Let's assume, for a moment, that people are brands unto themselves.

So what you make of Tom Cruise's recent behavior in his interview with Matt Lauer?

Big movie stars like Cruise need to maximize their appeal to keep their lure at the box office. So when Cruise comes out and bashes psychiatry as well as all the people who take medication for mental health, is he damaging his own brand?

And Brooke Shields is responding to Cruise's comments about her post-partum depression. Defending, in a sense, her brand.

What you are about to read is fiction. It may seem like something else, but it's not.

I work for Cleve. I can't understand why that's such a tough concept to digest. I mean sure, I report directly to Steph, who reports to Tim. But Tim reports to Cleve, so it's pretty clear. Cleve hired me, not Tim, nor Steph. Only Cleve knows how much I make. Tim may know. Steph does not know. No way does she know.

We all work for Cleve. All sixty of us. That's how the creative department runs. From afar, you might think Cleve is a micro-manager but he's not. He lets his underlings—the CDs and ACDs—do plenty. Sure, what they and their teams do day-to-day is mostly mundane. After all, Cleve saves the best for himself. It's good to be King.

Working for one of these disgruntled CDs can be quite trying. When they discover, as some do, that I actually work for Cleve and not them, trouble looms.

"There's such a thing as a chain of command, you know. And from here on, you will recognize it," Steph scolded, one otherwise sunny day. She had become acutely aware of the fact that I work for Cleve, not her.

What she was really saying but not saying is, "Who the fuck do you think you are?" That's what CDs say when they find out that you work for Cleve, not them. The CD wants to have the hire/fire privilege. They want to determine how much raise to give, or not to give. They want to dole out the best projects as they see fit.

"I'm placing you on probation. For subordination," Steph said.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I told you to change the copy on that out-of-home before I went on vacation and you directly disobeyed me. Subordination."

"Uh, I don't think so. Cleve approved it."

"Listen to me. You simply do not get it. You work for me. Not Cleve."

"No, I work for the client. Then the agency, then Cleve, then Tim, then you."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. You're impossible, and I'm over it. No raise and six months of probation. Sign this."

I looked at her bemusedly for too long a time. I pondered what was underneath all this. She couldn't care all that much about the outdoor. It was Cleve's personal posse that was on her mind. The fact that Cleve had his go-to copywriters and art directors, who he freely cherry-picked, often at inopportune times for his own awards-in-mind projects, leaving the CD a hand short, bewildered and mad.

But I can't help that I belong to Cleve's posse. I didn't try out for it.

"What's this really about? That shoot I was on in Costa Rica? I know you wanted to be there. Who wouldn't?"

"It's about your attitude. Simple as that."

Pretty much everyone knew that Cleve used his substantial discretionary budget to produce spec work, or fake work, that could then be submitted to the best awards shows. Cannes in spring is such a nice diversion. Anyway, he spent thousands on TV spots that never aired, when people could have had bonuses, trips to the spa, golf. Perks are big in advertising. And Creative Directors feel entitled to some.

"My attitude?"

"Your attitude."

Apple says the release of its new podcast-enabled iTunes 4.9 has led to over 1 million podcast subscriptions in just two days.

“iTunes has done what possibly no one else could have accomplished, propelled Podcasting into the mainstream,” said Will Lewis, management consultant for KCRW. “Our servers have been swamped with a stratospheric increase in traffic. In fact, downloads have increased tenfold as a result of the iTunes 4.9 launch.”

“Podcasting is like cappuccino,” said August Trometer, developer of iPodderX. “Gourmet coffee was around for a long time, but it took Starbucks to put it on the map. Apple is like the Starbucks of Podcasting and advertisers will take us more seriously now.”

The Guardian spoke with Yahoo founder, Jerry Yang last week.

What was it about Flickr that made it such a must-have acquisition?

Yang: There's a lot we can achieve through this acquisition because we'll be able to leverage their leading technology and product features such as tagging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagging). The internet's a driving force in the change from mass media to "my media", in which consumers will be their own programmers. User-generated content or "social media" will be a large component, and Flickr (www. flickr.com) has one of the strongest, most active communities out there.

Let's look for a minute at Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln is a small, liveable prairie city of 210,000. It's home to a major university, lots of bars and loads of Big Red fans. It's also home to the state capitol. Two other cities come to mind when considering this mix of government and students in the Midlands�Madison, WI and Austin, TX.

Like Austin, Lincoln has some heavyweight agencies. Bailey Lauerman has been getting the job done for clients like Union Pacific for thirty plus years. Adweek did a big feature on the shop in 2000. Upstarts Fuse Box and Archrival are contenders in their own right. Archrival has some sharpened Pencils they'll be happy to show you, and Fuse Box might do the same, except they don't play that. Communications Arts takes a look at Fuse Box in the current issue.

