymugging. You can even find instructions online on how to create your own babymug pic. #poorbaby –Yasmin

E-cigarettes

We’ve all seen them before and wondered what they are or what they are made of; I’m talking about electronic cigarettes. Recently I’ve seen them everywhere, from professional stadiums, at the airport, to restaurants. Here’s the little known facts about E-cigarettes. –David

What the world eats

Ever wondered what a typical family eats in a week in countries around the world?  This really cool album will show you. –Michelle

Most Epic Vines Ever

I’m big into Vine right now, capturing moments from every night out or vacation.  I’m not this good though.  This guy has some SERIOUS talent.  Like, serious. –Michelle

After working in this business for 20+ years, I have attended dozens and dozens of conferences. I am a little jaded about their content, yet came back energized and inspired by the speakers and the content of FFT.

It was so great to listen to people that are making a difference in the world today, even though at times I felt inadequate (most of the speakers were in their early 20’s and have or are in the process of achieving greatness).

Of all the great presentations I attended, the most inspiring to me was the one by the two founders of a company called “Uncharted Play”. These two girls invented a soccer ball that generates electricity! They describe their company as a for-profit social enterprise dedicated to improving lives through play. What a concept!

Their inspiration came out of a mundane, every day observation: people, especially kids, love play.

And in their travels, they noticed how kids from impoverished countries may not have much, but they have an unbridled love of soccer, and find ways to play it everyday, no matter what. Then, they go home and have to read or do homework with no electricity or using a kerosene lamp (I learned last week that doing homework by a kerosene lamp is the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day!!!).

These girls (yes girls, they are both in their early 20’s) took these two observations and came up with an almost miraculous product, the Soccket.

The Soccket is a soccer ball that the more it is kicked, the more electricity it generates. What a simple yet life altering thing! And they didn’t have to change behaviors to make a difference or tell these kids we know how to do it better; they just had to replace their every day soccer ball with this wondrous product.

It made me think of how we go about our lives looking but not seeing. How we rush through our days without taking pause to think, and how different things would be if we did.

Could we invent the next big thing?

Could we save a life or come up with an idea that will?

Will we notice someone in silent pain?

Can we change the course of our own lives by finding inspiration in something mundane?

I don’t know if I can invent the next great thing, but I know that this conference, these girls and their fantastic product, inspired me to look deeper, to take a moment to stop and smell the roses, and maybe, just maybe, change a life in the process.

Ingrid Otero-Smart is the President/CEO of Casanova Pendrill. Ingrid started her career at McCann Erickson in her native Puerto Rico, then moved to the U.S. to work on the Hispanic market for the past 20 years. She is a member of the board of directors of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and a past President of that organization.  She has twice been named one of Hispanic Business Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics and was named 2009 Hispanic Ad Executive of the Year. In 2011, OCBJ named Ingrid OCBJ’s Business Person of the Year, Marketing, and most recently received 2012 Hispanic Marketing Achievement Award.

Eight New Things We’ve Learned About Music

In advertising, we know music plays an important role, the right music can make people feel an array of emotions, enhance events and special moments, and even allow them to lose some of their inhibitions. Taking a deeper look into music as a powerful tool, the Smithsonian.com recently uncovered a few interesting music facts – did you know that smoothing music is actually more effective than Valium in relaxing people? Check out the Smithsonian’s other top 8 new facts about music. -Vanessa

Ancient Europeans Mysteriously Vanished 4,500 Years Ago

So wait, you’re saying Europeans aren’t the original Europeans? We stole Europe too? Man we are just bad news. –John

Apple Celebrates 10 Years of iTunes

For all you hipsters out there, who think a Walkman and a CD Player are the newest trends making a comeback, think again. 10 years ago iTunes launched and revolutionized the music industry, changing the way we listen music, by providing consumers with an alternative to paying a premium price for an album that only had 1 -2 good songs. –David

Check out that mug!

What could I do with a latte, a toothpick, and a spoon? Not much more than give myself a frothy mustache. Japanese latte artist Kazuki Yamamoto, however, turns these everyday drinks into incredible pieces of art that’ll last as long as you can avoid taking your first sip.–Anna

From Vine to Pen: When Your Drink is in the Ink

This NPR article is on a subject near and dear to my heart: WINE!  It also provides some history about how wine has been used (good trivia), and a great example of clever marketing. –Nan

Cost Per Like: A Subjective Valuation of Your Facebook Fans

Brands are always in pursuit of the elusive ‘Facebook Like.’  With their new metric, now advertisers can pay for specific actions they want consumers to perform once they’ve seen an ad, not just for impressions or click-throughs. This is interesting, and could help with goal setting and budgeting, but it still goes back to quality vs. quantity.  What good are 500,000 fans if they don’t truly care about what you have to say in the first place? -Michelle

A couple of weeks ago I bought a Roku. I honestly didn’t know much about it, but had seen a few Facebook posts from friends such as this:

I did minimal research which included a glance at the Roku website, but still didn’t quite understand what it did when I bought it.  All I knew was that I was moving to a new apartment, and I no longer wanted to pay for cable.

