Winner: John DiBiase
Runner Up: John Herring with his caption “Squirrel!?”

Winner: Barbara Anderson
Runner Up: Linsdsey Anderson with her caption: “I Should Really Invest In A Kindle.” 

Winner: Noel Mabry
Runner Up: Dan Portnoy with his caption: “Duuuuuude” (but with fewer “u”s)

Winner: Ryan Scott
Runner Up: John P Land with his caption: “I Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants But Mostly On The Bindings Of Books”

Thanks to everyone who submitted captions. This was a blast. If you missed it, you can read most of them at my Facebook Artist Page.
We’ll be posting a few more fun ads later today at Facebook and Twitter. 

Below are the ads. Please feel free (in fact, be encouraged) to post them at Facebook, Twitter and/or anywhere else you deem worthy.

Like I said, we think they’re funny ads and that folks will enjoy them. We also hope they  help connect folks to the work we’re doing. While we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we do take seriously the work we are privileged to do, currently meaning the CMY(K) project.

The second First Ever Justin McRoberts Interactive Living Room Session is Wednesday, October 6th, Follow Justin at Twitter to catch the announcement or catch the broadcast at this blog starting at 6pm PST.

Listen to the interview HERE!!

With the many services available to us, we climbed back on the horse we’d ridden most recently by returning to the service I will henceforth refer to as the “Beamed From Space” television service.  Because we had previously had the “Beamed From Space” (BFS) television service which mean a much speedier return to the land of the over-advertised.  But the ease of returning to BFS meant another engagement with the world of Customer Service

And if you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know what that means… that’s right. Another installment of “Adventures in Customer Service.”

—

Beamed From Space Television Services Customer Support Representative: Thank you for choosing “Beamed From Space.”  Because you are returning to our service we are offering a special package.

Me: Interesting. Tell me about that.

BFSTSCSR: We’re offering, on top of the channels listed in your third rate, low-level, not-as-good package these other channels that are for people more serious about television.

Me: Um.. Well, I don’t really watch much more than a few things..

BFSTSCSR: You’re totally gonna want these ones.

Me: What are they?

BFSTSCSR: The “Movies For Romantics” channel, the “Movies For People Who Like Violence” channel, and 75 channels of Department Store Music: all beamed directly from space.

Me: Alright, whatever.

BFSTSCSR: and should you, in 2 months, 3 weeks 1 day, 14 hrs, 17 min and 4 seconds, forget to call to cancel these channels, you will be charged $19.99 per minute until you do. So let’s finish the rest of the…

Me: (cutting her off) wait.. What was that about canceling those channels?

BFSTSCSR: which part?

Me: The part where you are being conniving and sneaky.. That part.

BFSTSCSR: All you have to do is call the 800 number at that precise time, from a rotary phone while facing Mecca, ask for Larry and use the code word I gave you earlier in this conversation to cancel those channels.

Me: You gave me no code word.

BFSTSCSR: Well, sir. It wouldn’t be much of a code word if it were obvious.

Me: I’m not so sure I want to do this anymore.

BFSTSCSR: You’ve already been registered sir. Our agents are currently on their way to your home to install the Space Beam Receiving and Translation Equipment.  You do NOT want to anger our agents.

Me: I don’t want to anger anyone but I’m also not going to use your service. Please go ahead and cancel my account.

BFSTSCSR: As you wish, sir. Just be aware that this will result in a rather significant early cancellation fee and may be a risk to the lives of any pets you keep outside at night.

Me: WHA? I just called you 10 minutes ago.  I don’t even have service yet. How can there be a cancellation fee?

BFSTSCSR: I assure you, sir, that the signal is currently being beamed directly from space to your home.  If you are having difficulty receiving the signal, there must be some kind of equipment malfunction on your end. I will send a team of Space Beam Receiving and Translation Equipment Repair Specialists/Assassins to your location.

(KNOCK KNOCK)

BFSTSCSR: That would most likely be them…

Me: Amy, do NOT answer the door!!

Read the entire post at Soul-Audio.

Because if she is the Certified Solar Installer (CSI..?.. really?) then the chances of a few guys discovering a new and urgent interest in solar energy have greatly improved.  And that’s advertising…  because we all know she isn’t a Certified Solar Installer; she’s far to busy searching for you on Facebook to do anything else.

And so my mind takes in this fine example of advertising and begins to process through ways I can and should take advantage of my new knowledge:  How can I draw people to my work using images that have no logical relationship to that work or to me?

And then it hit me:

——

I think I’m catching on.

Now, I’m a sports fan for certain which is why this bit of wisdom/advertising showed up on my facebook page:

and really.. who doesn’t agree? It’s never about coming back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter that inspires fans.. it’s the inflatable tunnel.. every. single. time.

Even now, as I think of my favorite sports team, I can only picture them emerging from an inflatable tunnel.. it is the image burned into my memory.

I remember sitting in my office during a particularly chilly winter evening and thinking to myself.. “Self, don’t you just wish you had something soft, luxurious and unique to wear around your neck right now?”

And as we all know, everyone looks good in Alpaca..  EVERYONE.

Need more convicing of this?  Just look deep into my eyes.. and repeat after me “Meka Leka Hi, MekALPACA Ho”

This is one of my favorite recurring ads; the “Who Searched For You” ads.  On my page, these ads normally feature some attractive young woman who, I am rather certain, has not searched for me. Something like this:

Even though, if anyone is searching your name on the internet, the chances are this guy probably did. Either that or it was your parents who are still wondering why you haven’t friended them yet.

I’ve also been challenged regarding my IQ quite often.  Early on, the ads were rather basic, though apparently not designed by folks who scored very high on the test themselves, as evidenced by this ad FAIL:

I may not be smarter than the average Broncos fan.. then again.. I’m smart enought to know what “average” means.

So, after it was clear that I would not be lured in by the crazy math of the IQ testers, they must have decided to see if they could frighten me into taking their quiz by posting these:

Forget the IQ question,.. how about a question of taste: “WHAT THE CRAP?”

I am that guy who, in the middle of a conversation, will pause to correct your grammar.  This is counteracted by the fact that anytime I tweet something grammatically incorrect or misspelled, I get called on it.. nonetheless, this nugget caught my eye and I now bring to you…

.. and also, lest it go uncelebrated, Fewer English.

Targeted ads are one thing, but ad placement is another.  There’s nothing quite as good as seeing an ad placed in just the right location.. somewhere in context.. somewhere on a page where it is relevant to the rest of that page’s content.. and so.. I leave you with this: