Obama & The Left: A Legacy of Ashes

Right now the fake-left and wingnut right are at each other's throats and it's brilliant.

After carefully paying their mortgages for the last 8 years and not having an opinion on anything worthwhile, the neoliberal corporate left are going spastic at the thought of Donny Tiny Hands banning the same people that Obama bombed.

Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to people being complete douchebag cowards on the warmongering satanists paedophiles that run things but my best guess is they are simply keeping their head below the parapet until their beloved corporate media tells them to be outraged. And oh boy is their superficial outrage in top gear right now.

I encourage both sides to escalate the violence. You are both inconsequential and merely tools of the kakistocracy, lining your own pockets at every opportunity and never having an opinion that cost a dime. Triviality is amusing but it doesn't last.

Palestine, the child abuse network, bombing Syria, Libya and Yemen. These are the issues that separate those who work for the machine and those who are working to build a better future.

#BritishValues

Ethos

Respect to Woody Harrelson for coming off the fence on what matters. This is a playlist embed so you can watch the entire thing without messing about.

Harrelson's father, Charles Harrelson, was part of JFK's assassination.

200 People Complained Out Of 60 Million

Meanwhile the Northpole might disappear this year; thanks Fox News (aren't the best family values, the same ones where the kids get a safer world?). I always get angry with people around me most stupidly when it's a mirror I should be holding to myself. Tip of the Youtube dear stalker hat to the Herdmeister.

Onslaught Turns Into An Avalanche?

Via Paul Isakson

Update: Russell has chipped into this discussion.

Purity Values - The Connection Between Deepwater Horizon & Vodka

I remember vividly Mary Stow at HHCL & Partners urging me to push really hard on the VALUES of the clients we have in advertising and I've carried that important lesson with me for many years. All too frequently many 'wannabe' brands share only one common tangible value and that is shareholder return, or chasing money in plain language if you wish. There's nothing wrong with making money and indeed wealth creation has many positive effects, but if that's the raison d'etre for an organisation, it practically sweats from the pores of their executives and makes a squelching sound from the carpets of the boardrooms as we make our way about the C-Suite.

I've been saying to a bunch of communication thinkers around London that in an age of ubiquitous product parity, a legitimate (and possibly the most powerful differential) for a brand to leverage are its values. In the absence of any values there's not much to really talk about and this may well explain why so much advertising is rubbish. Its just talk.

The area that gets me most excited is the potential for brands to STAND for something and I can think of no finer example than this terrific commercial by JWT London with Digital by AKQA for Smirnoff Vodka. Of course its about purity but by reminding us of the dumping ground that we have made of the oceans Smirnoff are implicitly obliged from now on to take an interest in the purity of the seas, lakes and environment. An obvious value for a brand claiming to own purity. This is a good thing in my book and a reason to insist on the Smirnoff label from hereon because I'm interested in brands that have values - particularly ones that are about the environment as I've mentioned back here. Enjoy this well crafted commercial and thanks to Scamp for provoking a post out of me that has been simmering for a long time. I hope Diageo start to live up to some of their epic responsibilities with this type of advertising and begin to think about some branded utility, otherwise I'm back to ordering any old Vodka & Coke. They do after all taste the same with a mixer. Heresy, but the absolute truth nonetheless.