milk *an advertising agency

Your Daily Facebook Dose.

If you're like hundreds of millions of Americans - you're likely to atleast view your profile on Facebook today. That's a good thing for marketers as the ever present social network provides an execellent place for us to continue the conversation with our customers and potential new customers. An eMarketer study has just pointed out that after a steady initial growth in the Facebook world - with sporadic return rate, the growth is slowing to a more steady hum over the next few years while the rate of daily logins will increase greatly. 

So if you're not already doing something with your consumers that involves their social life... well, call we can help.

Refresh, Relax and Get Clean. Yes!

Bubble baths were the fun of our youth. The adult version of the bubble bath is a hot bath with stress reducing and body rejuvenating salts. No seriously add salt, sit back and relax. We all need to relax sometimes and what better way to do it than with Hellomellow bath salts. For instance in their relax salt they've infused the magic of himalayan bath salts with sage and white grapefruit - leaving you feeling fresh, detoxified, relaxed and smiling from head-to-toe. Enjoy a little you-time »

Bacon - the Scent of Sizzle.

You know we have a slight obsession with Bacon. And there's good reason for it. It is so damn tasty. So you can imagine our surprise when we realized the scent of bacon could be present all-day long! It's a bit of a tease cause there's no crispy conclusion, but harkening to that beloved early morning smell is well, an acheivemement worthy of gold.

Thanks to John Farringay and his happenchance distillation of the essence of bacon, we can have our favorite smell all the time. Check it out»

Of Our Own Creation - Ashé Collection

Today we proudly launched Ashé Collection, a fashion retail site we conceptualized and created with Anne Wells, founder of UNITE The World with Africa to provide a showcase for the diverse collection of designers, artists and craftspeople living and working in creative havens like Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa. We invite you to shop the collection where you will find one-of-a-kind merchandise like the Ali Lamu bag featured here. Shop

Welcome Robert Redmond: Executive Creative Director

Hi all,

It is with tremendous enthusiasm we welcome Robert N. Redmond to the new position of Executive Creative Director here at milk.

Robert is no man of the cloth, but his career is made from a serious patchwork of disciplines, talents and interests. He’s traversed the brand universe creating campaigns, social strategies and interactive experiences for the likes of JetBlue, Godiva, Comcast, Playboy and Frito Lay. He even bossed around Deion Sanders while creating a viral video campaign for NFL and Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

His career has spanned interactive and advertising agencies, a game development company and socially focused promotions agency ultimately leading him home to milk where he aspires to help make brands what consumers want them to be.

And he’s not your average creative either. He’s a geek. No seriously, he’s deconstructed computers, home brewed a tube amplified hi-fi setup and he’s built upwards of 20 websites with his bare hands. He’s even a bit of a social media zen master having increased Godiva’s social footprint 100% in one campaign. He’s constantly thinking about and looking for ways to make people love brands even more.

We’re proud to have him here and look forward to our next meeting.

Thank you as always for your business!

Take care,

JS

More PANTONE Love

If you follow our blog then you know we love PANTONE about as much as we love bacon. So it's not surprising that we fell for these awesome PANTONE CHIP cookies from designer Kim Neill. She even made some with Metallic colors. So smart. So well done. Great stuff, Kim.

E-Z Bake Bus Shelters

Kudos to Caribou Coffee and its agency for this wonderful idea to promote Caribou's hot breakfast sandwiches. These bus shelters not only resemble ovens, but they also include real heaters, which keep commuters warm as they wait for the bus. Yes, we are aware of our own hypocrisy here considering the post below about the calories in fast food. But come on, they put heaters in bus shelters that look like ovens! That's hot.

Do Calories Count? Research Says No.

A recent study by the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School showed that posting calories on menus has little effect on what customers buy. The 13-month study found that having calorie, fat and sodium information did not change public health behavior even at a time when obesity rates continue to soar. This is pretty scary stuff, especially as Washington battles over national health care. Maybe the nation could start taking better care of its health in the meantime. Just sayin’. Check it out.

