Do you trust your Doctor?

By Tony Lamont, Sr. Copywriter

Recently, my wife suffered a heart attack. Shortly after we arrived at the hospital, a surgeon came into her room and told us, "Okay, I studied your problem and here's what I think we need to do..." He then went to on outline a course of action.

After listening to his plan, we didn't turn around and tell him that while his idea was interesting, 0it was not what we wanted. And then go on to suggest some other approaches we thought would work better. We didn't take his idea and show it to a bunch of other people to get their comments before deciding whether or not we would do it. And we didn't ask him to think about it some more and come back with some other ideas that we would feel more comfortable doing.

Of course we didn't. Who would? After all, this is his area of expertise. It's what he does everyday. Certainly he would know better than us which approach would make my wife healthy again.

So if we would never think of questioning the approach a surgeon wanted us to take, why do so many companies feel just the opposite when it comes to their advertising?

Okay, so we don't wear those cool white coats and have a stethoscope hanging around our necks. And we don't have "Dr." before our names on our business cards. But just like a doctor knows what to do to make a person healthier based on training, expertise, and experience; we know what to do to make your business healthier.

Sure, sometimes the ideas may seem a little unorthodox. And sometimes the approach isn't what you expected. And sometimes it just plain scares the hell out of you. But believe me, we're not showing this stuff to you just to see the expression on your face. We're showing it to you because, just like a surgeon with his/her patient, we feel it's exactly what you need to help your business survive, stay healthy, and live a long and prosperous life.

Of course, I still wouldn't trust any of us with a scalpel and a canister of laughing gas. But give us a marker and a piece of paper and we can perform some amazing life-saving techniques. All you have to do is trust us and say "okay".

The only fair way to settle things at Mint.

It's all the rage in the office -- Mint Pool Bocce.

Okay, so it's really just regular bocce played with pool balls, but it's still tons of fun. We suggest using a golf ball as the "jack" (the official name for that little ball you're always aiming for).

At Mint, prizes have ranged from unwanted mail to coveted client projects.

Start up Pool Bocce in your office! Send us proof that you've been playing and we'll be sure to mail you something Minty fresh.

And if you've invented/play games that are equally intense as Mint's Pool Bocce, email us at bluebriefs@mintadv.com and tell us all about it along with the official playing rules.

And there goes our Air Hockey Table.

It does pay off to read Blue Briefs! Especially last month when we offered our full-sized Air Hockey Table to any willing gamers.

Much thanks goes out to everyone who was interested, especially the new owners who picked it up in full force (crew of 4, spanning 2 generations) earlier this month. May it bring you as many sweat-filled, arm numbing memories as we had with it!

Just don't call it a toothpick

Thanks to everyone who sent us details on what Goya products are used in your household and how you use them. Since we got such a great response last time around, we'd like to try it again for another product we're interested in learning more about: Stim-U-Dent plaque removers. Send your info to info@mintadv.com with the subject line "Stim-U-Dent" and we'll make sure you (eventually) get some tchotchkes.

It only comes around once a year.

By David Van Arsdale, Jr. Copywriter

On December 18th, Mint held the annual holiday party at Tapastre in Somerville.

This being my second Mint holiday party, I started thinking to myself, "What made this holiday party different from previous year?"

But instead of listening to me ramble on and on, I figured out a better way for you to understand why 2009's holiday party was truly unique -- I asked several Mint staffers: "What was your favorite part about this year's holiday party?" Here are some of their responses. Enjoy:

"Eating the eyeballs of the sauteed prawns." -Georgia Castellano, Graphic Designer

"Spitting out my drink because I was laughing so hard." -Billy Joe Pyle, Co-Founder & Creative Director

\"Billy's magic tricks." -Taylor Mazzarese, Jr. Art Director

"Going through about 10 different plates of food when it was only a 5 course meal. Just glad everyone knew where to send their food if they had any leftover." -Me

"Talking with Tony's wife and learning how they met. It's a true love story!" -Darren Manship, Account Coordinator

What's your Worst Commercial of 2009?

By Al Navarro, Co-Founder & CCO

The other day I saw a television spot for an American car-maker that struck me as possibly being the worst general image/branding commercial I'd ever seen for a car company. Ever. I won't say just yet who it was for, but rather invite the Blue Brief's readership to nominate their worst commercials or ads of 2009.

Just send your submissions (links or PDFs) to: bluebriefs@mintadv.com We'll choose the top 5 or so and feature them in a future issue of Blue Briefs.