Innovating. Thinking. Exploring. Writing. Doing.

There, I said it. I like the new Apple iPad. Unapologetically, unabashedly. Why?

Well, I recently lost my MacBook Pro to the hands of my one-year-old-son. He had a penchant for pulling it to the floor and, you know, computers really don’t like the forces of gravity regardless of how those are imposed. So, the boy killed my MacBook and I am sans mobile computing. The failure of the MacBook was a good thing. It pushed me back to my office and back to my iMac, which is a superior product for getting work done, expanding my imagination with its huge screen, and allowing me to multitask.

Mind you, I feel a void in my life with out the MacBook. But that void isn’t what I thought it would be: Total withdrawal from my mobile computing platform. Nope. Instead the loss is teaching me what a valuable tool the iPhone can be to fill the gaps when I am away from my iMac. Now, what I really need is an excellent way to browse the web and handle the occasional e-mail message when I am away from my desk. Enter the iPad.

And, as a bonus, the iPad will run three of my favorite business productivity tools: Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. For those people who were confused about Apple’s announcement of the availability of the iWork suite, I suggest you spend some time working your “little gray cells” to really understand what is the iPad.

I believe it is one of the most sophisticated products to hit the market in my lifetime … if you need some stimulation, then think about doctors being able to bring the iPad to an exam room rather than the bricks they are currently using. Or, imagine an entire sales force armed with iPads to help provide customers with fully detailed materials. The iPad will single-handledly cause the selling process to be more intimate (hopefully more sincere). I think the iPad is great and so too will you.

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Why is it that Mark McGwire gets to plead guilty to using steroids during his professional career playing MLB yet Major League Baseball continues to ignore Pete Rose? Didn’t McGwire seem to be a bit rehearsed when he cried in front Bob Costas during his public admission? Given his emotional state he was certainly able to remember who to apologize to and what remarks needed to be made. In the past, all McGwire could say about steroids was that he “wasn’t going to talk about the past.” That’s the statement he made famous in front of the U.S. Senate subcommittee.

Brand “McGwire” needed to come clean so he could take a job with the St. Louis Cardinals as the club’s new hitting coach. It is a high profile job and one that will cause McGwire to be active in the court of public opinion. Did McGwire also think his admission and crocodile tears would eventually land him in the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown? The question remains, “Does someone who used performance enhancing drugs during his career deserve to be in the hall of fame”? If so, then will those players who used ‘roids have an asterisk next to their name? Will the ’90s need to be labeled the era of MLB Performance Enhancement? Is that fair to all the great players who never touched steroids or other performance enhancers? And what about Pete Rose? What did he do that continues to keep him from the halls of Cooperstown?

Rose admitted long ago that he bet on MLB. He said he bet on himself. He was contrite, while at the same time making it clear those wagers did not alter his performance in any game. One could argue that the bets had a psychological affect on Rose and therefore did in some way affect his performance. Nevertheless, arguably Rose is one of the greatest players to have played the game … certainly one of the greatest hitters of all time. Did his crime of ethics out pace McGwire’s crime of performance?

What makes Brand “Rose” less palpable to the public and to Major League Baseball is that he acted alone and did not have a sea of conspirers to hide among. His brand, regardless of how well he played the game, is marred by his singular action: he knew he was violating one of the strictest rules of baseball — a rule that brings to mind images of corruption, the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal, and the notion that the game can be easily fixed.

As American society becomes more fast-paced, it also seems to have a shorter memory and a willingness to forgive. McGwire does not deserve to have a place in the game of Major League Baseball and should be banned for as long as Pete Rose is banned. Double standards are dangerous and Bud Selig is making a mistake if he believes the crime of performance enhancement is less severe than the crime of a pro betting on the game. Either both are wrong and both should be banned from baseball, or both were wrong and should be allowed the same opportunities. Allowing McGwire back into the game without addressing the Rose banishment is patently wrong. So, in the end, it is the brand of “MLB” that takes the hit for the folly of Selig’s ways and, therefore, perhaps it is he, with all of his behind the scenes puppet mastery, who should be banned from baseball?

Having a great concept is one side of the coin, while executing it well is the other. I’m not saying, just sayin’, the Toyota Reliability ad could be stronger.

The creative concept is simple, familiar, and quite elegant:

ESTABLISHING SHOT
Father and son pull up to an automated , self-contained, brushless car wash in a brand new Toyota Camry.

VOICE OVER
(Confident Male Voice)
Did you know that approximately 80 percent of the cars Toyota sold in the United States are still on the road?

FATHER
(Tentatively reaches out the driver’s side window to chose the basic car wash.)

[It is one of three choices: from lowest to highest the choices are basic, delux, or ultimate.]

SON
(Matter-of-factly from the back of the car where he sits mightily in his car seat.)

Humph.

[Seen through the rear-view mirror.]

(Crosses his arms in a disapproving manner and shakes off the “basic” selection like a Major League pitcher shaking off his catcher’s first pitch selection.)

FATHER
(Attempts to select the delux button and looks in the rear view seeking his son’s approval.)

SON
(Shakes off the selection.)

Em. Em.

FATHER
(Still reaching out the window confidently presses the ultimate car wash button.)

SON
(Big, warm smile.)

Yup.

(Relaxing into the car seat he puts his foot up to rest on the back of the leather driver’s seat.)

VOICE OVER
(Confident male voice.)

Because someday this Toyota might be his.

FADE TO BLACK

The flaw? Any father knows the last place someone who cares about an automobile would place his or her foot is on the leather seats. It is common sense that this child, this proud, potential future owner of the Camry, would never put his foot up on the leather.

The tiniest details matter in the creation of a tantalizing visual image that effectively conveys the meaning and relevance of a situation. It would have been a far better ad if the son instead gave a thumbs-up. What is a good ad could have been a great ad, of the director, writers and crew, or even the account planners, picked up on this simple change that could have made all the difference.

I wouldn’t have known this in my twenties, so who says advertising and creative concepts should be left in the hands of the twentysomethings? There is something positive to be said for experience and for being a dad.