I'm attending SXSW this week with my colleagues from BFG. Discover our reporting on the panels, keynotes, parties, live music and Austin flavor throughout the week on the BFG Blog. You can also follow my Twitter feed and see pix on my Flickr page. I'm also adding content to Leftover Cheese, my music site. …
Dairyland Doublespeak
The New York Times is busting out dairy industry advocacy group, American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology, or Afact. The paper says Afact likes to present itself as a grassroots organization of dairy farmers, when it's actually a lobbying effort backed by Monsanto and their St. Louis-based ad agency, Osborn & Barr. The battle is over Posilac, the brand name of a Monsanto synthetic hormone …
Google’s Special Algorithms Now Available On YouTube’s À La Carte Menu
The Wall Street Journal is reporting on the lengths YouTube is going to help make Toyota's wishes comes true. The car maker paid $4 million for a new destination on the site, dubbed "Best in Jest." Special algorithms created by YouTube find up-and-coming comedy videos on the site each week and feature them in Toyota's designated space. "Best in Jest" rolls out next week. Toyota also is sponsoring a sketch-comedy …
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Bears Eat Wranglers, Boots And All
Shawn Waite brings this retro-feeling print campaign for Nocona Boots to our attention. I don't like that these cowboys are messin' with a bear. Bears are my peeps. However, if I allow myself to overlook this fact and to overlook the fact that the other ads in this campaign also glamorize man conquering nature, I can see what nice work this is. From a visual storytelling point-of-view these illustrations are …
Who’s Your Natty?
I don't understand how this got by legal. You can't overtly market beer to kids, including college kids. Everyone knows said demo is a must have, but rarely do you see it called out like this. [via Your Monkey Called] …
Eight-Second Content Bursts
Ad Age looks at the LA Times use of digital outdoor boards. Los Angelenos plagued by traffic delays or seeking a productive roadside distraction will be able to catch exclusive news via 10 digital billboards placed across the city by Clear Channel Outdoor. The Los Angeles Times is the first newspaper to use the company's digital billboards and web-based interface for news alerts and branding. The editorial content …
Deep Into Data
Is the web a place best suited to brand building or to direct marketing? It's a popular debate inside agencies and client boardrooms. According to The New York Times, Alaska Airlines is on the DM side of this equation. Alaska Airlines is introducing a system on the Internet to create unique advertisements for people as they surf the Web. The company is combining data from several sources to paint a picture of the …
Universal Ad Truth #4120: Bad Is Bad, No Matter Where It Runs
According to The Wall Street Journal, Heng Yuan Xiang Group, a top Chinese wool producer, wanted to celebrate its sponsorship of this summer's Beijing Olympics. So the wool company began running a 60-second ad in February, during the celebration of Lunar New Year, China's biggest holiday. When the Chinese public first saw the ad, some people thought their TV sets were broken. Viewers savaged the commercial in print …
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