If Wayne Rooney wasn’t a footballer, he’d probably be a fisherman. But the only way he wouldn’t be a footballer is if the clones took over. Nike’s latest ad, “The Last Game,” in support of World Cup fever takes on a similar premise to the latest dystopian sci-fi movie. It pits man vs. the “perfect” clone — a soccer player that performs like a machine and is, supposedly, unbeatable. But they’re missing one thing: heart (or, as Nike puts it, the willingness to take risks). It’s sort of like a Gattaca that substitutes soccer for space travel. The best players unite to challenge the clones. We won’t spoil the ending, but lets just say it’s clear is Nike is reminding you that winning players are willing to take risks. Risk makes the game worth watching. Yay risk. All the 2014 World Cup action starts up on Thursday, June 12. BONUS: Six Apps to Fuel Your World Cup Fever Apps to Follow the World Cup ESPN FC Soccer & World Cup ESPN’s app for the World Cup featues in-depth analysis and commentary from their team of experts. Customize the experience by choosing your favorite teams to follow and set detailed alerts for everything from in-game substitutions to sore updates to team stats. Users in the U.S. can also see exclusive video highlights from the games. The free app is available for iOS and Android. Image: ESPN FIFA ’14 Fans of EA’s FIFA series for Xbox and PlayStation will appreciate the company’s latest World Cup iOS offering. In FIFA ’14 players can compete in their own World Cup brackets and customize their team’s lineup to compete with their ideal fantasy team. Those who want to make it more competitive can challenge friends and other online player’s in the game’s multiplayer mode. The free app is available for iOS. Image: Electronic Arts FIFA Official FIFA Official provides comprehensive profiles of each team, player and coach detailing the past national and World Cup history of each organization. The app has a daily live blog that provides a constantly-refreshed stream of updates from the matches and exclusive photos and videos from the tournament. Super fans can also play games, vote on each game’s “Man of the Match” and sign up for a shot at winning kick-off balls used during the actual games. The free app is available for iOS and Android. Image: FIFA Onefootball Brasil Choose your favorite teams and get up to the minute updates from both on and off the field. Listen to live commentary from matches and chat with your fellow fans when you connect the app to your Facebook account. The app also has in-depth pre and post-game videos of press conference, interviews and analysis. The free app is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Image: Motain GmbH Travel Portuguese Futebol Edition For those actually traveling to Brazil to watch the games, Travel Portuguese Futebol Edition from Rosetta Stone will give you a crash-course in essential Portuguese to help you […]
Penny Arcade, a popular gaming web comic, is asking its fans to fund its advertising revenue for an entire year so it can remove ads from its website. The creators of Penny Arcade launched a Kickstarter Tuesday morning asking for at least $250,000 to remove advertisements from their site for the 2013 calendar year. The comic was started 14 years ago by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, better known as their alter-egos Gabe and Tycho. Since then, it has spawned two annual conventions that attract 70,000 gamers each, a charity that has raised millions to improve the lives of children in hospitals, and a series of video games. The Kickstarter goal represents just the amount of revenue Penny Arcade would lose by eliminating advertisements. Krahulik says not worrying about pageviews — which are around 70 million per month — or ad revenue would free up the staff of Penny Arcade, 14 in total, to work on other projects. “We have two ad sales people, but they also work on PAX [the convention] and developing things like the new Penny Arcade video game. If they didn’t have to sell ads they would just have more time to devote to our creative projects. This seems like a good thing to us,” Krahulik told Mashable. Krahulik hinted on Twitter that many of those other projects would be new content for fans to supplement the comic, which publishes three times a week. He and Holkins have worked on projects for game companies to boost their advertising revenue, and he hopes he can devote more time for making things for Penny Arcade’s large fanbase. to everyone telling me we are crazy…I agree. — cwgabriel (@cwgabriel) July 10, 2012 Removing advertisements would also remove any allegations of bias from games Penny Arcade promotes, and also prevent sticky situations from when the comic pans a game the site is currently running ads for. “No company likes to pay for an ad and then see us skewer their game the next day. It’s nothing we can’t handle but if we could avoid it all together that would be cool,” Krahulik said. While the comparisons have been made to member-supported media like NPR, but the situation is different because Krahulik will still try to make a profit off its other ventures and merchandise sales. If the Kickstarter doesn’t reach its goal, Krahulik says they will not pursue any other form of donations, such as a pay wall, and will continue business as normal. Do you think web comics could support themselves without advertising? What do you think this experiment means for online comics, or other media? Let us know in the comments. window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/10/penny-arcade-no-ads/
