Last week we toured our new office space. Come November we’ll hopefully be making ourselves at home on the fourth floor of a building in Little Italy. A lot of renovations still need to be made. The ceiling will be extended up to make it look less law firm-ish. And many of the center walls will be torn down to create more shared space.

Just a few months away before we starting testing the endurance of the gelato machines at this fine establishment. The countdown begins.

Judging from what happened to this LeBron James’ Heat jersey-wearing guy on Wednesday, Cleveland is still very much sore about their prodigal son jumping ship to Miami. Matter of fact, while at a local sports bar last weekend, a random Cavaliers fan was still talking about how proud he was of Dan Gilbert’s open letter to the people of Cleveland.

But out of all the ways a team owner could’ve said goodbye to a star player, running a full-page newspaper ad that essentially says “F off, traitor” was in poor form. Granted, I don’t think highly of the way Lebron chose to announce his move. “The Decision”, his hourlong ESPN special, was a humiliating way to discard his former team, employers and city in front of a national audience.

That said, basketball, like advertising, is a business. Clients come. And clients go. The best we can do is wish them well when parting ways. Change is constant and who knows… in the not too distant future, a change in personnel might prove to be the better formula for success.

But in this case, The King may never return to the Land of Cleve. Especially since the bridge leading back to it has been burned. From both ends.

With all due respect to the San Diego Addys, the most prestigious advertising awards show is going on as I type. Taking place on the French Riviera, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival celebrates the best creative work in all forms of media.

Work in different categories are being awarded throughout the week. Here are a few highlights.

In Poland, car manufacturer Skoda wanted to tout the remote-controlled trunk of one of their cars. Two commercials were run simultaneously on two major TV channels. One with the trunk opened and the other with it closed. Viewers toggled between channels 1 and 2 to open and close the trunk.

In Argentina, beer maker Andes put Teletransporters in bars and clubs to give guys the perfect excuse when calling angry wives and girlfriends.

And from the land of the rising sun, we have this ambient outdoor ad for Supor Non-stick pans. Behind the facade of a pan was a half-pipe where rollerbladers dressed as food skated back and forth, creating the illusion of being tossed.

All of the above work is brilliant. Creative. And, sadly, not from San Diego.

Why is that? Do we not have the talent and desire to do so, or are we content with local award shows? Hopefully it’s a matter of simply stepping up our game. Big time.

When I first saw the liquid mountaineering video below, I was a little skeptical. But being that the movement had its own homepage and blog, I figured maybe some crazy Europeans really did find a way to get busy like Jesus. If only for a few seconds.

Guess the joke was on me. Shoe manufacturer Hi-Tec was actually behind the ruse. And I fell for it. Hook. Line. And gullible sinker.

Shot in documentary-style, the video captures people doing their best impersonation of a skipping stone. By picking up speed and running in a slight curve, some of the guys are able to run on water for just a few steps. All with the help of water-repellent shoes these outdoorsmen accidentally happened upon.

Cleverly crafted, the video barely features the Hi-Tec shoes- only showing them for a brief second- before cutting back to running on water. That’s what’s so great about it. No mentioning the shoe’s name. No hard sell. By treating the shoes as a small part of the story, viewers were less apt to realize they were watching an ad.

Another great example of viral videos. Good job, Hi-Tec. I admire the quality of the wool you just pulled over my eyes.

I originally intended to write about some of the useless offerings that populate the App store for iPhones. But in gathering info, I came across Nu-dot. An application that allows you to manipulate photos to imply nudity. A little cropping here, a little cropping there, and your inner pervert can fill in the sordid details.

What’s the big deal you might ask? Well, earlier this year, much ballyhoo was made about Apple’s “no nipple” policy. A ban which outlawed porn-ish software from the iPhone, and later the iPad. Steve Jobs took the high road and referenced his company’s moral responsibility to keep that type of content off his hardware.

Perhaps Mr. Jobs needs to be reminded of that marketing principle called consistent branding. Lest he be accused of being someone who throws stones…from a house…made of glass.

I’ve been somewhat skeptical of Gatorade’s G campaign. (Sample TV commercial here, sample print ad here.) To me, the work was better suited for brands like Nike or Adidas than for a simple sports drink.

So when I saw Gatorade’s new “Revolution” spot last weekend, I thought, “Alright, so they found a feel-good, old-timey song to cut footage to.”

Turns out a lot people thought the song was cool. People wondered what it was. One blogger dug deeper and reported that the song wasn’t an undiscovered hit by Bo Diddley or Otis Redding- the song was actually written for the commercial. And that it was available for download, for free, on Gatorade’s site.

Imagine that. Advertising that’s cool enough that people want to put it on their playlists.

That’s cool. And maybe that’s the point. Perhaps I’ll walk over to the gas station and pick up a bottle of that thirst quenching fruit punch.

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last week, chances are you’ve seen Nike’s new Tiger Woods commercial.

It’s actually a very simple spot– a black and white shot of Tiger staring at the camera while we hear a voiceover of his late father, Earl Woods. That’s where the simplicity ends.

