Sometimes you spend a whole heap of time preparing. You have your goal in sight. You’re near the finish line.

And then the whole thing backfires and makes you look pretty silly.

It hurts. It’s embarrassing. You’ll probably want to give up.

But hey, they don’t call it the Amazing Race for nothin’.

“Life can knock us down flat. It’s our measure of resilience that determines whether or not we’ll keep dreaming and reaching for our dreams.” – Sharon Cook & Graciela Sholander

It’s about to get SO intense up in here. Woaah! Why? Because today marks the return of Analogous Friday. The awesome factor is about to go full on double awesome. It even looks like it might be turning into a triple awesome…no no, it’s still double. What does it mean!? Well, if you’ve already seen this video, you may have caught the number of references I’ve already made. If you haven’t, well, you’re probably highly confused.

Enough rambling and on with today’s moving picture:

Okay, grab a tissue and quit crying, because we’re about to get analogous up in this joint:

Appreciate the Little Things

First of all, notice I didn’t say appreciate the little things so much that you cry like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Have some dignity. Having said that, even if you’re not lucky enough to see a FULL ON DOUBLE RAINBOW, you can still stop and appreciate a normal partially on, somewhat cool, 1/3 of a single rainbow. This world we’re in is a pretty special place and if you never stop to smell the roses, it’s pretty tough to appreciate the grandeur of it all. As a side note, I do believe Hungrybear9562 was smelling/sniffing/smoking something, but it wasn’t roses.

There Is No Pot of Gold (Or Leprechauns)

I was pretty surprised this dude didn’t go and check for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (after all, double rainbow would mean double the loot), but it’s pretty clear there was no such thing at either end of this rainbow. There also were no leprechauns dancing around, but that may just be because they aren’t native to Yosemite. The point is, don’t count on finding a pot of gold,  you’re going to have to earn it. After all, that’s what separates the good from the great, right? Life isn’t a treasure hunt.

It’s All About Who You Know

Notice the video was posted way back in January (seems like forever ago, right?), and is just now blowing up. Why? Because of Jimmy Kimmel. Because he shared it with his viewers, it went wild. So, I guess what I’m saying is, make friends with Kimmel, Conan, and Letterman. Not Leno, though, he’ll just take your time slot.

So what do ya think, apart from learning once again why you shouldn’t take mind altering drugs, what did the double rainbow teach you?

It’s been a while since we were last blessed by the presence of Analogous Friday, but it’s back this week in all of it’s glory. For those of you who are new to the game, it’s about to get crrrrrrazy up in here. (almost) Every Friday, I present to you a video (which is almost always awesome) that you will watch, (hopefully) love, and then I go on and make some pretty ridiculous analogies which somehow explain how the video relates to marketing, social media, and well, life. Afterwords, if you’re feeling particularly ambitious and have a little extra time on that Friday (who doesn’t?), you can chime in on the comments and tell me A) How stupid my analogies were, B) How awesome the video was, C) Your own analogy for the video, or D) All of the above.

So let’s get on with it already!

HOW MANY BASKETS ARE YOUR EGGS IN?

Imagine if this video turns out to be Twitter. Or Facebook. I’m in no way making a prediction that either of these sites are going anywhere, but you have to realize that the possibility is there. We have no control over the future of these sites. Some billionaire could have it out to get Twitter because his evil twin opened up an account impersonating him and claimed that he slept in onesies with a teddy bear every Tuesday night. The rest of the nights he cried himself to sleep. This may really anger the billionaire, causing him to offer a $1 billion to the Twitter gang for full ownership. Once he takes control of the site, he decides all of these tweets are quite silly, so he deletes everyone’s account and replaces the site with an endless loop of Rick Roll.

Fat chance this silly story happens? Sure. But if it ever happened, how many people would be absolutely screwed? The secret is to not base EVERYTHING on a tool (or two tools). Why? Because THAT would be silly.

WATCH THE ONION

No seriously, they’re hilarious. They don’t pay me to say that (Onion: if you want to pay me to say that, I’m totally down. Hit me up from my contact page).

PART OF HISTORY?

How will people look back on Twitter and Facebook? The microblogging service that was overrun by self-promoting douchebags? The social networking site that Farmville took over?

Okay guys, my material was weaksauce after that first one, so put me to shame in the comments by blowing my analogies out of the water with those of your own!

3, 2, 1, GO!

Howdy, I hope you had a super-duper week and are ready for Super Bowl weekend. My prediction for the big game Sunday is that UNC will pull it together and beat Maryland. Oh, you don’t care about that? Then Colts 34 – Saints 27. Moving on to the goodness that is Analogous Friday…

Guru Ninja Wars

Just someone looks the part, that doesn’t mean that they have the skills to back it up. Ahem…social media guru ninjas. It’s scary to think how someone who just puts on the right hat can trick so many people into think they’re the real deal. The key is that you may get away with it for a while, but, sooner or later, people are going to figure you out.

Streaking is so last year.

