Anyone who’s taken a bus (or strolled around downtown) in the past month would be hard-pressed to miss the stately white horse gracing banners for Cavalia, the equine version of Cirque du Soleil that’s recently arrived in Vancouver. The show’s venue, mammoth-sized white tents located near the Olympic Village, are equally noticeable. The billboards caught […]

It’s official: Rebecca Black is more popular than both Justin Bieber and Britney Spears. By iTunes’ standards, that is. According to forbes.com, “Friday,” the 13-year-old’s debut single, “amassed a staggering number of downloads, reportedly topping 2 million” only a week after its release. The fun, fun, fun song gained near-instantaneous notoriety for being, well, really […]

Before I jump into the varied and extremely effective (and affective!) components of the Canucks brand, let’s rewind a few years to the first time I watched an NHL game live: excitement was palpable in the sweat- and hot dog-scented air as fans of the opposing teams (Vancouver and Toronto, my hometown) traded insults and […]

How much would you pay to download a digital album comprised of the above songs? $1.00? $9.99 plus tax? Nothing, perhaps? These were the questions Radiohead asked fans upon releasing their seventh album, In Rainbows, with the following message splashed across their website: pick your own price. As one of the aforementioned fans, I was […]

According to a recent  post on AdFreak, the Doritos “Pug Attack” commercial – along with Bud Light’s “Dogsitter” – triumphed as the best commercial of Superbowl XLV. As can be seen above, “Pug Attack” relies on three key elements to grab viewers’ attention: ridiculous overacting, dramatic music and the undeniable power of Pug Cuteness. The […]

There’s something addictive about Jeopardy!. It lacks the cheesy glitz of Wheel of Fortune and the gimmicky draw-in of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, and yet, I can never help but be amused by the obscure questions – ranging from pop culture to geography – or the gentlemanly, ubiquitous presence of host Alex […]

“That’s so silly,” was my mom’s disparaging comment upon glancing at the following commercial for Electronic Arts’ Dead Space 2. Initially, I agreed with my mom’s assessment. It wasn’t until I read the Dead Space-related post on Victoria Capron’s blog that I reconsidered my opinion from a marketing standpoint. The commercial is undoubtedly silly; the […]

An England-born franchise revamped as an MTV production, “Skins” is, according to the Parents Television Council (PTC), the “most dangerous television show ever made.” You might have heard of it. Or maybe not, considering the show is losing advertising faster than it’s gaining viewers. Skins has more than earned the controversy it’s incited, with its […]

Let me preface the negative statements-to-come by admitting something: I love my Snuggie. This defies logic, considering the product’s poor quality and relative uselessness, but there it is. In an attempt to decode the mystery of the Snuggie Phenomenon, which has captivated more than 20 million people in America alone, I considered their marketing mix: […]

Three heavyweights enter the ring: Kobo, Kindle, Nook. Besides sharing silly – if catchy – monikers, these competitors are also the three foremost e-readers on the market. Each is backed by a big-name bookstore hoping to capitalize on current trends toward easy accessibility and technological advancements. Let’s meet the contenders: Kobo (an anagram of ‘book’) […]