Urban Vancouver

Flashback:

• Matt Harding danced in his goofy way in front of landmarks around the world.
• He shot video of his dancing and posted it to the web to keep friends updated on his global travels: where the hell is matt?
• This grew popular. Though his dancing was terrible, Matt was a likeable neeyerd enjoying his travels. We liked him. We liked his videos.
• Stride Gum saw an opportunity to sponsor Matt’s travels. They did so. His long-lasting travel fit with their long-lasting gum. Bing.
• Matt did a second world tour, a little more planned than the first. He used the web to organize his fans to join him and dance in locations around the world.
• People came out and joined him. I know, I did it and found myself on the front page of our hometown paper talking about it the next day.
• The resulting video received tens of millions of views. C’etait un big deal.

And all that felt like a very good fit. Stride Gum gets the great story. Matt gets some cash to keep him dancing. It was a light touch. And more than that, it was touching. It had heart.

So it felt weird to see the same Matt, doing the same dancing, for Visa.

Because that just doesn’t have a lot of heart. It feels more like Elvis in Las Vegas.

Am I being naive?

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F12%2F02%2Fdancing-matt-dancing-for-visa%2F'; addthis_title = 'Dancing+Matt+Dancing+for+Visa%3F'; addthis_pub = '';

To bring you up to speed…

1. Canpages commissioned a ringtone to promote their TXT-411 service
2. The AdHack ad creator community rocked the commission with some incredible ringtone entries.
3. Canpages asked people to vote for their winner. And yes, that drove a ton of activity and friendly competition. (make sure to read the comments too!)
4. Canpages chose Jeremy Lim’s Canpages411: HipHop as the winning ringtone.
5. Canpages got their ringtone and Jeremy Lim got paid.

So how was the experience for Canpages?

I was quite happy with the experience. I thought the support was great and you guys created a great response to our commission. I think that was really critical.

There was a real artist talent out there that jumped on our commission. The quality was really good and I got a great range of material really fast.

I also monitor our brand names through Google alerts and I got a ton of different blogs and updates mentioning Canpages and TXT-411 (898411). Using the social networks really developed a lot of buzz for us and the process of commissioning our ads through AdHack created a big stir.

— Michael Oldenwening
Director of Marketing
Canpages

Commission an AdHack Ad

Want great success like Canpages for your company, product and brand? We can deliver. Great ads and great buzz.

1. Learn how to buy or commission ads on AdHack.
2. Contact us to get started.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F12%2F01%2Fadhack-success-story-canpages-txt411%2F'; addthis_title = 'AdHack+Success+Story%3A+Canpages+TXT411'; addthis_pub = '';

This morning I received two excellent examples of fan-made media from Monique. Both are part of the larger sha-boom movement of DIY media creation and distribution, a movement that points to the AdHack vision for new kinds of advertising.

Fan-Made Legend of Zelda Movie

The first link is for a much-rumored project finally coming to fruition: “Legend of Zelda” Fan Movie Finishes Post Production.

According to the Amazon Game Room blog, news of the movie has been floating around for years and a premier is finally planned “in Atlanta, GA in the not so distant future.”

Today’s big news is the release of the trailer:

If you’re interested in more Zelda action or staying up to date on the Zelda movie, be sure to check out their website The Hero of Time.

Top-10 Fan-Made Films

The second link is for a compedium of the Top-10 Fan-Made “Sweded” Films.

Inspired by the Michel Gondry film Be Kind Rewind, the films are incredible homages and a ton of fun.

(What’s ’sweding?’ In Be Kind Rewind, the main characters “invent the process of “sweding,” in which they take classic films and remake them into short films using videotape, a virtually nonexistent budget, amateur actors, and insane amounts of creativity. Since the film’s release, fans have started making their own sweded films, putting them on video sites all over the internet.”)

Here’s the sweded Terminator 2: Judgement Day as an outtake, though all the sweded movies are well worth watching. Potentially at your next party.

