DIY Costumes for Social Media Mavens!

BOO!

Yes, folks, it's Halloween weekend! (Well, at least the first of two!)

And if you are a last minute planner, you might have not planned a costume yet.

Well don't just throw a bedsheet over your head and say you are a ghost (although, that is fun, I know from experience).  If you are obsessed with Social Media like I am, some of these awesome Internet Inspired Costumes will be worth the effort!!

DIFFICULT:

So, yeah, Grumpy Cat isn't new but he IS adorable. And you will be too in this costume.  Basically an adaptation of the normal, everyday cat costume.  Add heavily darkened eyes, a frown over your mouth and make a cardboard frame for yourself and voila! 

EASY:

With a basic black or white outfit and some construction paper, you can transform yourself into either hardware or software that everyone loves.  A black dress + Mini apps = iPhone!! White outfit + cardboard easel = Pinterest board!  Or even easier -- just wear a white shirt with some safety pins!

EVEN EASIER:

Okay, this is for people who are kinda slackers, but we love you anyway.  Write on a shirt: "ERROR 404: Costume Not Found".  All of a sudden, your laziness looks like tech genius.  You're welcome.

No matter what your preferred level of difficulty, have fun, be safe and HAPPY Halloween!!

What Breaking Bad and Oreos Have In Common

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT.

If you haven't watched the final episode of Breaking Bad, stop reading now.

 

Great, I figured since it's been almost a week since the final episode, it was pretty much safe to write about this.  Remember during last year's Superbowl blackout when Oreo placed that awesome real-time ad on Twitter?  Well, people are referring to similar real-time marketing efforts "Oreo Moments" now (how's that for some residual branding!). 

And the series finale that had everyone talking had some pretty great attempts at "Oreo Moments". 

I've listed my favorite three below.

 

 

Clorox on Twitter: Maybe the most similar to the Oreo Moment, is Clorox's tightie whitie ad.  Granted, this seems less real-time than the Oreo ad because it is a nod to Walter's choice undies, which was part of the plot line for years now.  This could have easily been thought up months ago and just ready to tweet.  Still, I like the tie-in. 

Century 21 and Craigslist:

Using a little bit of a different avenue, Century 21 pulled a clever stunt just hours before the finale's start by posting a fake ad for the White's New Mexico home on Craigslist sales page.  The ad claimed it was selling the ranch style Albuquerque home and called it "fit for a king" as well as a host of other insider tidbits in the description. 

Truvia on Twitter: Here's the REAL spoiler alert, which goes along with my personal favorite ad for this blog.  Background: In the final episode, Walter kills someone by replacing her choice sweetener, stevia, with poison. This Truvia ad makes my #1 spot because it's clever AND was obviously thought up in real-time as the finale aired.  Granted, the ad didn't post for a few hours after the show.... but still, the edginess of the tweet probably had to clear some level of lawyers!

How about you?  See any other "Oreo Moments" in the Breaking Bad series finale??

Government Shutdowns on Twitter!

The government shutdown.

It's what everyone is talking about.

And while you may not have experienced ramifications of this yet in your day to day life, I'm gonna clue you in on some that are on Twitter!

Yup. When certain government sections are shut down, well it means their Twitter accounts are shut down too! So for now, until they get this mess fixed, here are 5 Government accounts that you shouldn't expect to hear tweeting....

1. U.S. Capitol (@USCapitol): Probably to be expected (and not sure who follows this anyway) but no more tweets from the Capital for now.

2.FAA Safety Briefing (@FAASafetyBrief): More relevant I might say, this account is meant to update with flying safety news, but is shutdown for now.

3. StatueOfLiberty (@StatueLibrtyNPS): Hope you weren't planning a visit to Lady Liberty any time soon. You won't be able to check her out on Twitter if you were.

4. National Zoo (@NationalZoo): Another main tourist attraction down. And not only is their Twitter down but so is the Panda Cam feed (which was just adorably cute, by the way!)

5. NASA's Asteroid Watch (@asteroidwatch): Let's just pray no asteroids are on a collision course with earth right now or us Twitter-folk will be in for a surprise!

How else have you been effected by the shutdown?