Dude’s Built Like a Brick Cubicle – The GymyGym

Billed as the world’s first ergonomic exercise chair, the GymyGym is designed to conform to your body and eliminate the physical issues caused from improper seating while giving you an opportunity to sculpt your biceps and triceps while you shape up your PowerPoints. Check it out.

We’ve Died and Gone to Bacon Heaven

If you’ve been following our blog then you know all about our bacon obsession. (Ok, it’s actually Brendan’s obsession, but come on, even pigs love bacon.) So we just about lost our minds when we discovered the treasure trove of bacon-themed goodies at the Archie McPhee e-store. They have bacon air freshener, bacon gumballs, a bacon belt and even bacon lip balm. Pucker up, baby! Check it out.

Breaking Soon - Real Estate Book TV

We're putting the finishing touches on two commercials for The Real Estate Book, the print and online real estate tools that millions of buyers and sellers turn to daily. We're blast them out soon. Stay tuned.

Now Hear This – Florence & The Machine

If you tuned in and got turned on to Milk music picks like Phoenix, Vampire Weekend and Mumford & Sons, then you can do no wrong with giving a listen to Lungs by Florence & The Machine. London-born Florence Welch burst onto the UK music scene in 2008 with her knockout voice and the track “Kiss with a fist” which is included in a follow up album that has critics fawning and The Boathouse humming. Check it out.

You trim the tree. NAP will trim your electric bill.

Hey Connecticut residents, the holidays are coming, you know, the time of year when you string the the lights, fire up the electric heaters, and spend hours playing with the new electronic gadgets you got. Maybe it's time to lower your electric rate with our client, North American Power. You still get the same service from CL&P or UI, just at a lower rate. Start saving.

Charge of the Art Geeks – The PANTONE Visa Card

We love art. We love PANTONE. And we love that the brand is cool enough to have its own Platinum Rewards Card. It comes in five hues and there are no annual fees. Check it out.

The Virtual Fitting Room by Fits.me

Online sales are booming, right? But did you know that clothing represents only 8% or all online sales? The obvious reason: you never know if the clothes are going to fit, which leads to the measly eight percent plus huge return rates for retailers. Well, Fits.me, an Estonia-based tech company has a solution. Fits.me (great name, btw) is a virtual fitting room for online clothing retailers. Add Fits.me to your site and its robotic mannequin will take your customers’ body measurements, mimic their shape and allow them to see exactly how your clothing will fit them. Luxury clothier Hawes & Curtis has already adapted the technology and it wouldn’t surprise if other online retailers soon follow. Check it out.

Trikoton – Clothes Crafted from Your Voice

Design that merges fashion and technology is a fast-emerging market and Berlin fashion house Trikoton is on top of the trend. Trikoton takes an audio recording of your voice and transforms it into Scantron-like patterns of dots or perforations that are then transferred onto sweaters, vests, leggings, and scarves. The technology here is an audio-signal processing program that converts speech into the binary code of a knitting pattern and isn’t limited to the sound of your own voice; at a recent trade show, Trikoton designed clothes based on people’s favorite songs. Check it out.

Ignition Switch - The Mini EV Scooter

BMW is rolling out the Mini Scooter E, a two-wheeled two-seater that can be charged at any old outlet using an on-board cable. Here's the coolest part of the Mini, though: the scooter's cockpit houses a snap-in adapter for your smartphone, which becomes the central display and control element of the scooter. In fact, the smartphone will even serve as the ignition key; snap it in, and the scooter switches on. That. Is. Cool. Check it out.

‘Tis the Season – A Charlie Brown Ad Agency

It’s that time again when every agency fusses and frets over the most important assignment of the year: the agency holiday card. You have total creative freedom but oh so little time. There have been a lot of agency holiday card spoofs, but for our money nothing beats this one. Check it out.

