comedycentral:

This was magical.

If you ever needed a reason to follow @TheDailyShow, this is it.

Here’s the original segment, in case you missed it.

Sometimes we’re more beautiful to others than we are to ourselves.

Dove Real Beauty Sketches (by doveunitedstates)

We are all Roger Gorley.

For most of us - gay or straight - the human experience is defined by our relationships with other people. Almost everything we do is somehow connected to other people. If Facebook updates teach us anything, it is that we seek to share even the most mundane things in our life hoping that someone else will care. So, it makes sense that the thing that we all fear the most is the loss of those relationships. And the idea that something out of our control - death, the government, a hospital, another person’s insanity, a natural disaster - could lead us to lose a relationship that might be part of our every identity is everyone’s greatest nightmare. Death you might not fear. Death of your spouse or your child, or your parent - and the inability to do anything about it - that you fear.

LGBT people have unique concerns in this area. Quite often, they’ve suffered the loss of a family member relationship because of homophobia. Many of us have lost friends or partners due to HIV/AIDS. Even if we have a loving family, we are painfully aware that many around us have had to start a new family from scratch. And that these families can feel fragile, subject to the whims of homophobic policies, people, and institutions.

So everyone’s greatest fear is that no matter what you’ve done to cement your relationship, tell the world that you are this person’s husband, and even have the legal papers to prove it, that someone in a position of authority can make it all go away in a heartbeat. What would make that very traumatic situation - already striking at the core of the human experience and also at the unique struggles the LGBT fades - even worse? Have it instigated by a hateful anti-gay family member, have it take place within a healthcare environment where you are desperately wanting to be there for your loved one, and then have it escalate to involve homophobic police, handcuffs and jail.

I get emotional thinking about poor Roger Gorley having to go through this.

This is the basis for the fight for equal marriage; the demand that our relationships, that form the very core of who we are as human beings as much as the next straight person, are just as valuable. Make no mistake - even with equal marriage there will still be anti-gay family members, heartless nurses and hospitals, and homophobic police. But at least, at the end do the day, we will know that our relationships have legal standing and that there is recourse.

Until then, we are all Roger Gorley.

glaad:

Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black joined GLAAD and over 120,000 people, who’ve already called on the National Geographic Channel to denounce the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay scouts and leaders.

Well done, Oreo.

P.S. I love the cookie AND the cream.

Oreo Separator Machine [Video]

Oreo [Facebook]

by Mercedes Cardona, Contributing Editor, CMO.com

Article highlights:

• Experiential marketing … with a strong assist from technology … is re-emerging as the backbone of many branding plans.
• Demographic changes and new technologies have brought marketing back around to one-to-one experiences.
• The rise of social media has given marketers new ways to tap into the voice of the consumer.
• Technology has it possible to measure experiential marketing more effectively.

Full article at CMO.com

Taken from Brite Promotions Monthly Share

By Kevin Boyer

It turns out, neither Matrix, Total Recall, or Inception was right – we haven’t plugged in and dropped out. We have just added mobile technology and real-time networks to our otherwise busy lives. What does that mean for brands in 2013?

Content

Social, digital and mobile platforms require vast quantities of content. Brands long ago lost the ability to control the content, but a great live brand experience lets you build your own and curate what is coming from consumers.

Integration

Consumers aren’t viewing content in silos anymore, and marketing needs to respond with integrated strategies. Advertising (all platforms), PR, and social media will ultimately fail if the consumer has a negative live experience with the product or service. Build memorable experiences – with facilitated sharing - and all other marketing channels are enhanced.

Sales

A live experience always generates better sales than any other marketing channel. Admit it - cost is the only reason you wouldn’t have a one-on-one live conversation with every potential customer. Test those ways you can pulse your marketing campaigns with live experiences, incorporating a sales measurement metric, and then pick the ones that are cost-effective.

Influence

An outgrowth of the social economy is the democratization of influencers - those who can get other people to talk about, or buy, a brand. These are the early adopters who crave great experiences that they can share with their followers because they get high on their own celebrity status. Deliver, but remember to integrate the experience, and measure the influence.

Storytelling

Social media enhances the ability to tell stories, but the best stories start with actual experiences. Very few great stories begin “this one time, I read this hilarious joke on Facebook.” Create a memorable experience and people will talk about it, and your brand. Any salesperson will tell you about the power of storytelling.

Millennials Want Experiences

Contrary to what you might think, “while inherently digital and dominant in social media [millennials] crave face-to-face engagement and in-real-life experiences.”  And why do Millennials matter? They are the biggest generation alive and will outspend baby boomers by 2018. Our client MTV has also done a ton of research in this space.

“In-Real-Life” will be as important as before if not more this year, with the extra pressure of having to be smart, funny and creative with how you bring things to life. When your consumers look down at their smart phones, they aren’t checking out – they’re talking about you, and the experience you just delivered.

— Kevin