Archive for January, 2007

Superbowl XLI Commercials

It’s that time of year again. Super Bowl commercials, not to mention I don’t have to hear Sean Salsbury tell us how much he wants to hump Tom Brady’s leg (no offense, Tom). CBS is charging a little over $2.6 million for every 30-second spot. But while most companies will hire professionals to do their dirty work, others have called on its consumers to come up with a good idea. Why not…you know…in the era of reality shows and American Idol. Hmm. Sounds like a bad idea to me. Alka Seltzer, Frito Lay (Doritos), GM (Chevrolet), and the NFL Network (my new favorite network) are among those who held a contest to come up with an idea for their commercial. And from what I’ve seen so far, it didn’t look like they had many great submissions. Of course, they’ll save the best for the Super Bowl, but I’m just not excited about those. I’m certain that most viewers will be excited about seeing the GoDaddy.com girl. Gary Parsons mentioned on The Big Idea with Donny Deutch that GoDaddy’s market share went from 16% to 22% after the Super Bowl ads were aired. GoDaddy was recently dropped by its ad agency citing ‘creative differences’; and, CBS has already rejected 2 of GoDaddy’s submissions to date. As a guest on “Hannity & Colmes” with Kirsten Powers (I’m a huge fan, BTW…rrrrAHHrrr), Gary announced the 2nd rejection and provided a sneak peek into the 3rd attempt. The second interpretation can be seen here.

There’s even a guy, who calls himself JP to remain anonymous, that was trying to raise money to buy a 30-second spot to use to propose to his girlfriend. In the most recent post on his blog, My Super Proposal, titled “Fear of Notoriety”, JP talks about answering a variety of questions from would-be advertisers/sponsors. JP’s blog was even featured on ABC’s Good Morning America for about 90 seconds back on January 10th. He has since scrapped the main goal and plans to donate the proceeds to charity. You can monitor his progress here. Maybe Mastercard can roll JP and his girlfriend into one of its “Priceless” ads instead of the chum they’ve been coming up with lately.

Over the years, the Super Bowl commercials have varied in quality. When the economy was in a bind, commercials were relatively unimpressive. Budweiser sent the Clydesdales to New York where they bowed their heads in observance of 9/11 in 2002. Nonetheless, some of my favorites include (in descending order):

6. Budweiser, Whassup?
5. Budweiser, Frogs
4. Bud Light, Cedric The Entertainer
3. McDonalds, Jordan vs Bird
2. Apple, Macintosh 1984

While the Apple commercial is perhaps the popular favorite, my hands down favorite was Reebok’s Terry Tate commercial…and the series that followed.

And contrary to popular belief, the Coca-Cola Mean Joe Green commercial did not debut during the Super Bowl.

Popularity: 2% [?]

One Way To Get Away With Cheating

Ben Schwartz, a freelance writer for Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update and the Late Show with David Letterman’s monologue, created a clever short showing one way to get away with cheating. After almost two years of freelancing, a large number of Ben’s jokes made it on air. However, for every joke that is accepted there is a pile of jokes that are rejected. This is apparently one of those. The rest of his work can be found on RejectedJokes.com.

Cheating Wife - Watch Funny Videos

Popularity: 2% [?]

Nokia N800 Review

Oliver Starr over at MobileCrunch reviewed the Nokia N800. Apparently he’s been using this thing for about a month, but wasn’t allowed to share any details of its capabilites and features untl now. He thoroughly compares the N800 to its predecessor, the N770. Included in his review are the device’s “all-day” battery life, its usefulness in everyday activities, and how he thinks it can be improved even more. According to the Nokia website, the N800 features a high-resolution (800×480 pixels) touch screen with up to 65,536 colors; RAM 128, two internal memory card slots, compatible with SD, MicroSD, MiniSD, MMC, and RS-MMC (up to 2GB) and configurable up to 4GB; and a relatively impressive audio setup.

The initial impression I had upon seeing the N800 was a combination of excitement and disappointment. Clearly the device is far more polished and much sexier than the somewhat rough and blocky 770. It definitely fits in the N-Series line-up now whereas with the 770 that would have been a stretch.

Check out his review here.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Benefit For Autism Education: Steve Carell Plea To Cats

On October 15, 2006 John Stewart hosted a live on-air and on-line special event entitled “Night Of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit For Autism Education” at New York City Beacon Theater. The goal was to raise funds for Autism education programs (Alpine Learning Group, the New York Center for Autism Charter School, and others). It was broadcast on Comedy Central. Appearances by Jack Black, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon and Martin Short were among the many that participated. Anyway, in case you missed it (I did), check out Steve Carell’s plea to trust fund cats.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Revealing San Antonio’s Pearl — Revitalization of the Pearl Brewery

Located just north of downtown San Antonio on 22 acres alongside the San Antonio River is the former Pearl Brewery. Established in 1881 by J. B. Behloradsky as the City Brewery, the original brew house was located on the San Antonio River north of downtown. As a result of alot of history, the brewery underwent a few name changes. Not until 1952 was the brewery named Pearl Brewing Co., although the beer had been called Pearl Beer since the late 1880s. The brewery added other buildings over time, which are now the centerpiece of Rio Perla, a mixed-use revitalization development by Silver Ventures. The Pearl Brewery isn’t the only historic landmark that was taken and redeveloped. The Alamo Quarry Market was completed in 1998.

Figure 1 - from SanAntonioRiver.org

One of the great things about this project is that it includes the continuing development of the San Antonio River (see, San Antonio Museum of Art, Figure 1). Aside from the Alamo, the Riverwalk is perhaps the most popular tourist destination in San Antonio (I’m sure there are statistics out there somewhere…sorry Sea World and Six Flags). The San Antonio River Foundation plays a large role in that development as well. Its mission is to secure community involvement and financial resources to enhance the natural beauty, recreational use and public appreciation of the entire River and its tributaries in Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad Counties. So, this means preseved green space and an extension of the Riverwalk (yes, Mark Cuban…it’s clean now).

The first of many phases has been completed according to this article on MySanAntonio.com.

Pearl Parkway, which the brewery created as its main entry boulevard from Broadway, has been spiffed up with new palm trees in the median. A new sign in classic 1950s style, with a big red lighted arrow pointing west, announces: “Pearl Brewery Est. 1883.”

Notwithstanding its original utilitarian purpose, the stable is an impressive building, a splendid example of late-19th century German bricklaying.

Lake/Flato Architects and Durand-Hollis Rupe Architects transformed a former garage into a spacious Aveda Institute beauty school and the adjacent Texas Farm-to-Table Cafe. Lake/Flato, master planners for the whole site, also designed the conversion of a simple shed building for the Center for Foods of the Americas, a culinary school that welcomed its first students in March.

The next piece to be developed, possibly next year, will be the former full-goods warehouse, where bottles went to be boxed and put on pallets for shipment. The back half of that building, at the edge of the site on Grayson Street, will be removed to make room for another street and parking lot, and the remaining structure may have 10 or 20 residential units on the upper level. The use of the lower level is yet to be determined.

I can’t wait. I’ve already experienced much of “Phase 1″ — I’ve eaten at the restaurant, toured the Aveda Institute, and attended a few events at the Pearl Stables. And this is just the beginning.

On a somewhat related note, I’d also like to welcome Derrik Dyka to my blogroll. He posted a story titled Beer and Real Estate, My Personal Favorite, which is about a similar project set to begin in his hometown of Minneapolis. Derrik is a realtor in Minneapolis among other things. Check out his blog, FlippingRich, sometime soon. You might find his real estate experience useful in your own happenings.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Human Tug of War

Take a couple of long bungee cords and attach them to two people who then run as fast as they can in opposite directions. Watch what happens to the girl at the end! And nevermind the lame Jackass-type intro. It’s pretty funny. Or maybe I’m just going nuts since I’ve been stuck inside all day.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I Made $100 Using Google AdSense!!!

Nevermind the fact that it took me roughly 3 months to reach the $100 mark using Google AdSense…I did it!!! This is chump change compared to hwat some other blogs have made…such as JohnChow.com, which made $693.36 for the month of December…but I’m happy with my progress.

• December 2006: $20.33 total revenue
• January 2007: $62.48 total revenue (through Jan 16, 2007)
• TOTALS SINCE STARTING MY BLOG: $99.81 total revenue (I should be at $100 by the end of the day)

Now, according to others’ experiences, the 300×250 ad size is the best earner. This holds true for me. This ad has generated the best eCPM since Day 1. Problem is, I primarily use the 468×60 banner ad especially since I post alot of videos. There hasn’t been much room for the larger ads. Yesterday, I made two posts: What To Do When The Stock Market Is Closed and WordPress Updates to Version 2.0.7. Both used the 300×250 size ads, and they generated very high eCPMs…a record high for my blog, in fact. I’ve also noticed more image banners coming from my Adsense ads, including a consistent appearance for a Sony Blu-Ray DVD Player.

I’ve also been using 2 other forms of advertising. LinkShare.com is my favorite of the 2 since it features legitimate advertisers and decent payouts. I would include my revenue generated from these links, but my reports only show conversions without the commissions at this time. But they have proven to be pretty good with regard to CTR. However, I do figure that more product-specific ads probably bring better conversions. For that, I’ve been using Azoogle Ads since I don’t yet qualify for any other [worthwhile] ad programs based on my traffic. I am optimistic that will change soon; my traffic has increased pretty consistently each month.

And if you’re new to blogging, read about how Nomar over at KingNomar.com is handling his income streams.

Popularity: 3% [?]

BlogRoll

• Milk Was A Bad Choice
• CrackBerry.com
• Stock Trading 101
• For The Love Of Sports
• Project Spurs
• Busted Coverage
• WallStreetFighter

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