Ads with No Obvious Market

Why is this ad on television? Who are they talking to and what kind of reaction are they hoping for? Why does CSX need us to know who they are? Color me confused.

From kitchen chat

Rules for Milk

1. It must be very cold.
2. It should be drunk with an accompaniment.
3. Cookies are preferable.
4. Dunkable cookies are best.
5. More than one glass every few days is excessive.

Related article: Some Like It Raw


From after-work walk chat

Strong Movie Title "Sequence"

Saw Hanna yesterday. Good movie. Lots of action. Thumping soundtrack. Even with all of that, the opening title sequence has stuck most. A dramatic & gory scene opened the movie and was finally punctuated with the title of the movie, filling the screen, blood red. Powerful.

Related websites:

• The Movie Title Stills Collection
• The Art of the Title Sequence

From after-movie chat

Wooden Japanese Xylophone

From idle chit-chat

Getting Caught in the Rain

I walk to and from work everyday, rain or shine. I also love getting caught in the rain without an umbrella. As long as I am on my home.

From afterwork chit-chat

Star Gazing

I love living in New York City. But I do miss the stars. While in Palm Springs this week I can not stop staring at the night sky.

There's Orion's Belt. And the big dipper. And Polaris. The rest I have no clue but honestly it doesn't matter as long as they are shining brightly.

Related reading: "The Dark Side: Making war against light pollution" by David Owen (Seriously. Read this article. It is awesome.)

From nightly conversation

Meaning in Common Things

Storytelling. An old art form. And no matter how good or bad the story, it will connect you more deeply to the subject, person, a place or a thing, then without it. A good narrative can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Today people are very interested in the stories behind the goods they purchase. Brands obsess over showing the background of their product to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

How was it made? Who made it? Where has it been before? All questions these product stories try to answer.

Rob Walker (speaking in the video above) and his experiment Joshua Glenn "Significant Objects" explores the shifting value of an object imbued with a backstory. 'Worthless' items become treasures. Throw away items become collectibles.

But what does this mean in the market? And what does it mean to us as consumers? Are we suckers? Or are we conscientious purchasers?

From a chit-chat session