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At one point in the not too distant past, the Washington, D.C. Fire/EMS department would update its Twitter account with information on emergency situations that affected D.C. residents. But, their Twitter feed slowed down to a trickle. D.C. city government made claims that this was associated with demands from a federal agency and security concerns (but, to be honest it’s not too clear - D.C. local government is odd…).

Presumably operating under the belief that information on developing emergencies is a social good for D.C. residents, the D.C. Fire Fighters Association is posting this information at @IAFF36.

What do you think? Is this information that citizens need to know quickly or should other concerns (whatever they may be) trump this informational desire?

Image and original story via Washington Times.

After a what felt like an eternity away from Twitter (or three weeks in real time), Chad Ochocinco, formerly Chad Johnson, has returned.

Mostly known as a wide receiver who plays for the New England Patriots and a former Cincinnati Bengal, Ochocinco has long been one of the most consistent and entertaining celebrities on Twitter. He has never been known to hide his opinions online but in late-September he suddenly disappeared.

His prowess with social media and ability to connect with his fans directly should help Ochocinco in his post-football career and make him known to football fans and non-football fans alike.

And, for some reason, I find it much more comfortable to live in a world where Ochocinco is tweeting.

Enjoy yourself @Ochocinco.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a love/hate relationship with QR codes. I hate QR codes that are not properly implemented (like on the side of a bus), but I LOVE novelty QR code implementation.

Skanz, a QR Media Group LLC company, allows individuals to create a personalized website that is linked to a wearable QR code, recently advertised their product by creating a 10,000 ft² QR code.

Check out the video above to see how they made the giant QR code and to watch somebody jump out of an airplane with only a bit of fabric preventing a certain death.

Although I still have yet to figure out if QR codes have a viable future, I do like me some stunt advertising.

What are your thoughts on the use of QR codes in advertising?

via Creative Guerilla Marketing

Fun fact: You can see the low point of Ben Affleck’s career at the 1:37 mark in the video above.

Those of you who did not listen to music in the early-2000s may not be aware that Jennifer Lopez is “from the block.” 

Nearly ten years after the release of her hit single “Jenny from the Block,” Jennifer Lopez is still earning a fair amount of money from her childhood in the Bronx with two commercials - one for Kohl’s and one for Fiat - that reference her being “from the block”.

I’m all for being proud of your childhood (personal note: I still wear hats and jerseys for Cincinnati teams that typically do not winning athletic contests), but this seems a bit disingenuous as at this point Lopez could most likely buy the block.

Here are the commercials:

Kohl’s:

Fiat 500 (oddly enough, Lopez is driving under the 6 instead of riding it):

What do you think? Is this a cheap move or just good branding? Lopez certainly has been able to create a lucrative second act with her involvement with American Idol.

During my Junior year of college, Facebook was still in the process of rolling out from school to school. Initially I fought the urge to join but with the help of some liquid courage and the prodding of my roommate, I finally bit the bullet and never looked back.

My initial fear was less about the effect Facebook would have on my grades and more an aversion to having my friends make a permanent record of my life in college. In retrospect, these fears were reasonable.

Even if my fears were grounded in protecting my GPA, a recent study in Computers in Human Behavior demonstrates that Facebook has no statistically important consequence upon the grades of students who use the service frequently. In fact, their study showed that users who rely on Facebook for largely informational practices (commonly known as Facebook stalking) demonstrate higher GPAs.

Although this is an isolated study the subject requires greater investigation, I find it interesting that more and more sources are saying that minor distractions like social networking can have a positive impact upon productivity.

Story via Mashable; Image via Jeremy Roux

Scandinavian Airlines has had the most punctual flights in Europe for two years running and to celebrate this fact they have created an app of time-killing games to entertain the customers of their competition.

The games themselves are rather simplistic and are likely to not entertain people who are waiting for their flight, but you have to do a slow clap for a company that rubs their victory in the face of the competition in such a creative way.

But, let’s face it, this could backfire horribly for Scandinavian Airlines if their performance slips and their customers have to start using this app.