Once uploaded to Nike Golf’s youtube channel, criticism, debate and mockery spread like wildfire. As reported in Ad Age, in less than 48 hours, it was viewed online more than 2.2 million times, drew 6,700 comments and generated more than 40 parodies that themselves drew more than 200,000 views. (Of all the spoofs, my favorite is Morgan & Tiger– where we see the same visual treatment, but edited to a small excerpt of Morgan Freeman’s dialog from Shawshank Redemption.)

Here’s what people are saying about the original spot. That the ad is a way-too-early plea for sympathy. That it’s wrong to use Tiger’s father to sell product, even more so in light of Earl’s alleged extramarital affairs. It’s also been reported that the audio clip is actually of Earl Woods speaking to his wife, Kultida, comparing and contrasting their two personalities. That said, the ad is essentially quoting a dead man out of context, with Tiger reacting to words that were never even spoken to him.

Talk about gasoline being poured on the controversy fire. Love it or loathe it, the simple truth is this–when was the last time everyone talked about Reebok advertising?

So we’re in new business mode, diligently working on an RFP for a client we’d all give up our firstborn/left leg/dog to win. That means a lot of late nights. (Keurig, thank you for existing.)

While burning the midnight candle at BG may not be as scandalous as some agencies, taking a short break here and there does afford profound moments of reflection.

Here are three things that caught my attention. What do you think, should I flip the switch?

Last February, two unemployed brothers from Illinois made an amateur Doritos TV commercial and scored the top spot in USA Today’s Super Bowl 2009 Ad Meter.

Last Sunday, as the culmination of their Crash the Super Bowl contest, Doritos aired four more consumer-generated spots. “Casket”, which features a man pretending to be dead so that he could be buried with a casket full of chips. “House Rules”, where a little boy puts the smack down on his mother’s date. “Snack Attack Samurai”, that shows what happens when you steal a bag from a Doritos’ fanatic. And “Underdog”, the spot below, where a dog has its proverbial day at the expense of a man who refuses to share his bounty.

After the results of this year’s Super Bowl Ad Meter were tallied, the Betty White Snickers spot came in first. “Underdog” second. However, Joshua Svoboda, was awarded a $600,000 prize for his efforts (per contest rules). Not bad considering his commercial only took $200 to make.

Predictably, articles were written saying that ad agencies should be afraid. There were those who suggested that the everyday Joe (or Jane) with a camcorder, computer and idea could produce a TV spot that’s just as effective as one made by the traditional Madison Avenue agency. Along with that argument is that brands would be able to save marketing dollars if they choose to run with amateur productions.

But here’s the truth about consumer-generated ads- those amateurs aren’t always amateurs. Turns out Joshua is actually a creative director of sorts. And in an article looking back at past winners of consumer-generated advertising contests, it appears that a fair number have ties to the industry. Apparently, creative professionals are consumers too. (Heck, two of us here at B.G. put together a :12 TV spot for Mountain Dew.)

A few years ago, the New York Times reported that free ads still come with a high price tag. Agencies and brand marketers spend months planning their consumer-generated contests- hiring lawyers to vet them and designing advertisements to promote them. People then have to spend countless hours wading through entries.

Whether or not they are truly effective may still be up for debate. But one thing that can be said in favor of consumer-generated ads is that agencies and brands get sent a ton of new ideas. And as long as those ideas may potentially be made real, we’ll keep our camcorders ready… and the idea fountain flowing.

In the most basic of terms, copywriters write copy. The persuasive prose that adorns all things advertising. Yes, we do spend countless hours on coming up with the big idea and executing all the necessary tasks to bring that idea to life. I will talk about that in another post, but for now I’m focusing on the written word.

Over the years, I’ve written a variety of TV commercials, radio spots, print ads, outdoor boards, taglines, website ideas, banner ads, e-blasts, brochures, corporate videos, infomercials, sponsorship voiceovers, posters, post cards, invitations, window clings, airport dioramas, segway decals, street team shirts, coffee sleeves, etc., et-friggin’-cetera, for a wide range of clients. From a national bank and a freight rail company, to most recently at Bailey Gardiner, a new landing page for San Diego Hospice and the banner ad below for Rockrose – an eco-savvy community built by Brookfield Homes.

Thinking back about all these different projects got me thinking about a couple of – how shall I say – “choice” assignments. Ones that have stuck with me long after the final word was typed. In no particular order, here are some random assignments I have had as a copywriter:

- For a mattress company, literature on dust mites and why you should flip your bed. These little creatures feast on your dead skin cells. And their fecal matter can be strongly allergenic. Don’t let the bed bugs bite, indeed.

- On hold messaging. Which is what you hear when you call a company’s main business line and get put on hold. I believe my copy was accompanied by a fine muzak track.

- A “Certificate of Achievement”. One of my former agencies framed a cheesy, mocked-up, award for a cricket-playing client that helped his club team win a regional tournament. Yep, you read that right. And yours truly got the call to fill in the part after, “In recognition of…”

- For a new business card, a phrase that creatively conveyed the title of copywriter. This was actually a fun one. In a supposed attempt to show how creative we were, everyone at my old agency was asked to rewrite their traditional titles. After a week of coming up with options like, “Big Idea Hunter”, “Word Slinger”, “Thinking Machine” and “Ad Jedi“, the project was scrapped by management for being too flippant. Boo.

As you can see, copywriting isn’t all coupons and brochure copy. But it isn’t exactly an ongoing Super Bowl commercial either.