Driving to Get Hardware - Danbury Audi Spots Win 2 Davey Awards

We were recently awarded two Davey Awards for commercials we created for Danbury Audi. The Davey Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs. This is the second award for the spot entitled "Trust," which won a Telly Award earlier in the year, and the first for "Horsepower Meets Manpower," which promotes the Team Danbury Audi cycling team. Both spots were produced with 24FPS Productions.

Now Hear This – Mumford & Sons

DJ Daddy B has the entire Boathouse crew hooked on Sigh No More, the gorgeous debut LP from British quartet Mumford & Sons. Frontman Marcus Mumford and his mates skillfully mix remorse, royalty and spirituality with an amped-up, bass-heavy, banjo-picking, booming drum beat sound to create a killer album that knocks you over at first and pulls you up for more. Check them out.

Are We There Yet? – The Mom’s Guide to Traveling with Kids

Who needs to know that you can order supplies from diapers.com and have them sent to your hotel? Who cares that only triangular crayons won’t fall off the airplane tray table? Who could save the cost and hassle of parking by paying a babysitter to drive the family to and from the airport? Moms! Allison Umbricht’s 155-page book is jam-packed with tips and stories from the author and other frequent-flier moms. You will learn new ideas to use for every stage of your travels. Careful planning for each part of the trip will take you from thinking “Am I crazy?” to “That’s the best thing I ever did!” This mom-to-mom guide (excuse the cliché - dad and grandparents of course will benefit too!) will empower you to have what you need to travel with your kids and have fun doing it. Check it out.

App-etizing – The Best Cooking App

The app experts at Gizmodo have weighed in and Epicurious is their choice for best cooking app for both Apple and Android. It’s particularly useful for the iPad, which can prop up nicely on your prep station. It has a huge library of recipes from Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and other reputable sources and includes a shopping list tool and gorgeous photos. The Android also version features voice search and a recipe-of-the-day widget. We’re Macheads, so we’re including the link to the Apple app. Check it out.

Get Cash For Your Gadgets With Gazelle

Don’t recycle your old gadgets, ReCommerce them with Gazelle, the company that pays you for your old cell phones, laptops and other gadgets. Every item you send Gazelle gets a cash offer and it even sends you a box and pays for shipping. Gazelle extends the lives of items that still have value and responsibly recycles the gadgets that don’t. It’s simple. It’s safe. It’s one of our Green picks of the year. Check it out.

Vegas Calling – The $1,000,000 Phone

Vegas, baby! Vegas! Oh how we love thee. Where else can you find such over-the-top extravagance in a down economy? The designers at GRESSO teamed up with the Luxor to create the Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot phone, which can be yours for a cool Dr. Evil-ish one meeelion dollars. The phone case is pure gold and encrusted with black diamonds, and the back panel features 200-year-old African Blackwood. The keys are made from single sapphire crystals and the people who will buy the phone are made of money. Check it out.

We Knight Thee, Sir Punchedalot – The Broadsword Umbrella

Yes, we are poking fun at this Broadsword Umbrella we found on ThinkGeek, but secretly, we admire the creativity. Only $40. We know you’re tempted. We certainly are. “Be dry or die!” Check it out.

Must Have Music – Kelly Coveny & Marc Teamaker

“It’s never easy finding doors to let you in,” Kelly Coveny & Marc Teamaker remind us in “See What I See,” the exceptional third track off their collaboration, Spring Throws a Rope. But letting us in is what Spring does with effortless grace. With laid-back singer-songwriter soul and a live coffee house vibe, this refreshingly honest album opens the door, glides us to a big comfy chair and serves up a generous cup of chill out with songs like “Jelly Jar,” “Raindrops,” and the outstanding “Trojan Horses.” Check it out on iTunes.

