Please Tag Your Advert Posts As Such October 2, 2011 6:53 PM Subscribe
Posts about adverts are controversial on Metafilter. Some people think adverts are ok. Others find them intrinsically distasteful. Mystery meat posts that turn out to be 'hey look at this great advert' and nothing more can lead to derails and nasty arguments over whether or not using Metafilter to spread advertising in this way is acceptable or not. Accurate tagging of such posts with 'advert' or 'advertisement' could avoid this.
This recent SLYT advert post is a good example.
Interspersed with the discussion of the particular advert in question is some unpleasant and thread-shitty discussion about whether or not it's ok to have posts about adverts of this sort.
Clearly it is ok. In terms of views on advertising, the community is a continuum running from people who actually work in advertising at one end, up to those who think that advertising is an intrinsic evil that should be eradicated at the other. That's not going to change, and nor is the fact that there will be posts about advertisements from time to time, some of which, like the one above, will be basically saying 'hey look at this interesting advert'.
What seems to be particularly getting the goats of some in this case is perhaps that it is not immediately clear that this post is about an advert. It appears to be more of a post about dubstep rather than an attempt to sell breakfast cereal.
Had the post been tagged as 'advert' or 'advertisement', perhaps the unpleasantness could have been avoided.
This recent SLYT advert post is a good example.
Interspersed with the discussion of the particular advert in question is some unpleasant and thread-shitty discussion about whether or not it's ok to have posts about adverts of this sort.
Clearly it is ok. In terms of views on advertising, the community is a continuum running from people who actually work in advertising at one end, up to those who think that advertising is an intrinsic evil that should be eradicated at the other. That's not going to change, and nor is the fact that there will be posts about advertisements from time to time, some of which, like the one above, will be basically saying 'hey look at this interesting advert'.
What seems to be particularly getting the goats of some in this case is perhaps that it is not immediately clear that this post is about an advert. It appears to be more of a post about dubstep rather than an attempt to sell breakfast cereal.
Had the post been tagged as 'advert' or 'advertisement', perhaps the unpleasantness could have been avoided.
I'm not sure if people who tell other people to fuck off are going to magically become more polite because people have marked their posts as advertisements, though it's a nice idea. I had pulled the threadshitting right before you made this post.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:55 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:55 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I added an advertising tag, though.
posted by empath at 6:56 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by empath at 6:56 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Cheers, empath.
I could be wrong, jessamyn, but I'd thought that the 'fuck off' in question was someone in favour of advertising posts telling someone complaining about them to fuck off, rather than the reverse.
posted by motty at 6:59 PM on October 2, 2011
I could be wrong, jessamyn, but I'd thought that the 'fuck off' in question was someone in favour of advertising posts telling someone complaining about them to fuck off, rather than the reverse.
posted by motty at 6:59 PM on October 2, 2011
What seems to be particularly getting the goats of some in this case is perhaps that it is not immediately clear that this post is about an advert. It appears to be more of a post about dubstep rather than an attempt to sell breakfast cereal.
FWIW, you can't even buy the product being sold in America, nor will the ad ever be seen here. I'm sorry if any UK readers accidentally purchase that terrible cereal or start to enjoy brostep as a result of that post, however.
posted by empath at 7:00 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
FWIW, you can't even buy the product being sold in America, nor will the ad ever be seen here. I'm sorry if any UK readers accidentally purchase that terrible cereal or start to enjoy brostep as a result of that post, however.
posted by empath at 7:00 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
I felt that dub step advertisement post was boarder line honestly. A kid and bears dancing. meh.
posted by jeffburdges at 7:02 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffburdges at 7:02 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I saw it go down like this:
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:03 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can we please, please not use Metafilter to spread advertisements, no matter how "cool"?I don't even think user #3 was in favor of advertisements so much as sick of people complaining about them. That said, that sort of complaining goes here, not there.
posted by XXXXXX at 19:39 on October 2
Can we please, please not use Metafilter to spread advertisements, no matter how "cool"?
No.
posted by XXXXXX at 20:22 on October 2
Can we please, please not use Metafilter to spread advertisements, no matter how "cool"?
Can you please, please fuck off?
posted by XXXXXX at 21:19 on October 2
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:03 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Maybe not a bad idea, but I very much doubt that people who are angered by an advertisement FPP will be mollified by advance disclosure of that fact.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:07 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:07 PM on October 2, 2011
Anything that helps me post the tired old Bill Hicks anti-advertising rant in more threads has to be good.
posted by scruss at 7:09 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 7:09 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I felt that dub step advertisement post was boarder line honestly. A kid and bears dancing. meh.
I thought it was interesting because:
A) The surreality of the contrast between a wholesome kids cereal and gritty, underground, druggy dance music.
B) The kid is a genuinely good dancer.
C) The general quality of the direction.
posted by empath at 7:10 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I thought it was interesting because:
A) The surreality of the contrast between a wholesome kids cereal and gritty, underground, druggy dance music.
B) The kid is a genuinely good dancer.
C) The general quality of the direction.
posted by empath at 7:10 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
One of my first posts was for a product and I didn't even know. It was one of those "Come play with me" websites and I thought it was fun and cool and silly. Then later I figured out it was pimping Extensis Suitcase. I didn't mind too much. The site was still neat.
I've posted several other ad related things, since I love marketing. I like when it's done well. I love it when they screw the pooch. Interacting with companies is my hobby, so I spend a lot of time on various products websites. Some of them are damn neat.
I think marking these sites with "advertisement" is only going to confuse people. I would assume that the person using that tag was paid to do so. Or that it's like a sponsored link sort of thing.
This said I would totally shill for products on metafilter if the price was right. Bids start at $5. Line up to the left please. (I kid!) (I think. Depends on how much people bid.)
posted by cjorgensen at 7:13 PM on October 2, 2011
I've posted several other ad related things, since I love marketing. I like when it's done well. I love it when they screw the pooch. Interacting with companies is my hobby, so I spend a lot of time on various products websites. Some of them are damn neat.
I think marking these sites with "advertisement" is only going to confuse people. I would assume that the person using that tag was paid to do so. Or that it's like a sponsored link sort of thing.