And through the comments of the top-10 list I discovered the excellent Sweded Movies, a home for sweded movies.

Fan-Made Advertising

Yup, that’s AdHack.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F12%2F01%2Ffan-made-media-is-h-o-t%2F'; addthis_title = 'Fan-Made+Media+is+H-O-T'; addthis_pub = '';

Some gift suggestions for the discerning AdHacker, a creative professional, from the AdHack team.

Please note: Feel free to forward this list in whole or in parts to anyone asking for gift ideas for you. And, in case you’re wondering, we receive gifts throughout the holiday season at our offices.

Christina

Christina’s list provides a real gear focus for the creative professional.

• Adobe CS4 Design Premium (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc)
• Final Cut Pro Studio (including Motion, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack Pro and of course, Final Cut Pro) for Mac users or Sony Vegas for PC users
• External Hard Drive (like the Apple Time Capsule, available in both 1 TB and 500 GB or the Western Digital My Passport, available in 160 GB, 250 GB and 500 GB)
• Blackberry Storm or Bold (smart phones are awesome and help out so much)
• Membership in the International Advertising Association (IAA)
• Trip to the IAA New York Chapter’s 5th Annual Global Marketing Summit (focus on the global marketplace and emerging brands) in New York on April 15, 2009; or some other marketing or advertising conference
• Advertising and Marketing Books (Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People; The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding; Guerrilla Advertising; Advertising on the Internet)
• Visa Gift Cards (not so specific but they’re always awesome) or AmEx or Master Card
• Laptop case, cover, bag, etc.
• 24″ Widescreen LCD Monitor (Dell, LG, HP, Apple, etc.)
• Starbucks (or other coffee shop) gift card (maybe not the most original but who doesn’t love coffee and tea?!?)
• Digital Pen (Iogear Digital Scribe, Dane-Elec ZPen, Logitech, etc.

Corey

Corey’s focused on kitting out his creative life with a few more tricks and skills that go beyond the basics.

• Interactive Tutorials and guides Via CD or DVD or online on demand subscription such as those offered by Lynda.
• Credits or subscriptions to stock media asset databases such as iStockphoto and Pond5.
• An LCD drawing tablet for making animations, cartoon and tracings.
• Anything from ThinkGeek.com, “You know, for creative inspiration.”
• Adobe Products — software, tutorials, resource packs, etc.

James

I tend to focus on books and ideas and daily items with high utility. Here are some of the items I’ve got my eye on.

• Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker who also authors the outstanding Murketing blog.
• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, the best pop storyteller working today. I could read pretty much anything he writes.
• Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. Here’s a good summary of some of the findings of Buyology from the Neuromarketing blog.
• Mad Men DVDs because we all need a fantasy life. I just started watching season 1, so I’m coming late to this phenomena and season 2 sounds more interesting.
• Threadless t-shirts to ensure that I’m comfortable and that you will know my hipness.
• A coffee mug or t-shirt from the AdHack Shwag Emporuim. Yes, seriously. I like the stuff we’ve got for sale.
• Monster Screen Cleaner kit to keep my display clean and clear.

We hope these gift suggestions have been helpful. I’ll be forwarding this post in its entirety to my mom right now. She loves lists and she loves me. This is both of those loves in one place!

Now what’s on your wishlist that we’ve missed?

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F28%2Fadhack-holiday-gifts-wishlist%2F'; addthis_title = 'AdHack+Holiday+Gifts+Wishlist'; addthis_pub = '';

 

So the American Thanksgiving is tomorrow, Nov. 27. And here at AdHack we’re feeling the Thanksgiving spirit. Or well, kind of - I don’t think the turkey is all too enthused about it…

Regardless, we’d like to wish everyone south of the border a Happy Thanksgiving. And if you’re elsewhere, then you should enjoy tomorrow’s holiday, too. Enjoy the holiday spirit and remember what you’re thankful for.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F26%2Fadhack-thanksgiving-card%2F'; addthis_title = 'AdHack+Thanksgiving+Card%21'; addthis_pub = '';

AdHack Roundup #21: Sweet-Ass New Features

Hold on for the ride. We’ve got spills and chills.

