Hyperboles, Talons and The Alot Monster

Confession is good for the soul and well, I have spent enough time with all of you to feel that this is not falling on deaf ears.

I have a raging obsession with the comic blog "Hyperbole and a Half."

I don't throw the word "obsession" around lightly, mind you. But this is a full fledged love affair. I read one in the morning after I check the news (just to get my day started off with a good laugh). I reference the comics as if it were common knowledge. I also (this is where it gets bad) have picked up this really cute habit of saying "hey, it-is-so-good-to-see-you-Can-I-show-you-something?" all in one breath within the first 5 seconds of hanging out with someone.

Gross.

BUT! It isn't all bad. Hyperbole's author Allie Brosh has taught me a thing or two (read this as: I am trying to justify my addition)

In her story "The Alot," Allie makes the grammatical no-no's of the Internet world hilarious...and personally shames you into never typing "im" or "dont" again.

"If I come across a person who seems to completely ignore the existence of apostrophes and capital letters and types things like "im an eagle and im typing with my talons, so dont make fun of me cuz this is hard," I like to imagine that they actually are an eagle typing with their talons. It would be a hassle if you had to hop in the air and use your feet to karate-chop two keys simultaneously every time you wanted to use the shift key to make a capital letter. Also, eagles lack manual dexterity, so I can understand why they'd want to leave out apostrophes. Eagles are all about efficiency."

See? HILARIOUS!

The best is when she gets to "alot." This tricky little monster proves to be a deal breaker (and for the purpose of this blog) especially in the field of PR.



Do you? Do you care about it "alot"? I don't believe you. Or I wouldn't believe you Mr. PR professional if you sent me a news release with "alot" or talon typed "u"s in it.
Since reading her blog I have become extra cautious (if only to not fall into the category of "alotters").

For the full "The Alot" go here and be so happy:http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

10 Ways to Be Like Lady Gaga

Well, okay, maybe not exactly like Gaga.

Whether or not you like "Poker Face" or her latest Madonna inspired "Born This Way," no one can deny that Lady Gaga is a marketing maven. "The Fame Monster" garnered 6 Grammy nominations, winning Best Pop Vocal Album and a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year. Lady Gaga has over 31,756,991 Facebook "likes" and about 9,228,238 followers of Twitter. Not to mention Gaga and Michael Jackson tied for "Most Googled Celebrities of 2010" with 151,000,000.

I can't even count that high.

As...catchy...as her music may be, Lady Gaga didn't become the Fame Monster without a little PR magic. And based on her success she could give us PR Pro's a tip or two...or 10.

This slide show, created by @JESSEDEE, breaks the marketing genius down that makes Gaga and her team the international phenomenon they have become.

10 Ways to be a Marketing Genius Like Lady Gaga

View more presentations from @JESSEDEE

Just in case you weren't taking notes, here are 10 ways to be like Lady Gaga (or her Marketing team):
1. Have an opinion
2. Leverage Social Media (hey, hey!)
3. Be different (a shout out to all her "little monsters" everywhere)
4. Don't be afraid to make lots of money
5. Give your fans something to connect with
6. Love your Little Monsters
7. Don't be afraid to irritate people
8. Have the right people on your team
9. Produce killer stuff
10. Have a purpose

So yeah, she may be a bit controversial but...hey, who isn't these days?
What do you think of Gaga's approach to marketing herself and the things she advocates (or as she says "And now, I am just trying to change the world one sequin at a time")?