This said I would totally shill for products on metafilter if the price was right. Bids start at $5. Line up to the left please. (I kid!) (I think. Depends on how much people bid.)
posted by cjorgensen at 7:13 PM on October 2, 2011
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name, but no one recognized me -- I didn't look the same...
posted by crunchland at 7:16 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by crunchland at 7:16 PM on October 2, 2011
Advance disclosure that a post is about an ad makes it easier for those who so wish to ignore it and move on.
I'm a person who on the whole really doesn't like advertising very much, and when I get conned into experiencing advertising that I wasn't expecting I really don't like it. I'm aware that mine is not a view shared by everyone and that some people quite genuinely want to share ads from time to time that they find particularly interesting.
Even so, I can understand how the complaint got made and after seeing the complainer get told to fuck off in that way I very nearly chimed in agreeing with the complaint. Somehow I realised in time that this would have only been a further thread-shit and so posted this instead.
posted by motty at 7:18 PM on October 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
I'm a person who on the whole really doesn't like advertising very much, and when I get conned into experiencing advertising that I wasn't expecting I really don't like it. I'm aware that mine is not a view shared by everyone and that some people quite genuinely want to share ads from time to time that they find particularly interesting.
Even so, I can understand how the complaint got made and after seeing the complainer get told to fuck off in that way I very nearly chimed in agreeing with the complaint. Somehow I realised in time that this would have only been a further thread-shit and so posted this instead.
posted by motty at 7:18 PM on October 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
Metafilter is probably not a safe place for people that are unduly traumatized by marketing.
posted by empath at 7:20 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by empath at 7:20 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
There is no safe place for people who are unduly traumatised by marketing.
posted by motty at 7:24 PM on October 2, 2011 [13 favorites]
posted by motty at 7:24 PM on October 2, 2011 [13 favorites]
Advance disclosure that a post is about an ad makes it easier for those who so wish to ignore it and move on
I don't disagree that it should work that way, but I feel like you might as well be saying that waving a red cape in front of a bull should be a signal to him that it's one of those matadors that he hates so much, and he should just turn around and walk away.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:29 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
I don't disagree that it should work that way, but I feel like you might as well be saying that waving a red cape in front of a bull should be a signal to him that it's one of those matadors that he hates so much, and he should just turn around and walk away.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:29 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
There's always going to be somebody, somewhere, who has twisted knickers about anything posted.
posted by crunchland at 7:33 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by crunchland at 7:33 PM on October 2, 2011
There's always going to be someone who doesn't wear knickers.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:37 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:37 PM on October 2, 2011
Present.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:38 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 7:38 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
But your wear diapers.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:40 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:40 PM on October 2, 2011
So that's why they call you Meatbomb.
posted by troll at 7:41 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by troll at 7:41 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I liked the dancing bears.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:03 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 8:03 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Avoiding those fucking mystery meat posts would also help.
posted by LarryC at 8:46 PM on October 2, 2011 [9 favorites]
posted by LarryC at 8:46 PM on October 2, 2011 [9 favorites]
Dubstep is underground?
posted by loriginedumonde at 8:52 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by loriginedumonde at 8:52 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
FWIW, you can't even buy the product being sold in America, nor will the ad ever be seen here. I'm sorry if any UK readers accidentally purchase that terrible cereal or start to enjoy brostep as a result of that post, however.
Where exactly is "here"? While I understand that the majority of MetaFilter folks are from the States, it would be nice to remember sometimes that there is no here here on MetaFilter.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:05 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Where exactly is "here"? While I understand that the majority of MetaFilter folks are from the States, it would be nice to remember sometimes that there is no here here on MetaFilter.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:05 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Also: I thought it was a dubious post for MetaFilter (a direct link to advertising? really?) but I just moved on. Lots more to do on this site.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:06 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 9:06 PM on October 2, 2011
There's always going to be somebody, somewhere, who has twisted knickers about anything posted.
I would like the mods to ban all posting and commenting from the site. I am personally in favor of the professional blue screen. Your comments and posts are interfereing with my zen calm. Cease forthwith.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:09 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I would like the mods to ban all posting and commenting from the site. I am personally in favor of the professional blue screen. Your comments and posts are interfereing with my zen calm. Cease forthwith.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:09 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Dubstep is underground?
I guess not as much any more.
It's been weird to watch one underground drug music scene after another get recycled by the mainstream.
My first exposure to dubstep was in 2003 or so, literally in an underground club, a dingy basement of a warehouse with weed smoke so thick you could feel it, and 40 people just nodding their heads and kind of haphazardly attempting to dance to it. Dubstep was considered too druggy and weird by most RAVERS in 2003. Think about that for a second.
Now they're using the shit to sell children's cereal.
posted by empath at 9:09 PM on October 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
I guess not as much any more.
It's been weird to watch one underground drug music scene after another get recycled by the mainstream.
My first exposure to dubstep was in 2003 or so, literally in an underground club, a dingy basement of a warehouse with weed smoke so thick you could feel it, and 40 people just nodding their heads and kind of haphazardly attempting to dance to it. Dubstep was considered too druggy and weird by most RAVERS in 2003. Think about that for a second.
Now they're using the shit to sell children's cereal.
posted by empath at 9:09 PM on October 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
You know who does like Adverts? Bored Teenagers!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:23 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:23 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Most people have pretty boring taste in music in general, but that's got nothing to do with anything. Dubstep until recently was an underground scene even among people who were into underground dance music. It really wasn't until 2008 or so that dubstep passed even Drum and Bass in popularity in the US, and that had been an underground scene since the 90s and had been on a long steady decline for years. The speed at which dubstep went from being a niche of a niche scene in the US to the dominant dance music genre was pretty incredible.
posted by empath at 9:25 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by empath at 9:25 PM on October 2, 2011
Zero context blind link to a wildly annoying cereal advertisement video? Really?
posted by longsleeves at 9:25 PM on October 2, 2011
posted by longsleeves at 9:25 PM on October 2, 2011
Advance disclosure that a post is about an ad makes it easier for those who so wish to ignore it and move on
I see nothing particularly negative about coming up with a convention along the lines of SLYT for FPPs that link to ADs. Indeed, I'd quite appreciate them as I generally fall into the HATE ADVERTISING WITH A PASSION club, particularly when it tries to sneak up on me in some clever way. Life's too short and noisy already, thank you very much.
Or as longsleeves just put it: "Zero context blind link to a wildly annoying cereal advertisement video? Really?"
