Ringing In The New Year – Thumbs Up Taiwan!

NYE 2012 was surprisingly awesome for me since this was my first time going out to celebrate New Year’s (for more details, hit up my other blog here). I sincerely hope the world doesn’t end this year so that I can have another go at it next year!

I loved how characteristics of Taiwanese society and culture is so prominently displayed during large social events such as NYE. People are very polite and courteous to one another, even though we’re all squished together on the streets. Large groups of friends and family gather together for BBQ/cook-out. Though there is trash on the streets, it seems that people at least make an effort to toss all the trash in a distinctive pile. Just some observations I made while I was semi-intoxicated and being distracted by the number of food stalls that have sprung up from nowhere.

My favorite was the motivational messages/new year blessings that appeared on the scrolling text on Taipei 101. I think it’s a pretty great reflection of Taiwanese society and culture:

"Happy 快樂"

"Taiwan 台灣 Like 讚"

I almost pissed my pants when this text scrolled out. This is the most iconic building in Taiwan, and the scrolling text has a “like” and a thumbs up, just like on facebook. Whoever was planning these messages had a sense of humor for sure.

The Mysterious Black Cubes

Those big tickets remind me of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory :]

Clever Elevator Ad for Kagatani Knife

Being uprooted and relocated is never an easy process. In the past month or so, I’ve seen myself being uproot and relocated in a small island across the world. The whole thing can be described as interesting, exhausting, exciting, nerve-wrecking (or wracking), and constant stimulation. I’ve sat down a few times to try and blog what has been going on in my life, but mostly I just become overwhelmed by contradicting emotions.

However, I have made mental bookmarks of all the awesome finds and observations during my move. I’ll be slowly posting them up in the next few weeks!

This clever elevator ad was created by GREY Tokyo, an ad agency in Tokyo, Japan for Kagatani Knife:

(Images via Ads of the World)

I love how visually stimulating the whole concept is. You’re eyes are immediately drawn to this bright red lobster, probably wondering in hell its on the elevator doors. When the doors open and the knife is slowly revealed, everything makes sense. It’s simple and delivers a clear message.

I’m not sure how effective this elevator ad is in terms of prompting people to take action and buy a Kagatani Knife but I love it when companies do things out of the norm. Sometimes advertisements don’t have to prompt action and translate into sales and figures. Sometimes it’s just nice to appreciate a creatively executed advertisement for what it is.

Making Statements With a Chopstick Tree

Chances are you will see a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks on your table when you eat at a Chinese restaurant. A seemingly harmless item and part of the eating-out experience. Plus, it teaches you how to hold and use chopsticks correctly! Not many people give it a second thought as they dig into their General Tso Chicken.

Yet, if you think about how many disposable chopsticks are used on a daily basis and the amount of waste it generates, you might view those seemingly harmless chopsticks a little differently. The amount of waste generated by disposable wooden chopsticks is pretty mind-blowing. According to the China Environmental Protection Foundation, some 25 million trees are required to produce disposable chopsticks a year.

To raise awareness of this problem, the Chinese Environmental Protection Foundation turned to DDB/Ogilvy for suggestions. The group  collected 30,000 pairs of used disposable chopsticks and constructed a 5 meter high tree. After placing it in a busy part of Shanghai, they chopped down this tree to further drive the point home. A sign laid out the consumption statistics and warned: “Our trees are enough to feed us for only another 20 years.” Volunteers handed out reusable chopsticks to passers-by. (via Magical Urbanism)

Image: China Environmental Protection Foundation

There are many other similar campaigns carried out in China (check this site). I thought this project was well executed because it grabs your attention and gets the point across. Most people probably never gave disposable chopsticks much thought and I like to think that these campaigns might give people something think about while the walk away from the exhibit. Disposable utensils are an incredible waste of resources for a very minimal benefit. Making the switch to reusable isn’t hard, it just has to be a conscious decision.

Dentsu: Beautiful Paint Sound Sculptures

Creative agency Dentsu put together a creative and beautiful ad for Canon Pixma called Bringing Colour To Life.  Essentially, they shot a series of paint sculptures, created by sound vibrations.  Paint drops were placed on top of a membrane, which wrapped around a speaker.  When music plays from the speakers, the vibrations cause the paint to jump into the air, creating these amazing shape or ‘sculptures’ for a split second.  High speed camera were used to capture these shots.

Samsung 3D Full HD TV: Swing ad

Created by Leo Burnett, Chile

Being a marketing major and a former ad agency intern, I’m always on the lookout for brilliant ads.  This creative 3D visual for Samsung TV really drives home the point clearly (no pun intended).