7 ms·

Karl Rove's book vs. Rework - what the American People need to know

125 points by henning 17y ago

byrneseyeview 17y ago
The narrator needs to be an octave lower, and they could have some more pauses between sentences. But this was a surprisingly good job. There aren't that many attack ad tropes, but they really seem to work. Although it's missing a picture of the 37signals guys outside, with their golden retriever. I can't buy them as morally superior until I've seen that.
- sophacles 17y ago
  Can you expand on the moral superiority of a golden retriever vs a labrador or possibly a dalmation?
  - tomsaffell 17y ago
    It's not moral, it's chromatic.. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1193657 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1193657
  - nfnaaron 17y ago
    I think the golden light that would be in such a scene would look better shining through the golden coat of a golden retriever.
pclark 17y ago
Fantastic. I loved the Garamond = french font joke.
nkassis 17y ago
Ok, I'm going to order this book just for the ad. I hope this doesn't make me a political ad sheep. The sheer genius of the ad makes me think that the book might have something good in it for me.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  I weep for the broad swath of the American public who would view it and take it at face value.
- aaronbrethorst 17y ago
  Neither the book or the ad contains demon sheep. That alone elevates it above much of our country's political discourse [1] ... ;-) [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRY7wBuCcBY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRY7wBuCcBY
run4yourlives 17y ago
People: Learn how to market by watching these guys. This is what they do best.
mixmax 17y ago
This is genius. 37signals is already a strong brand, but only in a relatively narrow niche. This is an excellent way of marketing their new book to a much broader segment that doesn't necessarily know that they're behind ROR, or read their blog. There are several things worth noticing: 1) They create an "attack ad" on Karl Rove, thereby putting themselves on level with a much much bigger player and leveraging themselves onto a pedestal where they don't belong. They seem like big guys battling another big guy. They've used this tactic before comparing their product to Microsoft and Google as if they're equals. 2) They've picked one of the most unpopular people in America to attack. No-one will feel sorry for Rove, and everyone will love 37signals. 3) As stated above, they are sure to have this video passed around much larger circles than their normal reach allows them since it's funny, sarcastic and not about programming or project management. Everyone understands it. 4) It'll probably be controversial. This is a favorite tactic of 37signals, and if they're lucky they'll be on talkshows around the country getting free publicity for their book while telling the American public that Karl Rove's book is too long, written in a French font and thus isn't patriotic. I don't care much for their products but their marketing is absolutely amazing.
- patio11 17y ago
  While I don't doubt that hitting Karl Rove is effective (because you don't have to push buttons which are emotional for everyone, you just have to push buttons which are really emotional for at least some folks who control links), I just have a quick comment to make: be careful about attributing your own views to the population at large. (The overwhelming majority of Americans do not know who Rove is and a large portion of the remainder will vaguely remember "Political something-or-other, right? Helped get Obama elected?" Of those who actually know who he is, many come from that weird niche market called "the other half of the country.")
  - axod 17y ago
    Agreed. He's #5 on the Amazon best seller list for a reason. Similarly, it'd probably be a bad idea to do an attack piece on religion, however silly the idea of religion is to most of us here.
pw0ncakes 17y ago
On a scale of 1 to 10 I give that ad an Aleph_37. Well done.
dejan 17y ago
ok, I will respectfully disagree with most of you here, as there is nothing "comical" about it. This made me officially sick, although so far had high opinion of them. I didn't get the joke of "french" font, and "hard working americans." I feel...insulted, as this is a way how to promote stupidity and national hatred. The guy wrote a book, and just because it is one position higher, he is a subject of an attack like this. Did they even read his book? No, it was easier to search the internet of a guy who didn't like it and quote it. Maybe tomorrow it is >you< there, with your book, or your product. Or me? Wasn't the content that mattered? I've seen excerpts from Rework and feel this is a toilet book. Inarticulate and arrogant, I know it all style, but I don't go making a video comparing their book with e.g. Re-Imagine by Tom Peters. Tom has an attitude, but not an insulting one, but of a creative energy, an innovative arrogance that he wishes to spread. Again, it could be just me. I would never smack Americans with "All European/Asian/African" labels. Nationality, religion and all other kinds of divide are elements of mediocrity. Real hackers should know that.
- samdk 17y ago
  Karl Rove practically invented the attack ad. This is not an attack ad, it's a satire of an attack ad. Taken literally, yes, it's pretty stupid--attack ads generally are. But that's missing the point.
  - anamax 17y ago
    > Karl Rove practically invented the attack ad. No, he didn't. Attack ads predate both TV and radio and were run on both almost immediately after they became available.
    - philwelch 17y ago
      Rove learned most, if not all, of his tricks from Lee Atwater, who was the Karl Rove of the Reagan/Bush era.
      - anamax 17y ago
mhd 17y ago
While I dislike self-help books almost as much as neocon apologetics, this ad should be rewarded. Is the Kindle version readable (no DX), i.e. no special layout or pictures get lost/scrambled?
- nwjsmith 17y ago
  The Kindle version is excellent, the pictures are crisp, no special layout.
  - axomhacker 17y ago
    I just "picked up" the Kindle version and it looks excellent on my DX. However the Amazon detail page says it's "Optimized for Larger Screens", which means: "This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on Kindle DX's or Kindle for PC's larger screen, but can still be viewed on other devices. http://www.amazon.com/Rework-ebook/dp/B002MUAJ2A http://www.amazon.com/Rework-ebook/dp/B002MUAJ2A
kadavy 17y ago
"When it came time to choose a font, Rove selected Garamond, a kind of type developed in France, and NOT by hard-working Americans." Shoulda gone with Goudy.
collision 17y ago
I love their own use of Garamond in the ad.
jayair 17y ago
I liked it. Good job 37s. They constantly work to grow their brand and have fun while doing it as well.