Yeah the little girl's cute (and the teddy bears) and dubstep's so cool it's gonna save the world, but in the end, they're selling sugar to children. F*** 'em.
posted by philip-random at 9:30 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
I see nothing particularly negative about coming up with a convention along the lines of SLYT for FPPs that link to ADs. Indeed, I'd quite appreciate them as I generally fall into the HATE ADVERTISING WITH A PASSION club, particularly when it tries to sneak up on me in some clever way. Life's too short and noisy already, thank you very much.
Or as longsleeves just put it: "Zero context blind link to a wildly annoying cereal advertisement video? Really?"
Yeah the little girl's cute (and the teddy bears) and dubstep's so cool it's gonna save the world, but in the end, they're selling sugar to children. F*** 'em.
posted by philip-random at 9:30 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Here's how you can really stick it to them: Enjoy the ad without any guilt and then don't buy the product. It's almost like you're stealing money from them.
posted by empath at 9:31 PM on October 2, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by empath at 9:31 PM on October 2, 2011 [7 favorites]
You know, deleted threads are still viewed by a significant amount of the community and comments in them still garner favorites (data wankerey on this would be awesome). It seems to me that this is part of the motivation that even longtime users have for taking that slick stinky dump on the site.
It would send a clearer message that no matter how bad you think the FPP is the appropriate thing to do is flag, email, or meta if threadshitting comments were themselves deleted regardless of the ultimate fate of the post. Otherwise those comments appear to stand in the deleted thread justifying the deletion and themselves thus perpetuating the fecal presents.
For what its worth, I flagged it
posted by Blasdelb at 9:32 PM on October 2, 2011
It would send a clearer message that no matter how bad you think the FPP is the appropriate thing to do is flag, email, or meta if threadshitting comments were themselves deleted regardless of the ultimate fate of the post. Otherwise those comments appear to stand in the deleted thread justifying the deletion and themselves thus perpetuating the fecal presents.
For what its worth, I flagged it
posted by Blasdelb at 9:32 PM on October 2, 2011
I guess Max Headroom was right. Apparently, advertisements do make some people's heads explode.
posted by crunchland at 9:35 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by crunchland at 9:35 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I guess all those dubstep kids in warehouse-Williamsburg were right when they were going on and on about how dubstep is the music of the future and how everyone is going to be listening to and dancing to dubstep because it's the most advanced form of music or whatever. Ok dubstep kids, I see it now. Y'all were right about dubstep. It is the music of the future.
Also, I discovered Wheetabix a month or so ago and I still haven't been able to make it through a whole box. Is it really made out of the floor sweepings from other cereal factories, pressed together like scrapped cars?
posted by fuq at 9:41 PM on October 2, 2011
Also, I discovered Wheetabix a month or so ago and I still haven't been able to make it through a whole box. Is it really made out of the floor sweepings from other cereal factories, pressed together like scrapped cars?
posted by fuq at 9:41 PM on October 2, 2011
You can't even see tags on the front page.
No, but people can add those tags to their My Mefi and never see them as a result.
posted by dobbs at 9:49 PM on October 2, 2011
No, but people can add those tags to their My Mefi and never see them as a result.
posted by dobbs at 9:49 PM on October 2, 2011
Funny thing is there is plenty of sawtooth and keyboard techo pop from the late 90s that sounds a lot like dubstep. It's not really anything particularly revolutionary sounding. To proclaim it as some kind of unprecedented trend or something is overselling it a bit.
The sawtooth synths and whatever 'keyboard techno pop' is isn't from dubstep, that's primarily from early 2000s electro and D&B. What primarily signifies dubstep is the 2-step drum pattern and 65-70 bpm tempo, which is a template that lots of producers from other genres have used to build on. People use dubstep as a catch-all genre like 'techno' used to be because they don't know what dubstep is.
This, this and this are dubstep.
This is not.
Even though a lot of people think stuff like the last track is, because some of the synths are the same synths that get used in dubstep tracks, but if it's got a 4 to the floor 130 bpm drum pattern, it is NOT dubstep.
posted by empath at 10:02 PM on October 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
The sawtooth synths and whatever 'keyboard techno pop' is isn't from dubstep, that's primarily from early 2000s electro and D&B. What primarily signifies dubstep is the 2-step drum pattern and 65-70 bpm tempo, which is a template that lots of producers from other genres have used to build on. People use dubstep as a catch-all genre like 'techno' used to be because they don't know what dubstep is.
This, this and this are dubstep.
This is not.
Even though a lot of people think stuff like the last track is, because some of the synths are the same synths that get used in dubstep tracks, but if it's got a 4 to the floor 130 bpm drum pattern, it is NOT dubstep.
posted by empath at 10:02 PM on October 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
'On today's program you will hear Gospel, and Rhythm and Blues, and Jazz. All these are just labels, we know that music is music.'
Jesse Jackson, as sampled by Primal Scream about 20 years ago.
posted by philip-random at 10:27 PM on October 2, 2011
Jesse Jackson, as sampled by Primal Scream about 20 years ago.
posted by philip-random at 10:27 PM on October 2, 2011
> FWIW, you can't even buy the product being sold in America, nor will the ad ever be seen here.
Where exactly is "here"? While I understand that the majority of MetaFilter folks are from the States, it would be nice to remember sometimes that there is no here here on MetaFilter.
"Here" in that sentence was "America". Which isn't rampant US-centricism in the case of that sentence so much as basic syntactic agreement: "America" is the antecedent, "here" was a reference back to it, and the speaker is presumed from context to be there, in America. That's not an assertion that that there is the only there there is or the only there that matters; it's only an assertion that that there is the there where the speaker is.
As much as I am for folks being aware of the world beyond their own neighborhood, I don't think it's over the line for people to be individually aware of their own location, or to refer to it, or even to occasionally refer to it more than once in a sentence using the repetition-subverting placeholder "here".
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:38 PM on October 2, 2011 [19 favorites]
Where exactly is "here"? While I understand that the majority of MetaFilter folks are from the States, it would be nice to remember sometimes that there is no here here on MetaFilter.
"Here" in that sentence was "America". Which isn't rampant US-centricism in the case of that sentence so much as basic syntactic agreement: "America" is the antecedent, "here" was a reference back to it, and the speaker is presumed from context to be there, in America. That's not an assertion that that there is the only there there is or the only there that matters; it's only an assertion that that there is the there where the speaker is.
