Let me pose to you a hypothetical situation.

Let’s say, in the middle of Cleveland Street, where the Farmer’s Market sometimes shows up, there was a large box which had a door facing you and seemed made of simple materials. And next to it was a few people with banners telling you to go in for a moment.

Now, of course, if this was a real thing, you might be discouraged or untrusting of such a situation—but, let’s say for the sake of discussion, you did decide to go into the box for a minute.

I realize this is a long analogy. Stay with me here. I have a point to make.

So, once in the box, you see a few buttons, and they all make interesting sounds when you press them. Press a few more and a screen shows various entertaining images and pieces of artwork.

And then, once you’ve pushed the button a few more times, it tells you that after five more, the box will let you see and hear even cooler things, and will give you a prize.

So you do. And it supplies. And for a moment, the whole experience is awesome. But, around comes promises of even more interesting things if you continue.

And after a while, you’ve lost your entire day to this box.

Because that was the point.

Sounds like a massively weird thing, right? Yeah, well, it is. But it is also the main draw of certain video games. They go about marketing the game as a way to sink hours and days.

Bejeweled is an entertaining box. Candy Crush is an entertaining box. You put time in more and more because on some level it satisfies a basic want and need to feel like you accomplished something.

A need we all share.

And perhaps the biggest and greatest example of this done to a tee is the nerdy staple: World of Warcraft. A game world full of people all playing and fighting and exploring, wrapped around so many boxes it’s scary.

This sort of action is often called “grinding” (and no, that is not a dance move) and consists of doing the same few actions a lot, like killing monsters--and getting marginally better and more efficient at the task over time.

It’s the same appeal as practicing a skill, only you get to be a powerful wizard instead of learning to juggle.

And I am not bemoaning that this is a thing. I do not disparage my gaming brethren for enjoying this. I, too, at one point, enjoyed the grind. But what I am saying is, a lot of marketing work went into that particular trick, and it is hard to break out of for certain people.

Which is yet again what the creator wants. Because it is the dream of every business under the sun to have customers who keep coming back.

Now, this doesn’t work for all things. And must not be used without any thought or reason or ethics—but it is a tool nonetheless.

And one video games have already mastered.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Welcome to a normal day.

An advertisement comes on for The Home Depot. A promo shows up on your social media account for Nature’s Food Patch on Cleveland Street. A billboard sign for Chick-fil-A passes by as you drive into Tampa.  

Go to Countryside Mall and you will see a thousand advertisements and tons of shops all selling things.

Movie trailers before the actual movie.

Coupons. Deals. “Buy one, get one free”.

So far, so standard. Our country: saturated in the many ways it wants you to spend your money.

But, beyond the normal understanding of the consumer culture of America, there is a deeper layer.

Because, as most marketing and advertising executives would tell you: these sort of things are targeted. They have a specific type of person in mind. A certain type of individual in mind.

Advertising is tailored. Market data gives a basic idea of what a person would like. And, in the end, they are advertising along population, cultural, economic, and gender divides.

Ever wonder why all beer advertisements seem to have the same basic person in them as the “main character”? An average looking guy, between twenty (if they want to seem trendy) and thirty (if they want to seem down-to-earth), who is around gorgeous girls who—for some reason--are attracted to him more when he has a beer in his hand?

As a side note, if it is “refreshing” or somehow “light” they will often be on a beach or an outdoor club. This allows the bonus points of being able to contextualize why the women and men are in skimpy clothing—which adds sex appeal into the narrative.

Now, what does this all break down to? Well, they want a person of around middle class who is a heterosexual male to buy the product. Or, perhaps, a female—depending on how it’s presented.

Now, this isn’t necessarily bad. It can kind of be ethically concerning...or, at least, a public relation danger—but it is the nature of products to have a certain group in mind.

Adidas wants young urban adults. Gerber wants mothers. Gatorade wants sports players.  

And McDonald’s and Apple and Google and Disney wants every single person in the world.

It is how companies make money. They have to sell, and for advertising to be effective, for most marketing to be effective, you have to know who you want to attract. You don’t pull in a vegetarian with grilled meat, if you’ll forgive me for the odd analogy.

But I think it’s something we should at least be more aware of in the long run. And when you see an advertisement, try to think beyond just what they are selling and see to who they are selling.

Because once you can see that, then you’ll be under another layer of the advertising world. And the deeper you go, the odder it gets.

The more primal it gets.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Wake up. Eat breakfast if you can. Drive to work.

Try to focus.

Do the work. Coffee. Lunch. More work.

