July 18th 2019
From ‘fake’ social media endorsements, bullying and a court ban on blocking Twitter followers – the campaign is already hot with digital issues. Its election season, so I guess I’m commenting on the digital life of politics again, occasionally.
October 25th 2016
If the US economy were based on non-intentional irony, this election cycle would have already enriched us immeasurably. Until that pays off, consider the cosmic comeuppance of the former refugee who is suing the Trump campaign for stealing his photo of Skittles…which they used to warn that refugees are dangerous, or in this case litigious.
May 28th 2013
Aereo is a start-up with may have engineered a slick and legal way to get all kinds of television streamed to your devices for a small fraction of what you’d pay for cable. Yes, its cool, but is it too good to be true? And either way, would you like to try it for free?
May 5th 2013
Temujin Doran has turned from delicious digital minute-long videos that meditate on life, to a video interpretation of Chris Hedges Death of the Liberal Class. Both are artistic works that remind me of the artistic values available through video and the imperative to raise our expectations of digital experiences. Come watch a film, you’ll be glad you did.
March 21st 2012
MIT Tech Review hails Pinterest’s terms of use as a genius-level copyright dodge. And while that may be so, its position is disingenuous to the point of irony.
June 29th 2010
We’ve learned that vampires are apparently obsessed with copyright. Now consider the official Twilight t-shirt contest. Fans are invited to make a shirt to promote the new film. Of course, entries must comply with a few rules. (In case you haven’t noticed, vampires are also rather controlling.) Here are some select rules to keep mortals […]
June 24th 2010
What do the undead think about inside their coffins (or at Starbucks) during daylight hours? Intellectual property, apparently, as evidenced by an unlikely copyright lawsuit. The bloodsuckers at Summit Entertainment, makers of the Twilight vampire movies, have filed a lawsuit against the makers of a jacket worn by a character in their film. The clothing […]
March 20th 2010
This week, Greenpeace posted a gruesome anti-Nestlé commercial on YouTube complaining that Nestlé SA buys palm oil from companies that destroy the Indonesian rainforest to plant oil palms. The 60-second video depicts a bored office worker enjoying a Kit Kat, which, rather than being the popular chocolate-hazelnut ladyfinger-style confection, appears to be a chocolate-covered ape […]
March 10th 2010
Remember my 2010 prediction that brand holders should beware of clowns? I called it the Coulrophobia Epidemic of 2010. Logorama did it with trademarks, and won an Oscar. Girl Talk did it with music, gaining top rankings from Rolling Stone, Blender and Time magazine. And now Eric Faden uses the most copyrighted video anywhere, Disney® […]
November 2nd 2009
Brad Templeton, chairman of the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has produced his own “Downfall” parody video, making fun of the fact that Constantin Films has issued DMCA notices to remove all of the “Downfall” parody videos from YouTube. This little-known film has become an Internet sensation and, as I note below, Constantin Film’s […]
The future of digital experiences will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialties in user experience, branding, application design, and data science are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.
UsefulArts is a soapbox to discuss the front line of digital experience, and the agencies and platforms that enable it. Digital business needs a cadre of leaders who can connect c-level enterprise thinking with the ways these new interaction models can help organizations to matter more to their most important stakeholders.