On July 4th, we're celebrating freedom--including the freedom to create silly viral videos. Like these, which use a song from the film Team America: World Police:

This one, which ditches the sarcasm in place of a jingoistic montage.

and

This one, truly inspired, which marries Trey Parker's music to mixed up footage of the horribly cheesy "America We Stand As One" video.

Happy 4th of July everybody! Don't light those fireworks when you're standing right in front of the grill.

Here's an interesting story from the AP:

States spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars a year on remedial writing instruction for their employees, according to a new report that says the indirect costs of sloppy writing probably hurt taxpayers even more.

The National Commission on Writing, in a report to be released Tuesday, says that good writing skills are at least as important in the public sector as in private industry. Poor writing not only befuddles citizens but also slows down the government as bureaucrats struggle with unclear instructions or have to redo poorly written work.

As a writer, I'm fascinated by the changing nature of language. Thanks to e-mail and the blogosphere, more people are writing--and many are doing it badly. Now, part of that is due to the quick nature of postings and the importance of quick replies, but some people simply never learned how to write clearly and properly in the first place.

Even in ad agency life, which is a communication business, I constantly see correspondence that's badly written and full of grammar errors. Hey, I'm guilty of it, too. Is there a solution for this? If trends continue, and as hip-hop language becomes more and more influential in society, we may not be able to communicate effectively with anyone in another 10 years.

In effort to leave no space untouched, Ball Corporation is launching a new advertising medium that allows beverage can tabs to carry customized messaging.

"Beverage cans are increasingly used in growing, upscale categories such as energy drinks, wine, and wellness beverages, where product differentiation and image are key concerns," said Bob Tettero of Ball.

Tettero did not explain what would happen if annoyed beverage lovers nervously removed the tabs from cans, and flicked them in the trash.

Lewis Lazare: Get ready for some station domination. The term, which has a definite ring to it, refers to an ad placement tactic where an advertiser commandeers all available ad space at a location and bombards consumers with a desired message without fear of any other advertiser causing a distraction.

Beginning this month, Dove and its ad agency, Ogilvy & Mather/ Chicago, are employing station domination at the Merchandise Mart L stop to introduce consumers to Dove's new intensive firming lotion. The ads themselves -- 33 in all dotting the platforms and entrances and exits to the station -- are part of Dove's and Ogilvy's ongoing "campaign for real beauty" that tries to suggest real people, not models, have a special beauty worth celebrating.

Whether or not L riders agree, they're going to be forced to deal with that particular beauty message from Dove -- and none other -- at least through the month of July. Dove and Ogilvy also are doing the station domination thing this month at selected locations in five other markets: New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Ad Age: McDonald’s is recruiting Russell Simmons, P. Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger to perform a miracle makeover: Turn its employees' mundane uniforms into hip street wear.

“Employees are becoming more and more important every day in delivering a brand experience,” said Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor, a branding and identity consultancy that's part of WPP Group. “How people feel about a company and brand directly affects their ability to deliver on the promise. Job One is to feel good about the company and Job Two is to understand the brand idea so they can deliver the brand and live its promise.”

Fashion is one of the “languages” that McDonald’s is tapping into to improve its relevance with young adults. When the burger behemoth launched its “I’m lovin’ it” platform nearly two years ago, fashionable crew uniforms in the Netherlands became the rage and customers begged to buy their own versions.

Adweek: Former Goodby, Silverstein & Partners creatives Frederic Raillard and Farid Mokart have opened their own agency called Marcel in Paris, effective immediately.

The Publicis-owned venture, which opened yesterday with 10-12 clients shifted from the holding company's other agencies, is intended to compete with smaller, integrated and creatively focused shops such as Mother in London and New York, 180 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and even Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami. French natives Raillard, 34, and Mokart, 38, who go by Fred & Farid and share art directing and copywriting duties, will be co-presidents and report to Publicis CEO Maurice Levy.

The agency is "based on the fact that advertising now has to change, we have to write strong stories featuring the brand, then choose the best media," said Raillard, speaking for both himself and Mokart. "So we believe we're not competing against other campaigns, but all other stories in media. Our role in the agency is to write the strongest story. It's simple to say but hard to do."

Thanks to The Hidden Persuader for the pointer.

Thanks to Steve Hall over at Adrants for pointing out what could be the worst name ever:

Morongo Casino Resort & Spa

Flickr user, Lizzy Poo, shares a gallery of her chalk drawings for Roth's--a 12 store supermarket chain in Oregon. Here's her masterpiece.

