Of course there are new businesses popping up all over MTK, too.

New in MTK:

Neesa Peterson is bringing her Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls (N’Awleans style shaved ice) to Montauk this summer. Look for her truck at Ditch!

Nicole Meehan and her husband have opened Gringos Burrito Grill (668 7500, 805 Montauk Hwy.) Burritos, soft tacos, hard tacos, salad bowls. So yummy.

La Bodega has become La Brisa de Tacombi (804-9180, 752 Montauk Hwy.). Damian and Dario, partners behind the restaurant in the West Village are bringing their tacoria to MTK. Dario, born in Mexico, says they taste like his mom used to make, only better.

Sweet ‘Tauk Gourmet, opening at 34 South Etna, will not only serve everyone’s favorite lemonades but small batch ice cream, ice pops and sweets. What’s more? They’re hosting Red Hook Lobster Pound! Hmm, Brooklyn comes to Montauk to sell Lobsters? Who knows, maybe next year someone will come from the upper west side to sell us striper. Tyler Davis is opening Happy Bowls where Cromer’s was.

Buddha Berry Café (668-8393, 43 S. Euclid Ave.) opens a new gourmet self-serve frozen-yogurt spot promising 60 dry toppings and fresh-cut fruit. Can’t wait to try them!

Homeport Town, a new shop from the folks that own Homeport on the Docks is open on Main Street, selling jewelry, accessories, art and home décor. The same owners have also opened Pier Group Sports – men and women’s sportswear next door to Naturally Good.

Ingrid Torjisen’s Made in Montauk (668-1334, 12 S Etna Ave # B) has a boutique at Yoga Lila with gorgeous hand painted silk tunics and more.  And Nohealani (a super-cute boutique in Maui) is doing a pop-up Memorial Day week.

New Stuff at Old Favorites:

Joni’s (668-3663, 34 S Etna Ave.) has a new shake: get Naked: raw coconut water with hemp, cacao, maca, banana, + blueberries (add kale+ spinach +.75), and a new juice: Junk food, pause… NOT; lemon, cukes, celery, kale, + parsley. They’ve also got a bunch of homemade vegan and reg. cup cakes… lots of new raw + gluten free snacks + low sugar snacks!

Jesse Joeckel at Whalebone (65 Tuthill Road) was busy creating groovy new tees, hats and more all winter. These are just some of his latest and greatest styles.

Yoga Lila’s Dominique Garsten will be teaching yoga on stand up paddleboards.  Check their website.

Worth leaving MTK for:

Todd Jacobs’ new restaurant, Fresh Hamptons (537 4700, 203 Bridgehampton Sag Harbor Turnpike), serving family friendly, delicious local, organic veggies chicken and meat, fresh caught fish, along with a full vegan menu. And check out the fresh new logo we designed!

Last but not least, welcome to the neighborhood Beach and Avenue on the Beach. Two completely new publications – with almost the same name! Seriously, we’re really looking forward to reading them.

Have a great summer everyone. We’ll see you at the beach. (If we can get a parking spot!)

SFX: LOUD CRASH!

Lynn: Jill! Look there’s an alien space ship and it just landed in our office. Wow, check out those strange luminescent eyes peering at us.

SFX: SCI FI MUSIC UP.

Jill: Wait! Look over here! There’s a band of wild horses thundering through the back yard.

SFX: NAY. WHINNEY. STOMPING FEET.

SFX: LYNN SNEEZES

Lynn: Man that kicked up a lot of dust. I love radio – it’s theater of the mind. You don’t have to pay for an animal trainer or a lot of special effects to create incredible drama.

Jill: Yeah, but we might have to pay someone to make this blog funnier.

Lynn: I could start imitating my mother. That always makes people laugh.

Jill: You already did that in our latest SCNB spot.

(Click here to listen to SCNB BAGEL AUDITOR .mp3)

Lynn: In the summer, the Hamptons is Hollywood East.  27 is a parking lot.  Sooner or later, everyone is stuck in traffic. All year round, people drive from Montauk to Manhattan. Just another reason radio is a great way to reach folks out here. To listen to our latest radio spots click here.

To find out more about why we love radio, just call us!

SFX:  PHONE RINGING.

This year a thirty-second spot cost about 3.8 million dollars (or roughly $126,000 a second). So here’s our rating system: WAS IT WORTH IT???

