With this small device that we carry around EVERYWHERE, probably including the bathroom, we can’t live without it.  We call it the smart phone aka iPhone, Android powered phone like the Droid, and many others that are lined up to come to any cell phone providing store near you.  As more and more people comes to terms of accepting that their flip phones aren’t going to do it anymore, they upgrade to find out how they lived so long without one.  These smart phones are more than just a phone but an information-receiving device that tells you where’s a good place to eat, what’s the score of the ballgame, what your friends are up to via facebook, twitter and foursquare, and much more.

I’m sure you’ve seen the image above before.  I’m sure many of you know what it is and have used it before but I’m sure there are many of you who’s puzzled what this black and white box is all about.  For those of you who are somewhat up-to-date with technology and carry a iPhone, Droid or any smart phone, these black and white box is designed for you.  You will need to download an app that reads bar code to use it.  Pretty much like the bar code, it keeps information such as URL, text describing product or pretty much anything and with your smart phones, you can go to their website, facebook/twitter account, youtube videos, trailers to a movie, pretty much anything online.  It’s pretty amazing what technology can do these days.

So you ask, how can I generate one of these black and white boxes for my business, or just for fun?  I use QR-Code Generator by Kaywa.  It’s really simple and fun to play around.  Test mine out to see if it works on your smart phone.

On The Border – Hunger Attack

Yes, the header is correct.  This was my very first national ad/commercial I did back when I was freelancing for Energy BBDO in Chicago.  But this ad never came out on TV.  It came on movie theaters across the country that was near a On The Border Restaurant.  It’s one of those commercials where it comes on before the previews of the movie.  If you didn’t get the ad, the reference goes out to the movie, JAWS. Unfortunately, I never got to see it in real time because I never gone to a theater that was near the restaurant.  And at the time, On The Border wasn’t in Chicago (that I know of) or New York where I went shortly after freelancing in Chicago.  Every time I went to the movie theater and was waiting for the movie to come on, I would always wonder if it would come on, even though I knew it wasn’t near the restaurant.  I’m not sure how I would feel if I were to actually see it come out.  It would probably be a mini-version of the experience of what I hear when a musician first hear their very first hit single on the radio.  I’m not sure how long the ad lasted in the theaters but if you ever seen it, let me know!