Market This!

…in Europe, that is. There, the buses are clean, fast, easy-to-use, and you can even see when the next one’s coming on your cell phone. Here in the States, mass transit is a less attractive option, though there are people working to change that.

A&B‘s client Veolia Transportation is one example. If you’ve ever ridden the MAX bus in Las Vegas or the VIVA near Toronto, you’ve seen their work – and witnessed that the Euro-style of public transit can work in North America (despite our sprawling style of development and attachment to our vehicles). Better public transit brings people out of their cars and spurs economic growth along its routes.

Because A&B has provided brand and marketing support to Veolia for the past two years, we had special interest in the two ads below, produced by Belgian firm Duvall Guillaume for the Flemish public transit group De Lijn. These are great little spots that extol the virtues of group travel without getting preachy about it. (The “we’re all in this together” argument is about the most compelling one you can make on this point, we think.)

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Penguins:

Lightning bugs:

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For more about our work with Veolia: read about the Lil’ Easy bus, watch the Together We Care video, or check out the Million Miler video (with footage of the aforementioned MAX bus). Stay tuned for the world-class website we’re about to launch for them, as well.

And get out of those cars once in awhile, will you? We are all in this together, after all.

Ok, so technically this isn’t a latté, it’s just a recipe for a particularly good cinnamon-vanilla-maple-mocha-java that we here at Asgood & Better HQ have been enjoying every single day for the last several months. In fact, “enjoying” probably isn’t the term. “Sucking down fervently” is maybe more accurate.

Since A&B co founder and former bartender Nathan Hartswick concocted the beverage and shared it with family and friends last year, his esteemed sister has taken to calling it The Nathanielatté.

Anyway, here’s how it’s done:

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WHAT YOU’LL NEED

* Dark roast coffee. We use Vermont Coffee Company beans.
* Godiva Premium Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa.
* Ground cinnamon.
* Half & half. The cream, not the tea & lemonade.
* Maple syrup. The real stuff.
* Pure vanilla extract.
* A French press. If you don’t have one, get one. The only way to go.

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WHAT TO DO

1. Boil water in a tea kettle or pot.

2. Grind your coffee beans and put them in the press. You’ll want about 4 teaspoons of ground coffee per 8 oz. cup.

3. Add the Godiva powdered cocoa – about 1 teaspoon per 8 oz. cup.

4. Add a pinch of cinnamon. Don’t overdo it.

5. Slowly poor the boiled water over the coffee.

6. Add a tiny bit of vanilla extract. Stir concoction with a chopstick, cover and allow to steep for 3-4 minutes.

7. Press pot down and pour contents into coffee mug.

8. Add half & half and maple syrup (not sugar!) to taste.

9. Suck it down!

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. (Or possibly a little less than we do; we really are far too obsessed with it.)

Cheers!

We’re sure it’s just a matter of time before PETA catches wind of these things and shuts the whole thing down on the grounds that they encourage people to behead their dogs in favor of a great audio setup. (They’ll be looking for a new target now that their “sea kitten” campaign is up and running.)

Nonetheless, we think this is a seamless marriage of super cool interior design and a really horrible pun. Sander Mulder (no relation to Fox, we presume) developed these “woofers” for the home, a perverse little inversion of the RCA dog, when you stop to think about it. Either way, we’d like an apartment full of Sander’s designs, please (notably the Pong Clock).

Of course the real question is: will “tweeters” be next? And if so, what adorable little headless bird will house them?

Anyway, we’re thinking it may be time to upgrade; it sure makes us feel like our little Audioengine speakers (right) are for the dogs…