Strands of Genius: Billboards From The Edge, Articles of Interest, Cheez-Its x Taco Bell
Plus: Faris in 42 Below making fun of advertising
WRITING FROM | Chattynoogs, TN
WORKING ON | writing, agency workshops, health
LOOKING AHEAD
June 17-28 | Chattanooga, TN
June 28-30 | Nashville, TN
June 30-July 3 | Chattanooga, TN
July 3-7 | Beersheba Springs, TN
July 7-23 | Chattanooga, TN
July 24-27 | Isla Mujeres, MX
July 29-Aug 13 | Chattanooga, TN
Aug 15-18 | Charlotte, NC
Aug 18-?? | Chattanooga, TN
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
This past weekend we went to Atlanta and took ten of our friends to see Tim McGraw’s latest production (thanks Rosie’s dad!) and as usual, Tim put on a great show, and Ali put on a great happy hour :) It was a short weekend trip to Atlanta, and we’re back, and the porch plants have been watered, and the bird feeders refilled. We’ve got this weekend and next week in Chattanooga, and then we drive to Nashville to pick up Faris’ dad, Abdulla, who is coming to visit us! It’s crazy to think it’s almost exactly the middle of yea. It’s very hot where we are, and appears to be about to get hot in lots of places. Stay cool, take care, drink water, and enjoy some crisp and cooling veggies!
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Scooter, Tim, Rachel&Mike, Alex&Collin, Lana&Emmie, Aisha, Lauren, Ali&Chris, Morgan&Colin, Brats on Hulu, traffic (remember, you aren’t in traffic, you are traffic), Cannes content, Acolyte, not the new Godzilla & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
BILLBOARDS FROM THE EDGE
Faris’ column for WARC this month is about the ‘edgy’ Santander campaign, brandalism, post-modern advertising tropes, cultural strategy, bankers going to jail and capitalism: “One of modern capitalism’s most defining features is how it folds in and monetizes any form of counter culture or dissent.” (WARC)
FINALLY, THE BRAND COLLAB ROSIE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR
Back in the day, I was the mayor of the Taco Bell in Union Square. On Foursquare, of course :) Many a late night meals were consumed there before walking back to mine or Faris’ apartments. And on road trips, my favorite gas station snack to grab is a bag of Cheez-Its. I love them so much. Which is why I nearly jumped out of my seat and immediately got in the car when I realized that the Taco Bell x Cheez-It collab is available now! Here’s what it’s all about. Taco Bell continues to kill the partnership game! (Elite Daily)
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
We, especially Faris, listen to podcasts, and occasionally one just attaches itself wholesale to your mind and makes you explode with ideas and thoughts. Somehow Faris discovered a podcast series from 2022 and then, due to what he maintains are UX failures in his podcast app, listened to the first season from 2020 as well by mistake - AND IT IS ALL GOLD. Seriously we love this podcast, it’s so beautiful and perfectly in the centre of so many interesting areas. It’s about the history of fashion but that is a lens through which they explore culture, trends, individuals that create outsized change, and so many other things. This is basically a love letter to Avery Trufleman who made the podcast. It’s so great.
Here are a few episodes from Season One (but again, it’s all great):Start at the beginning with the Kid’s Clothes episode - why are kids so gaudy and made of weird fabrics? When did kid’s clothing become a thing? What kind of thing is it?
Pockets are fascinating - they used to be separate garments - and there is lots of weird patriarchy involved, of course.
Hawaiian shirts are why we have casual business wear in many offices in the USA. No, seriously, there was a law passed to let people wear them on Fridays in Hawaii. Then Dockers, owned by Levi Strauss, sent kits to HR companies all over America explaining casual Fridays and what business casual was (Dockers, basically). Amazing.
Season Two is great as well! It’s about the fashion known as American Ivy, how it was taken from Princeton to Japan and then back to America, kind of?This is the story of how Dapper Dan made logos a thing on high end clothing is a big part of the KnockOff story.
It’s all great, highest recommendation, enjoy.
Want to chat, comment, question, or compliment?
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:: PUBLICIS DID A FUNNY @ CANNES AND UPSET PEOPLE + BONUS SATIRICAL AD WITH FARIS IN IT::
So Publicis presented the following video at Cannes about AI and apparently upset some of the competitors that are featured in it…
It’s quite funny, and it’s funnier that people got all upset.
Anyway, for comparison and your delectation, here is a 42 Below ad that HyperNaked made about the London advertising industry that features Faris as a blogging hermit who endlessly pontificates and is obsessed with attention. Not wrong, and loved it. It also mentions the award shows…
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie | your friends over at geniussteals.co
(still want more? @faris is still “tweeting” while @rosieyakob prefers instagram stories)
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. We have a distributed team ourselves, an accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)