Welcome to the AdHack Roundup #21, a wee nip of AdHack to warm your throat and tease your tongue.

Time yet to invite your friends to the hack? AdHack, we say. Bring them out to play along. We share if you do.

In this issue:

• Portfolio: Signs and Wonderment
• Blogs, Community Blogs
• Featured Ads on Homepage
• AdHack Around the Web

Unsubscribe? Go straight to le fooooooter.

The AdHack Roundup also gets posted to the AdHack blog where all kinds of news arrives and gets archived. Comments? Feedback? Yup, we’re game for it.

Get it by RSS? You betcha..

Prefer email updates? Well shucks. AdHack Alerts by email.

 

 

Portfolio: Signs and Wonderment

The AdHack Portfolio that everyone gets when they create a free account is the place to showcase your work and get it seen.

Upload ads and they show up in your portfolio. Ad buyers can check them out and get a measure of your talents and special skills. Friends can check out your ads and provide input.

Now we’ve added new ways to make the AdHack portfolio work for you.

• Personal information (optional): Add your first name, last name, company name, website link and bio to your AdHack portfolio. Be friendly and introduce yourself! Once you do you’ll get two new links unlocked on your portfolio page: private messages and your blog.
• Private messages: Want to contact someone on AdHack? Now you can. Start a new private message at your inbox in the top left corner of the site. Address it to the username of the person you want to receive it and they’ll get it. Or contact them through their portfolio, if they’ve unlocked this feature (see above).
• Blog: How do you keep track of the cool ads you see? Post them to your AdHack blog! More details below.
• Recent activity: Keep track of what you’ve been up to on AdHack with your recent activity listings. Check back on the ads you rated or commented on to see others’ feedback.

(For all the features below let’s assume you’re already logged into AdHack.)

So what do you think? Does it work for you? Any other improvements you want to see on AdHack? We wants to know.

So tell us, please.

(And if anything goes ‘bonk’ for you, here’s the excellent game lose sound from The Price is Right.)

 

 

Blogs, Community Blogs

You may have seen them earlier while rooting around. AdHack Community Blogs are where the blog posts from the AdHack community all roll together.

Blog posts from the community?

Yes. Like you, community member. You have a blog and you might not have known it.

Here’s how it works:

1. Be logged in to AdHack.
2. Click Portfolio in the main navigation.
3. See there now? Under the main navigation: My Blog and Create New Post.
4. Click My Blog and you’ll see your blog homepage.
5. Click Create New Post and you’ll be able to create a new blog post for your blog.

All those new blog posts also flow into the main AdHack Community Blog. And the three most recent posts appear on the bottom right side of the homepage. Zing.

So what kind of posts do folks make to their blog?

• Monique posted this great book cover for Anybody Can Be Cool…But Awesome Takes Practice.
• Monica posted a weird video ad she called Play that Funky Upside Down Chair, White Boy.
• Darren posted a A Kinky and Downright Creepy French Ad because he’s into that kind of thing.

So you can post whatever you want. If it’s dirty or offensive, we’ll remove it. On my blog I mostly post ads I like or find memorable, in both a good and not-so-good sense.

So what will you post?

 

 

Featured Ads on Homepage

We got rid of the login box on the homepage. We asked Analytics and heard that no one was using it. So it was buh-bye login box.

And hello Featured Ad.

Just thought we’d let you know.

See it in the fresh on the AdHack homepage.

 

 

AdHack Around the Web

We likes the Internets and we’ve managed to play with some keen technologies around the web. A selection follows for your perusal.

