Read Breaking Copy, a copywriting blog by Daryl Lang, the writer of History Eraser Button

I’m on a boat! ‘Nuf said!

Easily the best press release I have ever seen put out by the city government: MAYOR BLOOMBERG REVEALS SOURCES OF MYSTERIOUS BUT HARMLESS MAPLE SYRUP ODORS.

You may remember (or if you live here, you may have smelled) the delicious syrup smell that wafted over the city a few years ago, and a few times since. The city used weather data and the location of 311 calls reporting the smell to figure out where it came from. Answer? Jersey.

“City officials have identified a facility in Hudson County that has processed foenugreek seeds to produce flavors and fragrances that resulted in esters being formed in the air on dates when 311 has received a high number of sweet-smelling odor complaints in the City… ‘Given the evidence, I think it’s safe to say that the Great Maple Syrup Mystery has finally been solved,’ said Mayor Bloomberg.”

Gothamist has the map!

I spent January teaching myself PHP, and used it to write a program that generates a headline feed of all my various data streams, including: this blog, the stories I write for work, and my two Twitter feeds. Here’s the final result: The new daryllang.com site.

If you want to know how I did it, or want me to work on something similar for your site, just ask.

My take on the Super Bowl ads:

Best ad: Cash4Gold. Why? I hated this company furiously until I saw this ad, and immediately after watching it I thought they were a-ok.

(more…)