TheSpunker - by Ben Popken. Published by Gattaca, Inc.

2 Legit 2 Quit

R eproduced here in it's entirety, Radar Magazine's The Wire did a real nice followup article to our Friendster Hookers story:

HOOKSTER

The scamps over at TheSpunker.com seem to have stumbled upon the blooming digital age of prostitution. What if Friendster, having been abandoned by the digitally hip and handed over to the headgear set, has become the breeding ground for the new wave of hookers? Could these whores really be that smart? Consider one of the racier messages editor Ben Popken has posted:

      “Morgan” writes: Hi. How are you [note: anonymous greeting, probably mass e-mail] today?… I have talked to some interesting people through this site. But I haven’t met anyone yet that I click enough with to slip between the sheets with.”

      “jen” writes: What brings you to the world of personals [note: this is not a personal, so probably a mass e-mail]? To be honest, I liked your ad [again, not an ad] and I thought your pic was cute and [note: run-on sentence — definite whoresign] according to the site we live pretty close by each other. We should meet up for coffee [read: oral] or something [read: watersports], it’d give us a chance to really get to know each other [read: and five or six other freaks simultaneously].

      “kota” writes: i [little = low self esteem = prostitute] just made my friendster account today. i was browsin around and I ran into your profile. i’m lookin for a romance or friendship or maybe even just a fling [when she should be looking for a remedial grammar class].

Keep in mind, there’s a fine line between girls who are trying to promote their webcam sites and girls who want to have sex for money. But note that each of these girls suggests a meet up. And that’s nothing short of revolutionary. While it’s true that Friendster officially stated a policy on its blog on June 22 that it would ban anyone who solicited sex for money, some do slip through the cracks, at least for a little while, begging the question: Who needs Craigslist when Friendster seems to be Friendster-with-benefits? (TG)"

UPDATE: New additions to online gallery of solicitations.

Heineken Poster Speaks Cubic Volumes

Found at Smith/Bergen on the F line.
Version 1: It's so clearly about the beer, the bottle was stolen from the poster...
Version 2: A clever demonstration, the ad enacts just how clear the the new Heineken clear label is!  You actually see through the poster to the wall behind!...

UPDATE: Here's the original poster. It's from a phonebooth and not the subway but they're the same poster damn thing. Although there is a nice contextual dovetail about this second one being placed inside a protective phonebooth window.

Ecards Rock Hard

Here's a feisty roundup of recent indie music e-cards. All contain hot new electronically infused discopunk. As this tech gets cheaper and easier to use, tasty online media from the underground becomes the norm. Utopia arises. The sun grins, day and night.
Mommy and Daddy & bonus video.
My Robot Friend - a rediculous ode to Kenny G done in the "All Your Base are Belong to Us" vein.
Annie (stick around for the second track, it rocks)
Princess Superstar.

David Olgivy Ghost Appears at Gimcrack Ad Party

So you know that David Oglivy from beyond-the-grave viral promoting that Advertising Week party? I attended last night. Ostensibly a cocktail mixer, it was more Tab and bottom-shelf vodka. I waited in a ridiculous line obviously just set up so  there will be a cool-looking line. One aspiring model in the line behind me got the low-down on this crazy thing called Craigslist. Inside was a three-drink minimum for the priveledge of using a credit card. Expressive girls danced around poles. A followup Oglivy video (link here) played briefly containing more Big Idea blather, "successful advertising in the future is about entertainment and value," until the Oglivy ghost started rubbing his nipples and dancing to "Staying Alive." That's when the party really got started. Random models around as the debauch was a joint venture between a several parties including One Model Place who told their girls to come get scouted by the ad industry. The models did not stay long.  Perhaps James X. Nova, a self- described digital scientist-artist-photographer-activist I met, will respond to my inquiry and provide evidence for the revel.

UPDATE: Mr. Nova's party photos.

Pet my Typeface

Typoganism is a series of "kinetic typographic experiments" under the premise that "type is a lifeform which lives on the internet, responds to user's stimulus, evolves through time and has intelligence." Or - interactive pretty flash movies about ASCII.

TribalFusion Mocks Fusion Attempts

I had a fantabulous exchange a TribalFusion rep at the with one of their reps at the OMMA (online media, marketing and advertsing) Expo East afterparty. Tribal Fusion is company connecting advertisers and online publishers. Ben: "I started a blog." Tribal: "Yes. I've heard of those." Ben: "It's called...The Spunker!" Tribal: "Great name." (rolls eyes)

Can you guess who's not accessing this blog's inventory?

XBOX360 Site Comes Full-circle

The wait is over. The Countdown is done. The bunnies are gone. The much ballyhooed Origen site for the XBOX 360 is up! Check it out. Actually the bunnies are back and one is called Didier. They squeak and tell me, "Origien is a wonderful magical place where all your wildest dreams come true." There's magic fruit from the tree to eat and crazy technicolor dream sequence. And its still a tease, just one layer peeled back. According to a Microsoft press release, once inside we'll get to play XBOX360 before anyone else. And now they want all your registration info, so you can have the chance to enter a drawing to get...a free trip to play an Xbox... (cue anticlimactic music). Then to get more chances to win, you need to send emails to your friends. After they sign up, you gain another entry. Amway anyone?

Dog Food that Sells itself

Ad/Design Goodness: "Affinity Petcare likes to communicate with its consumers on their own level - even if they are dogs! In this operation, the product was hidden behind the poster and its smell wafted through small holes above the dogs bowl, so passing hounds reacted to the billboard by sniffing at the picture of the dog food." Agency: Leo Burnett, Frankfurt

Le Tigre hungry for Hot Chicks

In a rocking followup (set to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger") to last week's polo flurry, Le Tigre has teamed up with College Humor.com (a website oft-mentioned among internetos as being a great way to reach college kids, although never actually talked about by real college kids) to find Americ's hottest college girl. In response to this move, Adpulp refers to Le Tigre as an "Izod Lacoste wannabe" but moves like these signify angling for a significantly different market position - one that has a sense of humor about itself.

Super Mario Opera

How about them "Lovemarks": A product so awesome and universally acclaimed that over two decades years later people make it into an opera? That's what Jonathan Mann and his Cal Arts troupe  have done with Nintendo's classic Super Mario Brothers in "The Mario Opera" (see trailer here). "MARIO is dragging himself along slowly, feeling the full weight of his existence bearing down on him.  As he's walking along, a group of six SHYGUYS are dancing around him taunting and teasing. "...Mario sings: This is what I've been waiting for/From now on I swear I will/Shoot fireballs and kill/For the Princess/I've never felt more alive/But what am I seeing/Is it the future or the past?" Interview here.  A nice foray into the recent buzzstorm about user-created advertising. Especially so considering that this is a bottom up movement. Nintendo hasn't even ever sent Mr. Mann a congratulatory power flower. !Javascript version of the original game here.