The best Black Friday deal

This holiday season's hottest item is nothing. The U.K.-based sustainability outfit Do The Green Thing is using creativity to combat conspicuous consumption and thoughtless consumerism. While innovative, this tactic of "selling" items to promote a cause or a non-profit has been done before.

Via GOOD.

adidas and $1 training shoes

Adidas, in response from the idea of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, is going to make trainer shoes that cost about $1 for people around the world who cannot afford to buy shoes.

Via London Telegraph and Brand Channel.

Doubleclick is not going to like this

Now you can "hijack" the ads on any webpage with a plug-in. The DoGooder browser plug-in hides the current ads and displays ads supporting positive social change and green initiatives instead.

Via Osocio.

Advertising and PR Speed Networking Event This Thursday

Advertising and PR Speed Networking Event, Nov. 12

Event: Advertising and public relations students and alumni are encouraged to bring their business cards and elevator speeches to a Speed Networking event hosted by the Department of Advertising.

When: 6 to 8 p.m., Nov. 12, 2009

Where: The West Atrium of the University of Texas West Pickle Research building (formerly the MCC building) at the corner of Mopac (Loop 1) and Braker Lane. A map is available online.

Background: This networking event is intended to foster quick introductions among students, alumni, faculty and friends of the Department of Advertising.

Attendees bring business cards and their "elevator speech." In a timed, organized rotation we'll introduce pairs of people. Each pair has three minutes to "elevator speech" each other. Where mutually appropriate, they exchange business cards. A timer sounds and the cycle repeats itself.

###

Contact:
Gene Kincaid
Department of Advertising Lecturer
AdGrad Founder

Video from Rebecca.

Making Shiner an icon

When the beer is synonymous with the town, the branding has to speak for both. By using Shiner’s own voice, McGarrah Jessee has taken a quaint Texas town’s charm and spun it into a national brand. Don’t miss out on the Shiner brand story, the discussion afterward, and the beer throughout.

Austin AdFed Presents:

Turning an Assignment into a Legacy:
Shiner Brand Case Study by McGarrah Jessee.

Nov 3, 2009 • 6-8p

Scholz’s Biergarten

Click here to buy tickets.

Foreign Public Transportation Ads

This is in response to the American Public Transportation Ads post.

Thank you to Alltop.com

One of my UT advertising friends, Assaf who's now teaching at Cal-State Fullerton, told me that The Ranch is featured on Guy Kawasaki's web headline index site Alltop. Scroll down a little bit and you'll see it. Or do ctrl+F (Firefox) or command+F (Safari) to search for it.

Thanks to Alltop.com for thinking so highly of The Ranch!

Red Bull street marketing

While brilliant on Red Bull's part, I think that this would be more ideal for a NASCAR marketing move as it introduces the northeastern US and urban dwelling crowd to a mostly rural and Southern-based NASCAR product.

Via Bized.

Would this make you take the stairs?

"...in Stockholm’s Odenplan subway station, the staircase has been retrofitted to resemble giant piano keys, which produce real sound, to encourage commuters to climb the stairs rather than ride the escalator. According to this video — which seems to be part of a Volkswagen marketing initiative, though it’s unclear — it’s been a raging success."

Via Freakonomics.

Big Wig Voting for Ausin Ad Fed

It's that time of year again for the Austin Advertising Federation's Big Wig Horror Show (Awards Show). The Ranch bloggers Matt Crump and Jocelyn Lai are nominated in the "Best Up-and-Comer" and "Ad Person of the Year" categories, respectively. In the "Educator of the Year" categories are also several worthy and deserving UT professors.

Go. Make your voice heard. Vote.