Simplified

(via)

Extended Holliday

Talk about a double entendre! 

I want to start off by explaining my absence in the blogosphere. December was a wonderfully exciting month. I have never felt so popular in my life as I did when I looked at my personal calendar for the month of December. That month was saturated with out of town guests, holiday parties and birthday celebrations. It was so much fun, yet also very exhausting! 

The tail-end of the month was a different story though. December 22 marked the beginning of my two week paid vacation. What a treat! After the holiday passed, I had a whole to-do list I was planning to tackle -- organizing my apartment, trying new recipes, exploring the city and knocking out a bunch of new blog posts. Regrettably, almost none of those things happened. Time off is no good for me. I get lazy and I get distracted by things of little importance. In other words, I extended my holiday. Oh well, I don't anticipate having two full weeks off of work in quite some time, but I do apologize for my absence of posts. My New Year resolution includes more blogging!

So on to the other Holliday extension...

I have posted about the St. Louis Cardinals before and anyone that follows me on Twitter will learn in an instant that I am an avid fan.This week has been quite exciting for Cardinal Nation with the 7 year re-signing of Matt Holliday and some more crazy antics from Tony LaRussa. The chatter around the Cardinals this week almost made it feel like the season had begun. Unfortunately, I will have to stay patient for a few months, but in the meantime, here are my top 7 (in honor of Holliday) Cardinal advertisements of all time (Well, of my lifetime).

1. "The Macine"

Even Cubs fans like this one!

2. "Blanket"


Terrible quality, but I will embarrassingly admit that it almost drew tears.

3. "Cape"

There has to be an explanation as to why Pujols is an MVP³

4. "Blindfold"

I bet this wasn't staged at all... (Seriously. Molina is that good!)


5. "All the Love in the World"

The trifecta -- Great message, montage and song.

6. "Spelling Bee"

I know how to spell "awesome". A - W - E - S...


7. "Finger Lickin"


Oh Fred...

_________________________________________________

And for anyone interested on my personal opinion of the Holliday extension, here it goes...

I am happy we got him and I feel very optimistic about the next 7 years. The number one goal of this organization is to keep Albert Pujols in St. Louis and they wouldn't jeopardize losing him for a player like Matt Holliday. Holliday was arguably the best player up for trade this year. He did exceptionally well at the end of last season as a Cardinal. He is a good player, but he is not Albert Pujols good. I respect him and his talent and I am thrilled that we were able to re-sign him, but this article from Rob Neyer over at ESPN.com more or less summarizes my opinion of Matt Holliday.

So, getting back on target... 

Pujols. 

People are up in arms about what the Holliday deal might mean for the Pujols re-signing discussion that is just around the corner. I have complete confidence that the Cardinals' organization has enough pocket change to keep Pujols and Holliday on the roster for the next several years. Furthermore, I think that recruiting the likes of Matt Holliday in the outfield and Mark McGwire on the coaching staff was simply an insurance plan for Pujols to stay in St. Louis. This season, Pujols will have batting practice with one of the MLB's greatest hitters of all time and he has a very powerful and capable teammate batting clean-up behind him. What more could a MVP³ superstar ask for?

Money? 

Yeah, I guess that is possible. The Cardinals are not going to skimp on Albert's paycheck when it comes time for re-negotiations, but we are also not the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox. Does that scare me? Hell yeah, but I have faith (and maybe it's blind faith) that although the money may be a big factor, it will not be the overarching determining factor for Pujols. 

Pujols knows what a hero he is to the people of St. Louis and he is also well aware of the passion and support that the Cardinals Nation brings to the sport and players. Of course I'll never be able to find this article again, but I once read a wonderful interview with Pujols in which he claimed that as long as the Cardinals keep winning and staying competitive he is happy to be a part of this organization.

Well Al (and Holliday. And McGwire. And these guys. Oh, and this one!), we are happy to have you too. Here's to an an exceptional (and healthy) 2010 season! 

**Full disclosure -- I am severely biased when it comes to the Cardinals**

Looks Aren't Everything

The average person sees thousands of advertisements a day. As a result, visual aesthetics can be quite important when it comes to making your advertisement stand out amongst the competition. Sight is often considered the most dominant and well-developed sense in humans, so why not appeal to it?

I'm a firm believer that looks aren't everything -- even when it comes to advertising. While visual appeal should not be completely discounted, it can be paired with other complementary components to create a harmonious campaign. Some of my favorite advertisements appealed to an entirely different sense -- the sense of hearing. Let's take a look at my personal top 6...

1. GEICO

I am prepared to get some criticism for this choice, but Geico has created some truly memorable commercials based primarily on their choice of music.

More recently, Geico has been airing their Money with Eyes commercials featuring "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell. Admittedly, I find these commercials to be pretty ridiculous, but there is something catchy about that song.

Equally as outrageous are the Geico Cavemen commercials. The commercial above premiered back in 2006 and the muzak-esque "Remind Me" by Norwegian band Royksopp became an unlikely hit among television viewers.

2. VOLKSWAGON

2000 was two years before my sweet sixteen and this Volkswagon commercial left me utterly convinced that I had to have a VW Cabriolet waiting in my driveway the moment I turned 16. If "Pink Moon" by Nick Drake doesn't evoke a sense of nostalgia, I don't know what does.