WINNERS:

Dodge Ram: “God Made a Farmer”

God knows we watched every second. Why? Because it didn’t sound, look or feel like anything else on TV, which made us stop. Look. Listen and CARE. Borrowed interest? Maybe. But totally compelling. SUPER WORTH IT.

Mercedes: “Soul”

With appearances by Willem Dafoe, Kate Upton (who does nothing for us) and Usher, featuring music by the Rolling Stones you could say there’s too much borrowed interest. But we love this spot! (And watched it days before the game, now that almost everything is posted on YouTube in advance.) Fun and smart: there’s no reason to make a deal with the devil when the new Mercedes is only $29.000. SUPER WORTH IT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yISGj4-nZ4g

VW: “Get in. Get Happy”

We love the Jimmy Cliff Partridge Family cover. And the spot. It’s fun, funny, and makes us smile every time, boss man. And all the “politically correct controversy” got the spot epic free publicity and extra air time. SUPER WORTH IT. (note: Jill hates the music, Lynn, a Partridge Family fan, loves it.)

AUDI: “Prom”

Driving an AUDI can give you the courage to go for it. Fun. Cute. Our Husbands loved it. WORTH IT.

KIA: “Hot Bots”

Fun. The bots work because they’re saying, hey, we’re high tech. They elevate the brand and kick a little nerd ass while they’re at it. A lot better than babies and dogs. WORTH IT.

FIAT: “Topless” 

Sexy, fun, European vibe. Totally works. WORTH IT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znhntRo9E5Q

FIAT: “Sisters”

Amusing casting. Demo works. SORTA WORTH IT.

TOYOTA: “Wish Granted”

The Rav 4 genie (Kaley Cuoco of Big Bang Theory) offers to grant the Henderson Family wishes. Dad’s a dolt. Mom gets chocolate. Junior has squirrels chatting. Sis becomes a princess. Super family friendly. WORTH IT.

KIA: “Babylandia”

What does this have to do with cars? They say they have an answer for everything? Here’s a question: How could you have wasted so much money on that??? SUPER NOT WORTH IT.

LINCOLN: “#Steerthescript”

Ok, we confess, we didn’t followed the Twitter campaign, nor Jimmy Fallon’s involvement. For us this didn’t work, but maybe someone out there cares? SUPER NOT WORTH IT. #SUPERFAIL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrHhpuWWte8

HYUNDAI: “Don’t tell Mom”

Clichéd. Not funny enough. NOT WORTH IT.

“Team”

Borrowed interest, but better than “Don’t tell Mom”. NOT QUITE WORTH IT.

http://youtu.be/RUARXDu2mMg

“Race Track”

SUPER NOT WORTH IT.

“Passing”

Came close because it’s a straight-forward demo. But it didn’t work because the product (a burgundy 4-door sedan) looks like Grandma’s ride. NOT WORTH IT.

Other Winners and Losers

Jill Fleming and Lynn Blumenfeld both worked at big Madison Avenue agencies before opening blumenfeld + fleming, the advertising and design firm with worldwide headquarters in Montauk. Neither gives a rat’s ass about football.

Why? Well, when we’re deciding about how to promote our clients, the strategic direction is clear. The vision is focused. We know (or have developed) the branding. But when we have to please ourselves (and more to the point, two highly opinionated people) it’s another story!

What was the hardest thing to agree on? Design. Tone of voice. Color. How serious, how casual, how blue, which blue? When you’re people who make a living delineating between shades in the Pantone book – all of these decisions can (and did) keep us up at night.

And let’s not forget the name. blumenfeld + fleming is a lousy name. We became a business almost accidentally and got three clients within weeks of working together. Back then, there weren’t websites, folks found us in the Yellow Pages. Now, everyone Googles everything – but if you can’t spell blumenfeld, you can’t find us. (Not to mention how annoying it is typing 20 letters.)

Our new url is bplusf.com. We’re still updating and finessing… but we think our new look is sweet! What do you think?

Coast, opens in the Luigi’s location the first weekend in May. Owned by Tony & Sue Berkhofer (he was the chef at West Lake Clam & Chowder House).

Ronjo got a bronze job and is becoming a swanky hotel called Beach House.

