[spectre] _“The Old Spice Guy”: Presencing & Synthapticism In Action_

[mez breeze]

_“The Old Spice Guy”: Presencing & Synthapticism In Action_
http://bit.ly/96Lakc
- @netwurker

In 2008, several articles at augmentology.com examined the concepts of
Synthetic Presencing and Synthapticism. Both concepts are part of a
theoretical framework that attempts to explain developing cultural >
augmentological patterns. Presencing embodies a rethink of conventional
entertainment modes:

    "...Fiction and non-fiction classifications are designed to map to
boundaries of known forms [think: cinema, literature, television and music].
They are so designed to provoke audience responses introspectively and
externally. Current synthetic practices are refashioning this entertainment
base via the perpetuation of types of unintentional and deliberately
augmented recreation. These recreation types are reliant on immediacy of
response, play, and Pranksterism. They employ Sandboxing, Gonzoism and
spontaneous engagement. This type of entertainment is termed _Presencing_.
Presencing involves loose clusters of pursuits that evolve in, or are
associated with, synthetic environments. Examples include the Streisand
Effect, Supercutting, Flashmobbing, the Slashdot Effect…Geohashing, Image
macro generation and Internet meme threading…Presencing showcases accidental
or reflexive entertainment elements where the fictional/non-fictional divide
is erased; associated validity qualifiers are also removed and
reconceptualised. Amateur production is equated with valued expression.
Presencing also offers adaptive potential for augmented attempts at
mediating geophysical constraints."

The complementary concept of Synthapticism involves:

    "…Crowdsourcers [who] produce clusters of user-mediated data through
surges of concentrated attention… Synthetics display attentional surges
appropriate to synthaptic shiftings. Synthetic environments operate in
accordance with this surge potentiality, with users adopting platforms that
offer a contemporary catering for the relevant surge…Synthapticism produces
unprecedented connections between synthetic participants. Adjunctive
relationships are constructed via Identity interfacing and cushioned by
support networks with a comparable emotional weighting to those found in
traditional sociocentric structures
[acquaintance>friendship>family>community]. Synthaptic communication may
appear as fractured or trivial to those not connected synthaptically…”

One contemporary example of a Presencing/Synthaptic Campaign centres on a
PR-created character called “The Old Spice Guy” or @OldSpice. This campaign,
which makes extended use of social media > network dynamics, initialized
with a Synthaptic threading system directly developed from conventional
advertising:

   "...Anything is possible when you smell like an Old Spice man and our
hero, Isaiah Mustafa, is back to illustrate just a few of the amazing things
that an Old Spice man can do. The latest effort is a fully integrated
campaign with TV, print and digital executions, targeted at both men and
women...." [ http://www.wk.com/campaign/questions ]

On July 13th 2010 [USA Portland time] the Old Spice brand extended this
“personalised” social presence/character via synthetically dependent
platforms including Youtube, Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook. “The Old Spice
Guy” character urged cross-platform users to AMA [a popular internet thread
on several boards which means "Ask Me Anything"]. The humorous > quirky
responses included almost instantaneous @OldSpice micro-video answers to
selected users, including meta-referencing by Isaiah Mustafa himself [
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-qpEUOtLk8 ].

One response that encapsulates the Synthaptic aspects of this campaign began
with the user @Jsbeals asking @OldSpice to make a marriage proposal on his
behalf [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-fLV28SkZ8 ]. @Jsbeals later
tweeted that his girlfriend had accepted the proposal:

    "@Jsbeals: @OldSpice SHE SAID YES!!!!"

….and who then changed his Twitter Biography to:

    "The Old Spice proposal was real. Thank you Old Spice for helping me
with this."

A second response set resulted in the sending of actual/geophysical roses
[referenced in a micro-video response] to Alyssa Milano. Each episodic
response illustrates the flattening of traditional entertainment factors
[think: @OldSpice responding to "everyday" users as well as more established
Hollywood/Internet celebrities]. The campaign realigns passive entertainment
construction and distanced absorption via real-time Immediation and
Regenerative Comprehension [ http://bit.ly/JvGs3 ]. The Old Spice Guy
Synthaptic threading is currently ongoing with replies continually being
posted via Youtube. [Updated via Owen Lokan: the campaign has now finished].


-- 
Reality Engineer>
Synthetic Environment Strategist>
Game[r + ] Theorist.
::http://unhub.com/netwurker ::
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