Canned Laughter – The Candwich

The apocalypse is upon us. When the smoke clears and the walking dead are searching for a quick & tasty ready-to-eat treat they’ll find it in the Candwich – the sandwich in a can! Available in two PB&J varieties and BBQ Chicken, Candwiches are perfect for people on the go and emergency food storage in the event of natural disasters – unlike the unnatural disasters inside each can. Personally, we’d rather eat the dead, unless of course they introduce a Bacon sandwich. Then pop open a can and start the party! Check it out.

You Must See This

We’re not going to give it away. Just know that it is incredibly cool. Yours, milk. Check it out.

Hey Buddy, Can I Bum a Hemingway?

One of the great package designs of all time, no one can deny the deep iconic significance of the flip-top cigarette pack. TankBooks pays homage to it with a series of books designed to mimic cigarette packs right down to the size and cellophane sealing. It includes complete and unabridged works by literary giants like Tolstoy, Kafka and Kipling. Just perfectly conceived an executed. Check it out.

We’re Breaking Up the Band – Cool Stuff from The Hard Rock

Ever wonder what becomes of the guitars that were demolished in concert by rock gods like Pete Townsend? The Hard Rock knows. In this blog post, the archivists detail their favorite smashed axes like this Fender Stratocaster that was wrecked by Ritchie Blackmore in ’82. Check it out.

Fort Jocks – The Brief Safe

What’s really funny here is the fact that we found this “innovative diversion safe that can secure your cash, documents, and other small valuables” on the Sears website. Remember Sears, the proudly American company that once produced the venerable Sears Catalog? “…even the most hardened burglar or most curious snoop will "skid" to a screeching halt as soon as they see them.” You stay classy, Sears. Check it out.

Pork Roast – Bacon Flavored Coffee

What milk blog would be complete without a little bacon love? Our man Brendan – The Baron of Bacon – found Maple Bacon Morning™ from Boca Java. “The taste of sweet maple and smoky bacon blend perfectly to create a hearty start to your day.” Oh. Yeah. Check it out.

A Great Idea in the Clutch – TsuruBride

We’ve featured a lot of great accessory ideas before and couldn’t wait to add these Orwell clutches to the list. Named after the author of Animal Farm, these whimsical clutches from TsuruBride are designed to hold all the essentials and tons of attention. Find them here.

Totally Kühl – Fashionable A/C

Introducing Kühl, the first window air conditioner to provide the programmability and convenience of a central air conditioning system. There’s a lot to love, like its efficiency and quiet operation. But the topper for us the way you can make it an attractive part of your décor by choosing one of its six colored front covers. Check it out.

Medium Rare – The Sculpture of Diem Chau

Check out these crayon sculptures from Vietnamese-born artist Diem Chau. From her bio: Chau’s work “combines common mediums and common means to…connect us to each other through cultural and humanistic similarities.” Agreed. There’s more remarkable work to see here.

From the Mouths of Babes – Humphreys Best Week

Humphreys Baby Teething Remedies recently posted their best week ever at Walgreen’s on the strength of smart promotion, our new TV spot and mommy blogger buzz. It’s just further proof that Humphreys all-natural, holistic remedies have the safe and effective time-honored ingredients moms are looking for. Check it out.

Client Spotlight – Team Danbury Audi

Saturday, May 22 marked the official unveiling of Team Danbury Audi, Danbury Audi's new cycling team. The team has been kicking butt since March when its pre-season began, but the 22nd was the first time the team was assembled in its new uniforms. The following day the team participated in the 33rd Annual Bloomin’ Metric charity run, of which Danbury Audi was a major sponsor. You can follow the team all season long on its official website. Check it out.

That’s What She Said! – Señor Juan’s Got a Hot Pickle

Founded by one of the original West Coast skateboarders and an old friend of the agency, Señor Juan’s makes a hot and spicy pickle that lights a match under the butt of the lowly garnish. Brendan and Joe love them and now you can too. Check it out.

We Love a Parade – Elephant Parade London

Now this is how you do a PSA. Elephant Parade is a conservation campaign that creates awareness for the endangered Asian elephant. Over 250 brightly painted life-size elephants will be spread out central London this summer, each decorated by a different artist or celebrity. Great idea. Love the effort. Bravo. Check it out.

