What Would You Do?

I admit it.  Reality TV is my guilty pleasure.  All forms and shapes of reality TV.  Whether it be guidos and guidettes, bachelors and bachelorettes, man and food, or just plain old documentaries…TV mixed with reality intrigues me.  Yes, I know 90% of them are probably staged, let’s just not burst my bubble here.

Recently, I’ve been fascinated and completely addicted to ABC’s hidden camera ethical show, “What Would You Do”.

ABC Primetime’s What Would You Do? sets up elaborate realistic scenarios with actors testing real controversial subjects to see what ordinary people would do when pushed to act, or if they act at all.  – TV.com

The reactions from public, unsuspecting individuals are surprising, human compassion is truly unpredictable.  Though some of the situations set up are less than likely to be considered normal behaviour, especially in the modern times now (e.g. extreme public racism), many scenarios are based off shocking real-life situations that have appeared on the news one too many times.

Get ready to stir up some good-Samaritan feelings, here are a few scenarios to get you started:

Never knew hazing can be this bad until I watched this

…and read this

This guy is a sweetheart, but man, bad rep for women here

If you think the video below is shocking, read the wiki of the actual McDonald’s story that stemmed the idea for this video.  It is truly disturbing.

Ending the post with some faith for humanity

The Very Accurate Life of a Facebook Photo

Being the Facebook photos bearer amongst my friends…I can say that this infographic is pretty friggin’ spot on.  Well done Pixable, well done.

…Except I do still try my best to keep and tag pictures when others look smoking and I’m…not quite there.  I sacrifice myself sometimes to be the fair picture provider that I am, who captures all your youthful, happy, cherished moments for your viewing pleasure when you become unattractive in the future.  You are welcome, my friends.

don't deny it...you know you do this too.

UBC Sauder Co-op Viral Video Instructions

Note: This post is for UBC Sauder Co-op students!

UBC Sauder Co-op…it’s time to go viral.

Take part in the new Sauder co-op video this summer!

Watch the video above for the FAQ =)
You can also find the full instructions below

I’m Ariel, the marketing assistant at the Sauder Business Career Centre this summer and I want you to take a breather at work!

We want YOU to send in a short clip about your job or work place! (clip ideas at the bottom)

It can be about anything as long as it has relations to your current co-op work term.
We’re going to make a compilation of all the clips then PUBLICIZE and PROMOTE it on various media sources such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, newsletters, websites…ETC!

The purpose is to connect students and let the Sauder community see a lighter side of Sauder co-op, and if it’s interesting enough, let the video have its moment of fame to trend among the mass general public!

Here’s what you need to know:

-          Minimum 30 seconds and maximum 2 minutes long

-          Send your clips to coop@sauder.ubc.ca by JULY 18, 2011!!

-          Use any recording device (cell phone, video camera, webcam, flipcam…) as long as you can upload your clip and send it through email

-          Double-check with your employer on your clip idea.  If your employer hesitates about you filming at the workplace, just do a video blog instead!

-          FIRST 10 SUBMISSIONS WILL EACH RECEIVE A DIFFERENT SURPRISE GIFT CARD!

-          Email us at coop@sauder.ubc.ca if you have any more questions!

CLIP IDEAS:

- Tour of workplace
- Completing an interesting work task
- Recording something funny that happens at work
- Giving employers/co-workers an interview
- Showing unique work traditions
- Show off the work swag you received!
- Video blogging
- Candid clips of anything you want, be creative!

Out of ideas or a little shy?  You can do a quick video blog stating your Name, Option, Workplace, and Position, then choosing a few questions below to answer!

- What is the most interesting task you had to do so far for your job?
- What is something surprising you have learned?
- How did you adjust to full-time work (for students on their first work term)?
- What has your work term(s) taught you about your option that you couldn’t have learned from school?
- How do you think your job/work place stand out from other jobs?
- Talk about something funny that happened at work
- Talk about some challenges you had to face at work
- Talk about an achievement at work
- Talk about something that impressed you at work (your company’s values, employer’s wisdom, co-worker interactions…)
- Describe a day in the life of you at work
- Show off some work swag you received!

Get on it kids!  You’re going to want something to look back on when you’re old and wrinkly!

