Here’s a little productivity-killer for your afternoon: The Flip Side, a video (3 minutes, 13 seconds) that imagines what the bar pick-up scene would be like if women acted like men and men acted like women.
Keep in mind that this film was written, directed and produced by guys, so it’s pretty much from a guy’s perspective. What would the film look like if it was made by an all-woman creative team?
(And while the film uses the term “taco fest”, I think that the proper term is “clambake”. Just sayin’.)
I was under the impression that I wasn’t going to the South by Southwest Interactive festival this year, but it turns out that I’m going after all. Better still, I’m speaking as part of a panel talking about our experiences as part of the BarCamp Tour in a session titled Five Brands Journey Across the Country to Inspire Entrepreneurship. I’ll also be there as a representative of Shopify.
I’ve had some wonderful times on my two previous visits to SxSW, and I’m very much looking forward to my third. I thought I’d share my blog entries from those earlier visits…
Michigan viewers were “treated” to this ad run by Pete Hoekstra’s campaign to unseat Debbie Stabenow as United States Senator for the state during the Super Bowl.
The rice paddy is one image of China, but it’s no more representative of the country than say, a Nebraska cornfield is of the United States. Equally representative is this picture, which is of a city you might not have heard of, despite its being one of the five major cities – Chongqing:
If you go to the website that accompanies the ad, you’ll see the stereotypes continue with its graphic design, which apes the best fakety-fake Chinese restaurant aesthetic. Reading it, it’s 1985 and I’m eating at Ruby Foo’s in Montreal again:
Here’s FOX News’ “analysis” of the ad and the response to it. The “expert opinion” they bring is none other than Lou Dobbs, whose mantra is “a racist is a conservative who’s winning the argument”, and he rolls his eyes so hard that he’s almost risking injury by doing so:
Here’s what other, more legitimate, news outlets have to say:
One of the questions that should be asked is “Can you make a political ad where there theme is competing with China without resorting to stereotypes and racism?” The answer is “Yes…and it’s been done!” It’s called the “Chinese Professor Ad”, and I show it below:
I’m impressed with this one: well done, it gets the message across and it doesn’t do any of the “ching chong wing wong” stuff that Hoekstra’s ad does. The ad would’ve been made the same way if the competitors were blonde and blue-eyed.
The only thing wrong is its premise that the U.S. is falling behind China because of stimulus spending; China’s is a big central planning-style government that pretty much stimulus spends all the time (when it’s not covering up its shoddy human rights record).
For a better picture on why a lot of money’s going to China, see the New York Times article How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work. Hey, America – you want to win, bro? Don’t hate; innovate!
