Allerca Lifestyle Pets

At a price of $4,000 to $6,000 per kitten, it is pathetic that Allerca uses YouTube to distribute its video content. Can Allerca not afford a decent web designer? At least they are not using rehashed 30-second commercials, but instead 2-3 minutes segments from the three major networks’ morning and evening news programs.

And, somewhat as an aside, The Distillery can only wonder when Google/YouTube will begin charging firms for purely commercial video distribution. Rest assured that day will come.

Home page:  Allerca Lifestyle Pets

 

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Steve Irwin (1962-2006) & Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble it, don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness, don’t work against God’s intent.  ~Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

This posting is not about Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. The untimely death of Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, reminded me of his television predecessor, Marlin Perkins and his television program, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. No greater homage can be paid the The Crocodile Hunter than by including him in what must surely be the most exclusive of all Explorers’ Clubs. There can be little doubt that both Marlin Perkins and Jacques Yves Cousteau are waiting to greet Mr. Irwin at the club’s entrance and extend to him all rights and privileges thereof.  

Thank you for teaching us, Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. Every living animal on this earth sheds tears for you this day, especially your beloved crocodiles. May your wife and children find a measure of peace in this time of great sorrow and loss.  

Home page:  Australia Zoo – Home of The Crocodile Hunter
Home page:  Cousteau Society
Home page:  Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

BirdCheck.co.uk (Whack the Penguin)

I love the internet.* Who knows what will turn up next. Sometimes it’s a gem; other times it’s a bird. This is one of those latter times. And, it appears to be more a labor of love than commercial. (You can donate one or two dollars/euros/yen/pesos/etc. via PayPal. Why not do so?)

But what is BirdCheck? And, is it multimedia? The answer to the second question is “No,” for the most part. BirdCheck is not about selling and advertising, but appears to be a lone person’s laudable efforts to place The Complete Morris’s British Birds 1891 online. (For an American frame of reference, think James Audubon.)

Although BirdCheck is quite wonderful in its intent and execution, and you could spend days enjoying the images, The Distillery calls your attention to some Friday fun — Whack the Penguin. But worry not about the poor penguin. As a resident of CartoonLand, he gets right back up with no harm done. He’s said to even enjoy it. Now, you enjoy.

* No, it is not capitalized. Why should it be? Do we capitalize “power grid,” “sewer system,” or “telephone?” No, we do not. We capitalize proper nouns, and “internet” is not a proper noun. (Whew! I’ve waited too long to get that rant out of my rack of raves.)

Home page: BirdCheck.co.uk
Home page: Whack the Penguin

Giving Lip (Budweiser)

Yes, this is the third Budweiser entry today, but I promise you will not find yourself bored and yawning. This one is definitely good for a laugh.

Go ahead and play around with Budweiser’s Giving Lip. For maximum laughter, you might wish to select the pig or chimp first. However, don’t forget that you can also upload and use your own image(s).

Home page: Budweiser’s Giving Lip

“American Dream” (Budweiser)

Legal Advisement: The following commercial content is to be viewed only by individuals 21 years old or older.

After viewing American Dream by Budweiser, you will not doubt its nomination for an Emmy Award. This is a great commercial that may even bring tears to your eyes. It does everything right. Who would not stop and at least consider purchasing a six-pack of Budweiser after viewing it? Only the Grinch.

Something extra: Have a look at Budweiser in China. Very different, eh?

Home page: Budweiser

Raid Insecticides (Astero-Raids)

We often joke here in North Carolina that the mosquito is our state bird. And living here on the state’s southernmost coast where it is almost always warm and humid, that means there are lots of bugs of every variety — including roaches. Maybe seeing them outside earlier today precipitated typing in Raid.com. (No, that won’t get you there. They didn’t think to register the domain name. Duh!)

I don’t know what I expected, but I did not expect an almost entirely static site. After all, bugs move around alot — until they’re squished. Maybe that’s why the little multimedia and interactive content I found at Raid’s site is its Play Astero-Raids game. Kill all the little suckers you can before they get you. (If you do not have it already installed, you will need to download Adobe/Macromedia Shockwave to play.)

Home page: KillsBugsDead.com

“The Ant Bully”

Lily Tomlin. Nicolas Cage. Merryl Streep. Ricardo Montalban (sans Corinthian leather). Paul Giamatti. Julia Roberts.