• AdHack on Twitter for <140-character updates.
• AdHack on Satisfaction for product support and idea sharing.
• AdHack on Facebook where you can ‘fan’ us if that floats your boat.
• AdHack Shwag Emporium where you can satisfy your intense craving for AdHack t-shirts, coffee mugs and miscellany. Anything missing? Tell us and we’ll make it.
• Photos tagged with AdHack on Flickr.

 

 

Top AdHack Roundup Readers

For another go-round, let’s give some moovelous love to the folks that get this note — the Top AdHack Roundup Readers.

Top Opener

Todd. Just a peek. Okay another. One more. And another. Todd loves him some Roundup.

Top Clicker

Quinton. Pounding the mouse to top place!

Top Fan

Julie. For a second consecutive week, she wins with love like this: “Awesome, I love being top fan!”

See that? Exclamation point (!). It’s true.

Zowie, wowie! That Julie. She win with love. She win with the enthuses. She win two times.

Can no one stop her? Can no one top her?

 

 

I think that I shall never see

A billboard lovely as a tree.

Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,

I’ll never see a tree at all.

— Ogden Nash

 

 

Feedback? C’est notre vie!

Mailto: james@adhack.com. Or just hit the reply button and you’re in like Flynn.

Zounds,

~JS

Unum cum virtute multorum.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F25%2Fadhack-roundup-21-sweet-ass-new-features%2F'; addthis_title = 'AdHack+Roundup+%2321%3A+Sweet-Ass+New+Features'; addthis_pub = '';

Freddy Wong calls out the “viral marketing douchebags” that made the Bike Hero Fake Fan Ad.

And so the next phase begins.

Part of me kind of loves Freddy Wong. At a distance, mind you. But he’s rocking pretty hard.

Anyone wonder about the authenticity of this video?

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F25%2Ffreddy-wong-bike-hero-expert%2F'; addthis_title = 'Freddy+Wong%3A+Bike+Hero+Expert'; addthis_pub = '';

How to annoy people in a widespread way by building a fake fan-created video.

1. Make a ripping good video based on a super-popular game with a rabid fan base:
2. Make it seem like the video was created by a group of those rabid fans of the game. For example, the creator’s page and the description of the video on YouTube:

Canʼt tell you how many times it took to make this work, but it was a lot.

Shout out to “Lars” and the rest of the Brierwood Vandals!

3. The reality starts to leak out that the video is an ad, created by an agency. Not a fan-created ad.
4. Watch the backlash. People who had loved the ad now feel deceived, pretty much in direct proportion to how much they loved it. And they start sharing their disillusionment. (Note to marketeers: people hate to feel deceived in a way that preys on their sympathies and sensibilities.)

   Tom Armitage says:

   You might have seen a Youtube video entitled “Bike Hero” in my links yesterday. I believe I said that “there is nowhere that this is anything less than awesome”.

   Unfortunately, I’m going to have to retract that statement, because there is one way it could be somewhat less than awesome. And that’s if it isn’t quite what it purports to be.

   Bike Hero, it turns out, is a “viral” ad for Guitar Hero World Tour, filmed by an advertising agency.

   Derek Powazek says:

   It’s not that it’s a commercial, it’s that it’s a hidden commercial. It’s not the art, it’s the ruse.

   Newspapers and magazines figured this out a long time ago. That’s why they put “ADVERTISEMENT” at the top of the page when an ad could be mistaken for genuine content.

   The thing these marketeers constantly miss is that, had it been labeled an ad, people would still have talked about it, linked to it, enjoyed it. It’s only their ad man inferiority complex that made them dress up an ad in a “user-generated” costume.

I guess I have to say it: shoulda used AdHack and actually got the fans of the game to make the ad. Commission an ad right here.

Any questions?

Update: Activision (Guitar Hero publisher) responds.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F21%2Fbike-hero-is-a-fake-fan-ad%2F'; addthis_title = 'Bike+Hero+is+a+Fake+Fan+Ad'; addthis_pub = '';

Now this gives me some ideas. (More to come soon!)

