Easy reading.
Kurt Beren Geiger on advertising, politics and my life in general.

We all know about virals. Those [purportedly] funny little films that spread across the Internet like germs spread in a 747. In e-mails, in chat and P2P programs and on web-forums, Internet junkies are doing the media agency’s dirty work for ‘em..
Virals are [relatively] cheap to produce and a good way of reaching the “web-savvy” Internet-generation. It’s not that virals aren’t commercials, they’re just commercials shown on another medium. The idea is that virals are supposed to get the virtual grapevine talking. And the louder the grapevine talks, the bigger the ROI. Which makes me suspicious of the recent Ford and VW virals.
Ford released a viral to support it’s Sportka, the Ford Ka’s “evil twin”. It was harmless enough. The Ford Sportka wacked the proverbial shit out of a pigeon that was about to desecrate it’s shiny new paint job. But when the same Sportka decapitated a cat, all hell broke loose. In a press release, Ford declared that this tasteless piece of work must have emerged from “the bowels of the agency” – and that they we’re nothing more than helpless victims. Now, I’ve no idea if agitated crowds of animal rights activists actually did picket Ford headquarters in Dearborn, but if they did, I imagine Ford wouldn’t have complained much. I mean, the grapevine wasn’t just talking, it was screaming out loud.
Can a viral get a better response than that?
Now the latest case in point is Volkswagen. Their little Polo has gone under the tagline “Small but tough” for the last couple of years. The tough little Polo has protected policemen in a shoot-out and actually stopped a runaway steamroller. Cute. But not much to get the grapevine fermenting. And then presto, here comes another “renegade” viral. The little Polo is so tough that when a middle-eastern terrorist is about to blow himself up in a car bomb outside a sidewalk café, the explosion is contained inside the car. And the grapevine is booming. Now VW’s going through the motions and everyone who’s anyone knows how tough the little Polo really is.
Do I detect a trend or am I just coming down with a nasty case of the flu?

Case in point 1: Ford Sportka
ford.sportka.pigeon.mpg
ford.sportka.cat.mpg
Case in point 2: VW Polo
vw.polo.police.pdf
vw.polo.steamroller.mov
vw.polo.bomb.mov

Life’s been rough the last few days.
And that’s ‘cause I had a death in the family. Yeah, you read it right. A death.
My good friend and long-time companion Toshiba HDD2182 F let out a few squeals and then just packed it in. Along with my entire Youniverse.
Now, I’ve never experienced a HD crash before, so of course I had no idea how it felt. And that’s why I wasn’t at all prepared for the cold, hard reality it revealed. I’ve got litterally hundreds of burned CD’s at home filled with more or less pirated entertainment materials. But not a single one of ‘em contained the stuff I really use - or need.
So, right now I’m in the process of rebooting and reinstalling my life. And if you don’t read this it’s because your e-mail address was a victim of my lack of foresight.
Oh well, shit happens…