Apr 17 2008Flogos Are Logos That Float Like Clouds
You know when you go to the beach there are those little planes that fly over with the signs trailing behind that tell about awesome all you can eat shrimp deals? I love those. But that's not what these are, these are another sky-based advertising scheme. They're called Flogos, and they're soap bubble formations filled with helium that float your logo around like a balloon. They can be made in 24", 36", and soon to be 46" diameters using some sort of modified artificial snow machine (see videos of them being made here) at a rate of one Flogo every 15 seconds. Each can travel up to 30 miles and go as high as 20,000 feet. Dyed Flogos will be available sometime in 2009, but aren't as cool as Zubbles. Let's see, what else? Oh, rental of a machine starts at about $2,500/day. Which is a lot for logo shaped clouds that, after an hour, disintegrate into a messy foam party in Cancun where I got an eye infection and lost a sandal.
Flogos Site
via
Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a Flogo! [msnbc]
Thanks to Chad, who floats like a butterfly and stings like a taser to the face, for the tip
Reader Comments
1. Ray - April 17, 2008 5:25 PM
I'll stick to spray-painting babies to get my logo out into the world.
2. dumblebumpkin - April 17, 2008 5:33 PM
how soon can I get the logo of my fabulous ass wafting gently over every city in the nation?
3. guate6 - April 17, 2008 6:20 PM
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this...Ok think about it...at 20,000 feet in the air, we're supposed to distinguish a four foot logo? C'mon, it'll look like a tiny ass cloud. 2', 3' & 4' are not easily visible from beyond...mmm, say 100 feet? And these guys want to have them in the air? Well I gotta say I want in on that scam so I can get idiots' money.
4. turdface - April 17, 2008 6:48 PM
wow those don't sound environmentally unfriendly at all.
5. SmokingGirl - April 17, 2008 7:21 PM
That's it; I'm getting the spoon so I can dig my eyes out.
6. andy - April 17, 2008 8:43 PM
I dunno if it got a bit cheaper it could be a good way of communicating to your mates in times of nuclear apocolypse (or the just the net and phones going down) rather like indian smoke signals.
7. Scott - April 17, 2008 9:07 PM
Holy Crap! Here we go with the UFO sightings!
8. T - April 17, 2008 9:12 PM
It's about time someone came up with this. We havent done a very good job in plastering our logos everywhere.
9. Shoes - April 17, 2008 11:07 PM
I'm going to get one of these machines and fill the air will penises. I will be worshiped by gay men. Yes. *inane plotting ensues*
10. poop - April 18, 2008 12:44 AM
well, i like it. i think it's a great way for these guys to make some folding money.
11. Ace - April 18, 2008 4:43 AM
#8:
Word.
12. Jeff - April 18, 2008 6:15 AM
I wonder how long before they get sued by the Wonderful World of Corporate Disney for using Mickey's silhouette....
13. Flogo - April 18, 2008 9:19 AM
Hmm...$80 for helium balloons...or $2500 for floaty soap bubbles...
14. Loex - April 18, 2008 12:23 PM
You know, of course, that I would make giant penises with this, and invade your pool party, which you didn't invite me to. That was rude of you.
15. kyle - April 21, 2008 11:36 AM
GREAT. now i cant even look at the sky without seeing demented adveritising clouds. because what we really need is more advertising......... its not like we have too much already.....right?............we can sink no lower...
16. ??????????? - April 21, 2008 11:38 AM
WHY?...................enough said
17. danny - May 8, 2008 8:22 AM
This is a faux news story, not a hoax, but there is not a story here yet. The firm is just putting out PR to attract investors. Why are so many people so easiluy fooled by this? This is NOT a news story. It is pure PR hype hoping to attract investors and an IPO and buyers of the machine. There is no Disney contract, there is no business. It's a pipedream, all it is. Wake up readers, read between the lines. This is not a real news story. It is very sloppy journalism on the part of AP for putting this non story on its intl wire.........whatever happened to reporters asking questions first, such as:
Fran,
Can you show me your Disney contract and can you tell me the name of the man who negotiated with so I can contact him for a quote?
