I don't often say this, but: oh man,
is this hip. It brings together, like, so many hip trends it threatens to create a black hole of hipness that sucks all the hipness out of the rest of the universe.
Here it is: Conan O'Brien
(who is hip) is Tweeting (that's even hipper) on digital billboards nationwide (a hipness trifecta) courtesy of billboard owner Lamar. The ostensible goal of the campaign is to give Conan fans a dose
of his snark, which has sadly gone missing from late-night TV since he left NBC in less than amiable circumstances.
Subsidiary goals: promoting Conan's national tour, and building popular demand
for Conan's return to TV, perhaps courtesy of some other TV network, meaning Fox. Of course, the deal just happens to showcase the nifty capabilities of digital out-of-home technologies (speaking of
which, don't miss MediaPost's upcoming Digital-Out-of-Home Forum and awards ceremony on May 13!).
The microsite puts it best, with an explanation possibly crafted by Conan himself: "Conan has lost his home and his rightful place on millions of screens across the nation. His audience is
also lost. Some are picking up the pieces of their lives, but many can't. Some are too young to know this isn't their fault: that they've done nothing wrong. So, until this talented, brilliant,
voluptuously coiffed man has his show back, we shall offer him our screens."
As a big Conan fan, I feel he can do no wrong -- and Twitter is of course a perfect medium for his humor, which
includes an artful refinement of the one- or two-liner. Some of Conan's recent Tweets:
"5 days to the opening of my tour. I don't want to over-hype this thing, but attendance will cure all
known diseases."
"Apologies to Duke fans, but I really wanted Butler to win so I could write 'The Butler Did It.'"
"I just celebrated the end of Lent by eating 22 sleeves of Peeps.
My religion rocks!"
"Just got the new iPad. This amazing device has already revolutionized the way I use a calculator."