1. “Zombies are the new Pirates”
From flash mobs to Facebook app…
Hilarious mash-up video of White-house journalist interviewing Dubya about zombies:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoXgRtDysLY]
2. Red Invasion in SF - Hammer and Sickle red hot marketing gimmick
It has moved way beyond the annoying hippy kids with the dirty Che Guevara t-shirt… communist-era propaganda has never been more popular as evidenced by the plethora of red I’ve seen in the past few weeks (and I ain’t talking the [Red]emption through consumption campaign)
First there was the introduction to the uber-hipster coffee scene at Ritual Coffee in The Mission where you can pick up your red “Loyalist” frequent coffee buyer card alongside your biodegradable drinking straw.
Then there was my friend with a boi-diesel revolution bumper sticker on his VW:
At least he’s from Russia…
And THEN, this is the kicker, and what ruins the rev-chic of the other logos: Fashionista Diaries.
From the makers of Laguna Beach… another reality TV show. Such an obvious connection between fashion and communism.
Who doesn’t like hats? Or red for that matter? I’m a big fan of both, but based on this show alone I will not be bringing back the red beret I wore last winter.
How do I know about this amazing show you ask? I usually eat lunch in Union Square, and last week there was a troupe of young women wearing little black dresses and jaunty revolutionary caps handing out fliers for what I thought would be something interesting based on their outfits (like a burlesque show or something).
From bio-diesel, to coffee, to reality TV; the hammer and sickle is used to promote it all. Poor Stalin.
3. Valley (Silicon) Speak
I’ve been making a lot of trips out to Silicon Valley for client visits since I arrived, but the campus I visited last week was by far the shiniest and happiest place I’ve been so far (and I’ve been to Googleplex).
From the sun, to the chatty banter with the receptionist and security guard, to the ubiquitous smiles. Maybe it was the sun that disoriented me, or the fact that people were walking around free on the campus grounds. Something seemed very unusual. Beyond that, there were a couple of funny terms I heard out there:
Term: $100,000 ponytails
Definition: Ponytailed programmers who command salaries of $100,000.
Beyond the salaries, these guys are treated with a level of preciousness I’ve never seen anywhere else. No one can afford to upset the guys cranking out the code.
Term: Tribal knowledge
Definition: Any unwritten information that is not commonly known by others within a company. This term is used most when referencing information that may need to be known by others in order to produce quality product or service.
Colloquial: “The $100,000 ponytail created a competitor site using tribal knowledge.”
Egawds!
[...] Observed: zombies, communist chic, and $100,000 ponytails [...]