Playful pairings rule this edition of NVC. Cars, beer, retail and drawing therapy. Ads that entertain and a theme song revisited —I’m not afraid. Read on!
First Pairing: LEGO Beetle and Porsche LeMans Hybrid
We found it interesting that LEGO came up with Volkswagen Beetle kit. That’s definitely an un-brick-like car. This 1,167-piece version is their second try apparently.
In addition to the smooth silhouette, the toy car boasts a replica of the four-cylinder engine, beige tilting seats, and iconic round headlights and hubcaps. It even comes with functioning doors, hood, and trunk, a roof rack packed with a cooler and a surfboard.
The new set will be available starting August, and will be priced at US$100. You can read Gizmondo’s piece here.
From toy car to the hybrid that ruled Le Mans…
Porsche did some tweaking of its own to deliver a hybrid version of their 919 which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. Here are some numbers to chew on:
- After 395 laps and over 3,300 miles covered, Porsche claimed its record seventeenth overall win.
- Over the course of 24 grueling hours of competition, the winning Porsche 919 Hybrid averaged a staggering 139 miles per hour, reaching a top speed of over 211 mph.
- Along the way, the winning car changed gears over 25,000 times.
Bonus: A LEGO version of the 919?
While researching this story, we stumbled upon this:
For $69 you can stage a Le Mans-style race between the modern Porsche 919 Hybrid and classic Porsche 917K with a fully-equipped team garage/pit stop and victory podium.
Second Pairing: RayBan NYC Store AND Tesla inside Nordstrom
As seen in the Sunday New York Times (June 19), an ad for the Ray-Ban store that just opened on Wooster Street in New York’s SoHo district. Per the write-up we found in Acquire Magazine, this is Ray-Ban’s first flagship store in New York’s SoHo district, a space that they’re calling “part store, part music hall, part artist exhibit, part community cultural haven, part creative expression center, part whatever you make it and more.”
To us, this is another example of experiential retailing aimed at getting you to (a) go to and (b) stay longer at a “brick & mortar” location.
We paired Ray-Bans with another “pairing.” An article in Fast Company talked about Tesla’s plans to sell its electric cars at Nordstrom – specifically, they have opened the Tesla Gallery at Nordstrom The Grove, which is located within the Men’s Department on the ground floor.
The target audience is right and this could actually “drive some traffic” to the men’s department.
Third Pairing: Paris Craft Beers AND Craft Beer Ice Cream Combos
From an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, we learned that there’s quite the craft brew revolution going on in Paris.
…La Fine Mousse is ample proof that in Paris — the wine connoisseur’s holy land — craft beer could soon become the drink du jour.
Here’s a review of one of the fine craft beer establishments located in the Paris 11th-arrondissement.
Having stretched the brain to accept the idea of craft beers in Paris, we were totally ready for this — All About Beer Magazine, has teamed up with Baskin-Robbins to identify ten popular ice cream flavors to pair with a range of cold brews.
Editor’s note (30 September 2021): We were told this magazine is no longer in business. If you want “the scoop” check out this article. H/T Cindy.
Here are a couple of examples:
- Mint Chocolate Chip with Coffee Porter or Stout: The ale already has some cocoa and java flavors and it mixes nicely with the roast of the chocolate chips and the herbal, cool mint flavor of the ice cream.
- Rocky Road with Foreign Extra Stout: A candy lover’s dream! The stout has sweet chocolate, rich espresso and generic red berry flavors that party hard with the almond, marshmallow and deep chocolate of the ice cream. Rocky Road adds creaminess to the hearty beer and this combination makes for an excellent ice cream beer float.
Doc says he’s willing to give these combos a try.
Fourth Pairing: Facebook Becomes Office Break & Adults Taking a Crayola Break
According to a Pew Study notes employees log on to social media from the office for personal reasons, professional tasks and much in between.
Notable Quotable:
Employees log on to social media from the office for personal reasons, professional tasks and much in between, the survey found. The most common reason, cited by 34% of respondents, is taking a “mental break” from the job, according to the survey. Others included connecting with family and friends (27%), making professional connections (24%) or gathering work-related information (20%), the survey said.
The “mental break” aspect dovetails nicely into this piece which appeared in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle.
We found it interesting that there were so many coloring books available. For example, Dover Publications has nearly one thousand coloring books in print. The first one they published was “Antique Automobiles” in 1971.
Coloring “gives you permission to relax,” says Judy Wheeler, owner of Town Center Books in Pleasanton.
The story talked about a company called OMY Design & Play. Founded by two Parisian graphic designers Elvire Laurent and Marie-Cerise Lichtlé, one of their popular items is a 71-inch-by-38.5-inch coloring roll of Paris.
AWSI, the idea of taking a mental break is good. We’re glad to see the concept is catching on. Fits in with our DragonBustR concept.
That being said, there’s a conforming aspect to coloring (that whole “stay within the lines” admonishment) that makes us at Jedemi uneasy. We say, use the coloring books as a jumping off point and then open up your own notebook / sketchpad and get creative!
Speaking of creative, we’re circling back to an ad campaign we love as part of our final pairing.
Final Pairing: Erin Andrews and Guzmán for Dos Equis
Looks like Dos Equis is laying track for the follow-up to the iconic Most Interesting Man (MIM) In The World Campaign, or at least a tease of what that follow-up is going to look like. Here’s a brief rundown care of FastCoCreate.com:
Dos Equis and their agency Havas Worldwide New York, have enlisted sportscaster Erin Andrews and actor Luis Guzmán for a new campaign where they aren’t the most interesting people. The call to action is to encourage you to go to the Dos Equis website and find out where you rank in their “Interesting Index” — which assesses your Facebook profile to determine where you rank on the scale of the most interesting people in the world.
How Interesting Is…? – Dos Equis Interesting Index
Erin (5,008th) Andrews
Luis (8,507th) Guzmán
We’ll be watching to see if this campaign takes off.
That’s a wrap! We’re closing with a featured song — a re-imagining of the theme song from a remake opening in July. Also, in the Bonus Content, we’ve got some eye candy and a tongue-in-cheek look at coloring books. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading and #SCMF!
–The Gang
Check this out!
Color them all gray…
The Executive Coloring Book from 1961.
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