eyetracking-cropped Top Banner Ad Take a look at the next four slides. Which ad do you think will receive the most eyeballs? Right Above Fold Left Above Fold Right Below Fold Industry Average for Different Placements If you want eyeballs — and who doesn’t — the best ad placement is on the left side above the fold. The worst is below the fold. Ads Without Faces Now let’s take a look at side ads — seen by 84% of people on the left and 74% of people on the right. Do you notice the two side ads without faces? How Your Eyes See Ads Without Faces Ads With Faces What about the two side ads with Faces? How Your Eyes See Ads With Faces Industry Averages The most successful ads, noticed by a full 100% of people, have faces. In order to make the most of your ad dollars, include people in your ad campaigns. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/06/eye-tracking-online-ads/
Got a question for Karnjanaprakorn? Use the chat feature above to get it answered live! Karnjanaprakorn is the CEO and co-founder of Skillshare, a community marketplace for classes. Skillshare is a community of teachers and students driven by a passion to share real-word skills through collaborative learning. Previously, Karnjanaprakorn led the product team at HotPotato, which was acquired by Facebook, and developed products and services that organized the creative world at Behance. He is also a venture advisor for Collaborative Fund, a 2012 TED Fellow and was listed as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2012 by Fast Company. Karnjanaprakorn is a graduate of the University of Virginia and VCU Brandcenter. He currently lives in the East Village, New York City. #StartupLab is a free virtual mentorship program created by The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of over 500 of America’s most successful young entrepreneurs who have, collectively, generated tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. #StartupLab offers millions of entrepreneurs, small business owners and startup founders the tactical advice they need to launch and grow new businesses via live, interactive video chats, educational content and mentorship opportunities — right on Facebook. Scott Gerber Scott Gerber is a serial entrepreneur, author (Never Get a ‘Real’ Job), TV commentator and founder of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneur…More Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/13/live-chat-skillshare/
Verizon Wireless just passed 3 million fans on Facebook, beating out competitors like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile to that milestone. To celebrate, Verizon has released a special video thanking its fans that features a Rube Goldberg machine. For those who don’t know, a Rube Goldberg machine is one that uses an unnecessarily complicated series of steps to accomplish a very simple task. In this particular video, the end goal is to switch on a tablet that displays a thank you message to the company’s fans. In recent months, we’ve seen several brands come up with clever ways to celebrate reaching Facebook fan milestones. Bonobos released a video parody of The Golden Girls when it reached 100,000 fans on Facebook and The Walking Dead put out an awesome poster when it reached 100,000 fans. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/13/verizon-facebook-fans-video/
A lighthearted texting conversation comes to a grim end in Honda’s PSA for Distracted Driving Month. The ad dispenses with the typical scare tactics associated with such advertising but delivers an equally sobering message via sound effects. Honda is also launching “#thumbsup,” a Twitter hashtag campaign, to get the message out to the target millennial audience. Honda launched the campaign, which also includes two Spanish-language ads, to support the National Safety Council’s designation of April as Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month effort, which features a carload of teens perishing in a texting-and-driving accident, is now up to 1.7 million views on YouTube. YouTube’s Most-Shared Ads of March 1. Wren Clothing: First Kiss Shares: 1.44 million The viral video that spawned a thousand sequels racked up nearly 2.5 million views on YouTube in the first 24 hours. It became even more buzzworthy when it was revealed to be a viral marketing stunt featuring actors and models — people experienced in the art of kissing strangers and making it look good. Video: YouTube, Tatia PIlieva 2. Save The Children: Most Shocking Second a Day Shares: 866, 365 This unforgettable video by the UK arm of Save The Children gives the “one second in a day” video trope a terrifying twist. It depicts a young British girl whose life transforms from family gatherings and innocent playtime to a harrowing