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Jul31
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Just got today’s online edition of the New York Time’s “Stuart Elliott’s In Advertising." Apparently Mr. Elliott is away on vacation, but someone called Jane L. Levere is standing in for him and writing the column for however many weeks he is in the Hamptons, Jamaica, or wherever. Problem is, of the thirteen items in today’s column, only one of them has any remote connection to advertising. The rest are all boiler plate rewrites of PR releases dealing with media news. I mean if I really wanted to know about Tom and Katies “Baby Souri,” or Ashlee Simpson’s nose job, I’d pick up the Enquirer at the checkout as I pay for my six pack and pork scratchin’s! The moral of the story is… If you want the down and dirty on the ad scene… Check out AdHurl!!!
Not quite sure what Mum is going to say about this!!!
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Jul31
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The new TV campaign for Yellowbook.com sucks! Why? Because it uses David Carradine as some kinda dufus Zen master sat lotus like dispensing useless information to a disciple who constantly refers to him as “Master” while asking really stupid questions about...
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It would seem that Dr. Z (DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche) isn’t having much effect on the car buying public of America. Even with the US auto industries insatiable habit of “employee-discount programs,” referred to by those in the know as...
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Jul30
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Funny piece in Business Week about how even the Indians are becoming disenchanted with American outsourced help desk or customer service business. Apparently they're finding that the lowest end of the business -- call centers -- just doesn't pay anymore....
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Jul29
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Interesting that the House of Representatives just voted on restricting access to social sites on public terminals. The bill, which passed the House in a 410-15 vote, would bar users from accessing sites like Amazon, MySpace, or Slashdot from terminals...
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PSFK, which is one of my favorite web sites, run by one of the smartest and most media savvy guys around, Piers Fawkes, ran an item today (July 29th) titled “Urban Spam: Talking Urinals” that they had picked up from...
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In his first interview since Bill Gates retirement announcement, Steve Ballmer says he is bullish on Microsoft's investments in online services, and he dismisses as 'random malarkey' the idea that Microsoft is having trouble hiring and keeping the kind of...
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Jul28
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Today’s AdAge goes on and on about how the TV is now chock-full of didactic Brits telling whimpering Americans how to sing, dance, cook, clean their houses and raise their kids. On the networks alone, AdAge counted 10 such awful...
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Jul27
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Funny to read that Interpublic’s Draft FCB Group has won its first pitch as a combined entity, landing Atari's global ad duties after a review. I’d forgotten that Atari was still around. I used to work on it many years...
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Staying on the auto front, news today that after postponing the U.S. launch of the Smart car and scuttling a review in the middle of last year, DaimlerChrysler has now chosen BBDO to handle the advertising for the brand in...
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Sometimes you just have to shake your head in disbelief when you read about American car companies approach to advertising. It would seem that Cadillac's latest ad campaign will introduce the theme "Life. Liberty. And the Pursuit" in an attempt...
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In spite of the networks' insistence that DVR users watch more television, a new study from MRI shows that adults in DVR homes watch less television than those without the devices. The research shows that they are 23 percent less...
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Jul26
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A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows just how far big advertisers of food products on TV have been creating online advertising aimed at children. Seems like the various web sites for dozens of food brands have been...
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Jul25
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Over the years I’ve worked on many technology accounts that have wanted to get their message over on the Internet through a series of “Informational” videos, most of which have usually ended up as boring, jargon filled rants about the...
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For years I’ve written about what I consider to be one of the great scams of modern times… Amazon.com, which has been lauded and praised as one of the true innovators of “The New Economy.” With CEO, Jeff “He of...
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Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, which was at one time the biggest online service in the world, apologized for the company's merger with media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. in an interview with U.S. journalist Charlie Rose last Friday. Case, who...
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It would seem Motorola has been drinking the Kool-Aid of its heavy users. i.e. Text-messaging obsessed teenagers. How else can one explain its penchant for removing vowels from what would otherwise be perfectly functional device names? Case in point their...
