An excerpt from the sales pitch to the Lord of Hades on IT systems implementation “to ease transition of souls to the underworld”

RJ : Imagine this scenario, Mr.D…  You go online on Gtalk/AIM… find people whose time on earth is up and ping them… and BANG.!!! They fall lifeless…. No “Final Destination” drama… No gory blood spilling… Just plain shutdown of body organs… Matrix style… How cool would that be?

Mr. D : I have been in this business for a long long time, kiddo… Do you take me for a fool?? What if the guy is never online? Is that not the equivalent of the Sorcerer’s stone?

RJ : [Already sweating, given the searing temperature of hell fire] What about a facebook-like application then? U just add the guys you want dead as friends… We will even build a special app which will not require them to confirm you as a friend…

Mr. D: I need up-to-date information… How do you plan to do that?

RJ: For info on increasing population, we could consume web services from the birth-registers at hospitals… As for ‘The Ledger of deeds’, it will have to be migrated to the new system.

Mr. D: What about the element of fear? I thrive on fear…

RJ: [Pulling together the consultant's air] We will analyze the requirements and provide an optimal solution… It is too early for us to specify a particular implementation methodology…

[Uncomfortable silence...]

RJ: As a bonus, we will also add a ’suicide module’… Which would allow a select few, with problems,  to send you friend requests! To sweeten this deal… What says you, O lord of Hades?

Mr. D: You talk too much!

RJ: My friend tells me I am a cartoon at times…

I adore spoofs. While most try to achieve a new ‘harmlessly humorous’ plane, some target a specific person or group. But whatever the motive, it takes some real creative muscle flexing to get it up.

I have put together just a sampling of videos that caught my attention.

Nickelback - Rock-star

This song embodies every youth’s dream. This favorite band of mine put what I dreamt of in college, while listening to Dream Theatre.

If Rock-stars have such a cool life, then what about pop-stars? Check the video to find out.

James Blunt - You are beautiful

This master-piece helped me through quite a few love-at-first-sight scenarios. The lyrics are brilliant and the song sticks to a heart-melting pace.

But listening to this spoof cleared my mind of any future plans of the falling-head-over-heels concept. Beauty can be skin deep at times.

Heroes:

I did not miss a single episode of season 1, when it was aired in India last year. Hours of such idiot-box patronage left a few questions unanswered. The video is an embodiment of all my doubts.

There you have it folks. A few of the videos which set my humor bone on fire and got me searching for more! Spoofs are all about creativity and spontaneity.

I hail thee, O creative immortals out there…

I am a huge fan of creative pursuits…. And really good ads sometimes give me a high…. But when creativity crushes people’s dreams, that is when the apple seems to loose its shine. Pollie Awards, however, admires creativity even at its cruelest best.

The Pollie Awards and Conference is an annual event hosted by the American Association of Political Consultants. The first one was held in 2007. The award is known as the Emmy Awards of Politics. The Pollies recognizes the best in the business in over 100 political campaigns and public affairs categories. The AAPC recognizes work in the newspaper, direct mail, phones, Internet, fund raising, radio, television, and student categories.

A good example of a mud-slinging Pollie winner is the video on John Kerry, the 2004 Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

The video somehow forgot to mention that he is a Vietnam Veteran, and was a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War when he returned home from service.

This is not to say political issues/policies of importance are not given its due importance. Below is a Pollie entry on the Iraq Draft.

I am just not happy with smear campaigns. That is where my sadness is rooted.

But I will still look forward to the Pollies of 2009. Because issues of importance will be discussed nonetheless and efforts at highlighting them rewarded in a small way.

You can check out the pdf version of the brochure of the 2008 Pollie Awards here.