If you believe the dinosaur speak on Henderson Advertising's site, the Greenville, SC agency was the first big time shop in the Southeast. Founded in 1946 by Jim Henderson, the shop grew to 120 employees and $100 million in billings by 1986, the year its founder retired. In 1980, Henderson was named "Agency of the Year" by Adweek, a distinction no agency outside New York nor Chicago had ever earned.

Given that advertising people have notoriously short attention spans, it would be fair to ask, "Great, but what has Henderson done lately?" This Costa del Mar print ad is one answer to that.

Greenville is also home to some other interesting ad peeps. Erwin-Penland is a unit of Boston powerhouse, Hill Holliday. But the most promising development in Greenville ad circles has to be Brains On Fire. Not only do they have a cool name and sweet digs, they're one of the few agencies anywhere with an actively updated blog.

From CNN:

Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs personally called the family of a 15-year-old New York teenager to offer his condolences after the teen was killed last week during a fight over an iPod, according to a report published Wednesday.

The New York Times reported that Jobs and the victim's father, Errol Rose, spoke for a few minutes earlier this week after Jobs' assistant called the paper asking for Rose's telephone number.

"Some people talk to you like they're something remote. He was so familiar. After every word, he paused, as if each word he said came from his heart," Rose told the Times.

Jobs' persuasive skills are legendary. At first glance, this seems to be quite a classy move on Jobs' part.

Knowing that he takes much of what Apple does personally, this incident brought a dark side to a brand that has always tried to stand for making technology accessible to the masses, and I'll bet Jobs feels this very deeply.

Should other CEO's feel a sense of personal remorse when tragedies result in part because of their products? And what should they do about it?

Associated Press: Passengers who love those little bags of pretzels given away aboard US Airways flights had better move fast to get some more because the airline is cutting them from the menu.

Beginning in September, US Airways will pull the pretzels from domestic flights in a move expected to save more than $1 million a year. The savings is part of the airline's larger effort to compete with low-fare airlines, spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said Tuesday.

Last month, Northwest Airlines replaced free pretzels with 3-ounce bags of trail mix that passengers can buy for $1.

According to this Live Journal post, Mariah Carey, shown here with perfect abs, actually had them painted on by her makeup artist for Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular show.

Well, there you have it.

Thanks to Brand Infection for the post, and Influx for the pointer.

from Welcome to Optimism: W+K gave a lecture June 29th at the D&AD New Blood event. The theme was 'crazysensible' - our belief that in order to do the most extreme creative work, you need the most solid strategic foundation. It's only when you have the right balance of crazy and sensible that you get ideas that are not only radical but also relevant.

According to The New York Times, former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca will be the spokesman in a series of upcoming commercials for the company.

When Chrysler was facing backruptcy in the early 1980s, Iacocca appeared in Chrysler commercials, challenging viewers, "If you can find a better car, buy it." The line will be reused, but this time will be spoken by Jason Alexander.

Personally, I'd rather see them bring back Ricardo Montalban to talk about the rich Corinthian leather.

25 years ago, Iacocca became famous--and turned around the company in the process. I wonder if it'll work again. It also makes me wonder about their target audience: Does anyone under 30 know who Iacocca is, or what he did for that company? Or have they decided to focus primarily on an 35+ crowd? Does Iacocca still have any appeal now that he doesn't run the company?

I just learned of today's London terror attacks, not from MSM, but from Johnnie Moore's blog.

Images are already pouring in to Flickr.

It's hard to follow a post on terror, but this bit from Cool Hunting seems highly appropriate.

Fans of Vivienne Westwood's fashions can now bring her punk sensibilities home with a series of new carpet designs for The Rug Company. Westwood's tattered Union Jack is unconventional patriotism at it's best, sprung from a partnership with the British-based purveyers of quality, modern floor coverings. Since 2000, The Rug Company has been tapping fashion, interior, textile, and product designers to create a line of unique rugs. All carpets are available at their London and New York showrooms, come in several sizes, and can be custom-fitted.

Chris at Shotgun Concepts gives us this to chew on.

"What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public." - Vilhjalmur Stefansson, "Discovery", 1964

Steffansson was an Arctic explorer, author and anthropologist.

Adweek reports that catalog powerhouse, L.L. Bean, is moving its account from five-year incumbent, Martin Williams.

The Omnicom Group shop in Minneapolis confirmed it will no longer work on the business. "We're disappointed because the work is producing outstanding results," said Steve Collins, agency CEO, in a statement. "In 2004, Bean had its second consecutive year of record sales and new customer acquisition was the largest ever, so it's strange to hear them say they want to move in a different direction."