As much as I am for folks being aware of the world beyond their own neighborhood, I don't think it's over the line for people to be individually aware of their own location, or to refer to it, or even to occasionally refer to it more than once in a sentence using the repetition-subverting placeholder "here".
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:38 PM on October 2, 2011 [19 favorites]
I would like the mods to ban all posting and commenting from the site. I am personally in favor of the professional blue screen.
Metafilter blue!
posted by chavenet at 3:15 AM on October 3, 2011
Metafilter blue!
posted by chavenet at 3:15 AM on October 3, 2011
It's been weird to watch one underground drug music scene after another get recycled by the mainstream.
First they ignore it, then they laugh at it, then they fight it, then it wins; and in winning, it loses because it's no longer perceived as edgy and rebellious. This is how popular music has always worked. There's a reason that Baptists being opposed to sex because it might lead to dancing is a tired old joke.
posted by flabdablet at 4:43 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
First they ignore it, then they laugh at it, then they fight it, then it wins; and in winning, it loses because it's no longer perceived as edgy and rebellious. This is how popular music has always worked. There's a reason that Baptists being opposed to sex because it might lead to dancing is a tired old joke.
posted by flabdablet at 4:43 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
I can't stand "original" dubstep, but I love, love, love faster-tempo and more musically complex stuff that appropriates some of its sounds and conventions, especially the drop.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:48 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:48 AM on October 3, 2011
Meh. I thought it was fine...though it had made the rounds on FB about a week ago.
posted by schyler523 at 5:08 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by schyler523 at 5:08 AM on October 3, 2011
I hit Random by accident this morning and got this sleazy corporate shill.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:11 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by Wolfdog at 5:11 AM on October 3, 2011
I like dub reggae. And so, sometimes, people are like, 'Hey, you should listen to dubstep.' And, like, huh?
posted by box at 5:13 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by box at 5:13 AM on October 3, 2011
Zero context blind link to a wildly annoying cereal advertisement video? Really?
Yeah, I can't believe that commercial is still on the front page. What's the "best of" of that? Have people here (on MetaFilter) never seen children's ads before? Because what I could stand of that one looked completely unremarkable.
(Not that "is remarkable" is necessarily grounds for turning ads into posts. Massive mega-corporations have no trouble getting the word out on their products. Metafilter is more about stuff you found in some odd corner and might get lost in the shuffle otherwise. Thus the "filter".)
posted by DU at 5:28 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I can't believe that commercial is still on the front page. What's the "best of" of that? Have people here (on MetaFilter) never seen children's ads before? Because what I could stand of that one looked completely unremarkable.
(Not that "is remarkable" is necessarily grounds for turning ads into posts. Massive mega-corporations have no trouble getting the word out on their products. Metafilter is more about stuff you found in some odd corner and might get lost in the shuffle otherwise. Thus the "filter".)
posted by DU at 5:28 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah, there was no reason to make the post blind like that. "This substance" deliberately hides what the post is about for no good reason. Why not just say "Enjoying a bowl of Wheetabix is ideal for dubstep" instead of hiding what the post is about?
I like some mystery meat posts, but this one seems weirdly mysterious.
posted by mediareport at 5:47 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
I like some mystery meat posts, but this one seems weirdly mysterious.
posted by mediareport at 5:47 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I can't believe that commercial is still on the front page. What's the "best of" of that?
If you like dubstep or good breakdancing and are a fan of WTF marketing decisions, it's a decent way to spend less than one minute of your day, imo.
posted by empath at 5:47 AM on October 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
If you like dubstep or good breakdancing and are a fan of WTF marketing decisions, it's a decent way to spend less than one minute of your day, imo.
posted by empath at 5:47 AM on October 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
"Enjoying a bowl of Wheetabix is ideal for dubstep"
Because it was a joke about weed.
posted by empath at 5:48 AM on October 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
Because it was a joke about weed.
posted by empath at 5:48 AM on October 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
First they ignore it, then they laugh at it, then they fight it, then it wins; and in winning, it loses because it's no longer perceived as edgy and rebellious. This is how popular music has always worked
William Gibson has theorized this cycle is speeding up as the mainstream expands and acquires scenes before they have a chance to develop so the concept of underground vs mainstream ( I:e this will never be used to sell sugar to children) is moot.
posted by The Whelk at 6:21 AM on October 3, 2011
William Gibson has theorized this cycle is speeding up as the mainstream expands and acquires scenes before they have a chance to develop so the concept of underground vs mainstream ( I:e this will never be used to sell sugar to children) is moot.
posted by The Whelk at 6:21 AM on October 3, 2011
"...there is no here here on MetaFilter."
This explains my sense of geographic dissonance.
posted by HuronBob at 6:38 AM on October 3, 2011
This explains my sense of geographic dissonance.
posted by HuronBob at 6:38 AM on October 3, 2011
Yeah, I got you were joking about weed. It's kinda silly to go into this further, since it didn't really bug me, but something like "Enjoying a bowl* is ideal for dubstep" *of Wheetabix or something would've avoided the mystery, which on top of the ad is what seems to have bugged other folks.
posted by mediareport at 6:42 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by mediareport at 6:42 AM on October 3, 2011
a continuum running from people who actually work in advertising at one end, up to those who think that advertising is an intrinsic evil that should be eradicated
Is it still a continuum when there are so many people who can be described by both of those statements?
posted by dersins at 6:47 AM on October 3, 2011
Is it still a continuum when there are so many people who can be described by both of those statements?
posted by dersins at 6:47 AM on October 3, 2011
philip-random: " I see nothing particularly negative about coming up with a convention along the lines of SLYT for FPPs that link to ADs."
We sort of already have one: "Pepsi Blue."
motty: "Advance disclosure that a post is about an ad makes it easier for those who so wish to ignore it and move on."
I add an "X Blue" to the tags of my posts when they're ads. But speaking solely for myself, I'm not going further than that unless a compelling case is made for why I should do so, sorry. My impression of the handful of users who are so annoyed by ads that they feel compelled to complain about them on Metafilter is that they're going to complain (and in some cases threadshit) whether a post contains a warning or not. And of course, there are those users who have an axe to grind about a particular company who will threadshit no matter how an FPP is constructed.
In contrast, I think it's good to add a label if a post contains potentially traumatic material. But a general warning for advertisments doesn't really seem necessary, does it?
