Aug 29 2010
Blastr and Bruce Campbell’s Soup
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I no longer write for SciFiWire.com.
The reason is this: Days before San Diego Comic-Con, the largest nerd gathering in the world, the web site suddenly changed its name to Blastr.com.
Now I write for Blastr.
In rolling out the new brand the editor’s explained that “SciFiWire” was something they invented during a brief hallway conversation 13 years ago without much thought:
Today, “Wire” feels old-fashioned and stodgy, only slightly better than if we were called SCI FI Telegraph. And there are now millions of sites that curate sci-fi entertainment news, so there’s no need for us to be shouting “Look! NEWS!!!! Over here!!!” Also, in the last few years we’ve grown well beyond news by adding things like the Bruce Campbell’s Soup Labels, the Image of the Day and the Periodic Table of The Empire Strikes Back. As we’ve tried out new stuff we’ve listened to your comments and kept track of what stories were most widely read, and it turns out people like fun stuff along with their news. Really, really, really like, as in it’s the most popular content on the site.
I was a bit shocked. Firstly, because no one bothered to tell the writers that everything was a-changing. Secondly, because two of the three pieces they highlighted were mine. I blogged awhile back about the Periodic Table of Empire Strikes Back Elements, but I don’t think I mentioned Bruce Campbell’s Soup.
I was pretty proud of this project, especially as I watched it go viral in real time on Twitter and Digg (of course, those Digg counts disappeared once the blog changed). Here’s what happened: Basically, the idea was this: Bruce Campbell is an actor with a huge cult following. Looking in my girlfriend’s cupboard for dinner ideas, I was suddenly smacked with this concept. Why not turn Campbell’s films into soup labels? This kind of pop-culture translation seems to be the new hot shit.
If you look at the design, you’ll notice that every little detail is a film reference and that’s something that seemed to resonate with the pop-culture bloggers. I came up with the text and designer Chris Kalb did the rest. I can’t be the first guy to call this man a genius; In very short order, he produce more than I could have ever hoped. His designs were set at the right dimension to be cut out and wrapped around soup cans. Sure enough, people actually did just that and tweeted photos.
You can download all four labels here.