struggle to survive. The message of the video: “Just because it isn’t happening here, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.” Video: YouTube, SaveTheChildrenUK 3. CoorDown: Dear Future Mom Shares: 718,900 CoorDown, an Italian advocacy group for children with Down syndrome, released this touching video in honor of World Down Syndrome Day, in which 15 children comfort a mom-to-be who learns her child will have Down syndrome. Video: YouTube, CoorDown 4. Pepsi Max With Jeff Gordon: Test Drive 2 Shares: 423,204 When a reporter questioned the veracity of Pepsi’s original test drive stunt, the brand — and NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon — decided to put him in his place. Video: YouTube, Pepsi 5. Samsung: Galaxy S5 Official Hands-on Shares: 384,551 Samsung fans were clearly raring for a first look at the new Galaxy S5, as evidenced by the 3.1 million YouTube views this hands-on demo received… Video: YouTube, Samsung Mobile 6. Samsung: Galaxy S5 Official Introduction Shares: 342,962 …not to mention the 23 million views racked up by the official product introduction. Video: YouTube, Samsung Mobile 7. Failte Ireland: St. Patrick’s Day 2014 — #IrelandInspires Shares: 224,495 There’s more to Ireland than St. Patrick’s Day. That’s the message behind “Ireland Inspires,” a tourism video created by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, which showcases the nation’s countryside, history and industry, set to an Irish folk artist’s cover of “Higher Love.” Video: YouTube, FailteIrelandTV 8. Chanel: Coco Mademoiselle — She’s Not There Shares: 214,089 This video for Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance stars Keira Knightley as an elusive, fashionable woman who turns […]
Samsung and Apple have been going head-to-head with claims on the Galaxy SIII and the iPhone 5, respectively. But until now, neither has been able to answer one question: Will it blend? In this stress test by Blendtec, it appears that Samsung has an edge. The Galaxy SIII holds out longer than the iPhone 5 — something to consider if you plan to put either in a Blendtec blender. In the end, though, both end up as a pile of dust. Perhaps the only question about this video is, what took Blendtec so long? Well, it just so happens that Blendtec PR manager Tim Provost and company founder Tom Dickson were in Australia when the iPhone 5 hit. Though you can buy an iPhone 5 Down Under (Woz did), the two waited until they got back to the U.S. to put the iPhone 5 through the company’s rigorous stress test. For the uninitiated, Blendtec has gotten more than 200 million views on YouTube for its various “Will it blend?” video challenges. Blending the iPhone seems to be a favorite, though. The brand’s most-viewed video is a “Will it blend?” with the original iPhone in 2007. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/16/iphone-5-will-it-blend/
Image: Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg Diet Coke’s new ad campaign, which features the tagline “you’re on,” is drawing criticism for appearing to reference drugs. But the company dismisses such talk. “Diet Coke in no way endorses or supports the use of any illegal substance,” a statement from the company reads. Instead, “you’re on” is meant to remind young achievers that “Diet Coke is there to support them in the moments when they are at their best,” according to the statement. “Every single day, young people around the world experience ‘You’re On’ moments big and small. It could be a job interview or a national TV interview, a first date or a final exam, a presentation to your boss or a performance in front of thousands.” A TV ad in the campaign, which features Taylor Swift, underscored that theme. The ad features a montage of moments, such as a best man’s wedding toast, in which young people assuage their performance anxiety with a sip of Diet Coke. The ad culminates with Swift, sitting in front of a mirror, being told it’s time to perform. The cola giant launched the campaign, created by Droga5, in early February at the launch of the Sochi Winter Olympics. Droga5 is know as a somewhat edgy agency; some of its past projects include “Hot Malms,” a fake porn site for IKEA beds, and a 2006 Mark Ecko campaign that was designed to trick fans into believing someone tagged Air Force One with graffiti. After the launch, several people alleged that the agency and the brand might be offering a subliminal cocaine pun. Stark outdoor ads appear to highlight such a possibility. Is it just me or does this ad for Diet #Coke do a better job at marketing #cocaine by reading as “You’re on coke”… pic.twitter.com/azk1fKsAaF — NewYork TaxiCab (@aNYTaxiCab) February 26, 2014 “You’re on coke.” I see what you did there, @DietCoke! pic.twitter.com/P3QsWOkLEg — John McDermott (@mcdermott) February 24, 2014 Gothamist and Adweek both amplified such sentiments, which had been scarce, at least on social media. Diet Coke sales fell 3% by volume in 2012, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest. Across the board, sales of diet sodas are down as consumers grow wary of artificial sweeteners like aspartame, which is used in Diet Coke. The