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Jul24
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The only thing more crooked than an advertising consultant is a business consultant. Having worked on the accounts of many of them in the past, I was amused to read today that one of their primary sources of income is...
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On July 21st I posted about Heineken's search for a new agency as they have decided to give the two of America’s lousiest agencies who currently handle the account, Publicis Groupe's Publicis USA and WPP’s Berlin Cameron United, the old...
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Apparently the owners of Mini’s are considered crazy enough to go through some kind of “Read the secret code through the secret glasses” rigmarole through a series of encoded ads aimed just at them. It’s all very involved and you...
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Jul23
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One of the few Ad Newsletters worth reading is BrandWeek's Daily Insider, put out by AdWeek (everything else AdWeek puts out is crap.) It’s very well written by someone called R. Thompson who I’m going to call Roger, ‘cos the...
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Shares of Dell Inc. plunged to their lowest level in nearly five years Friday after they slashed their second-quarter earnings outlook below Wall Street's estimates blaming aggressive price cutting and a slowing global market. The sell-off wiped out nearly $5...
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Jul22
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I know there’s usually some commercial merit in developing interactive games based on popular movies or TV series. But I usually expect them to involve some kind of action, sport, or mystery theme. That’s why I was surprised to read...
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I’ve posted in the past about the proliferation of advertising materials in toilets. Now the men of Nassau County, New York, can enjoy messages about public safety, drunk driving and sponsorship messages promoting "various" products, while they relieve themselves in...
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Jul21
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Heineken USA has asked consultant Pile and Co. to handle a creative review for various accounts. Currently, the brewer spends $70 million on U.S. advertising through two of America’s lousiest agencies. Publicis Groupe's Publicis USA and WPP’s Berlin Cameron United....
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Jul20
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OK. I have to admit I am not a financial genius. But, I have to say, I sometimes think I might do a better job than most of the people supposedly in charge of the economy! Today’s statement from Federal...
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Jul19
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As I posted yesterday about Yahoo’s pathetic results, Wall Street hammered them yesterday and again today, sending the stock down 20% on each day. Again, stock-millionaire, CEO, Terry Semel pronounced himself "Very Proud" of the results. Investors pronounced themselves "nauseated" and...
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Jul18
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Exciting news… Billy Mays will soon have a new boss: Church & Dwight Co. has agreed to buy household-cleaning products Orange Glo International for $325 million. That’s right, Billy Mays is the guy that screams at you from the TV...
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Seems like AOL’s problems are nothing compared to the current state of affairs at Yahoo, who reported today that its second quarter net income plunged more than 78 percent despite a 26 percent increase in revenue. Net income for the...
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Jul16
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I posted a week or so ago about the possibility that Time Warner was considering eliminating subscription fees for AOL e-mail accounts. Seems like the matter might not be as definite as reported. AOL said the press reports had been...
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In the “Duh” column, a recent study shows that most readers of college newspapers are more attentive to simple text link ads than to other types of ad units. The study, based on a survey of 7,500 users of online...
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There’s an excellent article in AdAge… The end of advertising and media as we know it, by Dave Morgan. He takes Sir Martin Sorrell (The Poisoned Dwarf) to task for his simplistic views on the impact of new media and...
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Jul15
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Why am I not surprised to read that Intel is talking to agencies other than McCann for "brand positioning" ideas supposedly for its new Core 2 Duo processor. Pitches are being made to Eric Kim, Intel's chief marketing officer, in...
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Jul14
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I just got back from my camping and fishing trip in the Idaho wilderness, caught several fish including a giant trout the size of Jaws. It looked even bigger back at the camp site after several celebratory drinks! Trying to catch...
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Jul11
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I’m going fishing for three days. Up in the mountains of Idaho. No computer, no cell phone, no email, no wives. Lots of booze and big cigars. I will not be posting ‘til Friday. So get over it. Get a...
