the elevator pitch

In case you have been living without an Internet connect, newspaper, television and human contact for the past 2 years, there has been this communication sensation called Twitter that has sprung up all over the world. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we can talk a little bit about the Twitter TV show pilot CBS has in works.

Shit My Dad Says isn’t necessarily about Twitter, but the micro-blogging sensation did get it’s start with the little blue bird. 29 year-old sensation Justin Halpern created the Twitter feed when he moved back into his parents’ home. He started the feed because of the interesting (often profanity laced) things his 73 year old father would say.

The success of Shit My Dad Says spawned not only Internet success for Halpern, but it looks like he could become a TV success as well. The Hollywood Reporter states that the original Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, is set to play a character in Halpern’s pilot. Most signs are pointing in the direction of Shatner actually playing the father character. Although he is internationally known as the original captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek, Shatner has made a strong comedic name for himself since. He’s also gone on to court TV fame with his brilliant work on shows like The Practice and Boston Legal.

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First of all, congratulations to Alex Bilodeau on grabbing (hopefully) the first of many Olympic Gold medals for Canada last evening. Although the majority of the world is still a little bit clueless as to how Freestyle Moguls scoring goes, Canada is proud to have seen the Quebec native break the curse. But here at The Elevator Pitch we noticed something very interesting. Just minutes after Bilodeau’s score was posted on national television, CTV ran a newly edited music video featuring Bilodeau’s run. We should expect to see something like this produced over the course of the games, but to see his run with the background music of Nikki Yanofsky only minutes after means Canadian media was expecting this.

But CTV wasn’t the only one quick to congratulate Canada and Bilodeau as during the first commercial break VISA ran a congratulatory commercial mentioning Canada’s first gold medal on home soil.

It looks and sounds like Canada isn’t the only nation hoping to make a big splash over the course of the next couple of weeks as companies all over the world are quick to jump on the national pride train. Keep your eyes peeled for the next time Canada captures a gold medal and you’ll probably see various commercials and montages.

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Desperate times call for desperate measures and for the city of Brazil, Indiana, this meant bowing to the corporate sponsorship of none other than the Colonal of fried chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken (known to most simply as KFC) has jumped in to help to the city with funding for fire hydrants scattered throughout town. But this isn’t simply just about KFC donating their profits to help, KFC has also worked out a deal where all of the hydrants they have fixed have also been branded with the KFC logo promoting their new fiery grilled wings .

Brazil’s mayor believes that,

Public safety is job one in Indianapolis. Cities everywhere are working to overcome budget challenges, and partnerships like this one with KFC offer a welcome opportunity to support important fire prevention and safety efforts

This KFC branding idea actually isn’t new to the fried chicken providers. Recently they ran marketing tests in 4 cities across the US where they provided funding to fill pot holes in the streets. Like the fire hydrant idea, the funding came with the idea to physically brand the streets. After the success (depending on how you look at it) of the pot hole program, KFC VP Javier Benito felt that,

Much like our ‘Re-Freshed by KFC’ pothole repair program that promoted our fresh chicken, this partnership was tailor-made for our new Fiery Grilled Wings

News source

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Social networking is actually a good thing! Who’d have thunk it? In recent news, law officials in Montgomery Texas have announced an interesting new tactic for punishing drunk drivers. From here on in, anyone busted for driving under the influence will be posted on their very own Twitter page for all of the world to see. The move isn’t all that surprising, especially during the holiday season, but venturing into the social networking territory is new for the Montgomery officials. Although all information on DUI’s are currently available to the public, Twitter seems like a much easier way to access the information.

The tactic is only being used during the holiday season between Christmas Eve and News Years Day, but it will also be brought back during popular drinking holidays like Memorial Day and the 4th of July later in the year. Based on public feedback, posting DUI’s on Twitter could become a common theme among law officials in Texas as the social networking tool becomes more prominent in popular culture and media.

For a sample of Montgomery’s DUI Twitter page, follow Brett Ligon’s Twitter page. Brett is the District Attorney of the county and will be using his own account to publish the names of recent DUI’s.

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Over at Eco-Gadgets they are currently profiling industrial designer Aleksander Mukomelov and his latest concept for a cell phone, the Mobile Script. With the iPhone taking full advantage of touch-screen technology of late, other cell phone companies are needing to turn to other methods of uniqueness to make sure their products stand out. Some have gone the gaming route, others have signed exclusive deals with mobile content providers, but I think Mukomelov’s concept for a solar powered cell phone really takes the cake. Have a look through the images below to get a sense of the sleek, sliding design, the double touch screen and the outer layer of nano material that essentially powers the phone. Of course the phone can still be plugged in for charging, but I guess if you live in a sun state, you won’t ever have to worry about having a low battery.

The specifics of the phone look to include two touch screens. One is the face of the phone, while the larger secondary touch screen actually slides out from behind the original. The second touch screen allows for more media consumption meaning users will be able to watch videos and view high-quality photos. The initial touch screen functions much like s standard iPhone touch screen from what I can gather.

Although this is merely a concept and probably will never actually come to fruition, it is worth noting that there are designers out there looking to not only take advantage of solar power, but do it in style.

Source – Eco Gadgets

Image Source – Eco-Gadgets

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