125 points by henning 17y ago

The narrator needs to be an octave lower, and they could have some more pauses between sentences. But this was a surprisingly good job. There aren't that many attack ad tropes, but they really seem to work. Although it's missing a picture of the 37signals guys outside, with their golden retriever. I can't buy them as morally superior until I've seen that.

sophacles 17y ago
Can you expand on the moral superiority of a golden retriever vs a labrador or possibly a dalmation?
- tomsaffell 17y ago
  It's not moral, it's chromatic.. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1193657 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1193657
- nfnaaron 17y ago
  I think the golden light that would be in such a scene would look better shining through the golden coat of a golden retriever.

pclark 17y ago

Fantastic. I loved the Garamond = french font joke.

nkassis 17y ago

Ok, I'm going to order this book just for the ad. I hope this doesn't make me a political ad sheep. The sheer genius of the ad makes me think that the book might have something good in it for me.

stcredzero 17y ago
I weep for the broad swath of the American public who would view it and take it at face value.
aaronbrethorst 17y ago
Neither the book or the ad contains demon sheep. That alone elevates it above much of our country's political discourse [1] ... ;-) [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRY7wBuCcBY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRY7wBuCcBY

run4yourlives 17y ago

People: Learn how to market by watching these guys. This is what they do best.

mixmax 17y ago

This is genius. 37signals is already a strong brand, but only in a relatively narrow niche. This is an excellent way of marketing their new book to a much broader segment that doesn't necessarily know that they're behind ROR, or read their blog. There are several things worth noticing: 1) They create an "attack ad" on Karl Rove, thereby putting themselves on level with a much much bigger player and leveraging themselves onto a pedestal where they don't belong. They seem like big guys battling another big guy. They've used this tactic before comparing their product to Microsoft and Google as if they're equals. 2) They've picked one of the most unpopular people in America to attack. No-one will feel sorry for Rove, and everyone will love 37signals. 3) As stated above, they are sure to have this video passed around much larger circles than their normal reach allows them since it's funny, sarcastic and not about programming or project management. Everyone understands it. 4) It'll probably be controversial. This is a favorite tactic of 37signals, and if they're lucky they'll be on talkshows around the country getting free publicity for their book while telling the American public that Karl Rove's book is too long, written in a French font and thus isn't patriotic. I don't care much for their products but their marketing is absolutely amazing.

patio11 17y ago
While I don't doubt that hitting Karl Rove is effective (because you don't have to push buttons which are emotional for everyone, you just have to push buttons which are really emotional for at least some folks who control links), I just have a quick comment to make: be careful about attributing your own views to the population at large. (The overwhelming majority of Americans do not know who Rove is and a large portion of the remainder will vaguely remember "Political something-or-other, right? Helped get Obama elected?" Of those who actually know who he is, many come from that weird niche market called "the other half of the country.")
- axod 17y ago
  Agreed. He's #5 on the Amazon best seller list for a reason. Similarly, it'd probably be a bad idea to do an attack piece on religion, however silly the idea of religion is to most of us here.

pw0ncakes 17y ago

On a scale of 1 to 10 I give that ad an Aleph_37. Well done.

dejan 17y ago

ok, I will respectfully disagree with most of you here, as there is nothing "comical" about it. This made me officially sick, although so far had high opinion of them. I didn't get the joke of "french" font, and "hard working americans." I feel...insulted, as this is a way how to promote stupidity and national hatred. The guy wrote a book, and just because it is one position higher, he is a subject of an attack like this. Did they even read his book? No, it was easier to search the internet of a guy who didn't like it and quote it. Maybe tomorrow it is >you< there, with your book, or your product. Or me? Wasn't the content that mattered? I've seen excerpts from Rework and feel this is a toilet book. Inarticulate and arrogant, I know it all style, but I don't go making a video comparing their book with e.g. Re-Imagine by Tom Peters. Tom has an attitude, but not an insulting one, but of a creative energy, an innovative arrogance that he wishes to spread. Again, it could be just me. I would never smack Americans with "All European/Asian/African" labels. Nationality, religion and all other kinds of divide are elements of mediocrity. Real hackers should know that.

samdk 17y ago
Karl Rove practically invented the attack ad. This is not an attack ad, it's a satire of an attack ad. Taken literally, yes, it's pretty stupid--attack ads generally are. But that's missing the point.
- anamax 17y ago
  > Karl Rove practically invented the attack ad. No, he didn't. Attack ads predate both TV and radio and were run on both almost immediately after they became available.
  - philwelch 17y ago
    Rove learned most, if not all, of his tricks from Lee Atwater, who was the Karl Rove of the Reagan/Bush era.
    - anamax 17y ago

mhd 17y ago

While I dislike self-help books almost as much as neocon apologetics, this ad should be rewarded. Is the Kindle version readable (no DX), i.e. no special layout or pictures get lost/scrambled?

nwjsmith 17y ago
The Kindle version is excellent, the pictures are crisp, no special layout.
- axomhacker 17y ago
  I just "picked up" the Kindle version and it looks excellent on my DX. However the Amazon detail page says it's "Optimized for Larger Screens", which means: "This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on Kindle DX's or Kindle for PC's larger screen, but can still be viewed on other devices. http://www.amazon.com/Rework-ebook/dp/B002MUAJ2A http://www.amazon.com/Rework-ebook/dp/B002MUAJ2A

kadavy 17y ago

"When it came time to choose a font, Rove selected Garamond, a kind of type developed in France, and NOT by hard-working Americans." Shoulda gone with Goudy.

collision 17y ago

I love their own use of Garamond in the ad.

jayair 17y ago

I liked it. Good job 37s. They constantly work to grow their brand and have fun while doing it as well.