3-D movies are all the rage again and people are rushing to get their movies out on the big screen. Of course we’re talking about the 3-D where you put on glasses and the movie has realistic, or sometimes fantastic, depth to them. (There is another type of 3-D movie where the imagery is computer generated using 3-D modeling techniques, but that is another discussion. The recent Toy Story is an example that uses both 3-D types.)

That Pavilion at Olbrich Gardens in Madison using "cross-eyed" 3-D viewing technique (click to enlarge.) To view in 3-D, simply sit in front of the photo and cross your eyes. A combined 3-D image should form in the middle. (It takes a little practice and some people have a hard time making it work.) The web link has anaglyphic photos - red-blue glasses needed. www.GunterAgency.com/3d

I’ve actually been playing around with 3-D imagery since I was a kid.

I used to draw two images and then do the “magic eye” or “cross-eyed” trick to blend them into one. Later on my brother got a copy of Grand Funk’s Shinin’ On album, complete with 3-D artwork and anaglyphic glasses, and I started playing around using red and blue markers to create 3-D images.

Back around 2000, we did a holiday card for the agency that was sent out with 3-D glasses. It gave a link to an interactive, animated 3-D website. It was of “Santa’s Workshop” and when you clicked on one of the toys, they would move in 3-D space. To our knowledge, we were the first company in the world to create an interactive 3-D website.

We’ve been shooting 3-D photos for several years and today we are currently working on a 3-D Wisconsin book (with plans of other states down the road.) If you have suggestions for photos to be included, let us know. We’ll be doing both natural landscapes and tourist attractions.

To see some of our 3-D pictures, you can go to a special section of the agency website – www.GunterAgency.com/3d. You will need red-blue anaglyphic glasses. (Send me an email or give me a call, I can send some in the mail.)

A number of years ago I found some recordings of Hardrock Gunter. With an interesting name, I did a little research which eventually led me to find Hardrock living in New Mexico. To make a long story short, we’ve become good friends and in October of 2008, we took a vacation to New Mexico. During our visit, we interviewed Hardrock.

Hardrock is one of the first rock and rollers out there.

His Birmingham Bounce has been written up as possibly the first rock and roll record. (He recorded it in 1950, Red Foley made it into a number 1 hit a little later.) (Gonna rock and roll) Gonna Dance All Night is arguably the first time that the phrase “rock and roll” was ever used in a song in a musical context (also recorded in 1950.) His recall into the army for the Korean Conflict interrupted his career. He was recording on the sun label before Elvis did.

Hardrock is a pioneer of the rockabilly sound. I hope you enjoy the interview. Learn more about “Rock” on the official Hardrock Gunter website.

I originally saw this article from George in Pam Witzig‘s newsletter, first in a series of articles on a series of “Mad Men” that she is running, articles featuring real life stories from advertising men back when there were only three TV networks to advertise on. (George recruits for Pam’s employment agency.)

August Busch III had just told the agency that we needed to come up with the next major Budweiser ad campaign. The agency was hopping and we even cut back on our three Budweiser lunches.  When you worked on Bud you didn’t have martini lunches. Some of the creatives even came in before 10AM. The word was out, if we didn’t nail it then it would be up for review. And when Mr. Busch said “jump!” …well, you know the saying.

It was not that the present campaign sucked. Here comes the King was pretty good and with those Clydesdales, how could you not get attention. In addition to that the agency created a secondary camping where we painted the Budweiser label on the side of barns or on the bottom of swimming pools and made it all fun. Gosh those labels were big. A client’s dream: “Make the logo bigger.” But Mr. Busch wanted to see something fresh.

Now don’t get me wrong, he liked all that we did and loved the jingle. “Here comes the King, here comes the big number one,” (Trombone: bum bum bum bum) “Busweiser beer is beer that’s second to none,” (Bum bum bum bum.) Written by Steve Karmen. And ending with: “When you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all.” So the entire agency was on call to “Ratchet it up a notch.” God how I hate that phrase.

