Toad's (Very Late) Friday Faves, Part 5

This very funny video, courtesy of Ogilvy & IBM, is a great example of what people are talking about when they (over)use the word integration.

It's the first of three videos that are being sent to IT guys around the US in an email that urges them to join an online scavenger hunt in order to save Ned and Gil, IBM's hapless Abbott & Costello team, from the maze of (non-IBM) machines they're trapped in.

Joining the scavenger hunt requires them to solve a series of cleverly/torturously worded riddles to get to the next level. In the first few days, the site got 4,000 hits and 2 people solved the first riddle.

As for the video (I'm told the others will be posted as they're released in the email waves) it works because, unlike so much work in the category, it doesn't take itself so damned seriously. It's a joke, the audience is in on it, and the actors are clearly having fun.

PS: I know the people who were involved with this (they're paying me big bucks to post this) and what's also pretty cool is that this was a pro-active assignment that they struggled, over the course of about 9 months, to bring to life. Even cooler was that it involved creatives from all disciplines: general, direct and interactive, as well as accountniks who pushed the clients to do it and helped them find the money to fund it. Sort of what we all thought advertising would be like.

PPS: Just joking about the payments.

Enjoy.