Beyond that, the shop offered no explanation for the split, and the client in Freeport, Maine, did not immediately return calls.

The company spent $20 million on advertising last year, but only $400,000 through the first quarter of this year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

You'll need an online subscription, or go pick up a copy, but today's Wall Street Journal has a fascinating story on China's insistence that advertisers like P&G be truthful in their ad claims:

For years, multinational advertisers had a fairly free hand in China, where regulatory oversight has been less stringent than in developed markets. But recent government actions against consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. indicate a stricter approach.

In one example the article cites, P&G ads for Pantene shampoo were banned because the company failed to cite the source of its claims--that Pantene makes hair 10 times stronger, for instance.

UPDATE: Here's the story, picked up by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Washington Post: If you no longer marvel at the Internet's power to connect and transform the world, you need to hear the story of a woman known to many around the globe as, loosely translated, Dog Poop Girl.

Recently, the woman was on the subway in her native South Korea when her dog decided that this was a good place to do its business.

The woman made no move to clean up the mess, and several fellow travelers got agitated. The woman allegedly grew belligerent in response.

One of the train riders took pictures of the incident with a camera phone and posted them on a popular Web site. Net dwellers soon began to call her by the unflattering nickname, and issued a call to arms for more information about her.

According to one blog that has covered the story, "within days, her identity and her past were revealed.

Howard Rheingold, who studies and writes about the impact of technology on the behavior of groups, said the debate should begin with an understanding that the rules of privacy have changed.

"The shadow side of the empowerment that comes with a billion and a half people being online is the surveillance aspect," he said. "We used to worry about big brother -- the state -- but now of course it's our neighbors, or people on the subway."

MPR: Whiplash is a 19-year-old Capuchin monkey from Texas. He saddles up on a border collie, wears a sombrero, and rides to the rescue bearing Mexican fast-food.

Of course, there's a decent chance you already know this. For the Minneapolis-based Kerker ad agency, Whiplash is that holy grail of television advertising: A repeat character that clicks with the public. He's been a ticket to financial success and industry honors since Kerker cast him in his first commercial for them early last year.

The 10th and 11th ads in the Whiplash series began airing this week. Despite all the sequels, Kerker sees no need to retire the monkey any time soon, nor does Taco John's. The Wyoming-based company says its 11 percent sales growth in the past year is the best in its 30-year history.

Scoble: Microsoft has been a leader in transparency, blogging, and Channel 9. Why did you allow blogging to happen?

Ballmer: In the world of developers I don’t think it would have mattered if I wanted to allow blogging to happen or not. But I think it’s been a great way for us to communicate to our customers and for our customers, more importantly, to communicate with us. We trust our people to represent our company. That’s what they are paid to do. If they don’t want to be here they wouldn’t be here. So in a sense you don’t run any more risk letting someone express themselves on a blog than you do letting them go out and see a customer on their own anyway. It just touches more people.

Brandweek: Subaru is breaking a network TV and cable push for its first SUV, the B9 Tribeca.

The effort, via Subaru's new agency, DDB in New York, shows the SUV rolling along city streets. The spot, set to Kansas' classic-rock staple Dust in the Wind, has other SUVs turning to dust, rusting away and becoming junkyard scrap as the Tribeca passes them.

Tim Bennett, director of advertising at the Cherry Hill, N.J., automaker, said a large grassroots and Internet effort aim to reach people who "are very active, not always in front of a TV.

"One of the targets is definitely the urban buyer," said Bennett. "There's an urban sensibility; we are targeting the kind of people—young families—coming into the city for film festivals, or museum visits. It's a bit different for us than the traditional core for vehicles like Outback."

Octopus Drop Kick reports on this truly odd brand extension (that steals from Nike and a famous athlete all at once).

A Japanese company is offering pillows shaped like tennis star Maria Sharapova's breasts and lap.

Russell Beattie works on new mobile products at Yahoo. He's also 6' 2" with graying hair, but I digress. Russell is pissed at P.R. people who pitch him without doing their homework first. In other words, he needs the pitch to be totally personalized.

You know, now that people in Public Relations have "discovered" blogging, I'm seeing a notable downward trend in the quality of the discussions online. These are the people who think they understand communication and people in general, yet seem to be the last ones to be arriving to the blogosphere... But arrived they have and now the signal to noise ratio seems to be skyrocketing in the wrong direction. I mean, the great thing about blogging is we were finally able to cut out these morons and get to the opinions and ideas of the people who actually contribute to the world! Yet now these bullshit artists are sort of weasling their way back into the conversation somehow and it's annoying. And don't misunderstand, these people aren't trying to participate in the conversation, they're trying to "influence" it.

Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion fame made the mistake of sending Beattie a rote pitch, and now Rubel's taking it on the chin for this miscalculation.

B. L. Ochman defends Rubel and counters with the suggestion that this chatter could be a ploy to raise Beattie's profile in the bloatosphere. She also claims Beattie is, himself, some form of P.R. person for Yahoo.

In an interesting twist, Beattie knocks Ochman off her horse with this comment:

One would think I would have been on the radar from the last time you wondered who I was:

http://www.whatsnextblog.com/archives/2005/03/twenty_most_inf.asp

-Russ

When you follow the link, it takes you to a listing of "the twenty most influential bloggers." Beattie is on the list, while Ochman and Rubel are not. I could call the list's credibility into question, but I'd rather say, "What great Sunday entertainment. Like pro wrestling but with type."

The New York Times today reports on some sell sheets and marketing materials produced by Anheuser Busch that emphasizes the company's American pedigree.

According to the article:

The materials consist of at least two sheets of information that apparently are meant to depict Anheuser-Busch as the brand of choice for patriotic Americans. One sheet criticizes the company's major competitors, SABMiller and Molson Coors, for being "owned by foreigners." The other states that Anheuser-Busch is expanding internationally to bring profits "back to the United States."

Americans are feeling the effects of globalism and outsourcing as more and more goods are made overseas and once decent-paying textile and manufacturing jobs disappear, and it makes me wonder if we'll start seeing more efforts like this.

But it is a viable marketing strategy for a company like Anheuser-Busch, which also does a lot of business abroad? Can any company market itself with a "Made In America" position? Do consumers care?

USA Today: A convoy of brawny Nissan Titan pickups will ride into the new Dukes of Hazzard movie in August, while the Quest minivan will shuttle children in an NBC reality show called Meet Mister Mom.

More recently, a Titan was parked on Desperate Housewives' Wisteria Lane, where more than 20 million ABC viewers could see it. Its driver: plumber Mike Delfino, played by Jim Denton.

And a Nissan Armada SUV was on hand to transport the seven cast members of MTV's 15th version of The Real World, set in Philadelphia.

Nissan doesn't pay cash for placements, said Clarke Osborne, product placement manager for Nissan's North American division. Instead, the automaker gave Warner Bros. 12 Titans, some of which will be used for background shots, for the filmmaker's Dukes of Hazzard.

"The placement has to be organic," Osborne said. "Like Mike in Desperate Housewives. It would be natural that he would drive a pickup truck. ... What if Mike was driving the Quest (minivan)? It wouldn't appear natural."

Austin American-Statesman: On a recent episode of the HBO drama "Six Feet Under," Brenda Chenowith, one of the main characters, told her husband, Nate Fisher, to pick up some soy milk at Whole Foods on his way home.

In March, actress Sandra Bullock gushed about Whole Foods' just-opened downtown Austin store on David Letterman's late-night talk show.

It's the kind of publicity for which many companies shell out big bucks.

But Whole Foods Market Inc. doesn't pay for product placements or mentions on television shows. It has managed to make its brand name synonymous with healthy living, and grow its sales at a double-digit clip, while spending little on traditional advertising and marketing.

Whole Foods doesn't have to spend heavily on advertising, said John Moore, head of Brand Autopsy, an Austin marketing consulting firm and a former marketing manager at Whole Foods.

"They never set out to build a brand," he said. "They set out to build a business, one that stood for something. They build bigger, better stores rather than bigger, funnier ads."

Al Ries writing in Ad Age says it's imperative to describe one's brand in three words.

Powerful, long-lasting brands are built by owning a word in the mind.

What’s a Volvo? A safe car.

What’s a BMW? Fun to drive.

What’s a Barilla? Italy’s No. 1 pasta.

It’s astounding how many marketing executives can’t grasp this simple strategy: Own a word in the mind. A few years ago the CEO of Wal-Mart’s ad agency was asked, “What would you say is Wal-Mart’s USP?”

Without hesitation, he replied: “Value, loyalty and quality.” Rosser Reeves would have turned over in his grave. “Value, loyalty and quality” are hardly a uinique selling proposition. Outside of every Wal-Mart are the words, “We sell for less.” In every Wal-Mart ad are the words, “Always low prices. Always.” What word does Wal-Mart own? It’s “cheap.” Not a bad word. It has made Wal-Mart the world’s largest retailer.

Just for fun, let's put Ries three-word mission to the test.

What's Budweiser? Flag Waving Swill

What's Fox News? Conservative Propaganda Machine

What's Al Ries? Undisputed Positioning Guru

Perhaps you'd like to offer some others. Come on. It's good practice.

