Trade show advertising isn't exactly the sexy stuff ad people clamor to do. Which is too bad, because consumers have nothing to do but wander from booth to booth between cocktails. In other words, it's the perfect time to engage the audience. The ad above (for an unknown intellectual property company) is part of Engadget's "best of the worst" collection from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year. …
We Can Do Better Than Coal
According to The Washington Post, the coal industry is fighting for Mr. Peabody, even though his coal train long ago hauled it away. In Kansas, where a state agency rejected a permit for two proposed coal plants, opinion polls show that roughly two out of three people opposed the plants. That sentiment, plus soaring construction costs and uncertainty about federal climate change legislation, last year prompted U.S. …
One Little Password For One Gigantic Interweb
According to Wired, Yahoo's adoption of OpenID is a huge victory for the OpenID foundation. Until now, despite support from larger sites like AOL and Plaxo, OpenID has remained largely a tool of the geek-elite, but Yahoo’s announcement is set to change that since it provides even those Yahoo users who’ve never heard of OpenID a simple way to use it. And that in turn gives startup sites an even greater incentive to …
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Another Side of American Apparel
Dov Charney, CEO of American Apparel, is not one to shy away from controversy. In fact, he actively pursues it, as his bordering on porn ad campaigns have well established. But now, Charney is going political in this political season. According to The New York Times, Mr. Charney said American Apparel’s customers appreciate the company’s views on immigration. He said his customers were “borderless.” He named the …
Target Doesn’t Engage With Non-Traditional Media
Amy Jussel, Founder and Executive Director of Shaping Youth, is unhappy with the sexual innuendo implied in this outdoor board from Target. What's wrong with the ad can be debated, but there's little to debate in Target's response to Amy. “Good Morning Amy, Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. …
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Zen Saying About Symbols
[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is Tom Asacker's first piece for publication on AdPulp. It's great to have Tom join our efforts here. -dB] "To point at the moon a finger is needed, but woe to those who take the finger for the moon." Symbols can become powerful conveyors of emotion and meaning. However, you should never confuse the symbol with the meaning, like many marketers frequently do. They absolutely love to commiserate …
Legal Language Carved Out of Tribune’s Employee Manual
Real estate mogul, Samuel Zell, is intent on changing the culture at The Tribune Company, his latest acquisition and first media company. Zell tapped Randy Michaels, Tribune CEO for interactive and broadcasting, to rewrite the company's employee manual--that lovely document workers snuggle up with at night. According to Los Angeles Times (a Tribune paper), the document--which shrunk from 11,519 words to 3,663 …
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Scrabble Says, “Hey, That’s Mine.”
According to the The Wall Street Journal, Scrabble's owners, Hasbro and Mattel, are working to shut down Scrabulous, one of the most popular applications on Facebook. While there are authorized Scrabble games online, Scrabulous has gained popularity because it's free, easy to play with friends and easy to access on Facebook. Scrabulous listed more than 600,000 daily active users on Facebook as of Wednesday and is one …