This ad campaign brought to you by The Walrus magazine reminds all of us that Canada truly possesses a diamond in the rough internationally when it comes to current affairs and cultural criticism.
Plus, let’s be real. They really hit it out of the park with their cover piece on Calgary’s new brand. The layout kills. And I have to say, I’ve never seen another feature on this city that manages to capture the way it actually feels to live here.
They’ve got it all: the rabbits, the quite average roadways, the sprawl, the concrete inclines, the angular towers. As you flip through the pages it feels quite like traversing this particular urban space. The images aren’t too dramatic, because hell Calgary sure isn’t.
The articles within the pages are always on point and a deep as the Marianas Trench, but for some reason there’s always one thing about the cover itself that causes me to pass it by. It could be my personal taste, or it could be that I haven’t given the issues a fair shot, but this one really nailed it.
That’s why it was so cool to see this hilarious and rather appropriate ad show up on the C-Train line at the same time that this particular story about the growth of a Western conservative beast is floating around in the Canadian (and Calgarian) consciousness.
And while I’m pretty sure that’s Helvetica on the simple black and white ad, the font they use for the headings themselves is a pretty classy looking serif, you must admit.
I always picture sleek black vehicles pulling into cozy Rosedale mansions where a well tailored individual relaxes in front of a fire flipping through the latest literary embellishments in the pages.
The typography fits.
But yea, please stay as far away as you can from this mag if you just don’t get it. Let’s not waste anybody’s time.
power, faster.
it’s an orange eve no doubt.
As the outdoor C-Train platform withstands a brutal snowfall, Northeast kids set to work on an all too overlooked form of graffiti: Snow Graf.
Windshields, street-facing condos and ground-level offices beware.
I wish this was the view from my window, so I would subconsciously awake at the right time every day.
I admit I am filled with an intense bout of anticipation, since I can’t wait for the next phase of this ad campaign to be rolled out. I am also a bit afraid that the agency’s creativity may have peaked with the initial shock and awe step. If this turns into some lame cellphone pitch or a stupid bank commercial, I am going to be so pissed.
For now my curiosity has been piqued, and I await the hard sell.
Anyone in on this?
So McDonald’s has recently decided to get into the high end coffee game, sort of. It’s not really specialty coffee, it’s more like textured regular coffee.
Now you may recall that for the months on end Ronald’s corporate crew has been offering a free muffin with any small coffee. It was a great deal they didn’t put a lot of effort into promoting. But their muffins blow those of Tim Hortons out of the water, and their coffee is actually decent.
It was easy to figure out that they’d raise the price at some point. I just never expected they would ADVERTISE that they’d raised the cost of the muffin.
But as the front counter girl told me, the purpose of the signage is to inform customers that the price went up.
Yes, that’s what she said.
I guess that’s one way to make your wares seem more appealing. And I’m curious how many people will actually notice the brazen McDonald’s marketing.
“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL…
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”
“BETTER TO DESTROY THAN CREATE WHAT IS MEANINGLESS”
Fits the bill:
LOCALLY MADE
HAND CRAFTED
SMALL BATCHES
OF HEAVEN
Just remembering when the local-minded Saturday collection of house aficionados took in the sounds of Wax Romeo playing in front of Bow River for the Bass Bus festivities is all.
The whiteboards of astrophysicists are filled with illegible equations, ruminations on quasars and dark energy.
But if you create and extend concrete pipes for a living, chances are your professional discourse will probably head in a different direction.
On order today: 6 1/8 in. nipples.
And for those who are wondering, this is what a quasar looks like in the mind of a talented artist…
“…only white & taller” — Hayes Carll
I guess Texas country music beer koozies sometimes end up trampled on the ground. Is this where they belong?
That just sounds so cool. The friendly reminder to would-be criminals is a poignant use of language that really should be read out in the booming voice of a slick cop on a shoot-em-up ’90s drug heist movie.
Instead, the dramatic sign is affixed to a pole by a lowly Light Rapid Transit train station.
But it’s a bit humorous because as cool and effective as the static message sounds, it’s probably not going to solve the underlying problem.