Go home. Dinner. Chores. Sleep.

Start over again.

Ever feel you could write your life in a checklist? Like time is a thing always drained away? You swore you’d get that hobby project done. Or finally fix that broken light in the hallway.

Yeah, me too. It’s hard. Life is a rush of responsibilities. And even when you have free time, the sheer number of things being marketed to you will pull you in many directions.

The world wants your time and your money. You budget money (I hope) and it helps you keep track of things. So, why not budget time? Or at least try to get a bit of control.

Sounds difficult because it is. And I am not perfect either. So, I fail at this too. But when life eats you alive, I have a few pieces of advice to make things a tad more efficient.

1. The “Have To” List.

Priorities are important. And some things you have to do. So, know those things down pat. Trust me when I say you’re less likely to get distracted when you know a list of everything you have to accomplish by the end of the day.

2.            No Television, No Facebook.

How much time do you spend on social media? How many hours? How much T.V.? Television is not a ritualistic thing. It is a relaxing thing. It’s a reward. It is not a given aspect of day-to-day life. Treat both as things you get when the “have to” list is done.

3.            Just Get It Done.

Life has a ton of tiny things you should get around to doing. So, just do them. Yeah, it will take like five to ten minutes, but trust me it will only get more difficult if you let it all form a pile. Buy those vitamins from Natures Food Patch. Mail that letter at the post office. Pick up the gift card for your mother at One Stoppe Shoppe on Cleveland Street. Go do it when you think of it—barring obvious delays. Random particles and tasks that need doing eat concentration.

4.            Fully Relax!

No, none of that “a reward YouTube video for each work assignment done” or “texting a friend while doing homework.” I am not pooh-poohing leisure time. We all need it, or we would explode. But, if you are going to have some—then it is relaxation time. Full-on. And if you have to do work, then just do the work. Multitasking for productive things is not a good idea, and you’ll end up using more time on doing both at the same time than if you did them one at a time.

Sounds difficult and annoying and hard? Yeah. It is. But I know of no more efficient way. And, like I said, I fail at it all the time. But it’s at least worth attempting.

Think of all the time you could save.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Bioshock Infinite is a masterpiece with serious flaws. There, got that part out of the way. Now let’s talk about what it tried to promote.

While the first Bioshock tackled everyone having full control over their lives—especially regarding economics and how capitalism plays into it--the sequel Bioshock 2 did the same treatment for communism. Showing the evils of the opposite of the spectrum.

The problem, it seems, is we live in a world where there is no set answer to these kinds of questions. No matter which extreme you choose.

But later, after a while, the next game came into existence, and instead of hitting hard at another opposing ideology, it went a tad more...topical.

Well, sort of.

If Rapture was a place far away from the “parasites” and the communists, then Bioshock Infinite’s city Columbia exists to move away from the quote: “Sodom Below.”

In other words: it is a floating sky city populated by white supremacists who all worship a born again “prophetic” religious leader named Comstock.

That alone is a lot to unpack, and this article is not long enough for me to go into the serious social discussions these games deserve.

But, perhaps, the biggest takeaway from all the games is this idea: Charismatic pseudo-dictators are never good. Letting a single person control everything is never smart.

And this applies to this day and age. Whether on the country’s stage or just here in Clearwater. We all focus on the president, but we need to look at all the people in charge.

The president has power, sure, I am not even going to attempt to argue, but he does not have all the power—and no one should, really. No one should have all the say. We have a lot, a lot, of elected officials all over the place who can help create compromise, and we must compromise with other’s beliefs. And failure to understand that will not end well. Seceding from those you disagree with will not end well.

And if you don’t believe me, well, give it about thirty or so hours of gameplay, and I think you’ll see my point. Good satire can promote, implant, and imply ideas without saying them.

And I am excited to see if, and when, more video games go the extra mile to hit on such broad and thoughtful topics as this.

Movies and books and plays already do and did: but now we can directly interact with the ideas presented. And that is real power.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

I am about to get supremely nerdy in this article, because for one of the first times, I get to talk about two of my favorite things in the world: social science and the Bioshock video game franchise.

Because the two are married. The two connect. And with video games being the up and coming and always spreading medium it is, it falls to it as well as others to promote society’s progress.

And, while that is a haughty thing to say, perhaps the haughtiest thing I’ve ever typed out on these pages, it is the truth. Art, must, absolutely must, make an effort and a rush to help bring ideas to the world.

And to my mind, there is no better form of this than social satire. Comedy and satire exist as a measuring stick and method of exploration of things wrong in the world, without perhaps directly attacking anyone.