Another question is where you would want to draw the line. Are we talking about outright ads? Links to things that are interesting, but also for sale? Many posts link to someone selling something, even if that's not overt.
posted by zarq at 7:06 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
We sort of already have one: "Pepsi Blue."
motty: "Advance disclosure that a post is about an ad makes it easier for those who so wish to ignore it and move on."
I add an "X Blue" to the tags of my posts when they're ads. But speaking solely for myself, I'm not going further than that unless a compelling case is made for why I should do so, sorry. My impression of the handful of users who are so annoyed by ads that they feel compelled to complain about them on Metafilter is that they're going to complain (and in some cases threadshit) whether a post contains a warning or not. And of course, there are those users who have an axe to grind about a particular company who will threadshit no matter how an FPP is constructed.
In contrast, I think it's good to add a label if a post contains potentially traumatic material. But a general warning for advertisments doesn't really seem necessary, does it?
Another question is where you would want to draw the line. Are we talking about outright ads? Links to things that are interesting, but also for sale? Many posts link to someone selling something, even if that's not overt.
posted by zarq at 7:06 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Is it still a continuum when there are so many people who can be described by both of those statements?
It all works out once you realize that Euclid was a hipster and much of his work was intended ironically.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:13 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
It all works out once you realize that Euclid was a hipster and much of his work was intended ironically.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:13 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
You can buy Weetabix in the US. I have bought it at Trader Joe's, and I've seen it at Safeway. Data point: I am in the US.
posted by rtha at 7:25 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by rtha at 7:25 AM on October 3, 2011
That commercial is ridiculously great.
posted by cashman at 7:29 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cashman at 7:29 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
OK, so pretend I'm ignorant of everything. (Because I am.) What is dubstep? Is it a music style or a dance style? I went searching and found some very cool videos of people dancing in faux slow motion, plus a neat video about smoke/bubble rings that I made an FPP of, but I haven't been able to figure out what makes dubstep dubstep.
posted by KathrynT at 7:36 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by KathrynT at 7:36 AM on October 3, 2011
What is dubstep?
It's a sub-genre of electronic dance music. I have a hard time with the granularity appied to sub-genres in dance music -- my daughter is a huge fan, and has tried to get me to understand the nuances that set it apart from other dance-club electronic music, but I can't see it even if I squint. koeselitz seems to know his way around this stuff really well.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:47 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's a sub-genre of electronic dance music. I have a hard time with the granularity appied to sub-genres in dance music -- my daughter is a huge fan, and has tried to get me to understand the nuances that set it apart from other dance-club electronic music, but I can't see it even if I squint. koeselitz seems to know his way around this stuff really well.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:47 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
OK, so pretend I'm ignorant of everything. (Because I am.) What is dubstep?
It's basically half-tempo 2-step garage with additional electro and drum & bass influences.
I'm sure that clarified it not at all :)
Here's a history of dubstep/garage fpp I made a while back.
And another comment I made more focused on dubstep in particular.
posted by empath at 7:54 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
It's basically half-tempo 2-step garage with additional electro and drum & bass influences.
I'm sure that clarified it not at all :)
Here's a history of dubstep/garage fpp I made a while back.
And another comment I made more focused on dubstep in particular.
posted by empath at 7:54 AM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
I like dub reggae . And so, sometimes, people are like, 'Hey, you should listen to dubstep.' And, like, huh?
Speaking as a huge fan of dub, that maks perfect sense if the people are talking about proper dubstep, as opposed to more recent brostep. Or 'bixstep, as I'll be calling it from now on.
It's not like the 'dub' in 'dubstep' is there by accident - in terms of rhythm, production techniques (reverb and echo abuse), sonic elements (especially snare sounds) it's a fairly direct descendent of good old Jamaican dub.
I used to play at a club devoted to early dubstep, grime - before that name was settled and all sorts of daft names like eskibeat, sublow and 8-bar were swirling around - and for the first couple of hours we'd play those genres alongside dub and dancehall, with the whole thing sounding pretty seamless (I hope!).
> but I haven't been able to figure out what makes dubstep dubstep.
Now, it's a pretty nebulous term applied to anything with deranged hooting synth basslines and a drop every 30 seconds. From the late '90s to, I dunno, around 2007 it referred to dark, sparse, dissonant electronic music with an emphasis on driving basslines and syncopated rhythms at 140BPM, mostly made by producers from South London and Croydon.
The Wikipedia entry is actually really good on what sets dubstep apart from other genres.
posted by jack_mo at 7:55 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
Speaking as a huge fan of dub, that maks perfect sense if the people are talking about proper dubstep, as opposed to more recent brostep. Or 'bixstep, as I'll be calling it from now on.
It's not like the 'dub' in 'dubstep' is there by accident - in terms of rhythm, production techniques (reverb and echo abuse), sonic elements (especially snare sounds) it's a fairly direct descendent of good old Jamaican dub.
I used to play at a club devoted to early dubstep, grime - before that name was settled and all sorts of daft names like eskibeat, sublow and 8-bar were swirling around - and for the first couple of hours we'd play those genres alongside dub and dancehall, with the whole thing sounding pretty seamless (I hope!).
> but I haven't been able to figure out what makes dubstep dubstep.
Now, it's a pretty nebulous term applied to anything with deranged hooting synth basslines and a drop every 30 seconds. From the late '90s to, I dunno, around 2007 it referred to dark, sparse, dissonant electronic music with an emphasis on driving basslines and syncopated rhythms at 140BPM, mostly made by producers from South London and Croydon.
The Wikipedia entry is actually really good on what sets dubstep apart from other genres.
posted by jack_mo at 7:55 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
Seriously, it's easy to tell what dubstep is. If it sounds like rave music but at 70bpm, it's dubstep.
If it sounds like a cat with it's tail caught in a garbage disposal, it's Skrillex.
posted by empath at 7:55 AM on October 3, 2011
If it sounds like a cat with it's tail caught in a garbage disposal, it's Skrillex.
posted by empath at 7:55 AM on October 3, 2011
I've never heard of this dubstep shit. I'm not sure whether to feel out-of-it, lucky or both. I have no opinion on Weetabix. As for Adverts, "Gary Gilmores Eyes" was a great song but I don't think it could sustain a whole post.
posted by jonmc at 8:00 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 8:00 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
Seriously, it's easy to tell what dubstep is. If it sounds like rave music but at 70bpm, it's dubstep.
