I found myself thinking about the penny tray today. It’s really an underrated gift that retailers put out for you to make life a little easier. I mean, who wants to carry around all that extra change, making all that noise in your pocket/purse. And then you run the risk of losing it because there’s so much to worry about.

Then there are those times when you need the penny because without it you dont’ have enough. And you know that the jaded cashier isn’t going to let you skate by, so you have to leave the line and put your Vitamin Water back. Then - THEN - you really appreciate that little tray of beautiful copper.

I don’t know why, but it kind of made me think how people view public relations. You don’t realize how much you need it until it’s not there. Expecially when you have a lot of issues making noise in your pocket, like failed product launches, poor channel marketing or (lack of) employee communications. Then there are those times when you need the PR penny to pay your total bill, like crisis situations, mergers and acquisitions, recalls and labor disputes.

Maybe I thought about this because many of us are preparing to face a challenging year. We have to be focused more than ever. We have to understand our value - know exactly where we fit within our clients’ organization. And more importantly, we have to do everything we can to reinforce why our relationship brings value to what they are trying to accomplish as they face their own crisis.

So take heed as you prepare for 2009. You wouldn’t want your client to come up a penny short in the lunch line.

I spent 2008 drinking a lot of lousy beers. But it wasn’t my fault.

Candis and I shared the responsibility of bringing home the coveted puffy vest that comes with completing The Winking Lizard’s beer tour. We got a late start (February 29) but finished last Tuesday - with roughly 36 hours to spare.

We weren’t that smart and saved all the bad beers for the end. Nonetheless, we finished. And I can say, that after 100 beers, my favorites are safe. Not one came close to even cracking the top five. Too many fruity, yeasty, crazy beers. That might be part of the reason why you are able to choose your beers this year (from a list of 150).

It did impact my top five list though. It got me thinking - here I am trying all these beers and I’m denying myself the ones I like the best. So, without further ado, here is my tribute to the old faithful brews that will always hold a place in my heart - and my list.

1. Fat Tire. (New Belgium) [previously: no. 1] No change here. Still the best tasting, smoothest beer I’ve ever had. Now, if I could just get them to ship that stuff east of Chicago, I’d be happy.

2. Yuengling Lager. (Yuengling) [previously: no.3] Despite a strong late-season surge from his brother, Black and Tan, I have to keep the Lager here, sound and secure at number two.

3. Christmas Ale. (Great Lakes Brewing Company) [previously: no.4] Despite a weaker than normal showing this Christmas, I find myself appreciating this beer more and more every year.

4. Oktoberfest. (Samuel Adams) [previously: no.2] Dropping a tad because of the great showing Great Lakes Oktoberfest had this year. And I’m starting to look forward to Samuel Adams Winter Lager a little more. Not sure if it’ll hold on next year.

5. New Castle Brown. (New Castle) [previously: unranked] Oh my this was hard. There are so many beers right there at number five - not to mention the one it bumped - Honker’s Ale (Goose Island). However, like I said in the beginning, I had an appreciation for those beers I just plain like. And I find myself defaulting to New Castle more and more.

Now, like I said, the final spot was hard. So hard that I have to mention the cluster that is 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, etc., etc.: Honker’s Ale, Samuel Adams Winter Lager, Yuengling Black and Tan, Great Lakes Oktoberfest, Great Lakes Conway’s Irish, Shiner Bock, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada ESB, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Bell’s Pale Ale and….LaBatt’s! Yea, I said it.

What do you like?

Ok, so this is cheating a tad. It’s really a list of 2008 movies.

I used to be ‘that guy’; the one who went to see every nominated film. Who searched high and low and drove to the obscure theaters to see the indy or foreign films that had that one performance. Now? Thanks to work and kids, I’m happy to see one a week thanks to Netflix. But occassionally I do sneak out and see a movie here or there.

I am happy to share with you my list of movies I liked in 2008 - not my top ten. Mainly because I didn’t see 10 GOOD movies in 2008. I have a feeling the good movies are on my list of 2008 movies I want to see (Slumdog Millionaire, Doubt, Redemption Road, Reader, The Wrestler).

Side note: it never really bothered me before, since it was my number one goal, but why is it so hard to find the showings for these movies? What rules are in place that all the good movies must be saved for the end of the year and then, when they’re released, must be peppered into small, expensive theaters with one showing? Hmmmm? Would it kill the studios to release these earlier then re-release later? Maybe even put them out on DVD around October so more people could see them. And don’t try to argue studio politics/awards season timing - that two bit logic is no good here at The Burger.

Now, on to my favorites of 08:

1. Dark Knight. I know, I know; I didn’t want to rank them. But I can’t pass it up. This was my favorite film. I know all the arguments (too long, hate Batman’s voice, too many characters) but it’s the total body of work. It’s fantastic. Not enough to crack my top 10 of all time, but still damn good.

Kung-Fu Panda. Not just a kids movie.

Iron Man. Most fun I’ve had at a midnight showing in some time.

Wall-E. Stop crying about no words in the first 30 minutes. It’s good. And the scene with people flying around in their chairs with a computer screen in front of them? Look around. We’re not that far off. Substitute computers for Blackberry’s and we’re there.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I rank this much higher than the other Apatow family film, Pineapple Express. Better story combined with lower expectations made this a good show.

