milk *an advertising agency

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.

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.

He Set The World On Fire - Phil Dusenberry

We recently discovered this 2005 book by the late great Phil Dusenberry and can't put it down (Ok, we work 23 hours a day, but hour 24 is devoted to reading). Then We Set His Hair on Fire contains many of the stories from a hall-of-fame advertising career that included work for some of the biggest brands in the world such as GE, FedEx, Pepsi, Visa, Gillette, Pizza Hut and HBO. But it's his advice on discovering insight that is so invaluable. It's not just a great advertising book. It's an essential business book from the man who also happened to co-write The Natural, one of the greatest sports movies of all time. Want to know how to create a brand that really stands for something? Grab this book then join us during hour 24. Check it out.

Her-larious - Kelly Coveny Gets Real Again

One of our favorite authors is back and as sharp as ever with her latest book, Observations of a Sometimes Stiletto-Wearing but Mostly Fleeced-Out Working Mom on the Outskirts of Manhattan. What happens when a triple A-type, high maintenance, high paid advertising writer resigns her job in Manhattan to pursue her dream of becoming a platinum-producing rock-star, best-selling novelist, super-Mom from the suburbs? Buckle up for a wild adventure that never fails to find magic in even the most mundane moments. Check it out.

Ignore Everybody (Just Not This Author)

Hugh MacLeod, the blogger behind the popular gapingvoid.com has just released his first book, Ignore Everybody, And 39 Other Keys to Creativity. It’s a quick read that expands on the whip-smart insights and cartoons found on the blog. It’s common sense, e-duh advice dispensed for the risk-adverse world such as, “Selling out is harder than it looks: Diluting your product to make it more commercial will just make people like it less.” Great stuff. Check it out.

Interview with Your Brain – Buy•ology

In our July edition of the blog we told you about Luke Sullivan’s great book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising. We read a lot of marketing books and if you’re taking the time to read our blog, then chances are, you need to read them too. We’re currently reading Martin Lindstrom’s Buy•ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. It’s a fascinating look into neuromarketing. Want to know why people prefer the taste of Pepsi but still buy Coke? Want to know why mirror neurons affect just about every purchase decision you make? The brain knows. Check it out.

Thinking Inside the Box – The Houdini Solution

Ernie Schenck is one of our favorite contributors to Communication Arts. His Advertising column is a highlight of each issue. Like his pal Luke Sullivan, Ernie penned a must-have book for everyone with a brand story to tell. In The Houdini Solution, Schenck shows you how to use tight budgets and last-minute deadlines to your advantage. It’s easy to think outside the box with a millions of dollars at your disposal. But lately that box is getting smaller and smaller. Which is why you need this book. Check it out.

Do You Believe in Heaven Now? – The Twinkies Cookbook

Listen up Rachel Ray. And this goes for you too, Emeril, Giada and Naked Chef. Your cookbooks are fish wrap compared to the culinary wonder that is The Twinkies Cookbook. Any hack can whip up a chicken dish. But could you dream up Twinkie Sushi, Twinkie Burrito, or the unbelievably savory Pigs in a Twinkie? Huh? Could you? Check it out.

The Last Lecture. One Year Later.

Today (September 18) marks the one-year anniversary of the day Randy Pausch gave his inspirational Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. It has since become something of a phenomenon. If you have not had a chance to see it, do yourself a favor and watch. There’s nothing earth shattering here. Nothing you may not have already heard from any secret-to-life self-help guru, or even in your house of worship. But coming from a regular guy who knows that he has a few months to live, the simple message of “don’t be a jerk, be good to yourself and others” - a message we all still struggle to follow - carries far more weight. And Professor Pausch delivers it beautifully. Check it out.

Wisdom of Crowds

Surowiecki first developed his ideas for Wisdom of Crowds in his “Financial Page” column of The New Yorker. Many critics found his premise to be an interesting twist on the long held notion that Americans generally question the masses and eschew groupthink. “A socialist might draw some optimistic conclusions from all of this,” wrote The New York Times. “But Surowiecki’s framework is decidedly capitalist.” Some reviewers felt that the academic language and business speak decreased the impact of the argument. Still, it’s a thought-provoking, timely book: the TV studio audience of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire guesses correctly 91 percent of the time, compared to “experts” who guess only 65 percent correctly. Keep up the good work, comrades. From Amazon.com