140BPM, surely? Depends on whether you're listening to the drums or the bass I suppose.
If it sounds like a cat with it's tail caught in a garbage disposal, it's Skrillex.
Hee! That really does sum up the brostep synth palette. Though as a fan of all sorts of explicitly stupid dance music - am listening to this camp monstosity as I type - I don't think the cat in pain sound is a bad thing.
posted by jack_mo at 8:06 AM on October 3, 2011
140BPM, surely? Depends on whether you're listening to the drums or the bass I suppose.
If it sounds like a cat with it's tail caught in a garbage disposal, it's Skrillex.
Hee! That really does sum up the brostep synth palette. Though as a fan of all sorts of explicitly stupid dance music - am listening to this camp monstosity as I type - I don't think the cat in pain sound is a bad thing.
posted by jack_mo at 8:06 AM on October 3, 2011
Because it was a joke about weed.
My god, I'm getting old. I just got that now. Duh.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:21 AM on October 3, 2011
My god, I'm getting old. I just got that now. Duh.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:21 AM on October 3, 2011
140BPM, surely? Depends on whether you're listening to the drums or the bass I suppose.
When you're mixing records, you generally go by the snares and the kicks. Though obviously you can mix dubstep tracks with tracks at 140bpm.
posted by empath at 8:29 AM on October 3, 2011
When you're mixing records, you generally go by the snares and the kicks. Though obviously you can mix dubstep tracks with tracks at 140bpm.
posted by empath at 8:29 AM on October 3, 2011
For example: Snares in dance music always hit on 2s and 4s.
For that track to be at 140, you'd have to count the snares as 3s, and dance music just doesn't work that way.
posted by empath at 8:31 AM on October 3, 2011
For that track to be at 140, you'd have to count the snares as 3s, and dance music just doesn't work that way.
posted by empath at 8:31 AM on October 3, 2011
(though that is one of the interesting aspects of dubstep because you can actually dance to it at different speeds -- D&B was the same way, you could dance at 160 or 80, depending on the bassline...)
posted by empath at 8:33 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by empath at 8:33 AM on October 3, 2011
Anything that helps me post the tired old Bill Hicks anti-advertising rant in more threads has to be good.
So over. Next time trot out (trot? more like Hoxhaist, amirite?) Stockhausen Serves Imperialism and look like you're trying, at least.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:34 AM on October 3, 2011
So over. Next time trot out (trot? more like Hoxhaist, amirite?) Stockhausen Serves Imperialism and look like you're trying, at least.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:34 AM on October 3, 2011
The word "garage" is kind of funny. It's the name of two subgenres that, as far as I can tell, bear no relation to one another.
posted by roll truck roll at 8:37 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by roll truck roll at 8:37 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
it would be nice to remember sometimes that there is no here here on MetaFilter.
That's what you may think, Human. But I find the vast majority of threads here are incredibly Earth-centric and are hardly ever targeted or even really address the outlying planets and the creatures who lurk in the cold darkness of the in-between.
And yes, the Flesh-Reavers who want to destroy your civilizations, enslave the world's peoples, and force them to build cyclopean architectural nightmares filled with madness might be Mefites too, underrepresented though they may be.
posted by quin at 8:43 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
That's what you may think, Human. But I find the vast majority of threads here are incredibly Earth-centric and are hardly ever targeted or even really address the outlying planets and the creatures who lurk in the cold darkness of the in-between.
And yes, the Flesh-Reavers who want to destroy your civilizations, enslave the world's peoples, and force them to build cyclopean architectural nightmares filled with madness might be Mefites too, underrepresented though they may be.
posted by quin at 8:43 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
The word "garage" is kind of funny. It's the name of two subgenres that, as far as I can tell, bear no relation to one another.
Garage is called that because it's the kind of music that was played at the Paradise Garage in New York, just like House got its name from the Warehouse in Chicago.
posted by empath at 9:03 AM on October 3, 2011
Garage is called that because it's the kind of music that was played at the Paradise Garage in New York, just like House got its name from the Warehouse in Chicago.
posted by empath at 9:03 AM on October 3, 2011
Yea, if you say "garage", I think of this.
posted by octothorpe at 9:09 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 9:09 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can we all just focus in on the issue that mystery meat posts suck ass? Because they do.
posted by GuyZero at 9:53 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 9:53 AM on October 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
No they don't and this wasn't really much of a mystery meat post either. It was obviously about dubstep and was a funny youtube video of some kind. I can't imagine 99% of the people itt who are bothered by it enjoying anything in those categories, so maybe you could just...have a bowl of cereal and move on with your afternoon?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:00 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:00 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Coincidentally, Weetabix is made from UK's leftover mystery meat. Or it certainly tastes like it.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:09 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:09 AM on October 3, 2011
Can we all just focus in on the issue that mystery meat posts suck ass?
Unless it was actually a post about mystery meat. That'd be cool.
posted by jonmc at 10:19 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Unless it was actually a post about mystery meat. That'd be cool.
posted by jonmc at 10:19 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
You can buy Weetabix in the US. I have bought it at Trader Joe's, and I've seen it at Safeway. Data point: I am in the US.
There's a Weetabix USA. Whether or not they sell the chocolatey stuff I have no idea.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:20 AM on October 3, 2011
There's a Weetabix USA. Whether or not they sell the chocolatey stuff I have no idea.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:20 AM on October 3, 2011
This has not always been the case, however, and smuggling illicit Weetabix into the US from Canada was a plot point in James Blaylock's novel The Last Coin.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:29 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by Wolfdog at 10:29 AM on October 3, 2011
Eh, I have friends from Texas smuggle me Shiner Bock when they go home.
posted by jonmc at 10:56 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by jonmc at 10:56 AM on October 3, 2011
I have found that Weetabix tends to drive my stool too far down the British stool scale to suggest that is is healthful. Regular consumption over a fortnightly period moves me from my regular 4 to a nasty 6. I advise against it.
posted by biffa at 10:59 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 10:59 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is environmental regulation in New York really so strict that smuggling is necessary? You can't just pour it down the drain at home?
posted by Wolfdog at 11:17 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 11:17 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
We need an FPP about the British Stool Scale. There has to be something interesting on the web about it.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:43 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:43 AM on October 3, 2011
The British have a stool scale? That is the best argument to go metric that I have ever heard.
posted by maryr at 11:44 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by maryr at 11:44 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's the Bristol Stool Scale.
posted by goo
Please don't make me say it.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:25 PM on October 3, 2011
posted by goo
Please don't make me say it.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:25 PM on October 3, 2011
Wow, someone actually told me to fuck off over that?