Pineapple Express. Hey, I didn’t say I didn’t like it. And Huey Lewis, king of cinema soundtracks, did original music for the closing credits!

Hancock. How can I not put this here? One of the main characters is a PR guy?

Sex and the City. Yes, yes, yes; I actually liked this? However, I did see it on DVD with no expectations. But I thought it was a good romp; a little overkill with the tiebacks to the series, which, yes, I did watch, but all in all a good show.

For another opinion, click here for Stephen King’s top 10. A different look. And if you’re not reading his columns in EW, you should be!

I heard a wild question on my way home - what would be your souvenir of choice from the Olympic games?

Let’s think about that - throw out the option of a medal but everything else is game - what would you say?

Me - I’d choose Misty May Traenor.

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What? People don’t count? Ok, how about her headband? Too creepy? Fine. I’ll take Bolt’s shoes.

What else is there? What would you vote for? The dropped relay baton (two lucky people could get this)? A Chico kind of night from Mrs. Phelps? The Chinese team’s passports? How about Bela Karolyi’s sideburns?

Seriously, this is a tough question. Let me know what you would choose.

I came across this post on BusinessWeek.com about the design initiatives at Coke. They include moving to an aluminum bottle and incorporating new design trends.

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Twenty years later I’m glad to see that Coke is focusing on changing the right thing - the bottle (not the formula). This new Coke tastes the same but is evolving to fit the trend of more personalized brands. After all, who wants to walk around drinking out of a red can just like everyone else?

The fact that Coke is evaluating its design - and has been for the last five years - should inspire any company to turn a critical eye on itself to make sure it’s evolving - but more importantly, evolving the right components.

I’m sorry it’s been so long and you’ve had to look at that Batman poster forever. I was lucky enough to take some vacation and get some heavy work done - but now I’m back. And I promise I won’t do that again. Until next year. Here, let me make up for it. Look at the awesome Beach Volleyball team; my favorite part about the Olympics that isn’t Michael Phelps.

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I thought of all of ‘us’ recently. And by ‘us’ I mean people    who care about communicating; people who care about social media forums and the power they give. I gave a presentation on eCommunications the other day, and as I was doing research it dawned on me how few companies take advantage of social media. A fatal flaw given how empowered consumers are through this tool.

Think about it - you are giving strangers the chance to write, in a public forum, about your products and services. I know we know that - but do you think others do? Are we just talking to each other up here in the choir loft?

I know adoption is high but are we converting anyone? In a day of too many brands I don’t think enough are taking advantage of these tools to differentiate themselves. The era of companies talking at consumers is over. The ‘e’ in eCommunications might as well stand for empowered. Consumers are empowered; they have opportunities to influence products and marketing. But are companies doing enough to empower their employees to take advantage of this?

Sorry I’ve been missing for a week. I was on a retreat (i.e. drinking with my friends on a lake in southern Ohio). Before I left we discovered a bunny nest with six baby bunnies. My wife and daughter loved it; me - not so much.

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When I got home they had grown and were starting to crawl around my yard and eat my plants. My wife thought it was awesome and had done some research. Turns out the mama bunny is always nearby but only comes twice a day to feed them. She is constantly watching out for them but you’ll never see it - just there behind the scenes making sure the bunnies don’t wander off to far and into the mouth of our dog.

It made me think of how an agency should care for its clients. Always there - watching, waiting, making sure they aren’t missing opportunities or taking a wrong step. And when we have the opportunity, we feed them sound strategic ideas. (However, my wife pointed out that if the mother bunny doesn’t have the chance to nurse the milk poisons her and she dies. Kind of like what happens to us a little bit each time we can’t excrete our creative juices; nah, I’m just playing…right?)

Anyway, if you’re a client, i.e. you work with an agency, are they always there watching out for you or do they just act like they are come feeding time? If not, you may need a new mama.

My friend Greg shared this with me - it’s pretty cool, and considering it’s from Google, it only makes sense. Take that 411 and your connection fees! (And your stupid automated voice - seriously, why even have a voice recognition program if every response goes something like this ‘Iii’m not sure what you’re asking. Let me connect you to an operator’.)

Last week I was wondering if invention, in marketing, is dead. Well, rest easy my friends; my faith has been restored.

I first saw this on Seth Godin’s site; it’s the eye-opening video that shows how the radiation from four cell phones can pop corn.

Speculation raged and over the course of roughly a month it was viewed by 4 million people. The marketing community started to debate what company was behind this obvious(?) viral campaign. Earlier this week we were answered:

Cardo Systems, a manufacturer of bluetooth headsets was behind the whole thing, raising awareness for how their headsets reduce 99% of power output.

This is a stellar campaign. I am green with envy that they came up with this and executed flawlessly. However, I will be interested to see if it impacts sales at all and I hope they close the loop and let us know.

Regardless, it is already successful. After all, did you know who Cardo Systems was before this?

I started following the writing of Ariel Waldman a few weeks back. Her site, Shake Well Before Use, covers a lot of marketing ground. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs to read (I just wish she’d post more!).

Anyway, she shared this Father’s Day ad that had me appreciating the art of the copywriter. (Although, if every kid is awesome as my daughter you can’t be too upset by the outcome…)

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