Roskilde (in English) is an enormous Danish concert event that takes place in Roskilde, Denmark.

Roskilde Festival is the largest North European culture and music festival and has existed since 1971. We are a non-profit organisation consisting of about 25 full-time employees and thousands of volunteers. Each year, The Roskilde Festival Charity Society, which is the association behind Roskilde Festival, ensures that the profits from the festival are donated directly to humanitarian and cultural purposes.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F20%2Ffinnish-beer-cannon-for-roskilde%2F'; addthis_title = 'Finnish+Beer+Cannon+for+Roskilde'; addthis_pub = '';

1. Motrin launched this ad:
2. Moms felt annoyed by the patronizing tone of the ad. If you’re wondering why, consider the additions of the phrase ’seems to be in fashion’ and the word ’supposedly’ to the copy. Can those not be condescending?
3. Someone from the site Imperfect Parent decided to take matters into their own hands and reply to the ad with an ad of their own:
4. And they’re not alone. Tons of other folks have made videos or posted a rebuttal to Motrin.
5. Considering the Motrin product line includes Children’s Motrin, Children’s Motrin Cold, Junior Strength Motrin and Infant’s Motrin, Johnson and Johnson (Motrin’s parent company) should be working with the customers, not offending them.
6. Motrin apologized on their website and directly to folks who contacted them:

Dear Amy -

I am the Vice President of Marketing for McNeil Consumer Healthcare. I have responsibility for the Motrin Brand, and am responding to concerns about recent advertising on our website. I am, myself, a mom of 3 daughters.

We certainly did not mean to offend moms through our advertising. Instead, we had intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies. We believe deeply that moms know best and we sincerely apologize for disappointing you. Please know that we take your feedback seriously and will take swift action with regard to this ad. We are in process of removing it from our website. It will take longer, unfortunately, for it to be removed from magazine print as it is currently on newstands and in distribution.

-Kathy
Kathy Widmer
VP of Marketing - Pain, Pediatrics, GI, Specialty
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
xxx-yyy-zzzz
personal-email@domain-name.com

7. But the ad isn’t going to go away in our web age. It’ll be archived and searchable. The NYTimes has covered the story.

So, here’s an idea.

Perhaps Motrin will commission their next ad from their customers. They’ve proven able to create compelling ads. They’ve proven passionate about the products. They’ve proven they can connect and direct attention.

So, instead of guessing what they want, why not work with them and let them say what they want?

Now that sounds like it provides some pain relief.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F19%2Fmotrin-annoyed-moms-fight-back%2F'; addthis_title = 'Motrin-Annoyed+Moms+Fight+Back'; addthis_pub = '';

Sherrett posted a photo:

Here at AdHack we love DIY stuff. And we also happen to love The Muppets so blogging about this was a no brainer. Also, with Christmas sneaking up on us it seemed like the perfect time to tell everyone about the awesome Muppet builder by FAO Shwarz.

You can customize your Muppets colour, hair, eyes, nose, clothes. The works! The price point is at $90 USD but I think it’s pretty reasonable after considering the awesomeness of it all.

In celebration of this really cool product / service here is my favorite and most memorable Muppet skit of all time.

I love how you can mutter the first 4 notes of this song to most people and get it stuck in their head for days. MahnaMahna…

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F13%2Fbuild-your-own-muppet%2F'; addthis_title = 'Build+your+own+Muppet'; addthis_pub = '';

AdHack Roundup #20: Two Steps Forward

(If you missed us, we missed you too! Now we’re back and hitting our stride.)

Welcome to the AdHack Roundup #20, a dish of tasty AdHack to cleanse your palate and tantalize your tongue.

Your friends hip to the hack? AdHack, that is. Invite them to play along. We got lots to go round.

In this issue:

• WTF is AdHack? A video answer!
• Employee of the Months
• AdHack Alerts for Everything
• Top AdHack Roundup Readers

Unsubscribe? Go straight to le fooooooter.