Gosman’s Restaurant has a new chef! Dave Piacenti, who’s worked at ENE and 1770 House.

Goldberg’s Bagels is opening where Dr. Cannon’s old office was. Just around the corner Katherine Nadeu’s  been working her magic! Her new organic (and lovely smelling) hand spray is for sale at Moonlighting In Montauk.

Sloppy Tuna has an all-new second floor. The bar, now upstairs, has amazing views. New chef, Reed Lucas (a local) is doing a beach menu and a raw bar.

The Village Deli (aka “smelly deli”) got a big makeover. New tenants are the folks who own Fish Bar…we can’t wait. On the other side of the building, Chris Coleman is opening Saunders Real Estate’s first outpost in MTK.

La Bodega, owned by Paulette Davis and Julia Prince, is replacing Plaza Restaurant.

Lawrence Cook is asking everyone to come out July 21 and support the original locals – he’s the guy behind the new American Indian Museum and he’s trying to raise $750,000 to make it happen.

Sam Joyce, formerly of Gosman’s can now be found at Sammy’s on the dock where Clemente’s used to be. We hear there are large and small plates priced approximately $10 and $20 and locals are loving the food.

When Pig’s Fly has flown away. Kailani is selling Montauk Coordinates necklaces and Montauk nameplate necklaces and will hold trunk shows this summer. Willow has a new jewelry line coming in.

Dominique Garsten has purchased Sangha Yoga, she’s renovating and reopening in May. We’re so glad that Deep Hollow Ranch riding stable is now being run by the Keogh family! Ditch Witch is back. (Phew!) Vintage Pink (In a Pepto Bismol color, you can’t miss) is a new antique shop, owned by Julie Miller.

OutEast will host an opening for local artist Dalton Portella May 19th. Right next door Jesse Joeckel’s Whalebone is reopening with an expanded line of surf-inspired T-shirts, bags, hats and more.

Zum Schneider MTK, a satellite of a popular East Village bierhaus, is opening where Oyster Pond was.

We hear Lenny’s is going to be called Swallow East (and no, they are not the same folks who brought us the Sloppy Tuna! But they did just buy Surf Lodge.)

Salivar’s apparently has some issues…. and may not open this season.

Herb’s is for sale! Shagwong is for sale! Montauket is for sale! Heck, b+f is for sale… for the right price. Have a great summer, everyone. We will see you at the beach!

Did we miss some news you know about? Comment here or post it on our Facebook.

Lynn + Jill

Do you love the fact that you can swim in our bays? Do you appreciate our beautiful trails, the osprey nests and wildlife out here? Wonder who fights developers and encourages lawmakers to make decisions that protect the environment? And who do you think is in the classrooms and on the fields turning students into future stewards of our environment?

Group for the East End! We’d heard of the Group, but honestly didn’t understand how profound an impact they have on the quality of our lives. After meeting with their president, Bob DeLuca and a talented and committed team, we learned that without the Group, this place would be commonplace.

We want to send out a big thank you to the Group. And, if you live on or love the East End, we want to ask you to thank them, too. Please visit the new website we just created with them, find out more about how they’re protecting the nature of the place you love. We think you’ll want to become a Groupie, too!

OK, true confession. We don’t love football. In fact, pretty much the only football game either one of us has ever watched is the Super Bowl (unless you count Friday Night Lights). Now here’s a real shocker, even thought we both make TV commercials, we rarely watch them. Just like millions, we’ve invested in technology that allows us to fast forward – but once a year, we can’t wait to watch commercials!

Why do people get so excited about Super Bowl commercials?

Jill asked me this question just the other morning and Kris, a designer who works with us called in from the other room, “because they’re more creative.”  Aha! They are. If you want to excite people – creativity is key. But just because something’s creative doesn’t make it good, or worth the $3.5 million in air time a thirty second spot costs. Remember the gerbil that got shot out of a cannon? Uh huh? Do you remember what brand it was for? We don’t either.

We think the best commercials are entertaining, intelligent, relevant, and actually tell you (or even better sell you) the brand’s benefits.

Based on those criteria, here’s our take on some of the biggest winners and losers from super bowl 2012:

Hyundai Genesis Coop: A

Funny, unexpected, involving, original and shows off the car’s benefits beautifully. Great casting, too.

