I have a dirty secret. I’m starting to like Ashton Kutcher.
For a celebrity, Ashton has some insightful viewpoints about the social web. To paraphrase some of his interview with Oprah:
My life is on display and not always by choice. …Instead of them [the media] publishing pictures I don’t like, I can publish pictures that have already been pre approved. …If there’s a fallacy about you, you’re able to respond to it in a genuine way directly with your fans.
Basically, Ashton has removed that third party link and connects directly and efficiently with his fans. In some ways, he’s the @Zappos of celebrities.
But, by removing that third party (aka PR folks, the People and TMZ journalists of the world), what effect does it have?
- Does it piss off the networks that have the power to put him on their covers?
- Does it make their jobs easier?
- Will it make their jobs obsolete?
- Does it make celebs more “real” and remove them from their pedestals? Is that a good thing?
- Will interacting with celebrities like we do with weblebrities (aka Chris Brogan) become the status quo?
I left journalism a long time ago. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t have the answers to the above questions even if I was still in that world. Who knows? Maybe by the time celebrities really jump on board we’ll be onto the next thing. You know, like Identi.ca, Tumblr or Flutter.
For the last week, I’ve sat and watched as everyone settles instead of fighting. It’s frustrating. It’s wrong. Part of me understands it. Part of me doesn’t.
The part that understands? I understand being tired and so worn down and frustrated that giving in is 10 times easier than continuing the fight. I understand that reading how 70,000 people were laid off on “Bloody Monday” is depressing. But, have one of those umbrella drinks, kiss a hot pool boy and stop being a pussy!
Some pussy moves:
- Delaying Digital TV for four months! Yes, 4! Why? Because 6% of the population isn’t ready. Trust me, when their precious TV stops working, they’ll get on board and figure it out fast. Rumor is there’s some law that says the government can’t take away your TV and that’s what the delay stems from…
- $335M for STD prevention. Really? That’s what is in the stimulus package for job creation? If you’re not smart enough to use a condom or verify your partner is STD-free, then you deserve any disease you get.
- Letting Corporate Headquarters determine what you should do at the local level. Grow some balls and put your foot down. You know better than some drone who is not in the trenches every day.
Stop waiting until tomorrow or the “perfect” time. Stop settling. Start fighting. And most importantly, start chasing those butterflies again. They’re out there. I promise.
As I sit here watching the Opening Ceremonies of the 29th Summer Olympics, I am in awe. I can’t even begin to imagine how much time, effort and thought went into coordinating not only the performances, but also the men, women and children (15,000 of them) executing those performances.
In the weeks leading up to the Games, Beijing received a lot of “negative” press about the strict guidelines, traffic laws and restrictions that they plan on imposing this week. And yes, some of it is a little extreme- like making citizens take a swig of liquids that are in discarded bottles (wish I could find that article again). But, I get it and I applaud them for it.
For one week, their ENTIRE country is not only in the spotlight of the United States, but in the spotlight of every single country that is participating. And, in this day in age, I’m sure a lot of the Olympic coverage will live on for much longer than a week on YouTube, Blogs, Twitter, etc.
If something were to go wrong in Beijing it would be like giving a presentation with a glaring spelling mistake to 2.5 billion people. Okay, not the greatest example, but the take away from both would be the mistake and not all the amazingly right things done.
In the case of the Olympic hosting country, “bad” press is not “good” press. I applaud Beijing for taking every precautionary, proactive step possible to not allow “bad” press to happen.
I’m still thinking about Nike’s announcement to let their sponsored swimmers wear Speedo LZR suits. I have to say, even though I’m not a fan of Nike, I’m impressed by their decision and a few others:
- Nike gets the idea of the $100,000 salt and pepper shaker. Unlike Adidas, Nike has once again chosen to sponsor individual athletes vs. being the official sponsor of an event. By sponsoring individuals, they are connecting on a micro level. In addition, their sponsorship dollars are going further and lasting longer. Ask me who sponsored Amanda Beard in the 2004 Olympics. RedBull. Now ask me who sponsored the 2004 Olympics. No clue.
- It’s always good to be first. Now the other sponsors (i.e. Adidas, TYR) have to jump on board or look like pricks for refusing to allow their swimmers to wear whatever they want.
- Whatever the outcome, just imagine all the COOL marketing campaigns that can (and hopefully will) spawn from this.
For not being a fan of Nike, I’ve now written two semi-positive posts about the company. Imagine what I would have written if they denied their swimmers the right to wear what they wanted.
Thanks to someone for sending me the latest swimming news. I just don’t know about this new turn of events.
Here’s the thing:
I swam for a Nike sponsored D1 college. All our equipment was Nike. I hated it. Compared to Speedo, they suck. Even in college, I still rocked Speedo goggles and whenever I could get away with it, I rocked Pearl Izumi sneakers. The rest didn’t matter too much.
In lieu of this announcement, let’s play out the Olympics as an amateur swimmer:
1. Rooting for a Nike sponsored swimmer now sporting Speedo’s LZR suit. Swimmer wins. Am I really going to wear Nike? Um, NO.
2. In love with Nike sponsored swimmer who sports Speedo LZR suit. Swimmer loses. Am I going to wear Nike? Um, no… going to go with whatever I currently love / wear.
3. Neither love nor hate Nike sponsored swimmers. LZR suit bombs, but still rocked the trials. Would I still choose LZR suit? Yes. Swimming is a mental thing. HELLO, I didn’t shave my legs for 6 months in order to shave TENTHS of a second off my national times. I know, GROSS… just imagine what I did before Olympic trials in 2004…
Swimming is 99% MENTAL. No matter what the outcome, Speedo’s LZR suit has gotten enough PR, especially in swimming circles, to warrant any swimmer worth their salt giving it a spin (or swim). Which means, no matter what the outcome of the Olympics, Speedo is going to bank some serious ROI. Props to Nike though for stepping up and attempting to generate some positive, feel good PR… unfortunately, still not buying their equipment, but I’m sure others will…
Today was one of those really great news days. Here’s just a few of the better ones happening outside the world of interactive media:
Cool / Artsy / Geeky: Ian Cook, a British Artist, paints using remote control cars. Video and final piece here.
Scientist creates a Periodic Table of Videos. For each element there’s a fun video. Very cool for visual and audio learners and super geeks. For anyone else, the videos are a tad long.
Sex, Sex, Sex:
Library of Congress creates Playboy for the blind. (Yes, I said Library of Congress). There’s also an official Porn for the Blind website.Candoms (no, this is not a misspelling) is a great beverage insulator that rolls onto a can like a giant condom. Maybe these will start replacing bananas and regular condoms in Sex Ed.
German inventor debuts Spray-On Condoms. I’m not a guy, but the thought of putting my junk in a “hissing chamber” does not sound very fun or sexy. I’ll stick to the old rip and roll method, thanks.
Just Plain Bizarre / Gross:
I guilty admit that the tongue action turned me on. But, this ad for Extended Stay Hotels is just weird and definitely did not make me want to stay there.
When the Olympics hit Beijing in a week, you won’t see any sex shop signs as authorities are conducting a campaign to rid the city of anything deemed “unsightly”. This is just another example of perception vs. reality, and I must say, Asia does a great job of keeping up perceptions.
The Big Picture by the Boston Globe does a great job converting today’s news into pictures. I love the ones about the Olympic trials for swimming and diving. The diving ones are hysterical; the photographer caught some great facial expressions. The swimming ones show Michael Phelps once again having a less than stellar start and still going on to not only win, but also setting a new world record.
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