There is an interesting article in the Atlantic about the unsustainable spending by our Federal government.  They make the point that current levels of spending which I think everyone can agree with.  The decision then has to be made as to where spending should be cut.  Most people argue that Social Security is the first thing that needs to be reined in.  I would argue that it should be the last.

Why?  Because those are dollars that go directly back into the economy the quickest creating job growth in fields like health care and businesses like shuffle board courts, Buick dealerships and delis in Florida.  It is not like middle class senior citizens put their SS check into a high yield stock portfolio.  Where should the spending cuts come from?  Ending tax cuts for the wealthiest 3-5% of the population and spending on propping up foreign governments and aid packages for irreparable foreign countries.  The US economy desperately needs jobs whether they be manufacturing, technology, etc. one way to do it is to get more money into the system.  Cutting Social Security will have the opposite impact.

I have enjoyed watching Lebron James play basketball since high school.  I thought he would go down as the best ever in 2008 after he took down a tough Pistons team scoring 48 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the Cavs’ win over the Pistons in Game 5 of the East Finals, scoring Cleveland’s final 25 points and 29 of its last 30.  He showed a killer instinct that was everything that Jordan had with an ever higher level of athletic ability.  Then he went to the Olympics, met his sole mates and got soft.  He’ll never get that back.  Larry Bird didn’t give a shit about endorsements and his “brand”…he wanted to kick your ass on the court and go back home to French Lick to practice all summer.  So Lebron and his posse of yes men and idiots can take their “talent to South Beach” and bask in their glory with their rapper buddies while players that actually have ice in their veins knock the  Heat out of the playoffs for the next 5 years.

It will be interesting to see how many times we see this add though the World Cup and how many different versions Nike creates to fit into :30 and :60 spots.  Why buy the media time when the YouTube clip already has 8 million views the first week up and the World Cup doesn’t start for 16 days?  One thing I wonder about is the decision that Adidas has made over the last couple of World Cups to be the “official” sponsor.  The only problem with that strategy is that most of the top countries and star players wear Nike or Umbro (a Nike brand).  The most interesting strategy is that of Puma who has been the sponsor most top African national teams for over ten years.  This World Cup could be a huge payoff for them, especially if a team like the Ivory Coast with super star Deiber Drogba advance far into the competition.  The  Puma kits look fantastic.

Personal feelings about Tiger Woods aside this is probably the best TV ad in the last five years.  Classic Nike, it is why they are the greatest marketer in the world (Apple is close).  Creepy to use your deceased father’s voice to sell golf clubs and hats in a commercial that is running because you bonked a bunch of porn stars and sluts while your wife was pregnant?  Of course, but Tiger seems like a pretty creepy dude.  This ad will probably run on TV twice but be viewed 5 million times on YouTube with all of the buzz it is generating.  Can you say “turning lemons into lemonade”?…and further burning the swoosh into the retinas across the planet.

In short it is the best way to consume web content.  Is this counter to where the web is going where we are all “content creators”?  I say no.  How many of us are really creating compelling content for a large audience….not many.  That is what brands are for these days….everything cool has a brand behind it in some way, shape or form.  Sit back, relax and consume whether on the couch, a plane or the coffee shop…that is why the iPad wins.

Umbro was acquired by Nike in November of 2007 for $580M and it seems the swoosh started working their design and story telling magic shortly thereafter.  They hired designer Aitor Throup as a creative consultant to redesign their 2010 World Cup kit.  The jerseys and accompanying gear are inspired by English bespoke tailoring with understated logos, quite traditional fabrics and small touches that you usually do not see in sportswear.  The tags are a great touch to emphasize the craft behind the kits (even though they are made in China).

To tell the story they have created lots of cool content from the behind the design video above to concerts in Paris to unveil the away kits.  It remains to be seen how the Three Lions will perform in South Africa but if gear makes any difference the boys should do quite well.

Logorama, the movie comprised entirely of animated logos, that just won the Oscar for best animated short film is a great demonstration of the sensory overload that we all have from the bombardment of logos on a daily basis.  Are most of them meaningless?  YES.  Will that stop marketers and agencies from spending lots of time and money on them.  NO.  The best example of marketing hog shit that I have ever seen is the PDF that you can download here from Arnell who redesigned the Pespi logo about a year ago.

What is a “book”?  What will we call a “book” next year?  What will children who have yet learned to read or picked up a “book” call a “book”?  These examples from Penguin for the iPad show the endless possibilities when touch technology works well with a screen with awesome resolution.  Kids love to touch things and interact.  Since the keynote launch in late January people have been debating will it or won’t it be a success?  The first thing I said after I saw the demonstrations was that it is going to be huge for kids, especially as the price inevitably creeps down.  Think about the endless possibilities for learning and entertainment.  Analysts are projecting Apple to sell between 1M to 5M units the first year….I bet it will be a lot more.

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Conan O’Brien getting fired from the Tonight Show will be the best thing to happen to his career.  Simply because he can be creative and funny again.  He can do whatever he wants on the web.  Look at how quickly he gained a big following on twitter.  According to the NY Times In a little over three hours, Mr. O’Brien had amassed almost 100,000 followers. Around 8 p.m. Eastern, he appeared to be adding nearly 1,000 followers every minute, making him the envy of, well, every other user of Twitter.  As I am writing this he has over 300,000.  Jay Leno has been on for over six months with about 30,000 followers.  Why?  People who like “Jay Walking” are retarded, they can barely turn on TV.  Conan should start a new type of show on UStream (or Justin.tv) where he integrates product into the show and website, sort of like Jimmy Fallon with Bud Light Beer Pong but bigger.  He could get the same audience he had on TV pretty quick I bet, plus he gets 100% of the advertising revenue from a focused, tech savvy audience.  If I was selling Axe body spray or smart phones it would be the first thing I put my product into.