Advertisers make viral ads to get people to go "hey, look at this funny commercial!" and post them on communities like Metafilter, getting more eyeballs than they would through ordinary non-viral ads. By posting these ads, we're doing their work for them.
I came to Metafilter because compared to other online communities, there really isn't very much of that bullshit. Posting viral ads feels like a step down a slippery slope, one where at the end this site is Metafilter only in name.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:03 PM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Advertisers make viral ads to get people to go "hey, look at this funny commercial!" and post them on communities like Metafilter, getting more eyeballs than they would through ordinary non-viral ads. By posting these ads, we're doing their work for them.
I came to Metafilter because compared to other online communities, there really isn't very much of that bullshit. Posting viral ads feels like a step down a slippery slope, one where at the end this site is Metafilter only in name.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:03 PM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
I came to Metafilter because compared to other online communities, there really isn't very much of that bullshit. Posting viral ads feels like a step down a slippery slope, one where at the end this site is Metafilter only in name.
I mostly come here because generally people are able to post about anything that they find interesting, even when its stuff that I don't like or that annoys me.
posted by empath at 1:21 PM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
I mostly come here because generally people are able to post about anything that they find interesting, even when its stuff that I don't like or that annoys me.
posted by empath at 1:21 PM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's the Bristol Stool Scale.
Thanks for that. I will now always reflect on the British Stool Scale when confronted with viral advertising. Which type is it?
Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts (hard to pass)
Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)
Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces. Entirely liquid
In the case of the current dubstep Wheatabix specimen, I'm thinking #5.
posted by philip-random at 1:25 PM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Thanks for that. I will now always reflect on the British Stool Scale when confronted with viral advertising. Which type is it?
Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts (hard to pass)
Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)
Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces. Entirely liquid
In the case of the current dubstep Wheatabix specimen, I'm thinking #5.
posted by philip-random at 1:25 PM on October 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
In passing, I'd like to note that the Bristol Stool Scale appears to omit the situation where it comes out as perfect little rounded cubes, passed with no difficulty at all. This has only happened to me once or twice, and not for many years, but it's not a thing you easily forget.
posted by motty at 1:29 PM on October 3, 2011
posted by motty at 1:29 PM on October 3, 2011
In passing,
i see what you did there.
I note there is not category for tracer corn.
posted by empath at 1:39 PM on October 3, 2011
i see what you did there.
I note there is not category for tracer corn.
posted by empath at 1:39 PM on October 3, 2011
I thought the "Bowl of this substance" joke was good, but I don't like mystery meat that turns out to be an ad.
posted by dunkadunc at 2:27 PM on October 3, 2011
posted by dunkadunc at 2:27 PM on October 3, 2011
In the case of the current dubstep Wheatabix specimen, I'm thinking #5.
Just add milk!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:39 PM on October 3, 2011
Just add milk!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:39 PM on October 3, 2011
Even though I use it myself from time to time, I'm getting tired of the word "brostep".
I'm just going to start calling dubstep I like "Dubstep" and dubstep I don't like "Country and Western"
posted by tehloki at 4:12 PM on October 3, 2011
I'm just going to start calling dubstep I like "Dubstep" and dubstep I don't like "Country and Western"
posted by tehloki at 4:12 PM on October 3, 2011
Everything is an ad. If you post a music video, are you advertising that video? If you post about some hip new indie game, are you trying to drive up its Steam sales?
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:41 PM on October 3, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:41 PM on October 3, 2011
Though I get literally traumatized by dance music, so maybe I shouldn't talk.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:42 PM on October 3, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:42 PM on October 3, 2011
I don't necessarily want to be the guy that clings tenaciously to the old meaning of a word, but if it's an indie game, what's it doing on Steam? Isn't that like an indie musician recording for MCA/Universal or somebody?
posted by box at 6:38 AM on October 4, 2011
posted by box at 6:38 AM on October 4, 2011
Isn't that like an indie musician recording for MCA/Universal or somebody?
What, like you approach Steam for distribution and you get to talk to a couple of sunglasses-indoors dudes in slick suits who are all, baby, we, love love love the game, it's perfect, we're so excited about it, just a couple things: "Mario"? Not hot on the Italian thing, plumbers don't sell, we're thinking he's a ex-Green Beret from Little Rock, born and bred, maybe he's got a wife at home, maybe she was murdered? By druglords? Yeah, so, let's nudge it in that direction. Also, the collecting-coins thing is out, it's too done. Let's do something with shooting, guns are big, let's have some guns and get away from the block-breaking. Great, great, tweak those bits and I think we'll really have something that'll sell....
Steam's a publishing and distribution platform that aside from being a huge win for Valve internally as a sales platform and for a lot of major-title distribution for third parties has also been really explicitly involved in publishing indie stuff in a way that wasn't really happening so much before they got into it; while they're not the only platform available to indie devs (and, further, nothing says a dev can't just self-publish their games if they're willing to jump through the hoops to do so or aren't worried about trying to make a buck in the process), it's a fairly attractive platform for a lot of folks because it's a space designed to service smaller developers that would not likely have a venue for publishing with the traditional big publishers that had a lot more of a death-grip on content ten years ago.
If they're recording an album and then MCA offers to do relatively hands-off stocking and shipping of that album for a flat cut with no creative interference, sure, it's kind of like that. Steams not exactly a zine stand, but if I were an indie dev looking to sell my game out they're exactly what I'd aim for.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:48 AM on October 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
What, like you approach Steam for distribution and you get to talk to a couple of sunglasses-indoors dudes in slick suits who are all, baby, we, love love love the game, it's perfect, we're so excited about it, just a couple things: "Mario"? Not hot on the Italian thing, plumbers don't sell, we're thinking he's a ex-Green Beret from Little Rock, born and bred, maybe he's got a wife at home, maybe she was murdered? By druglords? Yeah, so, let's nudge it in that direction. Also, the collecting-coins thing is out, it's too done. Let's do something with shooting, guns are big, let's have some guns and get away from the block-breaking. Great, great, tweak those bits and I think we'll really have something that'll sell....