What I discovered is that the Roku is a small box that hooks into your TV and your wifi, and streams content through the internet (like the AppleTV if you’re familiar with that). It has hundreds of apps, both free and paid, such as hulu and Netflix, that you control with your remote just like a normal show.

Setting it up is a breeze, the instructions are simple (and even a little witty), and the interface is super modern.

Although at first the thought of not having cable may freak you out a bit, the Roku is a hugely growing trend (they just hit 5 million players sold), and I believe, the way of the future.

My only complaint is not having access to certain live events (ie: Awards shows. Also sports–if you’re into that sort of thing…), but there are additional apps that you can buy for every viewing interest you may have. (Or you could always get a digital antenna and watch basic channels for free).  With the Roku, even if you were to have a couple different subscription accounts, it would still be nowhere near what you pay monthly for your premium cable/DVR services.

People want control over what they watch, and they don’t want to pay for 300 channels they don’t. Cable companies need to realize this and quickly adapt, or else risk facing a similar fate as that of Blockbuster.

Do any of you have a Roku?  How do you like it?

Michelle is an SDSU grad born and raised in Orange County.  She loves to travel and one of her life goals is to compete on the Amazing Race.  She loves the Kardashians (and is not ashamed to admit it), spends too much time on Facebook, and has recently picked up cooking as a hobby, hoping one day to make food that is actually edible.

Photo Credit: NewsGator

“The good outnumber you”

Alongside everyone else in the country, I was shocked with the news of the bombing in Boston. Thinking about all the security that had to be at that event and all the hoops whoever decided to place the bomb and hurt so many innocent people, had to go through, I asked myself: “Who does this?!?” I also thought as I saw the news that night that if something like that had happened in post-9/11 NYC, I am not sure how the city would have reacted.

Then I stumbled across this post from one of my favorite comedians, Patton Oswalt that provides a great perspective. Not to mention that in the first 24 hours it has become one of the most shared, liked and commented posts on Facebook. Read for yourself. –Yasmin

People Helping People out of Work

With our current state of economy, and the visible (and invisible) hoards of Americans unemployed, it’s hopeful to see an idea as simple as “hirepatriots.com” making such a difference for so many families! Check out the link. –Nan

Dove “Real Beauty Sketches”

If you haven’t watched this video yet, you should. Dove conducted a social experiment that compares the way others see us to the way we see ourselves.  They had a former forensic artist draw sketches of each woman based on her descriptions of herself. Then he drew another sketch based on another person’s description of her.  The differences are striking, and the drawings based on others’ descriptions are surprisingly accurate. Although it takes a lot to improve self confidence, hopefully this makes us think for a second before we criticize our “flaws” or reject a compliment.  –Michelle

Digital Buzz Blog

This site often has a few gems. Digital Buzz Blog tends to have interesting activations and digital campaigns. It will definitely wet your digital whistle (<does that phrase really need to make sense? No. No it doesn’t. Just go on the site already.) –Josue

#music

In trying to become a multimedia powerhouse, Twitter launches its much anticipated music app. –David

Facebook Home

By now you’ve heard about Facebook Home, Facebook’s new OS takeover app which turns your Android phone into an integrated Facebook machine. It’s a great concept with a strong marketing push behind it… Except for this ad, which just made me think about how sad it is when we’re so glued to our phones, that we completely zone out of our family dinner. The way Facebook describes Home is: “upfront notifications and quick access to your essentials mean you’ll never miss a moment.” But isn’t this really just promoting the opposite? –Tania

How Apple Lost Its Cool

On the coolness scale how cool is Apple? Compared to Samsung, many believe Apple is losing its cool-status. Time to re-think your iphone 5 purchase?  –Vanessa

Smokin’ Jay Cutler

After a week of things seeming to blow up at random, a couple of shootings and just generally being miserable I thought some laughs were in order. Who better than Chicago Bears quarterback Smokin Jay Cutler. –John

Learning English as a second language, as you can imagine, is a completely different story.  Most (not all) native English speakers know how to structure a sentence properly.  It comes to us naturally; we don’t need to think about it.  But to string a sentence together in a foreign language takes a lot more thought.  We need to really understand why “I like to swim,” is correct, but “I enjoy to swim” is wrong.  Or why we would describe a “big, brown building,” but not a “brown, big building.”  (I charge by the hour, if you’d like the answers.  Or, you could Google it.)