One helluva list of actors and actresses, isn’t it? And what could possibly bring them all together? Answer: The Ant Bully. But instead of The Distillery saying more, why don’t you read what 3 Black Chicks have to say about it.

Home page: The Ant Bully

Save The Tiger Fund

PR is as important to a firm’s image, profits, and longevity as any other component of the marketing/promotional mix. That is why The Distillery is perplexed to learn that the Save The Tiger Fund is largely sponsored by Exxon Mobil. There was no mention of it at the Exxon Mobil site when it was reviewed. Or, maybe it was just very well hidden.

Either way, someone is missing the boat on this one in not making it more visible. Exxon Mobil needs all the good press it can muster. Are some large companies so disjointed that all too frequently the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing? Apparently so.

For more information about the Save The Tiger Fund, visit SaveTheTigerFund.org. After all, tigers are very cool cats and all that jive.

Animal Land (ASPCA)

There are some things that please me very much. Seeing not-for-profits outperforming the corporate world is one of them. And that is just what we have with AnimalLand.org from the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

AnimalLand opens with a very nice Flash cartoon index page. From there, I highly suggest you [and your kids] click on the pet care guides for several household pets, or simply to learn. Each animal has at least one full-page Flash presentation clearly designed to be fun for kids, and short enough for their attention spans. Do not stop with these, but some examples include:

Cleaning up after your dog

Getting to know your hamster

Keeping your bird clean

While you are there, also stop in at ASPCA: Celebrating 140 Years. April 10, 2006 is the society’s birthday. As part of the ASPCA’s Enlighten America for Animals campaign, on that day 140 buildings and landmarks across America will be lighted with the color orange, the official color of the ASPCA.

And last, stop by the ASPCA’s media page where you will find several videos of its public service announcements. Included is this PSA by Russell Simmons, the hip-hop mogul.

Distillery Proof Rating = 8 (Comments?)

“Deep Sea 3-D” (IMAX)

Granted, anything seen on your computer monitor is a far cry from an actual IMAX movie, but you can at least view the trailer for IMAX’s Deep Sea 3-D.

Mountain Dew

My first click at the Mountain Dew web site took me to its music player. Not bad, but do not expect Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams, Sr., or Bruce Springsteen. (Remember, this music is for the “Dew” generation.) Put differently, there is a striking contrast to the soothing music found at some other web sites here. A click on the faux-widget labeled “click to drop in” took me to a Sims-like game of playful skateboard action.

Mountain Dew makes a modest attempt at embracing Web 2.0 technology. The home page is Ajax-powered with movable widgets. However, the Dew Gaming widget leads to a static and decidedly out-of-date concert tour schedule. (Does that revert the site back to a typically “Who’s paying attention here?” Web 1.0 site?)

The Dew Feature widget takes one to either the Be Nocturnal online game introducing a new product, the Pepsi Free Ride contest with a Chevy Tahoe as the main prize and Time to Thrill online game, or off-site to MTV.com and the Dew Circuit Breakout. A mash-up of winners of the free gasoline prize again uses Web 2.0 features. And, two Pepsi Free Ride TV ads can also be viewed. (Pepsi? Yes, remember that Mountain Dew is a Pepsi product.)

A click on the Dew Sports widget takes you to either Mountain Dew Street Ball, Fueled By Dew Fantasy [NASCAR] Racing, or the very static and boring “First Descent” DVD web site. (Do not waste your time with the last.) However, we again find out-of-date content after clicking on Mixtape Tour 2005, so do not waste a click there. A click on Mountain Dew Street Hoops followed by another on See MD Streetball Pics and Videos supposedly takes you to a few short streetball videos, but I found only one that actually worked — and I am not even certain how I got it to work. It took a lot of seemingly random clicks. (Yes, that section is very poorly designed. Again, is anyone really paying attention?)

Some of the more engaging content is found at the House of Dew where a trailer of First Descent can be viewed. Also take a few minutes to click around each room to discover any surprises that might be found. At the very least you will find a smile or two. Last, but not least, explore MDTV to view and vote for your favorite Mountain Dew commercial.

And here is the Diet Mountain Dew shark commercial for which everyone seems to be looking. (Thanks, YouTube.)