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There’s a nice piece on “Small Agency Diary” about the drivel you find on most agency Web sites. This is a perfect example… “…excelling at building blue-chip brands while speaking to the right consumers with powerful, well-placed messaging and great...
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OK. We just went through the World Cup, Wimbledon, and the Tour de France is still going on, and I’m as big a sports fan as anyone. But reading about “Brand – Le Bron James” in yesterday’s AdAge left me...
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Jul 9
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If you care about that novel/screenplay/network series or whatever you’ve been working on in the forlorn hope you can escape from that 9 to 5 ad agency drudgery… Back it up. Seems like screenwriter Nicholas Boyd, tried to strike it...
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Jul 8
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News on Friday that ten shops have advanced to the visitation round of Wal-Mart's review of creative, interactive and media duties on its advertising account, worth close to $600 million annually in major measured media. The list includes two incumbents:...
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In my time I’ve had the misfortune to work with more than my share of gadget freaks, particularly in hi-tech companies. And I have to admit that I did once come back from a trip to Japan with a vibrating...
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Who could sketch a better cartoon of an utterly clueless media executive than ABC's real-life president of advertising sales, Mike Shaw? Yesterday, Shaw told MediaDailyNews that his network has been talking to cable operators about disabling the fast-forward button on...
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PSFK has an interesting item from Piers Fawkes who has been speaking recently about “The death of rights for text and images.” Pointing out the important notion that content creators will need to rethink exactly how they expect to make...
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Jul 7
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On the best of days the agency business is a dumb business; it’s even dumber though when the MBA’s running it decide it would be nifty to go public. The news today that Digitas Inc. shares declined following an analyst's...
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Today’s news that Red Brick Road has won the Heineken account doesn’t surprise me. After all Frank Lowe (founder of Red Brick Road) was closely associated with Heineken at his former shop, Interpublic’s Lowe. Heineken becomes Sir Frank’s second client...
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Jul 6
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I see that the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) has just declared "Google" to be a verb. No surprises there as it joins the Kleenex's and Hoover's of the world. I remember when I used to work on the Xerox account,...
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The troubles of AOL continue. In the fall of 2002, AOL had 26.7 million U.S. subscribers. It's now down to 18.6 million. That and a growing faith in the power of advertising apparently prompted AOL CEO Jonathan Miller to go...
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Jul 5
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I know it’s been on several sites already, but I have to say I admire the nerve of the Dutch design student who was "getting sick and tired of advertising everywhere!" So, he launched a fake online ad agency offering...
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Bit of a stink going on in Holland right now because of the new ad campaign for the launch of the Sony Portable Play Station. Billboards all over the streets of Amsterdam and sony’s Dutch Web site use what can...
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If you are unfortunate to work with one of those gadget freaks who must have the latest gizmo, irrespective of cost or whether or not they actually need it, here’s some news you can pass on to them. Now they...
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Only an agency as dumb as BBDO could come up with a lame campaign like the new stuff for Aquafina. Obviously shot for several billion dollars (Does BBDO know how to make anything for less than the GNP of a...
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Jul 3
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It’s great to know that our elected representatives are on top of online commerce and our freedom to use the Internet. Explaining his reasons for voting against a Net Neutrality bill last week, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (He of the...
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For my sins, in the past I’ve worked on a couple of big supermarket accounts, both here and in Europe. Usually, it’s a nightmare. The brand stuff is OK, not great, but bearable. That’s were you have to show happy...
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I’m beginning to smell another dot com boom! Only this time it’s not about buying dog food online or designing your own fashions for hours and hours ‘cos you only had a dial-up connection. No, the days of WebVan and...
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Jul 2
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In common with MySpace, the things that have helped YouTube's explosive growth and popularity will also undermine its ability to generate profit. Why? Because the kids that love MySpace and YouTube have grown accustomed to not only not paying for...
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