I was seated in the middle of my classroom one day, when one of my students told me I was sitting generously.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“You are generous,” he stated.  Sure, I’ll accept that.  “And you are sitting.”  Yes, I was.  “So you are sitting generously.”

How could I argue with that logic?

Pronunciation is another issue.  We all have different accents and intonations.  I admit there have been times when I’ve listened to another native English speaker (likely from a different country or region), not having any idea of what they were saying.  And I’m sure the same has happened when people have listened to me.  It certainly happened with my students – I became very well acquainted with the blank stare.

We were on the topic of food one day (a popular topic across all cultures), and I asked my students if they liked spinach (it was in the textbook, I’m not actually that dull to converse with).  One student proceeded to tell me, in a very slow, calculated process, about his friend who played basketball in Argentina.  I listened intently, correcting him when appropriate, and waited patiently for him to get to the point.  He hadn’t answered my question by the time he finished talking, so I asked him again.

“Do you like spinach?” I asked.  He stared at me blankly.  As far as he was concerned, he had just answered my question.  I repeated myself, this time in his language (and yes, I realize that some may consider that cheating).

“Oh!” he said, suddenly embarrassed.  He had thought I had said “Spanish.”

We have a lot of odd idioms as well.  I could give someone the cold shoulder, but if you were to feel my shoulder, it’d actually be quite warm.  Someone could hit the road, but why would anyone really HIT the road?  And really, gymnasts or contortionists should be the only ones who could get bent out of shape.

I taught my students a few of these fun phrases, and as I wrote “to run into something” on the board, one of them started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I asked her.

She explained that when she was at the mall one day, she needed to find a bathroom.  She asked someone where to find one, and they had told her that if she kept going straight, she’d run into it.

So she ran to it.

English is a funny language.  I’ve always known this, but it wasn’t until I had to explain its intricacies that I really grew to appreciate people’s efforts to learn it.  So cheers to all you speakers of English as a second language – and when I say cheers, I mean shouts of congratulation and triumph.

Anna hails from Hawaii and studied Advertising and Creative Writing at Pepperdine University. She thinks advertising is the lifeblood of brands, so people betta’ recognize. In her spare time, Anna can be found in the greeting card aisle of any big box retailer or correcting the grammatical errors of unsuspecting passersby.

Photo Credit: Main Image

Spoke Art

Spoke art is an art gallery based in San Francisco. If you’re obsessed with Bill Murray, this site is basically—very tasteful–Bill Murray pornography. If your life lacks beauty, color, and Bill Murray’s handsomely stoic face, this site is as visually stimulating as watching lesbian mermaids kissing in outer-space. In other words, its great. Enjoy.    -Josue

Tinder

Tinder is a relatively new, alternative dating service that you link to your facebook, then get presented with one pic of different cuties (and not so cuties) that you get to decide if you find attractive or not.  If you’re attracted to them, and they are also attracted to you, you get a notification (no notification if the attraction is one sided).  From there, you can chat, or even decide to meet up.  Although physical attraction is one of the key components of a relationship, is it enough to base interest on one photo rather than an entire profile? On second thought, I guess that’s pretty similar to how you meet someone in real life.  –Michelle

JC Penny: Anatomy of a Retail Failure

It was kinda hard not to see this one coming. One day kids will study this in their marketing class like the ‘New Coke’ fiasco. –John

Google Glass

This is one of the hottest technology gadgets out there right now. It’s called Google Glass which is wearable computing glasses, think of it like a smart phone or smart TV that you can wear. –David

Vine

Twitter Vine allows marketers to post six-second videos on Twitter. Peanut Butter & Co. and Volkswagon take this approach on a test run. –Anna

The Sandlot 20th Anniversary

It’s the 90’s film that produced some of the best movie lines, reverted us back in time to our summer childhood, featured good oldies music & made us love baseball that much more – which movie am I talking about? The Sandlot, of course. This week, the newsfeeds filled with articles & posts celebrating the 20th anniversary of the film’s debut. While, Yahoo made us reminisce about our old crush on Benny “The Jet” with their “Then & Now” post, Lacoste’s post reminded the guys why it’s a cult classic: It taught them how to be men. -Vanessa

John Hamm’s Wang

Click at your own risk on this borderline NSFW blog, which combines two of my favorite things: the star of Mad Men and John Hamm. Okay, so really just my one favorite thing. It’s quite refreshing to see a blog dedicated to masculine eye candy, in this advertising world so often ruled by men. –Tania

Teens and Social Networks

Is this a new trend? Are teens abandoning social networks? –David

That’s why it’s important to find the right balance of work and personal life. I always thought that going to the gym was the way I balanced my life and although it is essential for your overall health, it’s not the only thing.  I guess what I’m trying to say is to cherish the fruits of your labor, reclaim your weekends, and enjoy life.