3. MOTOROLA

This Motorola RAZR2 commercial is an example of an advertisement that I don't particularly love, but I find it intriguing based on music alone. Shiny Toy Guns' "Le Disko" is a perfect choice to convey the playfulness and sexiness found in the advertisement.

4. APPLE

Appropriately enough, Apple iPod commercials have turned some of the more under-the-radar songs, like CSS's "Music is My Hot, Hot Sex" into instant hits.

The Shadow Dancer campaign is a great example of how to pair exciting visuals with a hot soundtrack. "Technologic" by Daft Punk makes the perfect complement.

5. BACARDI

I get the impression that I was one of the last people to see this commercial, but I vividly remember the first time I did. I was with a group of 20 or so people watching the 2009 All-Star Game when almost everyone (except for me, of course) had a comment or two to make about this Bacardi ad -- "Oh! I love this song." "I don't quite get the ad, but this song is so fun!" "It makes me want a Mojito."

Translation? $$$ -- for both Bacardi and Mike and Kim, whose song "Daylight" is played during this one minute commercial spot.

6. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Where the Wild Things Are has done an exceptional job at pairing visuals, music and message to create a strong and compelling campaign for this upcoming film. Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" does just what the title of the song suggests. This song woke me from my comatose state of television watching and made me both aware and interested in this movie trailer.

As mentioned above, Where the Wild Things Are succeeds in pulling message into the campaign equation. In this instance, Where the Wild Things Are has paired up with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to create a PSA that poses the question: "Did you play today?" Not only is this cause highly relevant to the story line of the film, but those clever advertising folks pull in one more musical hit -- "All is Love" by artist Karen O and the Kids.

Coke vs. Pepsi

           

Who wins in the battle of Coke versus Pepsi? Taste-wise, it's all the same. Pepsi might be sweeter than Coke, but so what? Different taste buds means different preferences. I happen to like the sweetness of Pepsi, but I know a whole lot of people that would disagree. So, when it comes to taste, I'm going to have to call it a draw between Coke and Pepsi. The real winner have might be determined by the brand advertising.

In July, 2008, Toxel a design and inspirational blog, created two posts dedicated to Collection of Cool Coke Ads and a Collection of Cool Pepsi Ads. These posts feature some of the best advertisements from both brands.

Coke has had consistency in the brand advertising throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. These ads often feature fuzzy arctic animals, themes of classicism, and of course, that trademarked bottle.

While Coke excels in consistency of message, Pepsi excels in overall creativity. Take a look:

I would have named Pepsi the hands down winner a year ago based off the advertisements above. The 2009 campaigns of Pepsi and Coke have made me re-evaluate this decision. I'm going to be honest, I hate the new Pepsi Word Play campaign. In my opinion Pepsi advertisements are poorly conceived, non-sensical and just asking for parodies like the one below:

Coke, on the other hand, has increased the creativity in the 2009 advertisement campaign while still maintaining that sense of consistency. Take a look at the 2009 Coca-Cola Heist Superbowl ad:

I'm going to have to wait a year or so and see the progression of the Coke and Pepsi campaigns before I feel comfortable naming a winner.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Those of you who know me on a more personal level or follow me on Twitter @coconnell1 you might have noticed that I'm kind of in love with the St. Louis Cardinals -- alright, I'm pretty much obsessed. I grew up in baseball family and adored spending time with my Dad and older brother watching games. My love for the Birdinals has grown even more in the four years that I've lived in Chicago. I find that I am often surrounded by the enemy (aka Cubs fans) and need to know my stuff in order to properly talk smack to the bad guys.

I think every one's dream for their career is to have the opportunity to combine the things that you are good at with the things that you love. My dream project as a Communications major is to be assigned to the MLB account. Unfortunately, the Cardinals don't need much in terms of advertising. They have Pujols. That face and those stats are all that it takes to get fans to a game at Busch Stadium. St. Louis truly is a baseball town. Tickets will always sell, therefore the advertising efforts for the St. Louis Cardinals are fairly minimal.

I've realized the exact opposite is true for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. This cross-town rivalry does not just exist on the field, but also in advertising.

The Chicago White Sox have developed an advertising campaign based around traditions for the 2009 season. For those of you who are not familiar with Chicago baseball, White Sox fans are generally blue-collar workers and South-siders for life. The 'White Sox Traditions' campaign successfully reaches their target audience. These advertisements emphasize the simple things that White Sox fans do to prove just how die-hard they really are.

As much as I hate to say anything good about the Chicago Cubs, I also feel as though they really nailed their 2009 advertising campaign. I came across a great Cubs advertisement back in early February when I was enjoying the lovely negative ten-degree wind chill that Chicago masters so well.

Baseball has always been that light at the end of the tunnel for me. With baseball season comes warm weather, barbecues, trips to the beach and street festivals. I saw the advertisement above and my mood was immediately elevated. I never knew that the Cubs were capable of cheering me up -- other than when they lose, of course. So, for one time only, I'm going to say kudos to the Cubs' advertising team for capturing just how truly miserable Chicago Winters are.