Hasta La Ideas

Hormel Brand Interactive Kitchen

Recently our team, in conjunction with our partners at Hormel Foods, launched the new Hormel Brand web site. We were challenged with the task of both creating an engaging and memorable interactive experience while also giving information about the wide variety of products housed within the Hormel Brand.

The resulting site features prominently on the home page, an interactive kitchen where users can zoom around and explore areas of the kitchen where they can learn more about Hormel products. We even included an MP3 player where users can preview and download musical mixes to play in the background while they entertain friends and loved ones and serve meals made with delicious Hormel products.

I’m grateful to be lucky enough to have a ton of great clients and client projects to work on every day but this was one of the most satisfying for me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we really tapped into the deep reservoir of creative resources at our disposal at Burson-Marsteller. From visual designers, to copywriters, to Flash animators/developers, to developers, to project managers, etc. This project represents a phenomenal effort by everyone involved and I was proud not only to be a part of it but also to have such wonderful clients who truly partnered with us to create something really special.

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The WaterMill is a machine that makes water from air. Well, to be honest it doesn’t actually make water. It just extracts the water that is already in the air, but that is pretty cool, too. Furthermore the WaterMill system can distribute the extracted and purified water to your fridge, to a tap on your kitchen sink, to a water cooler or to its own dispenser. The actual machine is placed on the outside of your house, so it won’t dry up the inside air you’ll be wanting to breathe. The filtration is supposed to be good enough to produce water that’s better in quality than the stuff that comes out of your ordinary tap. The Canadian company behind the WaterMill claims that it’s able to extract 12 liters of H2O per day, and that should be enough for most needs. The only hitch in our eyes is that it’s powered by electricity. But if there’s a solar version in the works (and it can be produced at a reasonable cost) it could very well be useful right were it’s needed the most. Places that are short on good water usually have more than enough of sunshine and humidity.brbr

When one considers the huge number of plastic bottles for drinking water being produced, filled consumed and discarded, (examples here, here, here and here), one can’t help but pondering the sheer madness of it all. In places where there’s no usable drinking water, okay. But here, where access to perfectly good water is virtually limitless… The best thing would of course be to stop buying bottled water. But if this is not possible, another way could be to do something about the packaging. We’ve seen water sold in plastic bags, (like milk in the States and other places), but this is far from enough. This idea for water packaging, however, could be a better one still. The concept for the package above has bee produced by Brand Image, and their idea actually won a prize in IDEA 2008.brbr

This tip comes from our very good friend, Lars S. What he’s found is the Step-up car step from Yellowsmarts, a step up helper for tall cars. It’s kinda clever, and you don’t even have to own one of those out-of-favor SUVs; an ordinary estate with a car box on top could be just as difficult to reach. With the Yellowsmarts step up even shorties like us would have a chance to reach high enough to load or unload, wash the roof or brush off snow. The step rests with one end on the car’s tire and with the other on the ground. When you don’t need it anymore it folds into a smallish flat-pack for the cargo compartment. The step-up is available in three heights, and it is USD 49:95 in America (no web shop) and EUR 51:47 in Europe. Prices from the Yellowsmarts website. Thanks Lasse for the tip!brbr