Lewis Lazare: Why are we not surprised that Fremont Co., one of the nation's largest producers of sauerkraut, was having trouble getting younger consumers interested in its product? The rather unappetizing-sounding product name alone could turn off millions of customers.

Lacking a giant advertising budget, the Fremont, Ohio-based company recently turned to an unlikely resource, Chicago public relations firm Bigfrontier Communications Group. Unlikely, because Steve Lundin founded Bigfrontier three years ago primarily as a tech-focused public relations firm.

Lundin suggested Fremont reposition sauerkraut as a food product with glamor. He came up with the idea of promoting a new drink called the "K-tini" -- a martini made with olives stuffed with sauerkraut.

To get the word out, Bigfrontier planned parties in the hottest nightclubs nationwide. But coming from a tech PR background, Lundin quickly found out he and his associates weren't the most adept of nightclub party planners. So they developed a K-tini party kit that was shipped to nightclub operators with the suggestion they throw their own K-tini parties. And they did.

The buzz about the K-tini finally gave it some invaluable exposure on ABC's "Good Morning America," where a K-tini was made on air.

Now Lundin is distributing information about the health attributes of sauerkraut, and is busily gathering data for the third component of his public relations thrust -- focusing on what he refers to as sauerkraut's "phenomenal flavor."

Should art directors and copywriters become more involved in developing the strategy for the ads they work on? Can you do anything about if you're handed a bad strategy? What if your client wants to push a bad strategy on you?

That's the focus of my new column on TalentZoo.com.

Hey, I never said I had all the answers. But, to give one glaring example, when KFC came out last year and used the strategy "Fried chicken is part of a nutritious diet," somebody involved must have had their bullshit detector on.

I want to know what you think.

New York Times: Displaced baseball fans who used to need a pricey cable package or a high-speed Internet connection to follow their favorite teams now only require a hand-held satellite radio, the familiar voice of a hometown broadcaster and a healthy imagination.

"I feel like a kid again," said Nathan Olson, a Cubs fan from Pine Bluff, Ark. "I haven't listened to the radio like this since the 80's."

Technology has taken fans like Olson from radio to television to the Internet and back again. With XM, a truck driver who grew up outside St. Louis listens to the Cardinals as he makes 600-mile runs. A husband and wife in South Carolina channel surf over dinner between her Orioles and his Indians. And Olson can go to sleep with his headphones on tuned to the Cubs game, just as when he was growing up in an Iowa farm town.

"The reaction was incredibly emotional and incredibly personal," said David Butler, director of corporate affairs for XM, which paid Major League Baseball $650 million for the right to broadcast games over the next 11 years.

Adfreak's David Kiefaber knows how to break the really big stories.

Looks like pop musicians and rapping cartoons aren’t the only ones selling novelty ringtones anymore. A decidedly unorthodox performer has been given the opportunity to strum his way into a few hearts and annoy the hell out of the rest of us. I’m talking, of course, about the Naked Cowboy. CNET News reports that, Chicken Soup Makes Me Poop, one of his songs, “is being made into a ringtone by Acotel Group, an Italian Web portal.” Fox5 News mentioned that the ringtones were priced at $2.

The Observer: Kate Moss's very public scrap with Pete Doherty - which took place apres the Paris couture shows on a London-bound Eurostar train on Wednesday night - was much more than a mere row. It was a fashion statement.

photo courtesy of Sakura

Moss and Doherty are riding the vanguard of skank chic. It's a look and a lifestyle - a trashy subversion of normal notions of glamour and civilised celebrity behaviour - which embraces matted hair, a residual air of grubbiness and the kind of roller-coaster, booze-and-drug-addled passion that can inspire physical fights in speeding trains. Moss and Doherty weren't just fighting. They were locked in a spontaneous and terribly fashionable performance-art moment.

'Skank chic as a style statement is the ultimate in anti-glamour and anti-pretty, isn't it?' says Harriet Quick, fashion features editor of Vogue. 'Kate Moss, she's the living incarnation of course, looking mud-splattered but impossibly glamorous against all the odds in Glastonbury. It's those dirty-grey drain-pipe jeans that look filthy even if they're not. It's the antithesis of flawless plastic Hollywood.'

DM News: Consumers who use Coupons Inc.’s Web site to download offers will be able to view video coupons starting next month.

Coupons president/chief operating officer Jeffrey Weitzman said yesterday that marketers will be able to allow their customers to view a 15- or 30-second video advertisement on Coupons’ Digital FSI distribution platform and receive a cents-off coupon for the product once it’s completed.

“We see the merging of rich media with couponing to be a trend," said Weitzman. "It offers a powerful branding tool with the proven effectiveness of coupons.”

