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President Obama yesterday held a fairly remarkable town-hall style meeting yesterday called Open for Questions. Anyone could go to the site and either suggest a question and/or vote on which questions the president should answer. For the YouTube debates that took place during the election, it seemed fairly random which questions were selected for answering. But this time around, it appears the president really did tackle those with the most votes, submitting to the will of the people. That likely seemed like a problem-free strategy until the administration realized that the top question across a third of the categories was about legalizing marijuana.

John Durbin demonstrating the importance of meh at a Denuo outing.

Generation Y seems to be plagued with the label of being…I dunno…indifferent. Marketers spend billions attempting to get through to us, and so far it looks like discordant jingles and sacrificial non-friendships are the only things worth acknowledging these days. Figures that we’re responsible for perpetuating the ultimate expression for apathy: meh (or “meah” if you’re nasal).

Yes, I know. It’s been around for a while, and became official last year. But has anyone ever figured out where it came from? Keep reading to find out.

The latest Snickers ads with Master P and Patrick Ewing got me thinking why this hasn’t happened more often.

Have you ever received a creative brief that left you scratching your head for great ideas? Me neither. But in a hypothetical case where that were to ever happen to you, this seems to be a fix-all solution to keep in your desk drawer.

What solution you may ask? Insert “has-been” celebrity*

Nothing breaks through the clutter more than content with an old celebrity. Currently, the leading benefactor of this advertising band-aid has to be MC Hammer. Mr. Hammer has promoted everything from Nationwide Insurance to ESPN Monday Night Football. He was even featured in Cash4Gold’s Super Bowl spot this past February. Seriously, he has become the Peyton Manning of former celebs. While I know his cameos help solve his past money issues, I wonder why Hammer won’t share the spotlight or better yet why haven’t brands moved on to other faded stars?

There are plenty of out of work former celebs that would make for great advertising.

Dan Buccaneer

As an awesome boss thing to do, Dan gave his team Amazon gift cards for Christmahanakwanzika. Mid-February, I realized that I had not sent him a proper thank you, along with Matt. (Yes, I know, I should be on VH1’s Tool Academy.) Anisha did the right thing and sent him a thank you gift – females must have a part of the prefrontal cortex that manages prompt thank you card writing.

So, with the help of Ellen, Matt and I have purchased a belated holiday gift for the Buczaczers.

Dan was recently featured at the WOMMA conference as Dan “Buccaneer” instead of Buczaczer. Of course, we never let good jokes die, so the following was ordered for him, from CostumeCraze.com:

Gold Pirate Coins
Toddler Pirate Girl Costume
Jack Sparrow Headband with Hair
Adult Black Swashbuckler Pirate Costume Shirt
Pirate Dog Costume
Deluxe Adult Velvet Pirate Hat
Pirate Pack Earring

I would like Dan to respond with a post filled with pictures, preferably before Halloween 2009. At least the dog, please.

Now, let us discuss my hatred for gifts and gift cards…

I come from the school of thought that ads should have some level of utility. Not just from the goal of trying to get people’s attention in a very fragmented and saturated advertising world, but in a weird “we owe them at least that much” way. If someone is asking for your time/interest, the least they could do is provide you with something. I don’t mean that an ad has to say “here is a tip on how to refloor your kitchen on a budget. PS, switch to AT&T.” Utility can take a variety of forms, be it entertainment, information, a technology, or, the newest one I have come across, giving you money to gamble on sports.