the MARTINI SHAKER

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Making People Smarter

I spoke to Merlin Mann on the phone the other day. We had a great conversation, and he ended it with an interesting question:

“How do we make people smarter?”

I have a couple of ideas….
(more…)

SXSW 2010: I’m done stewing. Here’s the poop.

My very first SXSW experience is now in the history books. I had an amazing time, but the sheer volume of experiences and information that was crammed into 5 days was a little overwhelming. I needed a little time to …
(more…)

TweetStar

One of the refreshingly inspiring panels that I attended at SXSWi this year was about people who engage in “Slow Twitter.” These people take their time to craft most of their tweets for maximum entertainment value. Most of the time, …
(more…)

Spring Break for nerds.

Tomorrow morning, I’m headed on a plane to beautiful Austin, TX for the South By Southwest Interactive Conference, also known to some as Spring Break for nerds.

This is my first trip to SXSWi, and I couldn’t be any more excited. …
(more…)

A conversation that made me cry.

Nathan wanted to go on a car ride with me last night. In addition to being in the “me too” phase, he’s started his “Why?” stage early, so of course he wanted to know why we were taking an …
(more…)

So much bigger than I thought!

Shaken for you: February 14, 2007

I’ve been noticing these spots for Vermont Teddy Bear on late night cable for the past few nights, so I thought I’d bring it to you just in time for Valentine’s Day.

If you haven’t seen the spot, the premise is completely hokey and the execution is some of the worst I’ve seen in the direct marketing space in a long time. Which, of course, when you mix the two together, you get an advertising trainwreck that you can’t take your eyes off, no matter how many times you see it.

Every time I’m amazed by the reactions of the women when they pull the S&M bear (I’m sorry… the bandit bear) out of the box and fawn over it like they were all in 6th grade. I’m even more amazed by the prices on these things. Seriously, if your woman is the type that would go this crazy over an $80 bear, why not use that same $80 to go out to Sizzler and then back to your place for large quantities of Arbor Mist? You know that’s what she really likes!

And, I’m sorry… the 15″ Let’s Get Bear Naked bear is sold out. You were too late.

Incidentally, it looks like lots of us wanted to bring you this nugget for V-Day. See more here, here, here, and here.


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  • I think this is the same spot that they used last year. They also advertise on sports radio, used to pay Howard Stern to shill for them, and advertise in the back of Maxim for every gift giving holiday. For December, the headline was, "Give Bear, Get Bare!"

    Makes my head hurt a little.
  • I found this VTB piece strangely entertaining. You have to give them credit for standing out and getting noticed. It seems as though they're trying to get Vermont Teddy Bears added to the pop culture lixicon.

    Head on.
  • Actually Stacie, the difference is $60 and a completely different target audience. Build-A-Bear Workshop bears are aimed at children with the sole purpose of their being able to customize the bears as their own creations.

    Vermont Teddy Bears are overpriced bears with thinly veiled sexual references.
  • What's the difference between a $20 bear from Build-A-Bear and an $80 one from VTB? About $60.
  • Ew, that's truly icky and horrible.
  • Haven't seen the spots, but my wife does love VTBs

    I got her crazy bear before the recall. great stuff!
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