“In 2006, for many of our biggest clients, 10 percent of their total coupon budget is going toward our Digital FSI platform," he said.

The reason for this is a combination of things: the increase in households online; the decrease in Sunday newspaper circulation where traditional paper-based coupons appear; and the fact that online couponing allows a client to track whether a coupon was downloaded and redeemed.

Dean Gemmell, president of Black Lab Five, an enthusiast marketing specialist in Michigan wants L.L. Bean to consider his shop for projects. He offers the letter he sent to Bean and details on his consequent conversations with "the sweet and polite Nadira Vallee at Pile & Company, the consultant handling the review process for L.L. Bean."

Sweet Nadira even mentioned that an invited agency would need direct mail capabilities. Please, lead me to the agency that will show America's venerable catalog retailer how to do direct mail.

There's another interesting tidbit in Gemmell's piece.

Since we've always felt that advertising people typically fail to understand the challenges of running a business that has to sell products, we're launching our own line of steel furniture next week.

Adweek: Fallon Worldwide said it would no longer operate a full-service outpost in New York following the departures today of office president Anne Bologna and executive creative director Ari Merkin.

"While we have loved doing business in New York, and have a great group of talent, the truth is that New York is not a necessary part of Fallon's U.S. offering," said agency founder and chairman Pat Fallon in a statement. "We believe our clients will be best served by a single office."

Clients of the 40-person office, which include Georgia-Pacific, SoBe and Virgin Mobile, have been notified of the change, according to Fallon.

Employees at the agency's New York office have been offered positions in Minneapolis, he said.

Bologna and Merkin are launching their own agency in New York. Details of that startup were not immediately available.

According to Hostess, "as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory premieres on the big screen, Hostess Cup Cakes are trumpeting a blockbuster debut of their own.

Limited-edition Chocolicious Wonka Cakes, featuring star-studded movie-themed packaging, yummy purple icing and smooth creamy filling, are making magic in stores nationwide."

New York Times: In a bid to widen significantly the audience for concerts and live events, America Online and XM Satellite Radio are backing a venture that will deliver live performances to Internet, satellite and wireless customers and through other media.

The venture is expected to start offering its performances this fall. Many of them will originate from arenas and theaters owned by the AEG division of the Anschutz Company, a concert promoter that also holds a stake in the venture. Kevin Wall, executive producer of broadcasts of the multicity Live 8 concert this month calling for aid to Africa, will run the new venture, Network Live.

Mr. Wall, former vice chairman of the Internet services company iXL Enterprises, said AEG was aiming to offer up to 40 concerts from major acts this year and develop its own brand-name series, which could then be distributed or downloaded to an array of devices.

The company plans to generate revenue by licensing its events to various distributors, including AOL and XM, and by selling advertising and corporate sponsorships tied to its concerts, Mr. Wall said.

I'm not sure what devotional candles have to do with the X-Games, but the candles do make for some interesting out of home executions.

Thanks to Flickr user, cybele-la for the image.

I would have never taken Lewis Lazare for a Southerner, nor a fan of country music, but his piece in today's Sun Times reveals these personal truths.

As it happens, Lazare rather likes the new Fruit of the Loom television from Richards Group.

The new spot casts the familiar Fruit of the Loom icons, the Fruit Guys, as a country band -- a wonderfully odd positioning -- that we hear crooning an original country tune called "You Can't Over Love." As the lyric quickly reveals, the love you can't get over is for your underwear.

The commercial's visuals are full of people with terribly sad looks with "cold Kentucky rain" falling all around them. Lots of rain, which nicely reinforces the music's corny sentiment.

You gotta like "You Can't Over Love," if only because the commercial dares use unabashedly emotional country music to get consumers to bond with Fruit of the Loom.

Also in today's column, Lazare rips the spine from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's new book, Measuring Word of Mouth.

What is WOMMA trying to do?

Buzz used to be a fun, if somewhat ethereal part of the marketing mix.

But if our skim of the new book's stultifying contents is any indication, this research goes a long way toward making word of mouth seem like just another bland marketing tool researchers with too much time on their hands are relentlessly over-analyzing.

There's something wonderful about truth in advertising.

Thanks to my friend, Evil Vince, for the image.

From Adweek:

Former Ogilvy & Mather executive Shona Seifert today was sentenced in U.S. District Court here to 18 months imprisonment (and two years probation) for her role in a scheme to overbill the government's $1 billion Office of National Drug Control Policy account to cover a $3 million revenue shortfall on the business.

Seifert must also pay a $125,000 fine and a $1,000 special assessment, as well as write a "code of ethics" for the ad industry.

I can't wait to read that. Anyone got any suggestions for her to throw in there?

