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Jun30
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I've always been less than impressed by most of the advertising out there for the insurance industry. Very uninspiring stuff about protecting your home ('til you put in a claim for that flood damage), or saving to put your kids through college, with the same boring old shots of kids graduating. But what I find equally idiotic is the idea that State Farm has signed a deal to become the "Official insurance company of Major League Baseball." What does that mean? They'll issue policies against steroid overdosing or being picked up for a DUI or having several guns in your car? Apparently the deal includes exclusive category rights and title sponsorships for State Farm's "Home Run Derby" and "Mascot Home Run Derby" during All-Star Week. Would the winner have an asterisk next to his name if there was some doubt as to the kind of "help" he needed to break the record? For every home run that State Farm Home Run Derby participants hit during the competition, MLB and State Farm will combine to donate $17,000 to charity. The $17,000 represents the 17,000 State Farm agents across the U.S. and Canada. You know the one's... They all have those postage stamp sized pictures in those really awful newspaper ads no one reads! 
. Waddyamean, you owe it all to milk!
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Jun30
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Following my post of yesterday concerning all the Apple "Loonies" standing in line for days to be the first on the block with an iPhone, I was amused to read in today's New York Times that apart from the AT&T...
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Jun29
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By now, we've all read the stories about the Apple "Loonies" standing in line through the night, irrespective of weather and natural disasters to be the first on the block to own an iPhone! No doubt they are currently being...
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Jun28
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In case anyone out there has been on the Space Station for the last few months... Tomorrow is "IPhone Day!" Yeah... King Steve will finally let the great unwashed masses of Apple Freaks get their sweaty mitts on a $600...
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Jun27
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I had to laugh when I read in Tuesday's "Guardian" that Manchester United, one of the world's great football teams (that's the game you play with your feet) has decided to undertake a huge on-line campaign to increase their world...
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Jun26
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The news today that the "Wizened of Oz," Rupert Murdoch, has taken a giant step toward adding the Wall Street Journal to his vast portfolio, means that we now look forward to the dumbing down of one of America's most reputable...
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Jun24
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The word is out this week that congress is set to re-visit taxing virtual goods, a concept they shelved a while back in order to consider the matter more fully. That's given the Congress' Joint Economic Committee time to come...
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If you're as big a fan of Internet radio as I am, you might want to start being concerned about the fact that thousands of U.S. webcasters plan to turn off the music and go silent this Tuesday, June 26th,...
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Jun22
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Al Gore was speaking today at the Cannes shindig, where he took the stage to make an environmental call to action to advertisers and marketers, in a presentation sponsored by Y&R and CEO Hamish McClennan, who had worked with Gore to promote...
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Jun21
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I've read more than one report recently that's talked about the decline in on-line retailing, with sales down to 20% in 2006 from 25% in 2004. And now there's word from Jupiter research that on-line retailing will reach only 9%...
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Jun20
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Not long now before you get to stand in line with all the other "early adopters" to be the first on your block to have Apple's video iPod/pocket computer/oh-by-the-way-it's-also-a-mobile-phone. And just in case you didn't have enough reasons to want one, Apple...
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Jun19
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Why is everyone getting hot under the collar about Google's privacy policies? If they are going to store user information for eighteen months (down from two years) then stop using Google. Last time I counted, there where over 500 search...
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With the news today that Nielson Entertainment and IGA Worldwide are working with agency partners to conduct a major study on the effectiveness of in-game advertising, I have to wonder exactly how they're going to achieve this. The analysis, focused...
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Jun18
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Why am I not surprised by the news out of Cannes today that one in three consumers in the most attractive demographic are not only ignoring commercial messages, they're actively avoiding them. Research by Microsoft and Starcom MediaVest showed that one-third...
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Jun17
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I've posted in the past, both here and on my other blogs about the descent into childishness of most of CP+B's recent TV work, with the latest example being the Burger King campaign for the Western Whopper, or whatever it's...
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People who spend too much time in front of a computer screen should take heed of a story out of China this week... A Chinese teenager by the name of Wang, killed his mother with a kitchen knife after being...
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Jun16
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One of my favorite bloggers, Ralf Ziegermann, "The Cartoonist, has just posted a podcast he did with me earlier in the week after I had returned to the States from my very alcoholic London trip. Ralf and I spent a...
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Jun15
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I just don't get it... This thing about "The Minisode Network." That's the one from Sony Pictures Television, which is scheduled to begin next week. Anyone dumb enough to visit the MySpace Web site will be able to watch episodes...
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Jun14
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I posted a couple of weeks ago about Dell's move into the retail space after almost an entire history of selling direct. Admittedly, this was only going to be a couple of stripped-down basic desktop models for under $700 available...
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Jun13
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A report, just out... “Behavioral Targeting: Advertising Gets Personal” forecasts that U.S. spending on behaviorally targeted online advertising will reach $1 billion in 2008, from the current level of $575 million. By 2011 that figure will almost quadruple to $3.8 billion....
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The news that Leslie Moonves, Chief Exec of CBS, is blaming sexism for the abysmal ratings of Katie Couric since she took over the Evening News slot on CBS is ridiculous. It's simple, the reason she's getting such poor ratings...
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Jun12
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Although Father's Day has been around since the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and was brought about as some kind of counterbalance to Mother's Day and all the attention mum was getting for one lousy day of the year... I...
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Jun11
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Even though search continues to be the "Big Thing" in Internet ad spending, some people are starting to question exactly how cost efficient it is. New research casts doubts on whether it is getting too much credit for closing sales at the...
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It isn't so much the staggering amounts of money that CEO's of American companies make that surprises me, it's the fact that they expect the companies to pay for every last cent of their living expenses. News today that private-equity...
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Jun10
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How many times have we heard the mantra that customer service is king and that every successful company has recognized service as the number one business builder. And yet we continually hear horror stories about bad customer service from well...
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Jun 9
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I always check out japanese web sites and blogs to see what's happening there... Why... Cos if it has anything to do with electronics, telecommunications or teen culture in general, it'll probably happen there first. For instance, a company called J-Magic...
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Jun 8
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Having just posted on the US media coverage of the recent G 8 Summit and the intrusion of the return of Paris Hilton to jail as the lead in story to all the network's evening news programs... I do have to say...
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Taking in the US Media coverage of the recent G 8 Summit, apart from listening to the "Commander Guy" describe Vladymir Putin as "Put'n" or later in the same press conference as "My Pal Vladm'r,' who I hope will not...
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Jun 7
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Forget black, forget beige, forget even MAC white... The latest laptop from NEC, the La Vie G "Hello Kitty" model is aimed at working women, so it comes in pink and gold with a jewel encrusted lid. For a mere $1,...
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Remember how I posted on May 29th... "Why the media will crucify Ron Paul!" The point I was making was that irrespective of the mans politics (and I certainly don't agree with much of it) there is no way the...
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Jun 6
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In spite of all the billions spent on sports sponsorship, I've always been convinced that a great deal of the money is wasted... Yeah, I know that the "Holy Grail" demographic of NASCAR, LIte Beer Guzzling, Lad Mag Devouring, 18...
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Having returned last night from my six days in London, I've had a bit of a sleep and managed to do without alcohol for eight straight hours... So now I'm ready to get some serious posting done. One of the great...
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Jun 4
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I'm still in London, but leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow to return to the Sates... That's why I've been a bit tardy poosting for the last couple of days. I'll catch up when I get back and give...
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Jun 2
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I'm still recovering from last night, when I got myself rather hammered with a bunch of attendees from the PSFK conference at which I was speaking yesterday. I am now just about able to post on Adhurl. I must say, every...
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