Until now, the most entertaining way for someone to get arrested at a sporting event was streaking. Used to, streakers were something you told everyone about seeing, kind of like a wild yeti. Now, they’re a lot like a Lady Gaga song on the radio. They happen all the time and have gotten sort of annoying. This guy, however, was a genius, because he did something I’ve never seen or heard about being done before. The application here should be pretty obvious. Break away from the template and get arrested for doing cool stuff. Wait, what?

Check out last week’s Analogous Friday edition: Your Job is Ridiculous

Hello, friends! This is a pretty exciting Analogous Friday as it is the last one where the blog will look like it does. That’s right, take a print screen of it and save it to your computer for a keepsake. Or you can print it out and burn it. Whatever floats your boat. Not that I’m trying to talk it up or anything If you don’t know how Analogous Friday works, I basically pass along a video to you, you watch the video, I make a couple analogies on how it relates to business, then  you leave a couple really awesome comments, and then we celebrate because it’s the weekend! Make sense? I didn’t think so either. So let’s just do it.

ADMIT IT, YOUR JOB IS SORT OF RIDICULOUS

ACCENTS MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER

So this week we’re trying a little something new with Analogous Friday. This definitely won’t be a normal thing, but I want to see how it goes. Usually, I’m the one making all of the analogies, but this is obviously an extremely strenuous process to do every single week, so we’re gonna have you take a swing at Analogous Friday it this week. I know you’ve got it in you, and this week’s video is ripe for the pickin’ for some great analogies to be had in the comments section. Or, you can just watch the awesome video and then peace out

Anywho, this week’s video is a doozy coming from the crew at College Humor. It’s an audition tape for their rendition of Death of a Salesman and it helps prove that tie dye really does make anything more ridiculous and that boom boxes are most definitely still “in.” So without further ado, I present to you: Funkytown.

To check out a perfect example of Analogous Friday, give a gander to “Yo Gabba Whatta?”

9 out of 10 Farm Animals Agree. Analogous Friday Rocks!

Somebody set that 10th farm animal straight for me.

Anyways, there’s been quite a few new faces roaming around The Curb lately (I mean that in the least sketchy way possible), so I felt like today would be a great day to take a look back at some of my favorite Analogous Friday moments. If you’ve been reading them regularly, take a chance to revisit some of your favorite videos.

For you new folks around these parts, Analogous Friday takes place each Friday and is really my attempt to help us all unwind before the weekend. First, I’ll show you a video I found throughout the week (feel free to send me any good ones you find) that got me giggling, and hopefully will get some knee slapping laughter out of you too. Then, I go on to make some ridiculous analogies about how the video relates to marketing, business, and life in general. Sure, they’re a stretch a lot of times, but every now and then you MAY walk away having learned something.

Basically, Analogous Friday is a whole lot of fun for me and I hope you have half as much fun reading it as I do writing it.

So, what are some of the finest Analogous Friday iterations so far? Well, if ya ask me these are the top 4 (because top 5 is way too cliche):

1. Yo Gabba Whatta? – This was probably the most fun I’ve had writing an Analogous Friday and I think it shows as you read it. Not only does the video make you want to just dance uncontrollably, but it also taught us very important lessons including: “Don’t Do Drugs.”
2. Bacon is Good for Marking – This was the very first Analogous Friday video, which makes it even more epic. To this day, whenever I’m really bored or need a pick-me-up I’ll go back and watch this video. It just has so many great lines in it. Oh yeah, and I guess you can learn something from it too.
3. Jared Allen and Mullets. Oh Yeah, and Marketing. – This one’s for all the Minnesotans out there (which, according to my Analytics, is about 11 of you). This video proves that Jared Allen isn’t just a Pro Bowler, but that he’s actually a pretty funny dude. Key takeaway lesson here was “Where’s your heart-shaped chest hair?”
4. What Can You Learn From a Drunk Ewok? – You don’t have to be a Jedi to appreciate this video, as the ewok’s tend to become “That Guy” when they get a little tipsy. If you didn’t see this clip from the Today show…well, let’s just say that it ends with an ewok humping Al Roker. Yeah, you read that correctly.

Did I miss any of your favorites? Any suggestions about how to make Analogous Friday even better in the future? Let’s hear it all in the comments!

Image by Bill Gracey

If you’re new to Analogous Friday, welcome to awesomeland. This is a little doodad I do every week (on a Friday, obvi) where I share with you a wicked video that I’ve come across for your entertainment. Then, after aforementioned entertainment, I’ll make some silly analogy for how it relates to marketing and business. Then, in the comments, you continue the analogousness and come up with your own. So, those are the rules, kiddos, let’s do it!

So we’ve already gone over why you should try and make a difference during the holiday season as well as taking a look at a holiday wish list for marketers. Seeing as we’re already in the holiday mood (one week until Christmas! Holy moly!) I thought it would be appropriate to show a clip from one of the best Christmas movies of all time: Elf. So sit back and enjoy these two scenes of awesomeness:

Smiling is my favorite too! On the surface, Buddy doesn’t seem like he would make for a very good businessman, unless it was on an assembly line, since that’s kinda what an Elf does. Well you can take these little morsels of advice as a nice early Christmas present…

CREATE PASSIONATE EMPLOYEES

Buddy may be one naive son of a gun, but there’s no doubt about the fact that he is one passionate fella when it comes to Christmas. At the mere mention of something related to what could be considered the elves “brand or product,” Buddy goes ape s***. He was even so excited that he went above and beyond his responsibilities and decorated the entire toy store overnight. Can you imagine if your employees were that excited about your product?