The AdHack Roundup also gets posted to the AdHack blog where all kinds of nonsense lives. Comments and abuse: bring la noise!

Like your RSS? Subscribe and you’ll feel the flow.

Prefer email updates? Well shucks. AdHack Alerts by email.

WTF is AdHack? A Video!

People asked.

So we made a video to answer their question: WTF is AdHack?

It also serves as a pretty snappy introduction to the idea of AdHack. Now if anyone asks you, you’ll know where to point them.

So what do you think? We think it’s SFW, as long as your work isn’t door-to-door fundraising.

And if your job is door-to-door fundraising, we recommend selling encyclopedias.

Once more: WTF is AdHack?

Employee of the Months: Jeremy Lim and Kenneth Rose

Oh lordy. It’s been so long since we sent out the Roundup, we’ve named 2 cool kids AdHack Employee of the Month in the meantime:

• September: Jeremy Lim
• October: Kenneth Rose

What does it take to earn an Employee of the Month honor?

Rock our socks. Create great ads. Participate in the AdHack community. Have more fun than anyone else.

Sound easy? Let’s see the action!

We’ll be on the lookout for our November Employee of the Month. Time is ticking. A handsome pixel plaque could be yours with a little effort. You know you can do it. Now show us.

Login to AdHack and get started.

AdHack Alerts for Everything

Have you noticed new content constantly getting added to the site?

You haven’t? Hmm. That’s too bad. Because some great stuff is getting created all the time.

• New resources for ad creators.
• New advertisements from AdHack members.
• New AdHack blog posts.
• New community blog posts.

And we’ve noticed that you might not have noticed.

So we’ve worked with our friends at Feedburner to get you the latest AdHack action in the format you want: RSS or email updates.

Then we collected all our alerts onto a single ugly but useful page. We wracked out brains and decided to call it AdHack Alerts. Ska-doosh.

Top AdHack Roundup Readers

For once, we thought we’d do something fun, light and a little playful.

And since this is issue #20 of the AdHack Roundup, let’s have a wee glance back at the people that have made us successful thus far — the Top AdHack Roundup Readers.

Top Opener

Tyler Wilman. This boy can open emails like no one’s business. He’s an opening fool!

Top Clicker

Sean Hazell. No doubt. He must have the twitchiest mouse finger of all. He clicks and clicks. The link is his friend. Well done, Sean!

Top Fan

Julie Szabo. “I just want to say that I love the AdHack Roundups. They always make me laugh.”

(*blush*) That love? Right back atcha, Jules!

Remembrance.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.

Feedback? We ain’t too proud to beg.

Mailto: james@adhack.com. Or just hit the reply button and you’re in like Flynn.

Vroom,
~JS

Unum cum virtute multorum.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F12%2Fadhack-roundup-20-two-steps-forward%2F'; addthis_title = 'AdHack+Roundup+%2320%3A+Two+Steps+Forward'; addthis_pub = '';

After clearing all the hurdles, we got a juicy cheque sent to Jeremy Lim last week. Jeremy won the Canpages Ringtone commission and wanted to thank AdHack in video.

Thanks to you, Jeremy, for your killer creativity.

Check out the winning Canpages ringtone – Canpages411: Hiphop – from Jeremy or all the entries for the Canpages ringtone.

And if you’re feeling like you could use some money in your pocket, we have two open commissions waiting for your ads.

• Dreambank Web Video for Dreambank.org
• eMarketing101 Video Ad

Somebody’s going to win that cash. Why not you?

Get Started!

Need some quick and easy ways to get started with your ad?

1. Review the ad commissions for full details on what the clients are seeking and how to enter you ad.
2. Create your script from our sample video script template.
3. Organize your shots and shooting with our video shot list and shooting schedule template.
4. Check out our full list of video creation resources – tips, tricks tools and tutorials for killer web videos.

