Mash my mashup right up

A cursory glance over our previous posts will be enough evidence anyone could need that the word "mashup" is overused. We are clearly guilty of this, but its abuse is widespread and is a result of a once niche trend becoming mainstream, without the language catching up. In fact it may describe the dominant way people use the internet now. The lack of a proper definition means it is in danger of losing all meaning, and you have to fear that we start calling Chefs, creators of "food mashups" and artists; "paint mashups".

That said however, we will allow ourselves to use it once more in relation to this interesting video on the evolution of mashups (via the fantastic AltNyttErFarlig and Threebillion). He argues that remixes are  becoming a platform for collective expression.  This certainly seems true, though it is also clear that certain platforms are more appropriate for this creativity.

This was true of the David Cameron posters, which themselves were not created to be endlessly copied and remixed, but became so when placed in the context of the mydavidcameron site, and their creation was made simple. It is also true for perhaps the most successful internet meme of all time, and a growing obsession of mine- Lolcats. Their seemingly inexplicable popularity becomes understandable once you see them as a framework for individual creativity and collective collaboration.

Here are a few examples:

Lolcats- weird, surreal, but getting 1.5. million hits a day
MyDavidCameron- Mainstream mashup
Bubble Project- One of the simplest platforms, consisting only of a speech bubble.
Know your meme- The encyclopedic collection of memes

Samsung smash stuff

Samsung have launched a new viral idea in Sweden, called Shakedown. The website shows a live feed of a selection of phones on a glass table. You call the phone you want to vibrate, and if it shakes itself off the table into a fish tank below, you win it! What a great bit of simple interactive work. Well done Samsung.

Go on...Bake my Day

Baking puns aside, we are loving the new Lurpak work. Its well executed, strategically insightful, and seems spot on for the brand. We particularly like the idea of inviting food bloggers to cook the dishes which appear in the print ads.

Mashup my Street

The news that google will be selling outdoor ad space inside Streetview got us thinking about the google maps mashups we had seen. There have been hundreds of interesting uses of maps, but streetview seems to have been underused so far. We see potential in this street art project, we enjoyed a bit of Wally spotting (Waldo?) and the Editors album launch was fantastic, but we want to see more. So here is a list of streetview mashups we hope to see this year.

1. Off Road - The Olympic slopes have the streetview treatment, but what about supermarkets, countryside walks and slums.
2. Storylines - The ability to “explore” streetview as you would the real world means clues could be left, mysteries solved and “criminals” tracked down.
3. Race - Why race in the real world when you can do so in a virtual one? Compete to navigate across London, free from the fumes and road rage.
4. Foursquare mashup - We have seen it with tweets but why not with the “twitter of 2010”.

We are sure there are many more. The challenge is set.

Ad of the Week

Google may be an all-powerful global behemoth, who will quite possibly rule the world one day, but you can't help to love them when they make beautiful advertising like this. Building on the tone established in their print and TV ads for Chrome, they have created a great story around 'search', which feels like it could form a long running campaign. It stands out all the more when compared to the rest of this year's decidedly lackluster superbowl ads. Where was this year's 1 second ad?

Special mention has to go to the Safer driving campaign which gets a runner up prize for introducing innovation into a category which has relied on shock tactics for too long.

Political Mashup

If there is one thing which is already clear about a 2010 election campaign, it is that the public will be more involved than ever before. On the one hand this may mean campaigning and engaging in sensible debate, however it is just as likely to mean mashup culture and remixing.

There was the Cassette Boy remix of Nick Griffin for example, making him sound only marginally less ridiculous than in real life, the Soundbox of political speeches, and most recently the My David Cameron site. All are lessons to politicians that there is a community of people who need to be engaged in different ways. They are also a lesson that the most sensible debate can be remixed, and out of context becomes hilarious.

The Guardian Zeitgeist

Trending news stories is nothing new. All the major online news sources have a "most read" section, sites like Digg run entirely on the whims of the crowd, as does Twitter. However the fact that the Guardian is experimenting is worth a mention. Their new "Zeitgeist" section visualizes the most popular stories of the day, colour coding them depending on their genre. It also seems to be doing some clever things with how it chooses the stories; taking into account popularity of articles in that section, links and comments.

At the moment it seems less advanced than Newsmap, which has been around for a while, but we are excited about the possibilities.  We also trust the Guardian to create something innovative, after being impressed with their Iphone app and data visualization. If traditional news sources are going to survive they need to start looking at the Guardian and New York Times for tips.

Sky dive from Space

Branded Content has finally been proven to be more effective online than short tv spots. Admittedly it was proven by a branded content company, but we are happy to take their word for it if it means we get less of this and more of this. Red Bull have a history of creating great stuff (remember the awesome and completely unbranded Unflinching Triumph?) and their newest project is no different. Its well executed and feels spot on for the brand. Here are a selection of others we have enjoyed recently.

McDonalds- Monoski
Microsoft- Dr. Bing
Absolut- I'm Here
Banana Republic/ Vanity Fair