Lemonade: Movie Review

After Eric Prolux, a 37 year-old copywriter, is laid off from a large ad-agency in 2008, he starts a blog for other unemployed ad professionals. Once the site launched, he decided to create a promotional video featuring the faces and stories of other laid-off execs.  Lemonade is NOT a film of people complaining about being laid off.  The movie is also a film for unemployed professionals in ALL industries.

Lemonade reminded me of when I was laid off in 2002.  At that time, I decided to make the best of it and pursue my interest of knowing what goes on behind the camera and entered the film industry.  It was one of the best experiences I ever had as it was freeing to be doing something that I wanted to do.  My time working at a small production company in TriBeCa made me realize that previous work experiences weren't as fulfilling as I had thought.  An element had been missing - my personal interests...my personality...ME.  It took a while before I completely jumped ship and dived into the world of advertising by attending the VCU Brandcenter.  The two year swim (i.e., grad school) was one of the most challenging events of my life and I enjoyed almost (let's be real about it) every moment of it.  Now it's 2010 and fast approaching a year after graduating from the Brandcenter and I have yet to secure full-time employment.

Am I bitter? A little. 

Am I scared. You're darn right I am. 

Am I doing something about? I was slow at the start, but picking up speed.

Lemonade is yet another confirmation that establishing a business was the right thing for me to do.  Here's how you can watch the film and get inspired too:
1.  Click to find a screening near you
2. Go to Lemonademovie.com and buy the DVD
3. Buy the DVD from Amazon
4. For those without a steady stream of income, watch it on Hulu below

A must watch film (less than 40 min):

Do the Potty Dance!

Remember when you were a kid and you loved to sing along with TV commercial jingles? And remember when you would dance along with the commercial too?  Do you remember why you did that?  Well let me remind you....because you were a kid and didn't know any better.

We're all adults now and even if we still have childish tendencies it doesn't mean we want to be advertised to as if we were a child.  Huggies Pull-Ups is the culprit that prompted these thoughts to surface.  See the long-version of the TV ad below.

Am I wrong to think what the marketing strategy is: target young or first-time mothers by grabbing the attention of the child through song & dance?  Perhaps I'm missing something; however, I don't see kids running to mom or dad asking for Huggie Pull-Ups.  Then again if a parent saw her child doing the "Potty Dance" perhaps that would serve a reminder to go out and replenish the diaper or pull-up supply before it's too late.

For all the parents, guardians, and childcare providers: What is you consumer perspective?  Does this the video win you over or turn you off?

The Person I Secretly Admire (or use too)

This post is written to recognize a person online who has positively influenced me.  Since it is difficult for me to select one, I decided to pick the person who has inspired me most recently - Ms. Lauren Hornes, Owner of BeSpoken Spaces.  

I first "met" Lauren via email in 2004 while she was attending our alma mater the University of Michigan (Go Blue) and after her initiation into Nu Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a public service organization I am still active in today.  Our communications would be sporadic at best the next few years.  Then in 2009 Lauren began sending out emails to reconnect, letting me and others know of her ambitions.  Last year she launched her professional organizing business - BeSpoken Spaces.  This is her SECOND business since graduating from U of M almost 3 years ago. 

It's amazing to me as to how much she has accomplished in such a short period of time.  Not only is her sincerity in thought, positive outlook, and constant enthusiasm for her business refreshing, it is also my own personal reminder to take more risks and demand more of myself. 

Although Lauren isn't the only person who motivated me into action, she is the person who got me to thinking long & hard "why the heck not?" and "what's stopping me?" As a result, I made it official and founded One Epiphany, a brand marketing company.  I'm still in the beginning stages of organization, but I have gotten over the first hurdle and for that I am thankful.

****************************************************************************

This is a post for the contest Win A Free SOBCon Weekend #SOBCon2010. You can enter too. “Write a blog post about a person (or people) online who has (or have) made a difference in your life. Celebrate how they have made your life easier, better, smarter, more productive, more meaningful.”

For the Lover in You...

Source: FunMunch

We Are The World 25 for Haiti

The song gives me chills as did the original in 1985 and will effect so many lives with the donations.

Olympic Coverage: Do you value story more than sport?

On Facebook today Redscout asked the following question:

NBC’s Winter Olympic coverage will no doubt be engineered to deliver emotion in spades. Do you value story more than sport?

As a fan of both the Summer and Winter Olympics, I was immediately inspired to answer with the following:

When it comes to the Olympics....yes. Most of the athletes are not front of mind for even the biggest sport enthusiast. By offering a story it allows sport enthusiasts, Olympic lovers, or channel hoppers alike to become connected with an athlete and cheer them on as if they knew them all their lives.

What are your thoughts? Do you value the story more than the sport?