UM ER WELL AHA, NO, YOU SEE.....
fake news here. wake up people.
18. danny - May 8, 2008 8:24 AM
The recent news story in the Sunday Herald of Scotland by Jasper Hamill, a very good reporter, was a fake news story, however, masquering as a press release from the floating cloud advert company in the USA, who first fooled the USA media into picking up their fake news story on April 8, and now Europe has picked up the story. It is not true. Gavin was interviewed for the story and gave a good quote,
http://www.sundayherald.com/search/display.var.2246194.0.0.php
saying the idea was not good, but in fact, there is no business operating with cloud adverts. It is a pure PR stunt. Gavin, you also got hoodwinked by the reporter who asked for your comments, when he should have known the there was no SToRY in that original press release:
Go here and here and here. Then tell me if you BELIEVE this BS!
Danny, reading between the lines.....(smile)
The operative word in the "fake news" story below is COULD in the headline. The reporter too the press release as fact. It is not fact. This cloud advert company fleeced the reading public. Read on. See the Sunday Herald story below.
=============================
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080407/NEWS/804070323/1011
19. danny - May 8, 2008 8:25 AM
[CAPS BELOW ARE MY COMMENTS ON THIS FAKE NEWS STORY:] Jasper, an email friend, is welcome to respond. Fran too. I've emailed both of them. I like fun, cute newspaper stories, but I don't like Press Releases that become unquestioned NEWS STORIES..... see COMMENTS in CAPS: Enjoy! Add your own comments too. -- danny
===========================
HEDLINE:
Man-made clouds to change? the outlook
TO CHANGE? IF THE FIRM EVER GETS OFF THE GROUND THAT IS....
SUBHED:
Customised steam will? carry brand names to new heights
WILL CARRY? IF THE FIRM GETS OFF GROUND. RIGHT NOW IT IS A FIRM WITH A GOOD PR PRESS RELEASE AND WEBSITE, THAT'S ALL....
By Jasper Hamill
Next time a flotilla of brand logos drifts over the horizon, don't fret - it's an advert, not a nervous breakdown.
GOOD LEDE! BUT JASPER, THIS IDEA IS NEVER GONNA FLY, JUST LIKE THE GALACTIC SPACE HOTEL STORY, JUST LIKE THE EIFFEL TOWER REDESIGN NON STORY, JUST LIKE RICHARD BRANSON SPACE TOURISM STORIES, JUST LIKE SMOKING ALLOWED AIRLINES IN GERMANY STORY LAST YEAR.....
A company called Flogos has launched the first custom-made clouds and will soon be bringing its product to Britain. HAS LAUNCHED? NOT YET? SOON COMING TO UK? NEVER. THIS IS PURE PR FROM THE OWNER, FED TO THE UNSUSPECTING MEDIA....
Produced by a dedicated machine at the rate of two a minute, the flogos can be made to any shape required and float for up to half an hour, soaring up to 30,000ft for a distance of 40 miles. PURE CONJECTURE. PURE PRESS RELEASE!
Made from air, a tiny amount of organic surfactant taken from a tree, and helium, flogos are also environmentally friendly, say the firm.
SAYS THE FIRM. WHERE'S THE PROOF. SO SOMEBODY SAYS THE WORLD IS FLAT. IS THE WORLD THEREFORE FLAT?
Huge brands such as Apple, Disney and Mercedes have already NO THEY HAVE NOT floated their logos in the sky and inventor Francisco Guerra hopes many more will follow suit. YES HE DOES HOPE, THE GOOD HOPE OF A PR-SAVVY INVENTOR AND MORE POWER TO HIM BUT FIRST TELL THE TRUTH. PR IS ONE THING, A NEWS STORY IS ANOTHER....
He said: "I'm in the office from 7 a.m. because inquiries are coming from every square inch of the planet. EVERY SQUARE INCH. GOT IT? We are making them as fast as we can but it's not enough. LOVELY HYPE!
"Every major advertising company in the world has come to discuss their roster. EVERY MAJOR ADVERTISIER, BULL****. Some Fortune 500 companies have been too and in SOUTH Korea, artists have told us they want to use flogos to make a kind of sculpture. The response has been incredible." COOL! GOOD IDEA FOR ART, YES!