UPDATE (7:45 PM): Edward O'Meara has some very interesting thoughts on the whole Ogilvy overbilling scandal, and I tend to agree with much of what he says.

Think Memphis--blues, barbeque, the mighty Mississippi and Elvis. Think Memphis again--Thompson & Company.

Thompson & Company will be a firm that grows by encouraging and developing the personal genius of every employee, to the benefit of every client.

I'd like to show you some of the agency's print work, but they protect it with Flash. I don't much like Flash, but I do like smart headlines. Like this one for Georgia Boot, "Handles Anything Farm Life Can Dish Out. Even The Stuff Cows Dish Out."

Normally, advertising's creative people come from previous occupations like bartender, cab driver or scuba instructor. But not David Bonner, the newly appointed senior vice president and chief creative officer at Louisville shop, Doe-Anderson.

According to Adweek, Bonner, 39, worked at JWT Chicago, Gee Jeffrey & Partners and BBDO. But before that he was a federal agent for the NCIS and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.

According to Lewis Lazare, on Wednesday, Outside magazine will host the first-ever Chicago Ad Cup, a sailing regatta for Chicago ad agency teams at the Columbia Yacht Club. The event celebrates Chicago's inclusion on Outside's list of the top 10 American dream towns in its August issue.

My money's on Y&R. Who do you like?

Normally, liquor advertising has to be put through tight legal screens. Looks like New Orleans-based drinking establishments don't play by those rules, which of course lends itself to better work.

Creative courtesy of Sullivan St. Claire, Mobile, AL--a new contender for our "Agencies In Strange Places" series.

USA Today: Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, soon will star on spinach, carrot and fruit bags in supermarkets.

While the big marketers in the $70 billion food-and-beverage industry are trying to stave off regulation on marketing to children amid obesity concerns, Boskovich Farms (spinach), Grimmway Farms (carrots) and LGS Specialty Sales (citrus fruit) will use marketing pizazz to promote their already-healthy products.

Through a licensing deal, SpongeBob SquarePants and other Nick characters will grace the bags. In the bags will be packs of temporary tattoos.

According to Variety, sophmoric web site, CollegeHumor.com has struck a development deal with Paramount. The studio is looking for the next Animal House (good luck), and the web site's founders are looking to get listed in the IMDb.

CollegeHumor.com signed a book deal with Penguin a few months ago, with the "CollegeHumor.com Guide to College" expected to be released in April. The site also operates a comedy tour.

IF is featuring an interview with Niku Banaie, Naked's director of innovations. Here's a sample:

Q. How will brands use portable wireless devices to interact with their audience as they become more prominent?

A. The obvious idea is to transplant existing traditional ideas onto this medium, kind of like what happened with the web and people directly placing their print ads on this medium and thinking its going to work – very naïve! The way forward and most engaging way is to think from a service design perspective – what can you do that would really add value to the lives of your consumers? Orange in the UK had a great service initiative with the Orange Wednesdays 241 txt cinema offer, where by texting 241 on a Wednesday you receive two for the price of one cinema tickets. By designing ideas like these you start to build long term relationships versus flash in the pan awareness. Wouldn’t it be great if a travel company like Virgin started to offer location based travel guides – once the technology is ready, it is examples like these that will make the real difference!

Promo Magazine: Dr Pepper is in the midst of giving away one Mini-Cooper convertible a day in an under-the-cap promo to boost summer sales and to encourage trial of its new Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper.

Game codes can be found under yellow bottle caps on specially marked 20-ounce, 2-liter bottles and inside specially marked 12-pack wraps of Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper and Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper. Game pieces can also be obtained by mail. Dr Pepper began giving away the Minis on May 18 and will offer up the last one on July 31, 75 consecutive days later.

Last October, Dr Pepper parent, Cadbury Schweppes, debuted Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper in both regular and diet versions. Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe imitators around the company's Plano, TX, headquarters promoted the new beverage that carries the tagline, "Tastes so good you get lost in it." In addition, hundreds of roller skating carhops delivered 80,000 samples to consumers in 26 markets. Fifteen-second TV spots, 30- and 60-radio ads and two outdoor campaigns supported the launch.

"It's hard to know exactly when it happened, just as it's impossible to know if, or when, it will end. But for now, it's clear: We're all Wal-Mart's bitches." - John Dicker

I have to admit, I'm fascinated by Wal-Mart. I've written about this phenomenon before, as well as noted how Wal-Mart's bumbling PR negates the effects of lead agency Bernstein-Rein's shiny happy image ads when it compares its opponents to Nazi book-burners.

So naturally, I highly recommend John Dicker's new book The United States of Wal-Mart.