Hasta La Ideas

Every now and again, an agency revives the age-old Rube Goldberg machine as a vehicle for (pun definitely intended) for some viral purpose or other: OK Go’s video for “This Too Shall Pass” is the nearest example in recent memory, while Honda’s ad for “The Cog” is a classic.

Which isn’t a bad thing by any means: these painstakingly elaborate contraptions never fail to restore a sense of wonder to the physical world. “Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine” (“Melvin the Machine” for short”) is a perfect example:

Full screen for full effect…

“Melvin” has a bit of technological savvy to boot:

Besides doing what Rube Goldberg’s do best—performing a simple task as inefficiently as possible, often in the form of a chain reaction—Melvin has an identity. Actually, the only purpose of this machine is promoting its own identity. Melvin takes pictures and makes videos of his audience which he instantly uploads to his website, Facebook and Twitter account. Besides that he makes his own merchandise. All of this within 4 minutes of craziness which you just have to witness yourself.

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