Guerra started his career in Hollywood, designing special effects. AHA! THE HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION. WORKS EVERY TIME. OTHER REPORTS SAY FRAN IS A MAGICIAN.....
After this, he struck gold GOLD? REALLY? SAYS WHO? with a machine that generates snow and a beer mat that detects date-rape drugs in drinks. GOLD? AGAIN, SAYS WHO?
Guerra added: "This is a passive way to advertise. The only negative thing people can feel about them is jealousy, JEALOUSY YES. HOW ABOUT RIDICULE OVER THE PR HYPE? because they didn't come up with the idea first. Our problem is that we can't be in all of these places at the same time, so we're looking for distributors." AHA. THE WAY TO MAKE MONEY. SIGN UP DISTRIBUTORS. NOW WE GOT IT. MONEY TALKS...
One prospective PROSPECTIVE? REALLY? SAYS WHO? British distributor, John Hughes, who runs festivals around Britain and owns a creative communications group named Get Involved, called the flogos' inventor "a genius". FRAN IS A GENIUS. A PR GENIUS.
He said: "This is IS? going to be a very successful product and will be WILL BE? picked up by early adopters creating strategies that make a big impact in the marketplace. That's where flogos should be and will be placed." GOOD QUOTE. BASED ON PR.
The flogos have been used HAVE NOT! NOT YET! THIS IS PURE PR HYPE! A LIE! for non-commercial purposes - such as publicising clean air projects in China SOURCES IN CHINA PLEASE! - but cloud aficionados fear brand messages will prevail and sending hordes of adverts into the air could ruin the skyscape.
Gavin Pretor-Pinney, leader of the Cloud Appreciation Society, has written books on the gentle pursuit of cloud watching. WQNDERFUL BOOKS! AND GAVIN GOT SUCKED INTO THIS NON-STORY FOR A QUOTE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT VERY WELL MAY NEVER HAPPEN AT ALL....
He said: "I find the concept of someone sending up clouds in the shape of a Coca-Cola logo, or something like that, absolutely abhorrent. DON'T WORRY, GAVIN, FRAN'S IDEA WILL NEVER FLY. THIS STORY IS PURE PR PICKUP...If you live in the city you are constantly bombarded by corporate messages. Clouds, with their formlessness, are the last wilderness you have to gaze upon. It would be a sad day if you gaze up and find that you had a company logo in the clouds." AGAIN, DON'T WORRY. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Reacting to the news flogos are soon to launch multicoloured variations, he thundered: "The colour of clouds when a low sun strikes them is one of the most beautiful colour schemes there is. You don't need to start introducing multicoloured, tutti-frutti clouds. I say leave our clouds alone. This matters to me, I tell you."
Aviators - even those flying the most vulnerable of aircraft - would not have to worry about flogos, claimed Colin Mackinnon, head of Microlight Scotland. AHA, ANOTHER EXPERT NEEDLESSLY BROUGHT IN TO THIS NON STORY....
20. Brian Glover - May 17, 2008 4:07 PM
Let me begin by saying that I am most upset that our Flogos project has offended anyone. You really seem to have the wrong idea about our product. Mr Guerra
and myself developed Flogos as a entertaining, visually pleasing display. These are very benign soap foam shapes, not roadside billboards. We
find that anyone who has a negative outlook about Flogos just hasn't seen it in person yet. Flogos is a reality, please see our website www.flogos.net or search Flogos on www.youtube.com.
Although Flogos can be set as high as 20,000 feet, we can control the altitiude. Most Flogos events we produce have the foam shapes floating no higher that 50 to 100 feet.
We see Flogos being used sparingly, at special events or parades. It will unlikely be a daily occurrence, polluting the sky everywhere. Your concerns about over advertising are founded, but be rest assured this product will be used appropriately. If you or anyone has any questions about Flogos, please contact me personally.
Sincerely,
Brian R. Glover
Director Research and Development
Flogos Project
SnowMasters Special Effects
11054 County Road 71
Lexington, Alabama 35648