gambitch - now available in blue

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

This week's Champions League games feature two top-billing matches, both to be played on Wednesday (European time). Glasgow Rangers take on the Red Devils at Ibrox, while Chelsea entertain Lazio at Stamford Bridge. These would normally be extremely exciting for me to watch, but this isn't exactly the best time to stay up late and catch two world-class football matches. Besides, my home doesn't come with cable television, so I couldn't get both matches anyway.

I still remember, back in 1999, when Juventus played United at the Stade Delle Alpi. It was the return leg of the Champions League semi-final, and the first leg at Old Trafford had ended in a 1-1 draw. Two goals by Filippo Inzaghi (now with AC Milan) early on made it seem like United was doomed. And then I woke up. It was the days when I was in the army, and several of us shared a bunk that had a TV set (courtesy one of my colleagues). One of my friends, an avid football watcher like myself, had woken up in time to catch both goals by Inzaghi. The flashing TV lights woke me up, and needless to say, I was upset to hear about the unfavourable scoreline.

Given that I was already awake anyway, I figured I might as well stay up and catch the match. Something must have made me believe there was something in the making, because it takes a lot to bear to watch your favourite team trailing when you're watching on the telly. Quite quickly, my faith was repaid when Keano pulled one back and inspired the hope that we could yet turn it around.

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, the masters of calypso-style attacking at that time, grabbed one apiece afterwards and sent United into the final at Barcelona. We won the big trophy a month later. This time I watched the whole match.

I haven't caught an awful lot of football since, thanks to a whole lot of events conspiring to make it that much more difficult to watch matches. Of course I got busy, but another development played an equally important part, namely the sale of local broadcasting rights to a cable television company, which meant that I could no longer catch matches for free on terrestrial television.

Come to think of it, watching football was one of the few pleasures I had in my youth. I've never really been a movies person, and I didn't go out to lunches or dinners with friends as often as most people of my generation would have. Strolling around shopping centres in crowds was not my kind of thing, although most people in their teens liked to do it - and still like to do it. Yeah, good for them, maybe. But life's a bit dry like that. I didn't seem to have a problem with that, but you only learn to miss things when they're gone.

Oh well.

gambitch [ 1:04 AM]

Monday, October 20, 2003

Nike's latest advertising blitz features a rather street-ish soundtrack, a couple of black American dudes, and a stick figure that seems to have been inspired by long-standing Internet pop culture. The basketball version of the ad (if there are other versions, I have yet to see them) looks a bit cool, but I keep getting recurring reminders of the cartoon stick-man on the Internet, that cult figure known as Xiao Xiao.

Those who have never heard of Xiao Xiao can take a look here. Xiao Xiao for the most part kicks stick butt, but most of the flash animations remind me of Jackie Chan's movies, in the way that the little baddies don't actually die during the fight, but are just soundly defeated and left alive. That was one good thing about Jackie Chan's movies. The man wasn't out to use his martial arts as a tool to kill, and that is something very worthy of respect.

For bloodier stick-man animation, there are quite a few other sources. I have seen a few of them myself, and yes, it's a bit sick, but at least it doesn't try to be cute - which makes for double the sickness.

Anyway, back to the ad. It's pretty fine concept-wise, but the Nike website reminds us that advertising today is about an integrated effort. There's a truckload of content sitting there on the website, waiting for the consumer to come along and, to put it mildly, check it out. Which happens to be true for lots of other things as well. It's one thing to watch The Amazing Race on television and be a faithful follower of the show on the idiot box, for instance, but log on to the website (there's a link to it on this page) and you'll realize there's so much additional footage you didn't quite catch on the telly. It adds to the experience - the show itself becomes only one facet, even if it's a major facet. Ad campaigns nowadays try to do the same thing by going multi-medium. Actually, they've always been doing it with print, radio and television. But the web offers a quantum leap unlike anything we've seen with other forms of media.

Which brings me to the topic of omnipresence. McDonald's has recently revealed its first McCafe in Singapore. Apparently it has opened similar cafes in Australia and Northeast Asia (although I haven't seen any of them despite my having travelled to Taiwan and Melbourne). So not only does McDonald's want to be the dominant international player in fast food, it also wants to branch out into other food and beverage areas as well. More than just running fast food joints, it wants to introduce the fast food concept to family cafes as well.

Ho-hum.

I have no doubt that the idea will somehow take off. McDonald's is attacking along the family route, and will no doubt offer sweet chocolate muffins and the like to draw the kids into its cafes. I am, all the same, uncomfortable with the thought. McDonald's interest in expansion beyond fast food has stepped up in the past few years. It is apparently offering to sell budget airline tickets at its fast food outlets in Singapore - even though McDonald's doesn't actually have a massive active stake in the Malaysia-based budget airline. One cannot help but ask the natural question - what's next on its menu?

gambitch [ 1:49 AM]

Elation: Keano's goal sinks the Lilywhites.

Deflation: Cudicini's howler gifts Arsenal with the three points.

gambitch [ 12:50 AM]