Servant of Chaos

A Cup of Chaos #77: Cat Headphones

Quite possibly the silliest – but definitely the most enjoyable – piece of PR that I have received this week. Maybe even this year. Order yours today!

A Cup of Chaos #76: Philips Male Grooming

Ever wondered what happens when your strategy is “digital first”? It’s pretty simple – you don’t even contemplate good ideas that tell the story of your customers’ participation in your brand story. Check out this video to see what happens when your strategy starts with understanding your customers’ behaviours.

A Cup of Chaos #75: Hipster Olympics

Inspired by a tweet conversation with Emma Gardiner and Felix Pels – this Friday I bring you the Hipster Olympics. Sure you may have seen it before, but tell me you don’t find it funny. Or at least a little ironic ;)

Facebook for the Troubled Teen

Having some trouble with your teenager? See how one parent turned the tables in his teenage daughter.

A Cup of Chaos #73: Tara Hunt’s 10 Things I’ve Done Wrong

We often think that we have to live through a lesson to learn from it. But the smart ones. The cleverest ones. Those most wanting to survive and thrive, learn from the lessons of others.

So if you are the sort of person who ever wanted change the world in which you live – and live to tell the tale as well, spend some time leafing through Tara Hunt’s great presentation.

The 10 Mistakes I've made...so you don't have to

View more presentations from Tara Hunt

A Cup of Chaos #72: Fake Steve Jobs Signs Off

The news of the death of Steve Jobs has dominated the web for the last day.

There have been tributes, obituaries, montages and so on – but this is my favourite – a farewell from Fake Steve Jobs.

It is long, but well worth a couple of minutes of your time.

 

Your name, old friend, is the definition of hope.

Not literally, I mean, not if you

look up “hope” in the dictionary,

but you know what I’m trying to say.

And now, with you gone,

what happens to us?

Have we reached our peak?

Our zenith? Our apogee?

Or some other word that means the highest point

you can reach?

I think maybe we have.

Because here’s what I see.

I see

America in decline:

a civilization unsure of itself,

adrift, confused, puffed up

with phony patriotism,

an empire run by number crunchers,

by MBAs & investment bankers

by quick-flippers & angel investors

who make nothing

who build nothing.

But you, Steve–

you flew in the face of that.

You were the one who invented,

who created,

who said no,

that’s not good enough,

go do it again.

Go make it amazing

astounding

profound

perfect

A Cup of Chaos #71: Don’t Risk Coal Seam Gas

Having watched Gasland the movie late last year I was astounded to learn that coal seam gas mining was planned in Australia. Surely, I thought, we’d learn from the tragic lessons of others. Imagine my surprise then to learn that not only was CSG mining already taking place on a large scale – but that mining exploration rights were being granted in rich and fertile farm lands (you know the ones that feed Australia’s growing population) – as well as under the homes of Sydney siders.

In an attempt to provide an alternative view of the personal impact of CSG mining (the impact on families and on farmers – and even farming families), GetUp! have created this video. They are aiming to raise funds to have this appear on TV across the country – in part to combat the mining industry’s advertising blitz.

A Cup of Chaos #70: Smooth Criminal

I’d never really thought of cello playing as a blood sport, but Sulic and Hauser bring a touch of gang warfare to this cello dual version of Smooth Criminal (via John Hagel). There’s even a guitar face moment – and we all know what that means, right?

A Cup of Chaos #69: Men, Soften the Fck Up

UPDATED! By far, the largest proportion of suicides in Australia is men aged 18-44. The figure is close to 80 per cent. For some men, it’s depression, stress or peer pressure, for others it is sexuality, career pressure, body image, addiction or breaking up with a partner. It can be any number – or combination – of things.

But if you are facing these challenges, the best thing you can do – is Soften the Fck Up. This new campaign by Ehon Chan aims to challenge the traditional Australian notion of manhood – when you’re not feeling right, it’s not time to harden up – it’s time to soften up. And you can start by reading the experiences and stories of others. You can share your own.

In 2009, Mark Pollard and I collected 30 stories about reinventing manhood – called the Perfect Gift for a Man (which you can still download for free). It is great to see this important awareness raising continue.

Sean Carmody has delivered some more detailed statistics from the ABS (2009):

Suicides (all ages): 2,130
Male suicides (all ages): 1,631
Female suicides (all ages): 499
Suicides (18-44 y.o.): 1,114
Male suicides (18-44 y.o.): 866
Female suicides (18-44 y.o.): 248
All deaths (all ages): 140,760
Male deaths (all ages): 72,320
Female deaths (all ages): 68,440
All deaths (18-44): 6,660
Male deaths (18-44): 4,533
Female deaths (18-44): 2,127

So, a few ratios we can arrive at are:

• (male suicides all ages)/(all suicides all ages) = 77%
• (male suicides 18-44)/(all suicides all ages) = 40%
• (male suicides 18-44)/(all suicides 18-44) = 78%
• (male suicides 18-44)/(male deaths 18-44) = 19%

Which ever way you cut these numbers - it is clear that we are seeing way too many suicides in this country. It is also clear that there is help available, there are options - and futures to grasp. Start by Softening the Fck Up.

A Cup of Chaos #68: The Customers You Don’t Want

Sometimes there really are customer that you DON’T want. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas asked one theatre-goer to leave after texting too often during a film. Later she called and left a voicemail. The folks at the Alamo shared this on YouTube.

It’s a little #nsfw – so put your headphones on.