I’m a sucker for commercials that combine animation with soft songs. Don’t judge me.

Check out the Twinings commercial above. Perhaps you will want to pour yourself a cup of tea first.

Does this commercial make me want to drink a cup of tea? Yes. Does it make me even more afraid of being on a boat? Most definitely.

via Ads of the World.

Much like the cake in Portal, the image you see above is a lie.

A short while ago, I received an email from the Netflix team informing me that Solomon has given the company a reprieve and that the streaming and DVD services would not be split into separately branded companies.

Although I initially thought that splitting the company in two would help stem the tide of vitriol, I was very, very wrong. 

To answer yet another wave of anger/mocking online, Netflix has pulled the plug on the yet to be released Qwikster and is instead keeping both of its services under one roof with the same pricing changes that started this whole mess.

I wonder if this will affect the announced addition of video game rentals. As a nerd who likes to dabble, this would have been a good way to get me into the delivery service that I have abandoned.

As a suggestion to Netflix: make sure you get the rights to exclusively air the new season of Arrested Development. If you are partially responsible for bringing back Arrested Development, you will get at least a year of not having to make wildly public reactionary decisions. I promise.

This commercial for Creepy Animation Night from Ogilvy possibly represents all of my irrational fears in less than 50 seconds.

I sincerely hope that your weekend is the exact opposite of what happens in the video above.

via Ads of the World

My love/hate relationship with QR codes continues. There are certain times that I think that QR codes are horribly implemented (Why would you put a QR code on a bus ad?! There is no way for me to scan the code as it passes me at 35 mph!) and then there are times where I enjoy QR codes. Like in the picture above.

Phillips & Co. has plans in place to put QR codes on building roofs so they are visible on Google Maps. Google Maps users who zoom in on their buildings will then be able to scan the QR code and be directed to where Phillips & Co. chooses.

This is a very clever way to harness the tools of QR codes and Google Maps. But, I must ask if it is worth the long wait for the Google Maps image to replace the current one and where the QR code will point. Theoretically the code would have to be to a site that will still be usable a year or so after it is placed on the roof as the company waits for the image to be seen by Google Maps users. Something like the company URL would likely be redundant as Google Places would provide users with that information and if you are looking at a building for a company, you probably know how to get to their website.

That being said, I applaud the creativity and am interested in seeing where this is going.

Via Creative Guerilla Marketing

Twitter Co-founder Jack Dorsey held a press conference with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to announce his intentions to make New York a city with a booming technology industry.

Although New York is the home of many of the world’s biggest companies, it has yet to establish as strong of a startup technology culture as many West Coast cities. 

Dorsey’s company, Twitter, currently has 30 to 40 employees in New York but has the capability to increase its New York staff to 100 people in the coming years.

There are disadvantages for startups in New York. Not the least of them being the high cost of office space and other essential business expenses. Many growing technology companies in less expensive areas are able to save necessary funds by avoiding such high initial costs. 

That being said, New York has no shortage of money and the right combination of financial backing and creativity could help create just the culture that Dorsey aims to establish. And, I believe that a certain company named Google has been able to make it work in NYC.

Image and story via TechCrunch

Sony’s recent long form ad ‘Long Live Play’ stars live action versions of many of the company’s well known characters interacting in a tavern and recounting their moments of glory.

For a life-long video game player like myself, this ad creates both a sense of nostalgia and makes me want to buy the product that they are selling at the end.

My only complaint is that they didn’t spend the extra money to cast Kurt Russell as Iroquois Snake.

After the success of the Lion King re-release in 3 dimensions, Disney has plans to bring more of its catalog back to life in 3D.

The company’s upcoming 3D plans include: The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. It remains to be seen if mixing nostalgia with 3D glasses is a consistent approach for box office success, but Disney is certainly hoping the success of the Lion King 3D will continue with its other movies.

I for one vote for a 3D re-release of Aladdin.

Story via Media Decoder; Image via Stuff We Like