We opted to pass on the big advertising story du jour, wherein Apple copies an old Lugz ad. Hey, we can't cover every single story. Anyway, Adfreak and Adrants were obviously wiser in their editorial decision making, as they're choice to cover the story is now a story in and of itself, in The Gray Lady no less. The New York Times: A dispute over the uniqueness of a popular new commercial for the Apple iPod is again …
Nancy Vonk Speaks On Canada Morning TV
Nancy Vonk appeared on a show today called Canada AM. See the video and the related story here. Vonk says she never expected French to step down. "When I wrote that piece, I absolutely didn't have an agenda to push him out of his job at all. Frankly, I'm glad I didn't know as I wrote it, that when I post this thing, it's going to cost him his job. That would have made it much harder to push Send." But she says she's …
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Topical Humor Causes Major League Consternation
USA Today: The latest "Got Milk?" commercial hit a little too close to home for Major League Baseball. Poking fun at the league's steroid scandal, the television ad for the California Milk Processor Board talks about a player getting pulled from a game "after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance." In the next scene, a coach pulls a carton of milk from the slugger's locker. "There is nothing …
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“We Goin’ To Sizzler, We Goin’ To Sizzler…”
The Los Angeles Times reports today on Sizzler's attempts to make a comeback in the minds of consumers. Every change has been focus-grouped to within an inch of its life. And scarcely for nought: When the company brightened the color scheme and decor of a prototype restaurant outside Sacramento, visitors remarked on the sudden improvement in the food, which actually had been upgraded the year before. Sizzler's …
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French Makes The Funny Pages
Equal parts vanity project and career suicide, Words & Pictures is a new webcomic produced by a creative team eager to bite the hand that feeds them. New strips are published every Monday, with the latest weighing in on the Neil French scandal. …
Blogging Is Good For Business. No, Blogging Is Bad For Business
Two interesting stories about blogging & business pop up today. Read 'em back to back and then make up your mind. In Ad Age: "What Blogs Cost American Business" About 35 million workers -- one in four people in the labor force -- visit blogs and on average spend 3.5 hours, or 9%, of the work week engaged with them, according to Advertising Age’s analysis. Time spent in the office on non-work blogs this year will take …
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If You’re Thinking It Someone Else Is Doing It
I wrote this iota on October 4th. Because blogs are structured in reverse chronological order, they lend themselves to tracking a campaign through time. Imagine a promotional tour that stops in 16 cities over a 16-week stretch, where contestants show up and participate with the brand in some fashion. A blog can be used to track this tour from city to city, building anticipation for those who plan to particiapte and …
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Freakonomics For Supper
Steven Levitt, a University of Chicago professor and author of Freakonomics, will share his insights on how ad executives can tell if their ads are working at an invite-only workshop at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place later today. The event is the first of three to be conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation. …
More Brains Less Bravado
"Wideeyedgirl," an award-winning creative in Australia--commenting on the Neil French story that won't go away-- believes we need higher standards in advertising creative departments. In fact, she's so discouraged she may opt to become a suit, in order to be viewed as a professional with something valuable to say. I believe there is a strong link between mysogynistic beliefs and an incredibly poor education. I am …
Shut Up And Commute
I used to ride the Brown Line into the Loop, so it was with piqued interest that I followed Adrants pointer to this great piece of front line reporting from the CTA Tatler, a blog that covers Chicago's rail and bus lines. I ride the brown line from Western to Chicago during rush hour. At Fullerton, an eye-catching gent gets on the train, cell phone pressed to his ear. He wears gray pants, a blue zippered hoodie, and …