Well, except, in the case of an oddball political philosopher named Ayn Rand.

Because, for my money, the ultimate work of satire in the video game medium is the Bioshock series. Perhaps only matched by Spec Ops: The Line.  

Let me break it down for you if you haven’t played, or aren’t deep into the holes of the culture of the youth demographic (insert comically dated slang here).

Bioshock is a game as Brave New World is a book. In the fact they endeavor to talk about things beyond what you might expect of them. Only with Bioshock, it is an interactive experience.

And the story of the game is one that may seem odd a first: set in an underwater city called Rapture, you, the player, find yourself in a situation of life or death.

For you see, the city has fallen. Well before you got there. Founded on Randian Objectivism which includes laissez-faire capitalism, the city of Rapture introduced a new method of improving one’s station in life.

It is called Adam, and it’s used to make a thing called Plasmids—which give you special abilities. And, because there is no shutting down or regulating this wonder drug...well....

...Everyone goes crazy and turns into murderous addicts to this one method of power.

And that’s where you show up.

And now, well, here’s the purpose. It’s a criticism. Promotes how messed up the mindset of removing all government oversight is. It promotes a rejection of the things that some people—and political agendas—want to happen.

And if you agree. Well, that’s good. I do. I see the problem. But if you don’t that’s good too. Explore how Rapture should have worked without falling.

That’s the power of satire. And Bioshock has a lot more to say. Go to Gamestop at Clearwater Mall—or buy it on Steam. Play it, see, if you haven’t already.

Like it or not, it’s the job of media to shape our perceptions of the world. To enhance and question it. To promote understanding and promote an analytical study of the way the world works—the way games work--and what we can sometimes take for granted.

And you know what? There’s more than one game in this series. And I think I have more to say on the subject.

For when I like something, there’s practically “infinite” I could talk about.

Until then.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

I called it! I totally called it! Pokémon Go is now part of the way people market. I’ve seen promotions, and signs, and advertisements.

And the cleverest one so far is happening right here in Clearwater with Nature’s Food Patch.

Now, I already like Nature’s Food Patch. As a health-conscious individual, it’s one of the few places I know I can consistently get reasonably priced healthy food in bulk. Plus, their hot bar is fantastic.

But, now, the incentive doubles with the fact they are a PokéStop. And I’ve been running out of Great Balls.

But they go one better than just promoting that fact.

In a move so smart, so savvy, it makes my head hurt: they will give five-dollar gift cards to anyone who catches a Pokémon within the building (for a limited time).

But only certain ones, of course. None of the common ones. Nah. You need to catch a starter Pokémon or several other rarer types to claim your prize. So, you’ll need to spend some time inside the building.

Like I said: super clever.

Now, normally, this sort of system has a few ways someone could manipulate it. Which, undoubtedly, unfortunately, someone would try. But thanks to the unique nature of the game itself, the location where you caught a Pokémon is displayed on your screen.

So, liars can’t trick, and the honest can prove, and brag.

This is so cool, guys.

They are also doing Pokémon events over there called “Lure-A-Thons.”

I’m blown away. This is another example of the new technological landscape I’m always raving about to people. And it’s worth celebrating just for this gamification idea existing in our world. Who would have guessed media like pong would evolve to this?

So, knock back an acai juice in celebration, and get searching Nature’s Food Patch, Pokémon Trainers, and catch those deals.

Because I can only bet a salad and some roasted chicken tastes so much better--so much more rewarding--when you caught a Pikachu to help pay for it.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

What makes you angry? A lot of things? A few things? Various things? I imagine something makes you angry. Does a conflicting opinion make you angry? It does for a lot of people. Men and women who are pro-gun grow mad when laws come in to limit firearms. Men and women who are anti-gun grow mad when laws to limit firearms fail to pass.

Look no further than the latest political race, and you will see people angry for someone holding an opinion considered opposite to their own.

Oh, sure, it’s more complex than that. Religion, race, upbringing, income, and location all play a huge part. But the end result is anger.

And do you like to be angry? No. Of course not. Who does?

So, instead, do you like to feel your opinions validated? Do you like to hear others say what you think?

Well, of course you do, that’s being human.

It’s a basic human want to feel like we hold ideas of merit. Not to get too personal here, but I’m generally more pro-gun. So, when I hear someone say something which matches up with my opinions—which is not uncommon in Florida and Clearwater especially recently—it makes me feel in the right.

And so, what happened when we got access to news and media and social media all designed to market to our specific needs and wants?

