"Real Artists Ship"

Colin Johnson’s blog


Archive for July, 2009

Zeitgeist (2)

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Altered Priorities Ahead: “I won’t have access to a phone for the next couple of weeks, and not even to the internet” (paraphrase of an email from a student).

Science Fiction Product Placement

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Watching the new-ish Star Trek film earlier this evening, it was interesting to note that the mobile phone that had a clear “Nokia” branding. Mere product placement? Perhaps. But, there is perhaps a more finessed interpretation for why a company might want to place a product name specifically in a science fiction film, and that is the gravitas and trust earned by the brand by the suggestion that it will still be around 200 years into the future. Many shops have a little bit of signage with “Est. 1873” or similar, to convey an image of solidity and stability. Might placing a product name in a fictional futuristic context achieve something of the same effect—suggesting that the company might be relatively young but “of course” it is so successful and reliable that it will still be a thriving concern hundreds of years in the future. 

(Of course in this specific example the company is rather old. Whilst Nokia might now be a future-focused technology company, it has long history in many industrial sectors—my Finnish colleagues can all remember wearing Nokia wellingtons as children!).

Variations on Folk Sayings (2)

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

“No rest for the wicked—and no wickedness for the rest.”

Variations on Folk Sayings (1)

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

“Do I look like I’m made of time?”