The End

Source: Matt Baron, Cargo Collective

Time to say goodbye.

This blog has formed part of an important personal journey for me over the last couple of years. I’ve treated The Wheat and the Chaff as a repository for interesting stuff from culture to collect and share amongst a handful of friends – the only people I ever expected to read it other than myself. For years that has been pretty much been the case. This week changed that and made me personally aware for the first time just how quickly things can escalate and spread nowadays.

A post from last year, credited to, but reproduced without permission from another site and author, suddenly generated a shit load of buzz and attention. The buzz and attention was completely warranted – it’s a brilliantly written labour of love on an emotive subject that has struck a chord with many. The recipient of it was not. Interestingly, despite the article being posted nearly a year ago, its sudden second-life illustrates that ‘stock & flow‘ aren’t necessarily exclusive in the internet age.

The author was credited upfront and the site was linked at the end of the piece, but this completely failed to recognise the way that people consume information in the age of the internet. As a result, my blog was credited with the piece rather than the original site. I don’t know how it was discovered on my blog with zero visibility rather than on the original site which has a far bigger readership, but it wouldn’t have happened had I directed people to the original source upfront. For that I’m sorry.

My blog has always been a hobby. But for many others, the content they create on their sites is their livelihood, and it’s unfair when that is potentially impinged upon through the thoughtless behaviour of others.

The content on this blog could only be described as ‘eclectic’, from plenty of bolshy strategic thinking and ad land oddities, to Houston Rap, random tumblrs and British Suburban decay, and for that I’m proud. It’s always been about the stuff that I want to read, which has meant I’ve sometimes played fast and loose with copy and pasting. And I forgot along the way that I’m not just collecting a scrapbook for an audience of one.

So for me, this hobby has run its course.

Cheers

(check out the rest of Matt Barron’s portfolio here)

(and go here, it’s great)

An ad break made from Lego

To celebrate the upcoming Lego Movie, media agency PHD  took over an entire ITV ad break on Sunday with British ads remade entirely in their iconic building blocks. The first spot was an abbreviated version of the famous 2012 Vinnie Jones CPR ad for the British Heart Foundation. That was followed by 30-second ads, remade practically shot for shot, for Confused.com, BT and Premier Inn. Short promos for The Lego Movie aired in between each of the spots, followed by a proper trailer at the end. A really nice stunt, really well done.

 

While we’re on the subject of one of my favourite subjects (Lego, not clever media buying), last night Tom Dyckhoff and the Culture Show explored Lego’s impact on architecture in a fascinating little doc that you can watch for the next few days on the iPlayer.

McVitie’s snacks are sweeet as a bag of kittens

To symbolise the ‘sweeetness’ of its biscuits and cakes, McVitie’s new TV campaign shows cute, cuddly critters emerging from its snack packages in some wonderfully loopy new work from Grey London.

 

The spots manage to expertly tread the line between cute and creepy, and are fantastically well executed.

While we’re on the subject of fantastically well executed stuff and Grey London, here’s another fine piece of work they did for The Sunday Times Culture supplement. Shot in one take, it’s a brilliant piece of creative orchestration.

Insight should be about the culture, not just the category

This is brilliant piece by Rob Campbell about the importance of living your brand for realz really struck a chord.

 

Clench your butt: live happily ever after

Need some motivation on this wintery Friday morning? How about 50 seconds of clenched ass from Karmarama ,Richard Letch Branson and his Virgin Active crew?

The spot forms part of Virgin Active’s ‘Don’t just live, live happily ever active’ campaign, which launched earlier this month with an unusual spot showing a semi-naked man driving a motorcycle furiously across a desert.

Where as the first one was offbeat and delightfully abstract, this one doesn’t require much analysis. It’s got Branson’s dirty mitts all over it. Although, it has to be said, like many things Branson touches, it’s undeniably effective in its own way.

Hibernot

This is lovely new work by Land Rover, perfectly apt for this horrific weather Blighty continues to be blighted by:

 

The haven provided by a reliable vehicle is the missing ingredient here and Land Rover has the confidence to believe that we’ll understand that without it being spelled out.

Brrrrrr.

 

The Weightless Project

Under the idea of “obesity is preventable, hunger is solvable,” Weightless Project combines wearable technology (Jawbone, Fitbit and Basis partnered with the project so far) to a pressing world problem of hunger.

(via Adverblog)

.GIFYS

Created by LA based advertising agency CP+B, the .GIFYS is the first ever award honouring the humble GIF.

The nominees are seperated into different categories, including Animals, News and Politics, WTF and the highly prized GIF of the Year. The shortlist for each category was selected by a guest expert panelist, including members of Buzzfeed, Gawker and Tumblr, and of course, Lil Bub, who himself found internet fame in early 2012 thanks to the GIF format. Voting is open to the public, and already over 500,000 votes have been cast. The winners, who will be announced today.

There’s something universally appealing about the lo-fi looped animated GIF, and its popularity in recent years has seen it evolve something verging on an artform, capable of entertainment and social commentary. “The gif is now 26 years olds” says award co-founder William Sawyer. “It’s about time they received their due respect with a proper awards show”.

(via Protein)

We get it. The endless stream of content needs to stop in 2014.

Here’s yet another interesting addition to the endless stream of articles talking about the need to step back from the endless stream of content from Planner in High Heels, Patricia McDonald. The post builds on ones from the first few weeks of this year from Mel Exon, Andy Whitlock, Toby Barnes (and also Alexis Madrigal’s piece on The Year the Stream Crested).

Aggressive relaxation

Booking.com recognises that people have various preferences (and borderline fetishes) when it comes to hotel amenities, a fact highlighted in the site’s great new ad, a follow-up to the equally fun universal insight-led ad from last year.