We got a bubble. We got what people will refer to as “The Echo Chamber” or “The Media Bubble”. People who are like-minded tend to stick together, and with the internet to make that easier, people have no need to expose themselves to differing opinions most of the time.

Because, honestly, given the choice, why would anyone want to do otherwise? If the alternative is liable to make you angry and stressed, who wouldn’t choose the calming option?

The world is stressful enough for most people. No one wants more fuel to the fire—at least not outside of small doses.

And because we do this, and it is profitable for new companies (and politicians) to cater to one opinion, market to one opinion, we only succeed in growing the bubble.

And it’s not healthy. Like the housing market bubble, when it pops, we get upheaval. Rippling outward force. I can speak to experience about just how detrimental this can be, even on a micro level.

While watching a video, I heard someone I respect, for just a few minutes, mention a political and religious ideology different to my own, and it was jarring. It honest to God made my head stick on it. I felt a bit dizzy.

Now, I don’t regret hearing it. And chasing this experience as much as possible is something I’ve found myself doing nowadays. Even if it can be difficult to find levelheaded discussions on certain topics.

And, sure, it’s upsetting, it’s a tad head spinning--and yeah, it might make someone mad. But, in our world, we could all stand to entertain more notions. Or at least I could. But I seriously doubt I am alone in that regard.

At least, not if the reactions on the political and ideological stages are anything to go by. Play a little devil’s advocate, and see if we can go back to debating more, shouting less.

I’m not saying we can all join hands quite yet—but I’m saying it would be a good step forward.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Star Wars.

Marvel.

Pixar.

Disney has ties to them all.

And, well, you can’t argue with the results. The PR is incredible. The love and adoration of so many series in the hands of the Mouse.

Walk around Countryside, stroll the aisles of the Disney Store, and enter any nerdy place ever, and you know who’s in charge.

And I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to point out the almost scary level of power Disney has over us. They can sometimes evoke a sci-fi story’s soulless mega-conglomerate with a monopoly on culture.

I mean, they’re big enough for Dismaland to exist.

So... with that said, are they actually the real-life version of the evil company controlling the world?

Well, maybe. But probably not. There is nothing inherently wrong with a company being as big as Disney is. If we are all okay with living in this democratic, capitalistic society, then one business getting ahead of the others is par the course.

But is it “soulless”? Again. Hard to say. I think it is... in a way--and yet not. I realize I’m being cryptic here. The PR of the happiest company on Earth is certainly false from a business side of things. But for individuals, it has a heart.

People, my generation especially, love Disney. Because of this, I don’t think the art they create is all calculated and hollow. I don’t think calculated and hollow things can elicit a reaction like that. I think there is real passion.

After all, Joss Whedon helped make the Avengers through Disney, and I don’t think he’s soulless.

We live with corporations all our lives. We are influenced in ways we cannot even perceive. But, it’s not all bad. This massive Disney maelstrom that eats intellectual properties is also giving a lot of creative and wonderful people the means to chase dreams.

We get the Maleficents with the Jiminy Crickets, is what I’m saying. And though we see the PR of the happy, we must accept the underlying unhappy and mechanical nature of it all. At least if we want more Marvel and Star War.

And trust me when I say those franchises could be in worse hands.  

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

It’s not a new complaint: too many remakes. Too many sequels. Make original content Hollywood, please. We beg. We plead. We gnash our teeth.

And so...they remake Ghostbusters. And we even watch it at Countryside Mall. I haven’t seen it personally, so I don’t know if it’s worth it, but we have a double standard here--regardless of the actual quality of the sequels and remakes themselves.

And it’s our own double standard that makes this work. That makes them rely on the re-creation of successful previous intellectual properties. If we didn’t buy it, they wouldn’t make it.

But we do. And so they do. And they become reliant. It takes a lot of money to make movies. More money than I—and probably most people--can conceive of earning. And so they have to follow the currency if they want to stay in the rat race of art as a financial option.

It’s “reverse” marketing. Normally, they go marketing a movie to us, and we buy. But, now, we are marketing to them. We are the one’s advertising what we want.

We put up giant flags to inform them. If things like The Purge series and the Ice Age series make money, and a tiny “artsy” film costs the company more than the movie sells, then capitalism is the immediate and strong dictator.

So, we vote with our money. We get to choose. And we all know what we want to choose. We watch movies because it is an escape, a source of entertainment, or a feast for the mind--and like choosing a solid steakhouse over the new fusion restaurant across the street: we tend to want what we like.

And what we like is what we know. Unless we suddenly change our spending habits, we get what we are marketing. And, they go on marketing it right back at us.