CLICK ON THE HYPER-LINKS TO WATCH THE COMMERCIALS ON YOUTUBE.

Chevy Camero Happy Grad:  A

Fun. Funny. Relevant. Hate to say it but they get away with people going berserk over their product in virtually every scene. Get this: Not done by an agency, but created by Zach Borst, a 26-year-old filmmaker from Long Island.

ETRADE: A-

Terrific example of a great (ongoing) ad campaign that has built the brand, these spots are amusing, attention getting can’t wait to see what they’ll do next. In this case, the line “Ya know, everything can cost upwards of…” line is brilliant That said the speed dating was a bit odd.

Hyundai Veloster: A-

Car’s too fast for the cheetah and the trainer isn’t fast enough?! We laughed out loud.

Budweiser Prohibition Ends! Lynn: A-/ Jill: C

Lynn: Beautiful production, product as hero, anthemic.
Jill: Just not that entertaining (By the way, Jill’s a beer, but never a Bud drinker).

sketchers: A-

Perfect for the audience. Who doesn’t love an ugly French bulldog in sneakers? A pithy exchange between him and a greyhound could have made it an A+.

DORITOS Dead Cat:  A-

A bit predictable and sophomoric but funny (Even to a cat lover).

Chevy Silverado: A -

We both like competitive tone, Jill likes the Twinkees, too. Made Thom Fleming (The Giants and Jill’s biggest fan) want to buy a Silverado – and he’s their market.

TIMEWARNER Cable: B

We love Ricky Gervais. And the special effects were cool. Never really think of TWC as bringing you everything from Facebook and Twitter to Showtime…

Fiat: B

Beautiful girl. Cute car. Dorky guy, amusing but wanted it to be better than it was.

Toyota Camry: Lynn: A-/Jill: B

Lynn: Beautifully told, simple story. Non-clichéd interesting images. Emotional and relevant because it’s “everyman’s” car.
Jill: Yes, good imagery, but not an A as I’ve seen it before.

Samsung: B+

Ridiculously over the top but it kind of what Super Bowl ads are supposed to be so it worked for us.

PEPSI Elton John: B

Universal concept, great production values, and the product is the hero. Using the winner of the X factor and a character from Glee along with Elton John and Flavor Flave appeals to all ages – (as does Pepsi.) Totally in keeping with the Pepsi brand but not as exciting as their spots used to be.

H&M David Beckham: B

Calvin’s been here before, but we can’t lie, we don’t mind looking at David Beckham, but not many of the men we know liked this spot.

BUDWEISER: B (Eternal Optimism/CULT “Eternal Optimism”)

Pepsi may have done something like this years ago but this was cool. Great music.

Dannon Greek Yogurt “The Tease”: B

Funny send up of the typical yogurt spot. “Possibly the best yogurt in the world” – possibly the most mediocre tag line we’ve ever heard.

Volkswagon: B-

Dog gets in better shape so it can chase a car that’s in better shape. Good strategy. Great dog. We like the premise, but when they pull back to reveal the Star Wars crowd watching this year’s spot at the bar, it’s too self referential. Who cares?

Audi: B-

Mildly amusing, but is anyone going to buy a car because of headlights? And are Twilight fans really your audience, Audi?

Bud Light: B-

Here we go – again. Great rescue dog but we’ve seen this spot for Budweiser, for Coors, for decades. Derivative, but at least they’re helping rescue dogs.

KIA Jill: B-/Lynn: D

This spot has all the right ingredients but it tries too hard and the recipe failed. Imagine what Gerry Graf would have done with it.

TaxAct: C

Totally Free? How ‘bout totally borrowed interest, but very cute kid. Wonder if people will remember or care.

Met Life: C+

Charming. Sweet message. So much unrealized potential.

ACURA: C

Jerry Seinfeld is renowned for his collection of Porches, why is he doing this? There’s not a line in the spot that is as well written as his show was. (But he does elevate the material). We wanted to really laugh and we really wanted to like the spot, sorry, Jer.

Lexus The Beast: C-

Beastly weak. Great production value for absolutely nada.

“Masters of Style” Gillette Fusion ProGlide Styler: C-

What a waste of talent and money. We love these actors. It would have been nice if someone had written something interesting and filmed something stylish.

