My New Favorite Commercial of All Time

I've never purchased an Old Spice product, and doubt I ever will. Nevertheless, this commercial is hilarious.

It was a hit today in Media & Society, kicking off our unit on advertising. It's so good, we watched it twice ... it's just as funny the second time through...

Here's a couple interesting tidbits about this ad:

• It features former NFL player and actor Isaiah Mustafa (as of Feb. 27, he had 2,229 followers on Twitter)
  
• It was created by the noted Portland ad agency Wieden+Kennedy
• It took 57 takes to film the sweater dropping onto Mustafa as the shower gives way to the boat. (See the TWiT netcast: "The Making of Old Spice's Commercial")
  

Update: The ad has gone viral, with 3.6 million views on YouTube as of Feb. 27. Read all about it in "The Viral Genius of Wieden+Kennedy's New Old Spice Campaign" by Liz Shannon Miller on newteevee.com.

-rp

Check Out New Edition of LBCC's Commuter

This week's edition of the Commuter is now available online. Inside readers will find:

• An interview with LBCC's new president, Greg Hamann
• A feature on Roadrunners basketball player Andrew Carter, and updates on the men's and women's teams
• Study abroad opportunities for students
• An update on a student group's effort to aid Haiti
• A campus debate on President Obama's first year in office
• A column on the "Vagina Monologues"
• Pictures and a story on this past weekend's Mardi Gras dance on campus
• Reviews on coffee shops in Lebanon and Corvallis
• A review on "Bioshock 2"

It hits newsstands on Wednesday morning. Or take a look at the PDF online.

The online Commuter also updates stories, photos, columns and other features during the week.

-rp-

Journal Register CEO Eyes Plunge into Future

This week the Media & Society class at LBCC will examine the newspaper industry, including its glorious history as well as its leading role in strengthening democracy.

We'll also discuss its precipitous decline and the implications for media, which the public counts on to be a watchdog on government and the power elite. We'll see sobering videos on the demise of the Rocky Mountain News and the shift from print to online-only by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

And we'll talk about the vision of new Journal Register Co. CEO John Paton "to transform our newspaper company into a true multi-media company committed to providing the communities we serve with the very best local journalism."

As he notes in an online missive to Journal Register employees:

I think accountability journalism is threatened in this country as newspapers struggle to find their way to a profitable future. And I think that threatens this country because we provide some of the key checks and balances in our communities. What we do is important and what we do is worth saving. And that means we have to change.

Among the changes he is pushing are:

• Making better use of new technology, such as social media
• Equipping every news reporter with a Flip HD video camera
• Shifting the newsroom's orientation to "outside in," emphasizing collaboration with readers and the community at large
• Establishing "Community Journalism Media Labs" that can capitalize on the efforts of news entrepreneurs
• Forming an advisory board to better connect with its audience
• Announcing a new profit-share plan for all employees

If we do this right we will become a company of ideas where all employees and our communities debate what’s best for our future. And preserve our cherished role of providing checks and balances. And because I believe if we do this right we will become a much more vibrant and profitable company with a dynamic future, I want to make sure all employees share in that future.

None of these changes is particularly innovative in isolation. However, taken as a whole they portend a sea change for a company that includes 19 daily newspapers, 324 "multi-platform products" and an audience of almost 14 million people in 10 states from New York to Michigan.

I wish Paton luck and perseverance for the Journal Register Co. They are on the right track. The time is right to make this leap of faith, rather than wallow in the glory of the industry's past.

The old model is broken and change is coming, he notes in a slideshow that references two of our featured experts this term: Clay Shirky and Jeff Jarvis (author of "What Would Google Do?")

Change indeed.

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Update: Troy Record publisher weighs in

-rp-