No matter how annoyed we get.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

I’ve written about Donald Trump before. I’ve made comments on politicians. I’ve held my ground in arguments. I’ve been wrong and I’ve been right—and I’m not sure which was which.

And at the end of it, I am less sure of what candidate I support. I am less certain of a villain or a hero. I know people I respect who will talk my ear off about how Donald Trump is the only one worth anything--the only one upfront about things. I’ve heard and read people who believe Hillary is the only option. Who think Trump is the problem.

I’ve also heard people say things about Bernie, about Ted, about Jeb--about all of them.

And still...I have no idea. I hear all about the upcoming election, but hear almost nothing useful. My Facebook is nothing but political ideologies shouted and Pokémon Go jokes and pictures of people I don’t see often.

And you want to know what? That’s the problem. No, not my Facebook. The ideology of it. The rampant ranting of rhetoric and self-righteous biased reasoning.

I had to go out of my way, out of my way, to find anything concrete about the actual policies and ideas of the candidates. And I had to have it explained to me by a YouTube video because it’s the only source of information I trust to have a smidgen of bipartisan interest.

I live in the South, so it’s more Republican. I live in Clearwater, so people have their culture and lifestyles affecting their opinions. And I cannot blame them, and I can’t really get mad, but I am mad.

It’s a popularity contest, sure. I understand. I get it’s all about the marketing. But can we please be more about marketing the actual policies? How will politicians affect my taxes? Or the rights of people? Or the actual price of what they say they want to do with our country?

No hypotheticals and false promises. No flat lies. I am part of the group supposed to be the next wave in influencing how our country and world shapes: the next generation.

And it should be easy to know these things. It shouldn’t be rare. It’s a cornerstone of our country’s political process. It’s the policies that matter, and we need to be marketing that fact. Not who or who may not be a jerk.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

It’s a well-known idea that if you are a business, you want a web presence. And it is a lesser-known idea that if you want people to see your web presence, you need to produce new content. The local shops of Clearwater, the Kara Lynn’s Kitchens of the world know this, and use it. They create Facebook accounts and keep them updated.

And this is all well and good, though sometimes companies want to take this kind of marketing even further, and they also create videos or articles about their company.

And this is also grand. Good marketing. Great marketing.

But here’s the problem. A lot of people are doing this. A lot of companies are doing this. So you can still end up finding your creations buried beneath other people’s products and content.

It’s the media overload all over again. But there are a few things you can do to try to rise above it. Simple things to help ensure quality. And some of this may seem rather obvious, but we are talking about the internet here: so let me go over basic steps to make sure your stuff is ahead of the curve.

1.    Have Good Grammar

If it’s true of dating sites, then it is certainly true of companies. People, on some level, judge grammar. And a big obvious error is a sure way to get a browser closed before they have a chance to see what you sell.

2.    Don’t Just Be a Sales Pitch

Yes, you are in the business of selling things. But people will avoid a sales effort from a mile away. We live in a culture overloaded with people trying to sell things—so always try to avoid blatant acts. Tell us positive news your company’s been up to or write an interesting article related to what your business does. Don’t always roll out the “buy now” wagon on the first sight of a potential.

3.    Be A Little Warm and Fun

There’s a reason all companies in dystopian fiction are these joyless and monochrome places: because no one wants or likes that. Even Apple and Google, these massive money-making giants who rule the world, still make their ads and content and business persona fun. A place where customers and employees are happy to work and shop.

4.    Be Consistent

So many things are improved by consistency. Exercise, practice, and content creation. You may, if you’re very lucky, acquire people so enamored with your content they wait for more. And it will be in your best interest, and your fan’s best interest, if you keep getting the content out at a regular rate. At a predictable rate.

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Now these are only a few tips. There is much more to learn here. No matter how much stuff is in the media landscape, things do float to the top. You can float to the top.

In the end, it just comes down to good marketing.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Is social media too distracting? Well, here’s what I have to say about it...

...

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Sorry, I was just checking my Facebook. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Social media. Being distracting. And all that.

Okay, so all joking aside, yes, obviously social media is a big sucker of time and productivity. We spend so much time looking at what our friends are up to, and not what we ourselves are doing. It’s a byproduct of the infinite expanse that is the internet. It’s also so ubiquitous you probably just did it right before reading this article.

Now, the P.R. of this is an odd duck. Because you can hear all sorts of arguments fired at the average person for how they don’t “look up” from their phone enough. And yet, at the same time, we are more connected, more aware, more understanding of the human condition—or at least what friends are up to on the day-to-day.

