Your Remedy: SoulPancake

If you're suffering from the winter blues or simply need something to warm your heart and make you smile, SoulPancake is your remedy. 

SoulPancake, a popular publisher on YouTube, has created numerous shows which include: Metaphysical Milkshake, Kid President, The FlipSide, The Science of Happiness, Joy Bomb, Sidewalk Sessions, Life's Big Questions, and Man on the Street. The most well-known of the YouTube sensation's shows is Kid President... Who never fails to provide the best pep talks...

"A Pep Talk from Kid President to You": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Recently, I expanded my "viewings" on the SoulPancake page and watched series 'The Science of Happiness'... Man.. This is great. They include experiments on how acts of kindness, gratitude, art therapy, cute aggression, the relationship between happiness and success, and perspectives or 'looking on the bright side' can incrementally effect one's happiness. I encourage everyone to at leastttt take the time to watch one. How could you not want to?! It's about happiness for Pete's sake!!! 
(Sidenote: Who's Pete? Where'd that come from??) 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Operation Kindness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4ALRY5LyBM 

An Experiment in Gratitude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg

If You're Happy and You Know It: (watch for the key to success) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkMHZ7mchVo


Sooo, now that I've spent hours on end watching The Science of Happiness.. What do I do with it?


Learn. Act. Repeat. 

***If none of these shows make your day a bit brighter.. Come find me- My roommate's walls are perfect for us to try out the Art Therapy episode.  

BuzzFeed's All the Buzz

It's evident that image-centric sites are becoming increasingly more popular. Plus, with the hustle and bustle of life's tasks, who can say it's not a tad more convenient to scroll through a site of pictures than a sea of words. This is not to say by any means that news articles and other word-heavy sites are headed to their 'death'. In fact, many image-based websites or business-run Instagram accounts attach links for users to go to if they want the 'whole story'. Basically, at times my brain needs a little fluff during the day for entertainment and pictures seem to be fulfilling that need. I mean I deleted my twitter account for awhile because I would get so stressed when I couldn't keep up with all the tweets that have a LIMITED letter-count per post... True story- blame it on my work load or detail-oriented personality. I don't know...

Anyway... So, who's getting the most hype right now in the eyes of society? I'd say BuzzFeed. The amount of shared links and screenshots from BuzzFeed articles I get on a normal basis is already high and only increasing. With sections such as News, Entertainment, Life (this is where you find the food articles), Video, and More, BuzzFeed has a massive amount of posts ready for any type of mood/interest. I predict BuzzFeed, and more sites similar to it, will continue to grow and gain more publicity.. And potentially some new competitors.

Here are a few popular ones:

BuzzFeed Tech: The 21 Most Triumphant of Facebook's 10 years

BuzzFeed Food: 31 Grilled Cheeses That Are Better Than A Boyfriend

BuzzFeed Olympics: Why Should You Watch Curling During The Winter Olympics? Because of These Amazing Pants.

Guinness Takes Gold

Guinness has done it again! Last year, the beer company released 'The Basketball Commercial' featuring a group of able-bodied friends playing a game of wheelchair basketball with their handicapped companion. The ad not only created immense buzz, goosebumps, and not to mention a few tears, but it revealed a new positioning strategy for how to market alcoholic beverages. The ad allowed the 'Made of More' beer company to tie the substance and character that Guinness beer possesses with humanity and relationships that hold those qualities as well. If you haven't seen this ad you have been missing out- here it is:

Video: Guinness Basketball Commercial Enjoy!

Now with the arrival of 2014, Guinness has released many more heartwarming ads that have grabbed the attention of many--the main one being the ad featuring twin sisters, Lanny and Tracy Barnes. The video displays a side-by-side black and white picture of the Biathlete identical twins who have both sought to compete in the Olympic games. The ad features no voiced words, only flashing phrases in text that reveal the selfless and loving bond of the twins--portraying how "The Choices We Make Reveal The True Nature of Our Character".

The advertisement's already viral-potential is heightened by the ruling of the Olympic Committee to force a blackout of all ads featuring Olympic athletes between the dates of January 30th - February 26th. This ruling has caused sites such as Adweek, Businessinsider, Mashable, and many more to release the video and articles commenting on the event. The sites created much anticipation about the need to watch the Twin Ad before it disappears (which it hasn't due to unofficial recordings). With all the attention and buzz the blackout is creating, one may wonder if Guinness had this marketing strategy in mind all along... If it wasn't, Guinness has truly taken the gold with its yet another applaude-worthy ad.

Video: Guinness "Twins"