Sorry to get all Carles on your so-bored-of-that-blog selves, but I’m worried about memes and virals. For ages I’ve suspected that contemporary marketing companies and advertisers were far from the super-intelligent Geppettos you see in Mad Men. The transition from traditional forms of advertising – getting a rapper to wear/eat/pose topless next to something – to modern viral (puke) marketing seemed to have turned them into the kind of mawkish whimsical pansies who’d get a tattoo of a moustache on their index finger. But the ad below has changed my mind. Read more »
Posted on August 18th, 2009 | 20 Comments
Tagged: adverts, HIPSTER RUNOFF, memes, Richard Branson, virgin
A lot of my colleagues at Vice have been getting obsessed with geeks dressing up recently, be they Japanese or Brazilian, so, when I went to MCM at the weekend, I looked for something which, rather than expressing each costumer’s individuality, would exhibit a sense of togetherness. I found hugs. Maybe you’ve already heard of the “Free Hugs” meme. Invented from a single memeogenesis in 2004, it was the subject of a breakout YouTube video in 2006, briefly popping up on Oprah that year too. Occasionally, you might have occasionally glimpsed one or two disciples holding up “Free Hugs” placards at a railway station or suchlike. But in addition to being the nerd Kaaba, MCM is also probably the biggest annual manifestation of the hugs movement in the world. How many exactly? Well, I’m glad you asked that question…
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Posted on May 26th, 2009 | 23 Comments
Tagged: free hugs, geeks, idiots, MCM, memes, sci-fi