But still, aren’t we a tad robbed of old interactions? I can’t really ask most people what they’ve been up to lately because I can see the pictures. We share our lives and thus have less to share in person.

A meeting for coffee at Starbucks on Cleveland St. loses a lot of its luster when in ten minutes I can know all the significant things you did in the last few days—before you even get there.

But, you do have people who don’t post to Facebook or other social medias, and those people are now somehow odd, and “other”. Not being able to find someone on the internet is a concerning thing, not a comforting thing.

So, we’re encouraged to post pictures of that one trip to a concert in Tampa, or the Clearwater Beach meetup from last week—less we seem like nothing is going on in our lives.

Which is not good P.R. for anyone. It’s another example of the overwhelming wave of media we all produce and consume, even if it’s not as obvious as when it comes to movies or television.

And sadly, unlike some of the other articles I’ve written, I’m not sure what to do about the situation. Pick a side, I guess. Be a Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube user to the core, or feel the subtle disconnect from the rest of humanity.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Some of you might not like me by the end of this article. I’m willing to accept that. Though, honestly, you should know some of this already—I should not be shocking anyone here.

In this world, there are several universal facts. Two of which are these:

• People always want to improve aspects of themselves. Weight is common.
• If someone had something work for them, they will try to pass it on to others.

And thus, we have today’s topic. The fad diet. The promised land of losing weight. The easy way.

I don’t know where I found this quote, and I think I’m paraphrasing, but I find this thought to be more and more accurate:

“The only weight-loss solution we will not accept is normal diet and exercise.”

I had a bit of an epiphany when I read this, and later on in my life I found this to be the exact truth. Because it was the only way I lost weight.

Now, that doesn’t mean people won’t try the other “techniques”. I cannot tell you how many magazines I’ve seen in grocery stores like the Publix on Gulf to Bay or in Clearwater Plaza advertising how one celebrity or another lost some amount of weight in no time at all. And the internet is full of the “one food you should never eat” and the “miracle food that burns off pounds.”

Just for fun, I looked over some of the more extreme fad diets and then backed away slowly as the words “Werewolf Diet” and “The Five Bite Diet” appeared on my screen.

Now, I’m actually in favor of the more sensible dietary ideas like Paleo or Vegetarian-but that’s because those diets don’t inhibit that many food options and they don’t involve things like eating cotton, or drinking nothing but odd lemon juice mixtures for several days.

I’m sorry to say those do not work—and shouldn’t work. Losing weight is not easy. Yet again, I’m sorry. Calories in must be less than calories burned. Protein and vegetables are king and queen. It’s the only way.

And don’t trust anyone advertising to you anything else.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Are you walking around Clearwater looking at your phone? Are you in Pinellas Park searching for Pokemon? Are you at Clearwater Beach trying to get one with a CP of 500+?

Because we all are. It’s Pokemon Go. It’s the game that in a little more than a week at the time of posting is changing the world.

Who knew Nintendo would be the ones? In hindsight, I suppose it was obvious. They always were making the products that shaped so much of the gaming landscape—so why not the real landscape? It worked for Apple.

And I could go into all the cool new things Pokémon Go is doing for the average person, but over at Buzzazz.com my cohort Paul already did an awesome article on the subject.

So, instead, I’ll do what I tend to do in these articles: show you how this has some serious marketing potential. Because, when you already have this many people playing, and a built-in fan-base like Pokémon, we all stand to have a little benefit.

Are you a business owner per chance? Well, you could be a gym, now couldn’t you?

Let me break this down in case you haven’t already played. In Pokemon Go, there are locations called “gyms” and us Pokémon trainers are in a constant contest for ownership of them. Red team, blue team, and yellow team all seeking domination.

And to fight in these gyms, you have to get close to them. And it appears this was part of Nintendo’s plan all along. More foot traffic can equal more sales.

It’s augmented reality, geotagging marketing. And Nintendo seems like it will be offering it to businesses soon. But even if you can’t get it personally, there’s still perks.

PokeStops and gyms are locations players are incentivized to go toward, and if you happen to set up...I don’t know...a food stand or something in that area, well, Pokémon trainers have to eat, now don’t they?

In fact, I think people are already doing this. Like I said, it changed the world in like a week. So maybe you should get in on it too.

Collect all the marketing potential. Catch all the customers.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Saki is somehow the busiest hard to find restaurant I’ve come across. It’s in Clearwater Mall but hidden away. A gem deep in the rock.