I was a young Art Director and associate Creative Director at the time. Like Salvatore Romano on Madmen, I too could draw. The agency was given three, maybe four weeks to present the new thinking. I thought of a simple idea. Use the Clydesdales and the famous wagon and have it waiting with no drivers or dog outside a construction site in New Jersey. As the men came off site they punched the time clock and our hero climbed up on the wagon and moved them out. Heading through the Lincoln Tunnel to New York City and across midtown Manhattan and all that cross town traffic. Then when he got to the Tavern he meet his lady friend. I created a new Tag line “The King is waiting” and rewrote the lyrics to Steve Karmen’s famous music. The agency chiefs and the Don Draper of then D’Arcy Advertising all gave me their blessings and I was on cloud nine. And eager to start my storyboards.

My final idea was approved at the last minute and the next day (Friday) I went to the brewery with all the brass and several other creatives with their ideas. You would always show at least three ideas and then recommend one. In this case that was going to be mine. I was pumped and had practiced singing the Budweiser jingle with my new lyrics. Same beginning but a new second stanza. “The king is waiting, there is no doubt it’s what great taste is all about.” (Chorus: It’s what great taste is all about.)

We got there at 3PM and waited on the other side of two very large double doors. Mr. Busch and all the top brass were on the other side. We waited for over an hour or more and at the last moment were told that we had 15 minutes to present since August Busch III was going to fly his helicopter from the rooftop to head home, and he was leaving at 4:30PM. I guess he didn’t want to get caught up in the St. Louis helicopter rush hour traffic. The Executive Creative Director turned to me and said “Well George, you’re on,” then told all the other creative teams to stay outside. The doors opened and there was a huge table with all these men sitting there. At one end was a very large painting of August Busch III and sitting under that painting was the man himself.

I made my way to that end of the room and started to pull out all my storyboard frames from my art case. I could hear some talking going on behind me but was too busy getting all my stuff out of the case. I was down on one knee while I was doing this so I couldn’t really see the entire room that well. Then, suddenly just as I got the last frame out August Busch III turns in his oversized swivel chair and says right to me “So what you got?” I was too pumped to be frightened or to freeze and went right into my pitch on one knee like I was proposing marriage. And that would have been easier. I took him through the storyline and showed him the frames one at a time as I sang the new lyrics to the famous Budweiser song. I didn’t have time to get up and use an art easel to show the work and present to him and all the others in the room. Some of the men got up and moved toward the front as I went through my pitch. Including the new tag line “The king is waiting.” And when it was all done he smiled and asked me “Can I drive the wagon?” and I said “Mr. Busch, you can do whatever you want.” And with that I could hear laughter coming from the other side of the room.

I packed up my work and we were out of there by 4:30 as promised and Mr. Busch was very, very happy. I was thrilled and on cloud 19. Afterwards the agency brass all patted me on the back and said “great job.” That weekend I was as high as a kite and knew that I was going to be famous for having created the new Budweiser ad campaign. On Monday there was one other idea they were bringing over to have Mr. Busch see and it was created by the Don Draper of the agency. After that, I was in like Flynn. His idea: “For all you do. This bud’s for you.”

(No, not everything on this blog is about business and marketing.)

The Elves Who Hold Their Knees featured the group singing Christmas classics. (The songs are classic songs, no one is going to mistake the singing for a classic performance.) After distributing the CD, we found that The Elves Who Hold Their Knees were very popular with young teenage girls. (Seriously.) Kudos to Bennett Syverson for the original concept.

O Christmas Tree

Jolly Old Saint Nick

Jingle Bells

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Deck The Halls

Old Long Song

About 25 years ago, there was a UFO sighting that received national press. It was the start of several sightings, and now the town of Belleville commemorates it with their UFO Day celebration.

Where was this sighting? The police officers that reported the UFO claimed it was on a bluff in the country, about halfway between the towns of Belleville and New Glarus, a couple miles south of Belleville, off of Highway 69…

Here’s a video where we interviewed author Noah Voss, who fills us in on the details.

Here’s a fresh idea that you may want to consider…

Create your own photo book! With digital photography, it is easy to create your own hardbound or softbound book. If you’re on an Apple computer, go to apple.com and look up iPhoto books. Other sites that offer book printing for PCs and Macs include picaboo.com, shutterfly.com, and hp.com. Hardbound books start at around $30.