Honda CRV (Matthew Broderick): C-

We’re not wild about Matt, and honestly this ad nearly put us to sleep. That said, we get the strategy: For middle-aged people (i.e. Ferris Bueller fans) the CRV is a fun car, so go out and live your life in it.

Hyundai “Anthem”: C

Huge cast, huge production dollars, all to let me know that the designers at Hyundai aren’t that creative. Guessed that by looking at the cars.

Go Daddy: F

BADVERTISING on every level. We hate these spots. Sex may sell, sexism doesn’t. And we want our cloud to be strong and reliable, NOT STUPID!

Toyota Camry: F

What a waste of money. Completely borrowed interest. No product benefits. Bummer. (By the way an Ad Age Blogger loved this spot. That’s what makes horse races and Super Bowl Blogs.)

Spots too boring or expected to grade: Ford, BMW, GE, Budweiser Platinum, Breakstone, TelaFlora, Toyota’s Eli Manning, spot, and others.

Well, you know what they say about opinions – we hope you enjoyed ours. A few other random comments and observations: This year you could have called the Super Bowl the car bowl. Twenty-five percent of the Super Bowl commercials were for cars – what does that say about an industry that was in the toilet just 3 years ago? It could also have been called the been there done that bowl. Where was the breakthrough idea that we’d never seen before? Why are so many commercials SO AVERAGE when advertisers spend over a million on production and over three million dollars on thirty seconds? We’d like to suggest every advertiser have to pay 1 percent of what they spend on production (including talent and music licensing) and we’d like to see the NFL and NBC donate 1 percent of what they earn in air time to rotating charity, annually.

Related Topics: Elton John, Jerry Seinfeld, Matthew Broderick, Montauk, Super Bowl 2012, Super Bowl 2012 Commercials, and matthew broderick super bowl ad

Part of the reason we love our work is we love where we work. Our office overlooks Deep Hollow Ranch, less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean. We work with a lot of business owners all over the East End, remember integrity, honesty, and kindness? They’re alive and well out here. Whether you own an advertising, marketing and web design business, a landscape company, a car dealership – you work at a local bank, newspaper, magazine, or hospital, you can’t beat taking a beach walk before, after, or during work!

So, a few days after Thanksgiving and a few weeks before Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza, we thought we’d say THANKS. There’s no better place to live or work than the East End of Long Island.

In 1984, Steve Jobs changed all that. Click here to watch comercial. His Apple was built for us “creatives”. Design mattered. Fun mattered. Music mattered. Art mattered. Macs were intuitive, Iphones were smarter, and Ipads turned octogenarians and babies into believers every minute of every day. Genius is an overused word, but Jobs was pure genius, there’s no way to eulogize the man. Look around your home, your office, your world, at all the products you love. Do you know the names of the CEOs of the companies who made them? It is remarkable to feel so much loss and sadness and to see it echoed all over the Internet by millions of others, like us, like you, who didn’t know Steve Jobs, but knew he changed the game, changed our lives, changed the world.

Today, when so many people are “thinking the same” let’s remember, moving forward, to think different. (Or for you grammarians, to think differently.)

Who you were with.

Who you knew who might be in danger.

I moved here on September 1, 2001. The morning of September 11, I was living in an East Hampton rental with no TV. A friend instant messaged me saying a plane had hit the WTC. I assumed it was a small Cessna, until my phone started to ring like crazy.

Jill was editing a TV spot. When she got back home to Montauk there was great surf, but she couldn’t bear the thought of enjoying it while so many people were suffering. Unable to face a scarred Manhattan, Jill didn’t venture into the city for six months. A few days later I returned for meetings and was devastated as the Jitney headed towards the tunnel, Ground Zero was still smoldering and my “true South” was gone. I felt lost. Haunted by the people searching for their loved ones. And my thriving work as a freelance writer was gone indefinitely.

September 11, 2001 changed history. It also changed this place we call home. Quaint villages became year-round communities. City slickers gave up Manhattan for a different life. School enrollments expanded. New businesses grew. The Internet was in place. The impetus was there.

Ten years later, life has changed. blumenfeld + fleming wasn’t even a dream then and is now a nine-and-a-half year old reality. I met our first client on the beach the day after the towers went down. I doubt we’d have spoken if it hadn’t been for 9-11. On September 11, we both were grateful to be here. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed.

What do you remember? How has your life changed?