And I’ve had a lot of Americanized Asian cuisine in my life, and I’d like to think I am a decent judge of it. So when I say that Saki was quite enjoyable, I mean it. I mean it with experience.

Here’s the idea, the premise. Saki is a buffet...without the buffet. You sit down, pay a reasonable flat rate, and then you can order off their menu as many times as you want—with the only rule being you have to finish your plate or receive a fee. They can be a tad slow to bring you things, but it’s well worth it.

The menu is large and full of the usual things you’d expect, and some more interesting others. They are not just the standard orange chicken, Mongolian beef arrangement. They also do things like Hibachi and sushi and all the standard soups. And, at a quality miles ahead of a random takeout place.

During the extent of my meal there, I got to have a wide variety of choices and could switch gears on how I wanted the meal to go.

It’s a unique experience, a fun alternative for those of you who may not be interested in going to P.F. Chang’s again for the fiftieth time. For those of you that want a more relaxed dining experience.

Plus...they have seaweed salad. Which is a food I adore.

So, you know, I might be a tad biased.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Let me say, up front, I do support efforts towards body positivity. It is a real and observable fact that the way you are in the weight department has an effect on the humans around you. People really are biased on this. Some won’t admit it, but if you are heavier set, people judge you for it.

And that sucks.

But it’s also not the main point I will broach today. No. Because I am not here necessarily to point fingers at the restaurants, or the drug companies, or even the parents, and blame them for the problems of weight. But not just weight--health in general. Being overweight is just a more visible symptom of a much bigger problem.

And I think it’s a combination of things that got us the way we are. I think it’s everyone’s fault. Mine, yours, everyone’s. Sure, the restaurants and stores advertise food that’s bad for you. Sure, we worked out the exact ways to build an addiction to certain products. Sure, the economy is so messed up it costs me more to get a fresh vegetable in a decent amount than it takes to get a McDonald’s burger.

But it’s also us. We talk about how we could go to these places. We talk about cheating on diets. And if everyone knows stores like Checkers is bad for them, then why are there so many?

Someone is buying. And that is us. A free market means we decide who gets to stay in business.

And then we turn around and chastise the people who grew unhealthy off this. Belittling for lack of “willpower”.

But let me tell you something interesting. The things almost no one is advertising. The things we all should be advertising. Because I started living healthier a while back, and when you cut out most bread, sugar, dairy, corn, fruit, soy, black beans, and white rice: you learn that the way we eat is flawed.

I am not a fad diet person. This is not a fad diet. This is a lifestyle. And let me tell you what happens when you pair it with exercise. Sugar feels like acid in your stomach.

Bread feels like a sleeping pill. Just sucks the energy out of you.

You become frighteningly aware of just how much the world pushes its food on you. How much the world wants you to eat the line-up of junk food places like on Gulf to Bay.

Because they know they can’t survive without you.

But you don’t need them.

I don’t think it could ever be easy. But if you want to make people healthier, it’s got to start with you. With us.

We all, together, have to take responsibility for this. We need to make advertising that promotes health and isn’t judgmental about it.  And, we need to make a planet where they have the right choices readily—and cheaply--available.

And then maybe we can get somewhere.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

The Gatekeepers. Revered and hated, they decide what books you find at Barnes and Noble near Sunset Point.

And some people do not like this one bit.

Because not all books and creations released through the gates are a good idea. Not even close. Twilight came through a publisher while The Martian had to start on its own.

Is this fair? No. And what did people do about it? They got rid of the wall. Amazon just lets anyone publish a novel. So do Lulu and other self-publishing platforms.

But, but, did the quality suffer? Yes. It did in a way. Everyone can get their work out now, which means all the people who did not earn it also get a spot.

The downsides of free are also the benefits of free. Everybody gets in, and Google+ and Twitter both fill with advertisements promoting various self-published author’s books.

We overflowed it, is what I’m saying.

I don’t want to stifle anyone’s creativity—and I don’t believe something as subjective as art should have only a few people allowed to do it for money.

But what it boils down to is we need to be smarter consumers as well as supportive of the arts. The pieces you feel are good you should give something—if only attention. And if they are bad, then we need simply to ignore--but not put down, or insult.

It’s the only way this is going to work. We need to advertise the walls disappearing as not a bad thing. That the gates cracking did not flood the world.

Because otherwise the Gatekeepers will hold the gate again, and so many new artistic explorations will fall and die. And even though I like authors such as James Paterson and Stephen King, I’d like to see advertisements for more than just their books.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com  

There’s more media being produced than you could ever consume, even if you spent every waking hour listening or viewing it. You could walk to Nature’s Food Patch, and around the Pierce Street Market, and all your errands, and spend every second listening, viewing or experiencing media at a fervent rate, with no breaks, and you will still not make a dent.

