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

Grand Central Gets Starbucked

Grand Central Terminal was defaced on December 3rd by Starbucks. For a few hours, a holiday themed ad with a garish 1-800 number where people could call and here a jingle that went with the ad, scarred this historic landmark. By Sunday morning, the several meter high ad was gone, because it had been a projection executed by Neverstop, a guerrilla marketing team hired by W&K, according to Newsday.com. Various historic groups decry the effort, asking if our national treasures are now for rent.  According to the law, however, advertisers only need permission when the ad is permanent. For now, the balance is in the guerrilla's favor, but all it takes is one guy doing an "experiential" for Crest Whitestrips on Mt. Rushmore... Photo: Eric Giberson.

The Periscope Project

The Periscope Project placed a PVC pipe at Leonard and Broadway where, "you [could] peer through the periscope into a glittering reliquary that reflects the glitz, glamour, and material culture of the past and future of our city," according to sponsor Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. In other words, there's a Hummer inside. But how do the proletariat respond? If you missed the peephole (which was slated to stop yesterday), here's a video I shot. A lady (pictured) remarked, "I was like, what is it, what's he looking at, I would've never noticed it otherwise." As I angled for a shot, a passerby ejaculated, "It's a fucking periscope, for chrissakes." The answer to what to get this Christmas for the media buyer who has everything. Art/Marketing, Artketing, or simply the classic, "co-opting." What's really brilliant is how many worlds the artist Lina Bateman is able to successfully co-opt. Thanks to Stieg Retlin for the tip.

Let's Mock Consumerist Banner

Nick Denton's ad for the Consumerist, in case the two of you are exchanging banners. Blogebrity says he's, "taking this "make Consumerist fugly" idea as far as he can. I say Joel Johnson here looks like a gay/jewish/supernatural/private investigator/flasher. I made this comment first on Blogebrity then thought it'd make a nice post. Was that a) self-plagiarizing, b) hacky c) tacky d)inconsequential?

Donnie Deutsch's Fortress of Solitude

According to the impeccably fact-checked Copyranter, this is a photo of Donnie "The Other Don" Deutsch's corporate bathroom. As you can clearly see, there are many toilet paper rolls. Necessary for industrial strength pants shitting and client hemorrhage. Those performance fleeces were easier on the way down...

Pace Circles the Wagons

Pace Media group is folding online advertising industry (read: win a free ipod) mouthpieces AdBUMb, 92.5 and NewMediaReport into one site called "Adotas." Preview the new site, debuting late Jan '06 here. Gotta love the pervasive pictures of Missy Ward and Shawn Collins of CPAempire (the affiliate network owned by  spam king Scott Richter) Affiliate Summit looking like they bought a banner ad for their wedding announcement. According to the mockup, Adotas will feature such scintillating articles as "Podcasting: Fantastic Future or Fizzling Fad?" and "The Lighter Side of Buying Ad Space" and cutting into the meat of the interactive advertising industry with incisive commentary like,  "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium." Pace sales guy Ron Cummings the Second told me that if I act now, I can get 400k impressions for only $20,000, a $47,500 value. Furthermore, he said "Since we are both located in New York let me know what kind of food you like and I can meet you for a lunch meeting." Ron, my favorite food is green spam and eggs. I look forward to looking forward to meeting you for a meeting at lunchtime. UPDATE: Pesach, owner of Pace Media Group, just made a threatening call to get this post removed. He is concerned this post implies Pace is a spammer. If this post is not removed, he will call my boss and get me fired. That's the power of blogs. They enable tongue-in-cheek remarks to anger people who take them too seriously at a rate faster than ever before possible. UPDATE 2: In an email sent to myself, my boss and CPAempire, Pesach declares this post "LIBELOUS and FALSE" and asks, "What do you guys have against us, or against anyone else -- including CPAEMPIRE, AffilaiteSummit and Scott Ricther?" [sic]. You'd think people would show free advertising more gratitude.

The Agency Party

What: drinks + conversation
Who: 100 of our favorite agency folks
Why: because when else are you all going to get together this summer? Winter aside, I attended "The Agency Party" hosted by Mediabistro last night at APT. The invite clearly said no students, full-time advertising professionals only, no networking - which, considering the essential freelance nature of Mediabistro.com, left the fifteen attendees. At first I was excited because I thought Bill Maher was there, but it turned out to be some guy who just looked like Bill from the eyebrows up. Evan Solomon of Bernard Hodes Group g0t rejected by Aimee of Grey. [ Evan: Hello again, it's you, we were talking earlier. Aimee: Yes, that conversation I left because it was boring. Even: That's a shame coming from the pretty girl at the party. Aimee: That's original. (Shakes glass of ice). I'm going to get another drink. (Aimee exits). Me: Ouch! Shut down. Evan: That's all right. ] Aimee's the one in the picture wearing the original ensemble of black pants with cyan top.  Tom Toja of Pajamas Media told me how the UN is trying to control the internet. He learned about it from skimming a blog on his network. [Tom: The US owns the internet. Me: Wouldn't it just be business as usual, after all, the US owns the UN already. Tom: Well, that's something else.] The event could use some livening. Laurel Touby, I suggest making it an open bar and putting a DJ on. The decks looked so forlorn and empty. Advertising, won't you dance with me?

From Flat Tops to Laptops

Dumb. He's going to get hair in his laptop. This campaign blows.

Luxurious Coca-Cola Cooler

On the way to work I spotted this fellow carrying some sort of special edition purple and yellow Coca-Cola lunch sack. One can only surmise he's an industry linchpin of sorts, for, as we all know, purple is the color of royalty. Large size version.

Dewars 12 on Wall Street

Scaffolding wrap down by, where else but, Wall Street.

M&M's Ravage Thanksgiving Day Parade

M&M's: Melt in your mouth, not smash into your face. NYT: "A giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, swinging out of control in sudden bursts of wind, struck a light pole in the heart of Times Square today, injuring two spectators and scaring scores of others in an eerie replay of a 1997 accident that had prompted pledges of safety reforms.  The M&M balloon, a 515-pound plastic contraption filled with 13,335 cubic feet of helium, began to list erratically as it entered Times Square around 11:40 a.m., witnesses said, before it crashed into a lamppost and was punctured. As the balloon collapsed, it pulled off a light fixture, which crashed to the ground amid a small sea of spectators." Video.