Curious Onlookers – Motor Trend Does Audi

The editors at Motor Trend visited the Audi Neckarsulm plant in Germany, and if you’re Audi geeks like we are, you’ll want to check out this article. Quick tease: the Audi R8 (the Iron Man car) is assembled in its own facility and is 75% hand built. Want more? Click here.

Man Up, Hombres! – Etiqueta Negra

Here’s a slick site for men’s fashion label Etiqueta Negra. The collection is cool. The men are cool. The stores – super cool. Honestly, we’re sort of intimidated just looking at it, but still, we can’t turn away. Check it out.

Client Spotlight - Team Danbury Audi Cycling

Longtime client Danbury Audi is the sponsor of Connecticut's newest masters class cycling team. Cyclists are a perfect fit for the Danbury brand because Audi offers them the high-end performance and styling they are attracted to. Team Danbury Audi provides a vehicle for amateur cyclists to achieve their maximum potential on and off the racecourse, and gives the dealership another opportunity to give back to the community it has supported over the past 20 years. The team kicked off its pre-season in winning style and officially debuts May 22 & 23. Check it out.

Smells Like a Winner - The Fart Blanket

This is for real. It's not a goof. It's the Better Marriage Blanket and it's designed to completely and quickly absorb flatulence odor. Repeat. It traps farts. How is this not an SNL skit? Why do they offer it in beige, the color we imagine farts to be? More importantly, when will they engineer this feature into the Snuggie? Pass the beans honey, we've got my flatulence problem covered. Check it out.

Now Playing - The XX

Billed by itunes as "make out music for cool kids," the four South London 20-something of the XX redefine quiet R&B with torch-song tales of love and longing. They have the blogosphere buzzing and The Boathouse blissful with each repeat listen. Check it out.

The Best Part of Waking Up - Wake n' Bacon

The best part of waking up is not Folgers in your cup, it's the smell and sizzle of cooking bacon drifting from your alarm clock. That's what you get from the Wake n' Bacon, the deliciously demented invention that begins cooking a strip of frozen bacon 10 minutes before the alarm is set to go off. Awesome. Check it out.

Grill Masters - Carstache

Ever wish your car looked old enough to buy beer? Embarrassed when the bouncer at the strip club asks to see your car's ID? Well, those days are over. Introducing the Carstache. Seriously, we're not making this up. Some chuckleheads in San Francisco created the Carstache for no other reason than they think it’s funny, unexpected and makes people smile. We agree. Long live the Carstache. This so makes up for Truck Nuts. Check it out.

Sweat Shop - $1,000 Sweatpants

Either designers have gone crazy, or the economy rebounded and we missed it. High-end designers like Michael Kors are trotting out $1,000 sweatpants and fashion experts believe they will sell. Yes, they are a little nicer than your normal sweats (inset), but come on, they're still sweats. Check it out.

Moving Mountains - Self-Driving Audi to Climb Pikes Peak

We always knew our client Danbury Audi sold exceptionally engineered cars, but even this exceeds our expectations. Researches at Stanford University are developing technology that could help make driving safer and one day allow ordinary vehicles to drive on their own. To test their research they have equipped an Audi TTS with GPS receivers so it can be programmed to follow any route using a digital map. Its route? Pikes Peak. It all happens this fall. Check it out.

Paint by Numbers - Pantone Paint

This may only excite us ad geeks, but it's still really exciting. Pantone®, the de-facto color system of the graphic arts world now makes paint. And it's not just any paint, but high quality Dutch paint. It's not available everywhere - yet - but it's still worth a look. Check it out.

On Target - The Bullseye Gets it Right

One of the Milk crew shopped at Target the other day and received five cents off their purchase because they used their reusable Target bag. The cashier explained that shopping bags are Target's second highest expense after labor costs. We applaud Target for turning it into an opportunity to reward and motivate its customers.