Not even a tiny little sliver.

And is that okay? We can’t change it. But is it okay?

It’s gotten to be such a pit, a hole, that advertisements are not only going for getting you to like their products but showing you the endless options they have.

All media offering companies want you to fall into their hole and stay there. Because they can keep you entertained.

We can all be entertained.

And how did this happen? Well, demand grew and grew, until no interest remained un-satiated. A supply glut. And I think it was the same mindset that wants all the media that gave us all the media.

People tend to find inspiration with what they experience, and when media is leaking out of the pores of society, then people want to make their own.

And companies supplied the want. The advertisements for the ways to do art for yourself bore new businesses and still do at a frankly ridiculous rate.

SoundCloud for sound. YouTube for video. Amazon and Wattpad for the written word. Podcasts for radio. All free. All endless.

All hail.

But is the quality suffering? Were there always only a few good things at the top of the sewage? I think so. But just in case it comes to an explosion eventually, we best enjoy it.

This is a golden era, so let’s use it to the best we can. Let’s preserve it to the best we can. So it doesn’t turn to fool’s gold.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com  

Let’s do an experiment, shall we? Turn on your radio, Clearwater citizen. Any radio near you. Now tune into a standard Top 40 music station.

Now tell me, how long can you listen to that station before you want to shut it off, or bang your head into a wall? How long can you actually enjoy it, even when driving along the causeway, or aside the beach?

Maybe like an hour, right? That’s about how long it will take for the songs to repeat themselves, or for the advertisement-to-music ratio to drive you up the wall. Ever had that experience where you just wanted to listen to a song, any song, it didn’t matter what it was, so you flipped from station to station in a mad dash? And there were only ads? Or the news?

Yeah, is it any wonder the podcasts are upon us? That cars now come rigged to play your phone?

Cable is dying to Netflix, and radio might soon be dying to the same sort of product. People want what they want, when they want it, and will not wait, and will not deal with too many interruptions.

Is this a healthy mindset? Maybe not? Is it the present and future of products? Definitely.

Let’s compare the two, shall we? Let’s look at the difference in kind when it comes to radio, versus the humble podcast.

Radio has a long history, but plays few new songs; has a lot of ads, and does not have much in the way of creative experimentation. It’s free, and readily available, and always on for the consumer—but that same consumer has no control over it beyond what station they listen to. They are at the whim of the owners.

Now, to podcasts.

Podcasts are also free, have usually one to two advertisements, and are allowed to be any kind of creative endeavor they want. From open discussions to answering questions, to telling stories. Nothing is off the table. Not much music, but you have ITunes for that. They are also more personal since a lot of podcasts only have one host.

And then the all-important bonus of the podcast: you can fast-forward, and you get a nigh endless option of choice. I don’t care what you like, podcasts have something for you.

And if you think news radio has anything on podcasts, in terms of presenting the world as it is, and discussing the topics at hand, then you haven’t listened to “This American Life”, “Us and Them”, or “Stuff You Should Know”.

Despite my title, it’s not really a war. Because podcasts secretly won a long time ago. And the world is catching up to the win.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

A little podcast that became one of the most popular. A series of strange stories about a small town. An exploration of dark comedy and Lovecraftian horror. A place where the dog park is dangerous, and the Sheriff’s Secret Police are always around—and watching, and The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home flips tables for the fun of it. Or possibly to send a message.

A place where Cecil tells you the news.

Welcome...to Night Vale.

The first podcast I ever got into, it’s clever and funny, and sometimes even disturbing—and is a perfect model of how entertainers can make money.

Because while Night Vale itself is free to listen to, the group behind it is smart and set up a nice little arrangement for themselves in the form of selling merchandise.

As far as I know, Night Vale makes all of its money through only a couple of avenues: live shows, merchandise products, donations, sponsorships, and book sales.

You’ll notice none of these things are enforced on the audience. They are all supplementary to the main, free product.  

And Night Vale is not the only one using this model now. This seems to be a trend. Youtubers and Podcasters and perhaps even authors are able to make a lot of supplementary money through not the product itself, but the love of the product.

And it works. Because what’s a better method of advertising than free and high quality? And what is a more fun way to be a fan—what’s a more rewarding way to be a fan—than to help support the creators and get some sweet stuff out of it?

So now, if you see someone walking around Clearwater wearing an odd purple shirt with an eye logo on it: you know why.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com