Katy Perry turns my Monday into a Friday!

Wrong day to post this…but who can resist a hot Nerdy Perry mess, along with Hansen, Kenny G., Glee…and… I’ll leave you hanging on the last treat of a cameo for you to watch..but just remember this song is called Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)

…and no more long hiatuses!  Full-time work & the act of being lazy have kept me busy for awhile.  Totally failed my original aspirations of being a “committed super-blogger who has something inspirational to share everyday with the world!”.  Though I realized my life is not exciting enough for that, I think my life is hopefully fulfilling enough for an interesting post 1-2x a week…so back to regular programming folks!

I don’t know you but I Want You.

I came across 2 ads today while browsing on Behance Network.

(By the way, Behance Network deserves it’s own post but it’s creative content is so vast it’s probably going to make me break a new record of overwriting if I do a post on it.  It’s the guru to the amateur deviantart.com.  If you don’t know wtheck I’m talking about, in plain words, it’s a site where designers upload extremely creative works such as amazing photos, digital art, videos, ads, cartoons, parodies, architecture designs…etc.  Basically, you all need to check it out.)

Anyway, I came across 2 video ads.  One is for Coca Cola and the other is for V Water.  Take a look below first.

Coca Cola

V Water

How do you feel after watching these two videos?

For me, my initial reactions and feelings of the videos were happiness/laughter/inspiration/creativity, this in turn all equal to positive outlooks toward the ads.  Unless you’re a grumpy old troll, I’m sure most people will at least break a smile.

Then I realized.  Both these ads do not describe their products at all.  They don’t say what they are (though you would be living under a rock not knowing what Coke is), they don’t describe why they are the “better” product, they don’t say the benefits, the usages, the quality/quantity, what they contain…etc.  Nothing.

But somehow, they work.  At least, even if you don’t know what the ad is actually “advertising”, you recall this particular brand better and more positively than that other brand with it’s ad about a very similar product that is constantly going on and on about it’s “1000000 benefits” to the point you want to rip out your car radio.  People can literally choose one brand based purely on it’s “aesthetics” over another brand where they actually have knowledge over.

The power of advertising eh?  I admit I love watching these kinds of ads; the creative, inspirational yet totally irrelevant ones.  However, if I were to ever be in charge of some new advertisement for a big-name brand, I would definitely try to accomplish the best of both worlds and incorporate creativity with proven results.   Wow, I just turned this whole post into a self-advertisement.  Guess that’s why I’m in Marketing =p

Facebook Loves Hacking

FINALS SEASON IS HERE. Since I’m actually trying to achieve more than average on my grades this year, I’ll let you in on my daily schedule for the month: study, eat, facebook, study & eat, study, facebook, study, facebook, study, email/other social media checks, study, shiny things, study & eat, facebook, study, facebook, study.

Yes, one word keeps appearing, I will admit it (unlike all of you, don’t give me that “Facebook? Meh” lie).  Every time I lose focus on whatever very important marketing concept I’m studying, I click on that f box…I mean the Facebook icon in my browser because that somehow sounded very offensive.

This got me thinking…how in the world does Facebook continuously grasp our undivided attention?  How do they come up with ideas the world falls to its knees for?  I know sometimes Facebook will introduce something new and people will jump at the chance to criticize it…but we know what will eventually happen.  If you don’t, let the comic below, courtesy of The Oatmeal, do the explaining:

I did a quick search on Facebook and came across a very interesting video.  It was an episode of “MTV Diaries”, this time showing a glimpse of life at Facebook.  It documents a day in the life of a few Facebook employees and what caught my attention was the event that the people at Facebook all participate in every year…the Hackathon.

So this is Facebook’s secret of great innovations.

The Hackathon is a quest to turn an imaginative idea into reality…overnight.  Usually the engineers of Facebook are the ones that go into these all-night coding sessions to develop a new, ground-breaking application, but it’s fair game for anyone to participate and share ideas, even users.  The purpose is to create something interesting enough to trigger detailed discussions and feedback with actual potential for implementation, though many sleep-deprived engineers will go beyond an idea and strive to have something pretty much ready to go live on Facebook in the morning.

