We should do a feature article on the role of humor in broadband video advertising, but for now we’ll just laugh at what we see. Our iSPOT of the Week is an uproarious film that presents two new brands of Trident chewing gum by showing how they’re produced, including a scene of a kitten kneading a stick of gum to make it soft. TurboTax ran a Tax Rap contest that produced a winning video that fused rap with tax returns — the concept itself is funny but wait until you see the winning video. Penthouse magazine has introduced an online game that lets you flirt with the 2007 Pet of the Year, which is funny when you think about it and potentially titillating if you play the game.
We can laugh at the humorous videos we see, but marketers should pay special attention because humor may be the right tactic to reach an American audience that is traumatized by the events of our war torn and violent world and needs a laugh.
Send us the funny videos you’ve created and keep us posted on the news that takes place at your companies.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More