Adweek: The Illinois Supreme Court handed Altria Group's Philip Morris USA a significant victory today, overturning a lower court ruling that the tobacco company had misled smokers about the health risks of so-called "light" cigarettes. The original decision said the company had "intended to deceive consumers" into thinking that its Cambridge Light and Marlboro Light cigarettes were somehow less harmful than regular …
Typepad Drops Content (I’m Sure They’ll Put It Back Before Long)
I just noticed that Random Culture and Micropersuasion are both missing current content, back to Dec. 10th. So I searched Google for "Typepad problems." This is what came back from Netcraft: Problems persist at the popular blog hosting service TypePad, with numerous users reporting that they are unable to access their blog management system. In addition, a number of TypePad users report that posts from the past three …
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Product Love Tazmanian Tasmanian Style
People love their cars. So, it's only natural that our ill treatment of Saab and their sorry advertising would raise the ire in Saab's most devout brand evangelists. Here's what Swade, a.k.a. Steve Wade, a Saab lover from from Tazmania Tasmania has to say about us: What a bunch of self-important, egomaniacal bufoons! What a bunch of tossers. We could take it personally. Swade directs his venom our way, but in reality …
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Optimism And Opportunity Connected At The Waist
USA TODAY: The best leaders have certain qualities in common. First, there is an almost uncanny ability to see the big picture and make decisions with limited information. Then there's that rare combination of caring and charisma that makes others willing to take a bullet for them. But it is increasingly apparent that the quality most common to those at the top is their tendency to see everything through rose-colored …
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Oriental Trading Gets Way Into Scrapbooking
Friend of the AdPulpians, Max Riffner, a graphic novelist, designer and coder has gone pro. Blogger, that is. Pro Blogger. I’ve become a professional blogger. That sounds so weird to say. It’s true, though. After a year of lobbying, I finally convinced the day job to start a blog for one of our new businesses, Fun Expressions™, our scrapbooking supply business. I’m glad we (as a company) took our time and didn’t rush …
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Lack Of Passion Smells To High Heaven
In her latest Talent Zoo podcast, Sally Hogshead interviews Avi Dan, 53, Global Executive Director for Euro RSCG. Midway through the piece Dan says, "Clients can smell lack of passion like dogs smell fear." Prior to joining Euro RCSG, Dan was at Berlin Cameron in New York, where his focus was on new business. The agency won the Coke Classic, Pfizer's Zyrtec, White Wave Silk Soy Milk, Pernod Ricard's The Glenlivet, …
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Smock v. Fenske: Front Row Tix Still Available
Mike Smock is a marketing strategist with more than 500 marketing campaigns executed in 38 industries over a 25 year career. Therefore, he is taken aback by Mark Fenske's claim that "nobody ever created a good ad writing to a strategy." I don't get this. I never will get this. I am proud of the fact I don't get it. Look, advertising is not art. Advertising is weaponry in a battle for market share. If creativity helps …
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This May Be Why Visual Solution Ads Are So Popular
From the AP: An estimated in one in 20 U.S. adults is not literate in English, which means 11 million people lack the skills to perform everyday tasks, a federal study shows. From 1992 to 2003, the nation's adults made no progress in their ability to read a newspaper, a book or any other prose arranged in sentences and paragraphs. They also showed no improvement in comprehending documents such as bus schedules and …
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Oops! Someone Does Read The Fine Print.
Ad Age: T-Mobile USA has paid a $135,000 fine to settle a deceptive-advertising claim brought by New York’s Department of Consumer Affairs. Last summer, the department took action against T-Mobile, as well as Sprint and Nextel, charging that while newspaper ads promised cellphone deals, the fine print contradicted the terms of the deal. Sprint and Nextel have since merged, and the case against them is still …
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Time To Subscribe
Washington Post: Bob Dylan -- singer, songwriter, former counterculture figure and voice of a generation -- has added another line to his rsum: radio DJ. The enigmatic troubadour has signed on to host a weekly show on XM Satellite Radio, the D.C.-based pay-radio provider. Dylan will select the music, offer commentary, interview guests and answer e-mail from listeners during the one-hour program, which will start in …