by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
The following is a satirical work of fiction. Those easily offended should surf to safer territory now…
"You ain't seen nothin' yet..."
In the wake of Michael Jackson’s massive, media-saturated funeral, several Hollywood celebrities are reportedly looking into how they can make sure their own forthcoming funerals are as sensational. (more…)
Categories: Media Review
Tagged: celebrity, CNN, ego, Hollywood, journalism, media, Michael Jackson, satire, spoof, television
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
"A TV series based on 'Blade Runner.' Really, is that too much to ask? But no, you give us 'Real Housewives of Orange County' instead... Time to die!"
When “Battlestar Galactica” concluded, its fans lamented that the series had to end, but were thrilled that it departed on a good note. Compare that to the fans of “Lost,” who are saying “WTF?!” after its later episodes. Then there are the still-hurting fans of “Firefly,” who saw Joss Whedon’s brilliant series nipped in the bud by a network that seemed intent on destroying it. (The subsequent “Firefly”-based movie, “Serenity,” helped alleviate the pain. A little.) Whedon’s next experience with “Dollhouse” drove him from TV for good. And, of course, there’s “Star Trek,” that short-lived 60s series that’s been born again in movie theaters thanks to the man behind “Lost”… (more…)
Categories: Media Review
Tagged: Battlestar Galactica, Blade Runner, Dollhouse, entertainment, Firefly, Hollywood, JJ Abrams, Josh Friedman, Joss Whedon, Lost, satire, sci-fi, science fiction, screenplay, script, spoof, Star Trek, television, Terminator, TV, Versus
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
"WEB TWO!!!"
Over my fifteen years of working in website development, I’ve encountered some bizarre and fascinating characters rivaled only by the people who gravitate to show business. Here are just a few I’ve met — perhaps you recognize some of them?… (more…)
Categories: Random Observations
Tagged: dotcoms, Flash, satire, Silicon Valley, spoof, Twitter, Web 2.0, web design, web development
image created by Keinishi
INT. DINING ROOM – MORNING: HANK PAULSON and his teenage daughter PRINCESS are having breakfast. We can’t see his face because he’s reading the Financial Times, chuckling to himself. She’s toying around with her half-eaten Froot Loops in a fine china bowl… (more…)
Categories: Random Observations
Tagged: business, business plans, economics, finance, Henry Paulson, humor, investing, satire, spoof, Wall Street Bailout
Warning: adolescent humor ahead…
‘Cause sometimes, you just gotta vent with silliness.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Dane Boedigheimer, Daneboe, Election, Gagfilms, humor, Joe The Plumber, McCain, satire, viral video
So I’m walking through my neighborhood counting the foreclosure signs when I develop this mighty thirst. Fortunately, I find a lemonade stand run by an enterprising six-year-old named Zucky. Just as I’m about to pay $4 for a cup (obviously, Zucky graduated from the Starbucks Preschool of Management), I see another lemonade stand across the street run by another enterprising six-year-old. This one, however, has a sign saying “Free Lemonade.” Free? I like free. Free is good. Plus, I’m trying to save enough money to fuel up my car. So I cross the street to the land of the free, and find myself talking to Zucky’s arch rival, Sergei… (more…)
Categories: Random Observations
Tagged: business, dot-com, dotcoms, humor, new media, satire, Silicon Valley, social media, social networking, UGC, user generated content, VC, Web 2.0
It’s amazing the difference between what you learn in school and actual business practices. I once took a class in public relations where we learned how to write a press release. The basic rule: write an actual news story about your company using standard journalistic practices to make it as objective as possible. That way, the news editor can make a few adjustments and print it as is.
Then I ventured into the real business world and discovered that everyone ignored that rule…
Categories: How To Tips
Tagged: business, how to, humor, marketing, media, PR, press release, public relations, publicity, satire, TechCrunch
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
Dear Young Professor:
Congratulations, you’ve been hired by a Top 20 business school… well, it WAS a Top 20 business school, but you know how these things go. So let’s just say, congrats, you’ve got a job with health insurance!
But now is no time to rest on your laurels, because first of all, newbie, you have no laurels. You have to earn those. And around here, you accomplish that by getting published… (more…)
Categories: Random Observations
Tagged: academia, academic journals, academics, business school, college, education, higher education, how to, MBA, professors, publishing, satire, universities, writing
The liberal blog Daily Kos just unleashed a scathing and hilarious spoof of the “uproar” around Barack Obama’s supposed “elitism.” It perfectly captures the pathetic state of American journalism, where “freedom of the press” has become “freedom to act like squirrel monkeys.”
Categories: Media News
Tagged: Daily Kos, journalism, media, news media, Obama, politics, satire, spoof
“… While the internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn’t matured as a distribution mechanism… It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forgo their fair value in more traditional media…” – Kyle, South Park
I know, I shouldn’t be quoting cartoon characters as proof of anything, but sometimes the greatest truth is found in satire. And the April 2 episode of South Park, “Canada on Strike,” is satire at its best, skewering everyone from the Writers Guild of America to Denmark to the stars of YouTube… (more…)
Categories: Media News
Tagged: Canada, satire, South Park, spoof, Web 2.0, WGA, Writers Guild, YouTube
"Common sense is the little man in a gray suit who never makes a mistake at addition, but it's always someone else's money he's adding up."
- Raymond ChandlerLet's hear it for uncommon sense: that inner itch that inspires you to stray from the herd, ditch the training wheels and leap into the fast lane. As we all know, it's the risk takers who get their faces on the cover of Wired magazine and their words on National Public Radio. No one ever remembers who won "honorable mention"...
Cool Rules Pronto celebrates uncommon sense in marketing and media. It's written by Freddy J. Nager, the Founder & Fusion Director of the L.A.-based marketing agency and production company Atomic Tango. For Cool Rules Pronto, he draws on two decades of experience in advertising and entertainment, including 15 years in new media. He has created campaigns and projects for agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and Magnet Interactive, and for such clients as Toyota, MCA Records, National Lampoon, Nissan & Infiniti, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the NFL on Fox and numerous startups.
Freddy also serves on the Board of Directors of City Garage Theatre in Santa Monica, California. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from USC (go Trojans!), and currently teaches marketing through Antioch University L.A. and the University of Wales/Robert Kennedy College. He also wrote the satirical book, Claw Your Way To The Top: Ten Things I Learned About Business From My Cat, which he'll get around to marketing someday.