For instance, I’ve always personally dedicated a lot of my time to my job. I do it without hesitation, without complaints as it’s my passion, it’s what I live for and it’s what I love to do. But recently as I’ve grown older, I’ve become more efficient at my job through the knowledge I’ve attained. Therefore, I no longer have to stay super late getting things done and I’ve been able to go home earlier and focus more time on me.

Sure Laker and Dodger games are great, but how great are they without spending time with your loved ones. So as I headed home early, I found myself spending more time with my girlfriend and we’ve become so much closer (it helps that she’s a Dodgers fan). I never imaged that house with a white picket fence or kids running around until one day. I know this sounds a bit cliché, but one day as I woke up early, I knew, I said to myself, I’m ready, she’s the one.

Final Thoughts

Life is one amazing journey, both good and bad. It happens inside and outside of work. I’m not telling anyone to NOT work hard, what I’m trying to say is to balance your life or else life will leave you behind.

Yes, for those of you who caught on, I recently proposed to my girlfriend and I am happy to say that she said YES.

David hails from Boyle Heights, CA, a predominantly Hispanic Suburb near downtown Los Angeles.  His passions are baseball, comedy, and music, even though he doesn’t know of any good jokes or how to play a musical instrument (but he can still hit the long ball). You can catch the boy in blue at a Dodger’s game or hanging out at a comedy club.

We would hear all the banter, ‘why are you drinking beer?’, ‘order a shot’, ‘get a vodka tonic.’ But, who can blame these people; after all, they were just following the mainstream or the latest trend. Grey Goose, Kettle One and Belvedere Vodka was the talk of the town, you heard it and saw it in hip hop music.

Flash forward some 15 years later and boy how have the times changed. Most people now a days are drinking beer. But it’s not your traditional beers.  Nope, they’re drinking microbrewery type beers better known as “Craft Beer.”

It isn’t new; it’s been around for years, but given the new Hipster movement, the demand for craft beer has risen. (If you aren’t familiar with the term Hipster, they are those douchey looking guys who wear fedoras, vintage shirts (flannel is preferred choice), either have a beard or a mustache; yes a mustache especially that rolled up ’stache that they stole from Hall of Fame 70’s pitcher Rollie Fingers).

But you don’t need facial hair to be a hipster nor a male, there are plenty of females out there and they are drinking craft beer.  According to a 2012 Gallup poll, beer has recently edged out wine as their beverage of choice among women ages 18 to 34.

Most women cite that they can pair their beer with food with the different foods similar to wine. It’s also a great opportunity to meet other people who like beer as craft beer tends to be more personal given that it’s brewed in a small batch.

After you read this blog, head into your local supermarket or liquor store.  You’ll find your traditional beers, so it’s not to say that they’ve completely gone away. But, if you pay attention rather than just walking by briskly, you’ll notice an increasing variety of offerings next to them.

One noticeable place where traditional beers have been replaced is at bars and restaurants. Go to a new bar/restaurant in newly renovated downtown LA and see what they offer. Bud Light, Corona, Heineken have all been replaced with Craft Beer such as Stone, Hangar, Firestone and LA’s very own Angel City. The more the beer is unheard of, the better.

Final Thoughts:

Craft Beer has outgrown Hipsters and one of the reasons it continues to grow is because it’s become more of a lifestyle. The beer goes beyond alcohol consumption.  There are bars that want to be unique, and so they’ll specifically carry these beers. Restaurants offer them because they go great with different types of foods. And yes, if you ever talk to consumer of craft beer, they’ll talk about them as if they were a wine connoisseur. So yes, it’s more than just beer.

As for me, I might not be a craft beer connoisseur, but I do enjoy the occasional craft beer. However, nothing beats being at a Los Angeles Dodgers game enjoying a nice cold Bud Light with friends.

For those of you interested in learning more about Craft Beer, there’s the Los Angeles Craft Beer Crawl taking place on Saturday, August 18^th.  The link also shows you the variety of bars that you can frequent on a daily basis.

David hails from Boyle Heights, CA, a predominantly Hispanic Suburb near downtown Los Angeles.  His passions are baseball, comedy, and music, even though he doesn’t know of any good jokes or how to play a musical instrument (but he can still hit the long ball). You can catch the boy in blue at a Dodger’s game or hanging out at a comedy club.

Image credit: Main image, LA Craft Beer Crawl,