concern prompted the brand to launch a campaign last year reassuring consumers about the sweetener’s safety. As sales are falling, the brand faces an environment in which some marketers are trolling consumers and executing elaborate pranks to get attention. YouTube’s Most-Shared Ads of February 1. Budweiser: Puppy Love Shares: 1.16 millionBudweiser’s tear-jerking puppy ad is still basking in its post-Super Bowl glow with more than 1 million shares. Video: YouTube, budweiser 2. Learn for Life: Set Yourself Free Shares: 540,887The most no-holds-barred “stay in school” ad you’ll ever see comes from Australia (where they apparently use their pristine and beautiful beaches as explosive testing sites). Video: YouTube, henryandaaron 3. SOS Mayday: Would You Give Your Jacket To Johannes Shares: 456,769A campaign […]
While pursuing an MBA at MIT in 2010, Tim Fu tore his ACL, an incident that led to surgery and six months of physical therapy. “It was a really tough process, especially at home, without the coaching of a physical therapist,” Fu recalled to Mashable. From his frustration, the idea for a business was born. Home Team Therapy, which launched in private beta this week, is using online video and video games to help physical therapists guide patients through their exercises at home. “The videos are detailed, but have a conversational tone,” Fu explains. “Our Kinect application will actually track patients doing their exercises and will use subtle clues to guide patients in the right direction — think Dance Central for physical therapy.” The Kinect application is being developed for Windows, so all users will need is a PC and a Kinect sensor, the latter of which Home Team will provide. The Home Team platform also allows patients to track progress and communicate with therapists between appointments, Fu says. You can see the program in action in the promotional video below: Fu says he wants therapists and doctors to be able to use Home Team’s tools for free. Patients can opt into the tools for a monthly subscription of about $20 — costs a physical therapist could presumably add on to his or her own standard fee. Fu’s two co-founders are Dr. Anil Ranawat, an orthopedic surgeon, and Dr. Ben Gelfand, a physical therapist, both of whom he worked with when he tore his ACL. The Boston-based startup employs a three-person team of developers and designers and is entirely self-funded. Its product was showcased at SXSW’s Interactive Accelerator in Austin this year and plans to launch its services publicly this summer. Image via Yellow Dog Productions/Getty Images. Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/03/11/home-team-therapy/
Irrational Games, the developer behind the ‘BioShock’ franchise, has announced the company will shut down.Image: Irrational Games In an abrupt announcement, Irrational Games has decided to permanently close after 17 years. The video-game studio, whose most-popular gaming franchise is first-person shooter BioShock, revealed the news in a letter on the company’s website. “I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it,” Ken Levine, co-founder of the Boston studio, wrote Tuesday. “I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There’s no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition.” Irrational Games’ final project before shuttering will be Burial at Sea Episode 2, the final BioShock Infinite DLC (downloadable content) update that comes out on March 25. Tuesday’s announcement shocked many gamers, as Levine’s letter offered a vague explanation for why Irrational Games will shut down. “Irrational Games” quickly became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Sad to hear that Irrational Games is shutting down. Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite were monumental games that will live with us forever. — Zack Scott (@ZackScott) February 18, 2014 More people are upset about Flappy Bird being taken down than Irrational Games closing or Marvelous going bankrupt. I hate today’s industry — Pinhead Larry (@SgtMettool) February 18, 2014 We’re sorry to hear about the winding down of Irrational Games & send our best to our friends & colleagues. We’re all big fans. Sad news. — Volition (@DSVolition) February 18, 2014 Here is Levine’s full letter: When Jon Chey, Rob Fermier and I founded Irrational Games seventeen years ago, our mission was to make visually unique worlds and populate them with singular characters. We built Rapture and Columbia, the Von Braun and The Rickenbacker, the Freedom Fortress and some of the nastiest basements a SWAT team ever set foot into. We created Booker and Elizabeth, the Big Daddy and the Little Sister, MidWives and ManBot. In that time, Irrational has grown larger and more successful than we could have conceived when we began our three-person studio in a living room in Cambridge, MA. It’s been the defining project of my professional life. Now Irrational Games is about to roll out the last DLC for BioShock Infinite and people are understandably asking: What’s next? Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I’ve ever had. While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to […]