TRUST IS KEY

When Buddy found out that Santa was an impostor, he went ape sh** in a completely different way than before. The toy store/North Pole did him wrong and, since he was so passionate, his reaction was even more intense. This is the same with companies both in their relationships with employees and clients. If you do anything to lose their trust, then you better believe that you may have some hell to pay. So make sure you do everything in your power to earn and maintain the trust of all of your stakeholders.

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

As an addendum, thanks to Katie Wall (@goktgo) I found out today is national “Answer the phone like Buddy the Elf Day.” I convinced our admin assistant to answer the phone with “Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?” So here’s the challenge, answer the phone with this sentence and tell others to do. Let me know in the comments how it turns out!

Did you miss the hilarious edition of Analogous Friday last week? Check out “Yo Gabba Whatta!”

If you’re new to Analogous Friday, welcome to awesomeland. This is a little thingamajig I do every week (on a Friday, obvi) where I share with you a sweet-to-the-third-power video that I’ve come across for your entertainment. Then, after aforementioned entertainment, I’ll make some loony analogy for how it relates to marketing and business. Then, in the comments, you continue the analogousness and come up with your own. So, those are the rules, kiddos, play ball!

If you’ve never watched The Soup, then you’re missing out. I don’t get into all the celebrity news and reality tv shows really, but Joel McHale is hilarious and sends this clip our way.

First of all, if you’ve never watched Yo Gabba Gabba, much less heard of it, it’s super weird. After seeing this clip I looked up a few more and I sincerely am not sure if I would let my kids watch it. It seems like the writers/producers/actors/maybechildren all may or may not be on drugs, and it’s just uber weird. With that being said, it can still teach us a lot.

STAY IN SCHOOL

These poor kids probably dropped out of school at the ripe age of 3 (probably because their preschool teacher refused to let them eat play-doh). One thing led to another and play-doh turns into other things and before they know it, they’re hanging out with Brobie and Toody (or w/e their names are). Not the type crowd that’s going to take you places. And if that wasn’t enough…

DON’T DO DRUGS

That’s All.

DON’T THROW OUT CRAZY IDEAS

I would LOVE to have been in the board room of whatever company came up with this idea when it was first pitched. I can only hope that they had characters dressed up in costumes involved in the presentation and asked the CEO to do a dance with Nathaniel. Too often in the brainstorming process do people hold back because they’re afraid of rejection. I’m a believer that the more ideas you have the better your final product will turn out. You can combine the ideas and build off of each other. The point is, don’t throw out an idea because you think it’s “dumb” or “silly” because it may just make you filthy rich.

STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT EVERYONE THINKS

Do you think my main man Nathaniel was dancing to please Toody? Heck no. He was getting his groove on because he was having an absolute blast. He wasn’t worrying about whether Joel McHale would be making fun of him on The Soup, or whether or not you would sit at your computer watching him on YouTube. Whether it’s out with your friends or on Twitter where you’re creating a personal brand, don’t put on a mask, just be yourself.

Did ya like it? If you want more Analogous Friday, check out “Jared Allen and Mullets. Oh yeah, and Marketing.”

If you’re new to Analogous Friday, welcome to the your awesomeland. This is a little doo-dad I do every week (on a Friday, no duh) where I share with you a wicked video that I’ve come across for your entertainment. Then, after said entertainment, I’ll make some asinine analogy for how it relates to marketing and business. Then, in the comments, you continue the analogousness and come up with your own. So, those are the rules, kiddos, let’s get ready to rumble!

If you like Legos, the Matrix, or have a pulse, you’re going to love today’s video. Check it out below…

You can also check out a side by side of this and the real scene from the Matrix in a separate video. There’s also a site all about how it was created. Of note, this short scene took 440 hours to make. Holy shnikeys! Obviously, the first thing you wonder about after watching this video is what can it teach me about business, marketing, and life? Well, I’m so glad you asked! I’m uber busy today, so I’m going to get us started off with one analogy, and I’m going to ask you guys to continue in the comments. So don’t be ascared, sound off afterwards!

PASSION PAYS

This dude spent 440 hours working on this video. That’s over 18 days if he worked around the clock. All for a less than 2 minute video.  I don’t know if he’s as Matrix or Lego fanatic but I like to think so, because it helps me prove my point. Sometimes, if you can create a product that is so awesome and so epic (we’ll pretend like the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies never existed) that it creates passionate fans, you will be amazed at how far they will go to help you out. Sometimes all you have to do is put it out there and consumers will become passionate about it, but others you may have to help foster this passion on your own. Either way, if you can do this, then you’re going to create fans that will go to the ends of the Earth for you.