With Nick Denton's backing, 22-year-old Nick Douglas chronicles the not necessarily glamorous lives of Silicon Valley's prometheans in his Valleywag blog. The LA Times reports (requires registration): Some techsters hope the site will undercut the image of Silicon Valley as a place filled with pocket protectors and taped-up eyeglasses, where it's all work and no play for the people creating the next generation of …
Your Moment Of Zen
OMG!!! Franz Ferdinand! OMG!!
The latest MySpace "secret show" features Franz Ferdinand playing the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City today. To get tickets, MySpace users--okay, me--have to make the profile "SecretShow" one of our coveted "top 8" friends. Secret shows began in January and have included performers such as NOFX and the Watson Twins. Publicity for the concerts is generated solely by word-of-mouth, an example of which comes to us …
I’ll Be Home By 11! Gosh!
Sprint will sell phones that can rat out your kids' whereabouts. It's the first service of its kind in the US. CNNMoney reports: The service lets parents look at maps on their cellphones or computers to locate their children who also carry mobile phones. Parents can also program the service to automatically send them text messages at specific times each day to confirm that their children have arrived at home or in …
The Sweet Side Of File Sharing
File sharing is not a crime. Now we have proof. Promo reports on moves being made by Coca-Cola to become more relevant to the youth market. Coca-Cola North America has launched a music program that is available to download for free to file sharers. The program, called Stageside, is showcasing Island Def Jam R&B star Ne-Yo as its first musician. Each episode will feature interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and …
Delta Flies To SS+K
Congrats to the awesome Noelle Weaver and the rest of the folks at Shepardson Stern + Kaminsky for landing a big fish, as Adweek reports, SS+K has taken the Delta airlines account. Delta, though, is facing bankruptcy and a possible strike, so things won't be easy. Not to mention a marketing brain drain that has left the advertising in tatters: BBDO in Atlanta had the Delta account for about 50 years until 1997 or …
Curiously Underfunded
According to Ad Age, Wrigley plans to pump some serious money into three marquis candy brands it acquired last year from Kraft Foods. Marketing for Altoids and Life Savers is curiously weak. That's the startling admission from Wrigley's CEO, who told investors that ad efforts for the two brands were under-marketed when they were owned by Kraft Foods and haven't been a lot better since Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. purchased …
Each Valley Has Their Own Speak
ValleyWag is conducting a Valley Speak neologisms contest. The winner gets $240 on iTunes and a cord wrapper for their iPod (presuming they have one). Here are some of the leading candidates: Blogamy: Having more than one blog at a time. [Bill Green] iPud: Most 'casters. [John La Bouff] Blogna sandwich: Reading blogs on a lunchbreak. [Jim Frost] Goobris: The arrogance exhibited by many in the Valley, especially …