What is Obay?

After fourteen days, the Obay mystey has finally been unveiled. It confirms what we all believed: that Obay isn't real.

I loved the campaign, but the reveal was quite anticlimactic. I think that they took too long to get to the next step. People have been blogging about it, and even the Toronto Star wrote an article about it. This led me to an even better discovery: Torontoist.com. (Why have I never heard or seen this website before! They have such amazing photography!) Torontoist.com doesn't just write about stuff they've seen, they actually do some investigating, and they got to the bottom of the Obay story

I was somewhat disappointed, but the line: "pushing them to do what you want isn't right", redeems the whole campaign, in my humble opinion. It ties in directly with the creative, and it works. I was just surprised that Ontario Colleges even needs to advertise. Other than Universities, aren't they the only game in town? But when reading today's Toronto Star story, I see that this is the point. While far more practical and successful for most students, Colleges still suffer from an inferior view. Hopefully this will get people talking about the 30% of parents who would be embarrassed if their children went to College instead of University. Now that is shameful! Why? Because I said so!

OBay - From the makers of WhyBecauseISaidSo

I was walking to work the other day and I passed a bus shelter with this ad which really caught my attention. Despite the freezing cold winds and blowing snow, I stopped to take a second look. Could this be a real drug? What the hell! Uncertain, I continued along my route. Then I saw a second version only a few blocks away. Humm. Well, it made me laugh out loud, and after a coffee, I realized that this couldn't be a pharmaceutical ad: 1) because we don't advertise pharamceuticals in Canada (may cause anal leakage, dizzyness, dry mouth, watering mouth, etc.) and 2) because it is just too harsh.

Back at my computer, I googled this thing, and I couldn't find anything, except somebody else's post on Yahoo Questions. And for the first time in my life, I replied to one of those Yahoo Questions. (Guess which one is me.) There are several other replies now, but nobody knows what it is all about. It must be a progressive ad campaign, yet I have only seen four of these ads so far.

Stepping Out

I have not been very motivated lately to start any major work in our Money Pit, so instead I have been "Stepping Out". I satisfy my reno cravings by helping out friends or by lounging around the MP, enjoying the fruits of our labour. (Not a day goes by that I don't praise the reno gods for the dishwasher in our kitchen. I can't imagine life without it!)

Last weekend was very busy though. I painted at Ally & Ian's new place on Havelock on Saturday and Monday evening. The 3rd floor office is now a tasteful Benjamin-Moore beige with Cloud White trim. Very smart. And on the Sunday, I took a stroll to Upper Montrose with my painting pole to help Denise paint her bathroom a fresh pale blue. (Truth is, I borrowed the pole from Denise, so I was finally returning it!) And as luck would have it, we got a major dump of snow on Friday and my office closed early, so I used the bonus time to help Denise install a new light fixture in her hallway. It looks marvelous (if I do say so myself!)