Greetings loyal readers,
Based on my love of Lost, I decided to check out FlashForward last Thursday. It was okay I guess. Overall I wasn’t too impressed. The pilot seemed overly expository and character dialogue was a bit clunky and forced. Still, it was just the first episode, so I suppose I’ll give the show a few more episodes before I cross it off the list.
I know what you’re thinking. “Mike, I’m not even going to pretend to care about your opinions on popular TV. Make with the promotional products.” First of all, settle down. That was a little harsh. Second, here is the connection:
Despite my lukewarm feelings on the writing, the actual premise of FlashForward is pretty cool. If you’re not familiar, everyone on Earth blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds, all seeing visions of the future. The main character sees himself in front of a large corkboard, working out a mystery involving all these esoteric clues without having any idea of their meaning. I thought it might be fun to try the same thing here, a little game of “Guess the promotion from your future,” if you will.
Here’s how it’s going to go down. Imagine your consciousness is flung into the future, and you see the five products below arranged on your desk, as if you were planing a promotion. Each of the items are part of the same promotion. If you’re able to guess what the promotion is, not only do you win the respect of myself, but also the entire promotional industry.
CLUE NUMBER ONE: Jar of Knives-Gold Bond
What you saw in the vision: A big plastic jar holding 72 knives. There is no imprint on the jar, and all the knives are closed, so you can’t see the laser engraving on the blades. Next to the jar are some frayed pieces of rope, about six or seven inches in length, along with some thin wood shavings and a fancy piece of paper that appears to have a short list of dinner specials on it for a local hotel.
CLUE NUMBER TWO: Legal Leather Briefcase-Clava American
What you saw in the vision: You’re stuffing the black leather briefcase full of shredded white paper. Inside the bag is a smooth, rectangular box that is about the size of a DVD case, but a few inches thicker. A red bow is stuck to the top of the box. On the floor is an open envelope from VISA.
CLUE NUMBER THREE: Wooden Nickel-Gold Bond
What you saw in the vision: Two wooden nickels sit on your desk, a huge stack of them visible in the background. There is a black screen print design on one of the nickels that reads “Marietta Bank of Ohio” accompanied by a little picture of four men in colonial garb. The edge of the coin is ringed by 48 tiny stars. The other nickel is blank, but is next to a small bottle of black India ink.
CLUE NUMBER FOUR: Custom-made Ascots-KTP Design Company
What you saw in the vision: A huge trunk full of Ascot ties lies to your left. There is no design on the ties. A note on your desk reads, “Still need to find 50+ pairs of thick black glasses. Purple sweaters come in tomorrow.”
CLUE NUMBER FIVE: Four Faces Gold Masks-The WOW Line
What you saw in the vision: Next to the four masks are some tri-corner hats, a huge bag of flour, and about eight boxes of red cellophane wrap near a pile of floodlights and extension cord.
Any ideas yet? If not, don’t worry, you have until next week to come up with an answer, then I’ll post the solution here. Until then, if anyone wants to post his or her ideas to the comment section of this blog, please feel free!
Until next week sleuths,
Mike
CHARLES PLYTER FACT OF THE WEEK: Charlie and the rest of the Promo Marketing Web team have launched our new site! Among other new features, our search is AWESOME now. Everyone should check it out, and be sure to let us know what you think.