Want to run some ideas past the client? Leave a comment on the commission – Dreambank, eMarketing101 &nash; and they’ll respond. Or contact us and we’ll relay your communication to them. Anything to make this all work!

Now, what are we missing?

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F11%2Fcanpages-ringtone-pays-jeremy-lim%2F'; addthis_title = 'Canpages+Ringtone+Pays+Jeremy+Lim'; addthis_pub = '';

My Water Cooler Loves to Dance All Night by happyjoel.

Congratulations to Joel Moss Levinson (Happy Joel) for the slightly odd yet glowing profile in the NYTimes: Finding a Gold Mine in Digital Ditties. Joel, if you haven’t met his videos, is a one-man wrecking crew of video contests. He sings. He wins.

Joel Moss Levinson always knew he had a calling in life. But it took cheap video cameras, YouTube and some desperate corporations to show him what it was.

Among Mr. Levinson’s entries were YouTube videos about how much he loved Israel, above, and his water cooler.

Mr. Levinson’s skill is turning out homemade corporate commercials — what advertisers call a form of “user-generated content.” Companies, frantic to connect with younger consumers, sponsor contests seeking these commercials to find new ways to advertise their products, often attracting hundreds of entries and lots of attention.

See the ’slightly odd’ part? “Desperate corporations.” “…frantic to connect with younger consumers,…” The tone of the article feels like it’s from the point of view of an observer who has dropped in on another planet and, returning home, is trying to find some way to explain the strange life observed.

Hey, NYTimes: It’s the end of 2008! More people watch videos on YouTube in an hour than visit your website in a day.

“User-generated content” is no longer a novelty act playing in the big leagues; the little brother of real content, just filling in until its older brother can come out and play.

It’s for real. It’s here to stay.

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F06%2Fnytimes-discovers-happy-joel%2F'; addthis_title = 'NYTimes+discovers+Happy+Joel'; addthis_pub = '';

Ads of the World is a great advertising site that pulls together interesting ads from all over the world.

And since they’ve been hard at work collecting all those ads over the years they think they’ve got a commercial asset. They’re trying to build a business out of the collected work.

To do so they’ve launched a new service called Ads of the World Research. People pay to access the archives.

It’s a bad idea. Here’s why:

1. It’s very hard to start to charge money for something that was formerly free.
2. It’s very hard to charge money for something that’s is freely available and readily accessible. See: Google.
3. Locking up digital content and charging for access is a dead strategy. The Internet is a copy machine.

But they’re throwing an Ads of the World Research contest for anyone to make the ads to launch Research.

Submit your works in form of a jpg (full page print ads) and optionally as a flash banner (768×90px web banners) until 30th of November. In your emails please include “AotW-R competition” in the subject. Your works will be evaluated in part by a professional jury and in part - as usual - by the visitors of the site. Get ready to show off with your work and dare to face the challenge of those (in)famous comments!

So if that sounds interesting to you, go for it!

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F06%2Fads-of-the-world-ad-contest%2F'; addthis_title = 'Ads+of+the+World+Ad+Contest'; addthis_pub = '';

Quietly last month we started a little tradition to recognize the outstanding contributions of folks to AdHack. We launched the Employee of the Month Award.

Then we kicked things off and chose Jeremy Lim as the AdHack September Employee of the Month.

Jeremy created some killer ringtones for the Canpages ringtone commission and contributed in huge ways to the AdHack community.

For October, we chose Kenneth Rose as the AdHack October Employee of the Month.

Ken uploaded a bounty of new ads for big-time brand names like Aquafina and Febreze.

Awesome job, Ken. For that, you’re Employee of the Month!

Now who will be Employee of the Month for November? Show us your mad skills and it could be you!

addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.adhack.com%2F2008%2F11%2F05%2Foctober-employee-of-the-month%2F'; addthis_title = 'October+Employee+of+the+Month'; addthis_pub = '';