Done a while back and it still cracks me up. See all of them here. …
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A Quick Lesson In Customer Service Courtesy Of Home Depot
1) Don't call someone a "cunt." 2) If you call someone a "cunt," make sure that woman's husband is not nearby. 3) If you call someone a "cunt" and their husband is nearby, act very apologetic and remorseful, and do something to rectify the situation. 4) If you call someone a "cunt" and their husband is nearby, and you don't act very apologetic and remorseful, and you don't do something to rectify the situation, make …
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Jack Trout Gets It Right About Wal-Mart
Between the original "Postioning" authors Ries & Trout, it's easy to deduce who the smart one is based on their solo writings. Ries waxes moronic in Ad Age, but in a great column on Forbes.com, Jack Trout looks at the big issues facing America's largest retailer. I've written in the past that once a brand has established itself in the value or price category, it is almost impossible to go up market and attract a …
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Draft Investigates Itself, Clears Itself Of Wrongdoing
The Chicago Tribune reports on the aftermath of DraftFCB's Wal-Mart win/loss. Observers of the ad business had been waiting for a reaction from DraftFCB, which finds itself under the glare of publicity and seemingly in a vulnerable business position. Wal-Mart took back its account this month, even before DraftFCB had started work for the retailer, indicating that something had gone wrong during the pitch process. In …
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Lawsuits Are Targeting Target, Claiming Copyright Infringment
If you think your local Target is beginning to resemble a Pottery Barn, it may not be your imagination. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on a new lawsuit, and others over the years, that accuse Target of copying other retailers' products: Williams-Sonoma, which operates Pottery Barn and other chains, claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that a quilted Christmas stocking sold at Target stores contains "every …
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The Windy City Ad Scene Goes Cold
Crain's Chicago Business takes a closer look at the city's advertising scene. You can tell by the title of the article that the perception is it ain't too good there: Dream of Chicago ad revival is dashed: The city's ad agencies, decimated after years of losing headquarters and major accounts, seemed poised to regain their fizz when local player DraftFCB Group aced out Madison Avenue in winning the Wal-Mart Stores …
Homeowners Don’t Have A CLUE, But Insurers Do
This is really only tangentially related to advertising in the sense that we are constantly shown happy/safe/it's-all-gonna-be-alright imagery from insurance companies in their advertising. But I didn't know this: Insurers now keep records on the history of your home and use that info to deny you coverage. MSN MoneyCentral has more: Insurers increasingly are using a huge industry database, called the Comprehensive …
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P&G Goes Viral
The New York Times takes a closer look at P&G's increasing embrance of viral videos that venture into subjects that the marketer wouldn't have previously embraced, like one that discusses menstrual cramps: The campaign started with small classified ads in newspapers around the country, which all carried the same eye-catching headline, “Men: Are You Suffering From Menstrual Cramps?” The ads directed readers to a Web …