Some of the things you can thank Hackathon for are: Facebook Chat, Facebook Video, the friend suggester, and everyone’s favorite Like button.

*UPDATE*

The 20 minutes preview I had of the MTV Diaries episode I originally had on has been removed, so please go to MTV by clicking here to watch the full episode and find out about the Hackathon and more behind-the-scenes at Facebook.

For My Future: 5 Most Expensive Things Around The World

If you know me well, you’ll know that I love finding deals and steals.  Hey, but give me $10 mil (because 1 is not nearly enough), and I’ll tell you I love anything that comes with the words designer/gold/best/most/top/exclusive.

But for now, I guess all I can do is plan.  I gathered some crucial information on some of the most expensive things around the world I’ll have to experience for myself in my future filthy rich life and I’m sharing it now because you know…these might not be up to my standards, I need a second opinion.

Hotel: Marina Bay Sands – Singapore

While it’s not the world’s most expensive hotel, this resort is billed as the world’s most expensive casino resort.  Might as well make some money while I’m here…guess my inner money-saving desires will never completely vanish.

This hotel features 2,560-rooms, a 120,000 sq.m. convention-exhibition center, a shopping mall, an Art and Science museum, two theatres, six “celebrity chef” restaurants, two floating pavilions and a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines.  The resort it topped off with a 340m long SkyPark (entertainment & amusement park) and a 150m swimming pool.

Honestly, look at this pool.  No, it’s not magic though, there’s a transparent ledge along the pool.  Search this hotel up and check out more pictures yourself!

Alcohol: Diva Vodka

Blackwood Distillers from Scotland introduced this triple distilled vodka that is ice-filtered through Nordic birch charcoal.  Impressive as that is, that doesn’t really explain the enormous range of cost from $70 to a whopping $1,060,000 per bottle.

The answer comes from the bottle.  Every bottle of little miss Diva here contains precious gems, such as diamonds.  When the vodka is poured, the liquid will be filtered out by the gems.  The better and more of the diamonds in your bottle, the more additional 0′s you’ll see on the price tag!

This does leave much uncertainty to the actual vodka quality, but the filthy rich won’t mind.  Diva status & bling are what matter!

Car: Bugatti Veyron

Honestly, I just put this here for good measure.  I know nothing about cars.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is apparently the most powerful, most expensive (~$1,600,000), and fastest street-legal production car in the world, with a proven top speed of over 400 km/h.  Thanks Google!  Moving on…

Cell Phone: Stuart Hughes iPhone 4 Diamond Rose Edition

When I do bid adieu to my loyal Sony Ericssons, I need to be sure of my conversion.  I think this $8 million iPhone will do it.

Let designer Stuart Hughes explain his creation himself:

The bezel is handmade from rose with approximately 500 individual flawless diamonds which total over 100ct. The rear section is formed using rose gold with the added touch of its rose gold Apple logo and 53 diamonds. The main navigation is made from platinum which holds a single-cut 7.4ct pink diamond. Also included (not shown in picture) is a rare 8ct single-cut flawless diamond which can replace the pink one. The chest which houses this unique handset is made from a single block of granite, in imperial pink with the inner lined with nubuck top grain leather, which weighs a massive 7kg. The handset is 32gb with a limited edition of only two to ever be made.

Yes, the phone comes in a block of pink granite.

Airline: Singapore Airlines First Class Suite

For my 2-hour plane ride, I don’t want just a first class seat, I want a $15,000 first class private suite!

Actually, the suites on the A380 aircraft are only offered on select routes over 12 hours…but 2 or 12 hours…$15,000 is probably more than what I’ll be spending on my vacation after the plane ride!

The suite comes with a real bed (single or double), an hand-stitched Italian armchair, a full length wardrobe, a 23-inch TV and a selection of more than 700 music albums and 120 movies, gourmet dining, as well as a choice between Don Perignon or Krug champagne.

I know what you’re all thinking as soon as I mentioned “private”, “suite” and “bed”…but don’t count on joining the mile-high club.  The lovely flight attendants of Singapore Airlines will still regularly check up on you, and be in close proximity all other times.  The suites aren’t soundproofed so the possibility of “unnecessary” noises from suite couples (which will be heard by all non-suite passengers and the cabin crew) will not be tolerated!