Steam's a publishing and distribution platform that aside from being a huge win for Valve internally as a sales platform and for a lot of major-title distribution for third parties has also been really explicitly involved in publishing indie stuff in a way that wasn't really happening so much before they got into it; while they're not the only platform available to indie devs (and, further, nothing says a dev can't just self-publish their games if they're willing to jump through the hoops to do so or aren't worried about trying to make a buck in the process), it's a fairly attractive platform for a lot of folks because it's a space designed to service smaller developers that would not likely have a venue for publishing with the traditional big publishers that had a lot more of a death-grip on content ten years ago.
If they're recording an album and then MCA offers to do relatively hands-off stocking and shipping of that album for a flat cut with no creative interference, sure, it's kind of like that. Steams not exactly a zine stand, but if I were an indie dev looking to sell my game out they're exactly what I'd aim for.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:48 AM on October 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
Thanks for the additional information, cortex--I think I've been misinformed about Steam.
posted by box at 8:15 AM on October 4, 2011
posted by box at 8:15 AM on October 4, 2011
Advertisers make viral ads to get people to go "hey, look at this funny commercial!" and post them on communities like Metafilter, getting more eyeballs than they would through ordinary non-viral ads. By posting these ads, we're doing their work for them.
This isn't a 'viral ad' per se - it was made for and broadcast on UK television. I know, I've been working on it in my day job for a good while.
Though I am contractually obliged not to have a publically-expressable opinion on it, mind. Or Weetabix.
posted by mippy at 10:13 AM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
This isn't a 'viral ad' per se - it was made for and broadcast on UK television. I know, I've been working on it in my day job for a good while.
Though I am contractually obliged not to have a publically-expressable opinion on it, mind. Or Weetabix.
posted by mippy at 10:13 AM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I mean, it may have gone viral, but not purposefully - there's no benefit to, for example, this getting US exposure if you can't buy the stuff over there.
posted by mippy at 10:14 AM on October 4, 2011
posted by mippy at 10:14 AM on October 4, 2011
You actually worked on that particular ad? :) Nice job. It doesn't make me want to buy weetabix, mind, but it's an excellent ad.
posted by empath at 10:18 AM on October 4, 2011
posted by empath at 10:18 AM on October 4, 2011
There's big value to US exposure if US folks like what they see and alert various "friends" who may be anywhere that the interwebs reach, including good ole England. This actually becomes the textbook definition of viral -- something that spreads any darned way it can.
posted by philip-random at 10:18 AM on October 4, 2011
posted by philip-random at 10:18 AM on October 4, 2011
empath - I don't make advertising, I'm 'involved' in 'the industry' (have to be a bit cagey but basically I need to watch pretty much every advert that airs in the UK.)
It's viral in the traditional sense, but we understand a 'viral ad' to be something made specifically for the purpose of generating interest through social networks, not something made for prime-time TV spots that had a second life on YouTube etc. By that logic, the Hawaii Chair ad was a 'viral ad', not a poor infomercial that people happened to find funny.
posted by mippy at 10:23 AM on October 4, 2011
It's viral in the traditional sense, but we understand a 'viral ad' to be something made specifically for the purpose of generating interest through social networks, not something made for prime-time TV spots that had a second life on YouTube etc. By that logic, the Hawaii Chair ad was a 'viral ad', not a poor infomercial that people happened to find funny.
posted by mippy at 10:23 AM on October 4, 2011
Gah, my ironic scare-quotes got all mash up with my actual ones. Goddamn.
posted by mippy at 10:23 AM on October 4, 2011
posted by mippy at 10:23 AM on October 4, 2011
I just had a nightmare that I made an single-link FPP to a dream scenario wherein the dreamer attempts to solve a Myst-type mechanical puzzle that resolves into an elaborate viral advertisement upon completion. The text of my FPP was incoherent; only the link worked. The community responded with a flood of violent ascii art and general mockery.
I hope this helps.
posted by troll at 1:02 PM on October 4, 2011
I hope this helps.
posted by troll at 1:02 PM on October 4, 2011
Matt deleted it in seven minutes. The system works.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:13 PM on October 4, 2011
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:13 PM on October 4, 2011
The system works.
Sure, thanks to the fibre in new Weetabix Chocolate Spoonsize.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:24 PM on October 4, 2011
Sure, thanks to the fibre in new Weetabix Chocolate Spoonsize.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:24 PM on October 4, 2011
Gah. That's really super annoying. Viral is viral. It doesn't matter if it was made for broadcast or made intentionally to be 'viral'. If people are choosing to spread it, it's viral. That's what viral is.
You might think that you can deliberately make stuff that is viral but you can't. You can only deliberately make stuff that is 'viral', most of which dies a swift unlamented death. Occasionally something 'viral' manages to be good enough to actually become viral as well as 'viral', but mostly not.
The illusion of control that people like to have is what leads to this confusion between 'viral' and viral, and the ultimate nonsense of denying the viral nature of something not intended to be either 'viral' or viral yet actually existing, virally, in the wild, purely because it was originally intended for broadcast.
I kiss you.
posted by motty at 5:00 PM on October 4, 2011
You might think that you can deliberately make stuff that is viral but you can't. You can only deliberately make stuff that is 'viral', most of which dies a swift unlamented death. Occasionally something 'viral' manages to be good enough to actually become viral as well as 'viral', but mostly not.
The illusion of control that people like to have is what leads to this confusion between 'viral' and viral, and the ultimate nonsense of denying the viral nature of something not intended to be either 'viral' or viral yet actually existing, virally, in the wild, purely because it was originally intended for broadcast.
I kiss you.
posted by motty at 5:00 PM on October 4, 2011
And, you know, sometimes stuff gets passed around because it's just a well done bite sized bit of entertainment, like the Old Spice ads, regardless of whether it's selling a product.
posted by empath at 5:06 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by empath at 5:06 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
If advertisers want to fund fun Flash games or put out records or pay Paul Robertson to do his thing I'm not going to complain.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:10 PM on October 4, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:10 PM on October 4, 2011
Considering how every new OK Go video gets featured on the front page with few complaints, it's really pretty odd for people to complain about this one.
posted by crunchland at 7:38 PM on October 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by crunchland at 7:38 PM on October 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by empath at 6:55 PM on October 2, 2011 [9 favorites]