Medium is taking a stand on AI-generated writing. An email from Medium arrived in my inbox a few days ago describing changes that are coming to the publishing platform. Beginning May 1, 2024, stories with AI-generated writing (disclosed as such or not) are not allowed to be paywalled as part of Medium's Partner Program. Accounts that have fully AI-generated writing behind the paywall may have those stories …
You Don’t Watch The Oscars for the Commercials, But You Could
Traditional advertising showcases are few and far between today, along with opportunities to appeal to a mass audience. Last night's Academy Awards is one. According to Variety, the 2023 Oscars earned an audience of 18.75 million—more than double the most popular shows on TV (NCIS and FBI). The best "commercial" of the evening was "I'm Just Ken,' performed by Ryan Gossling and Mark Ronson, with a guest appearance …
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GoDaddy Airo Takes You from Idea to ‘Up and Running’ in Minutes
Coming up with a unique brand name that you can legitimately own and a domain name to go with it, is tough to do. All the good names and dot coms seem to be taken. Starting now, you can ask GoDaddy's AI assistant for help. https://youtu.be/f1hrn30OBQY?si=zvKSyuKdjsCpCfJE In the days of yore, you input a domain name into GoDaddy to see if it was available. Now, you can "prompt" Airo and see a list of results …
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64-Year-Old ‘Kennedy for President’ Ad Remade By Super PAC
A Super PAC spent $7M on a media placement during the Super Bowl, but only 36 hours to produce the spot. And they were able to run it with no input or approvals from the client. Who does that? Answer: American Values Super PAC. https://youtu.be/nvXJJRjGVT4?si=sefH83sXfG7iLW2D The spot contains no original thinking. It's merely a clumsy recreation of an earlier commercial that ran 64 years ago. This lost …
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TikTok Tells The Story of Its Satisfied Customers on TV
TikTok's rising popularity is a dangerous threat to national security. TikTok must be banned. That's the conclusion of lawmakers and university presidents who want to restrict access to the site. These lawmakers and academic leaders fear the Chinese firm that owns TikTok will collude with the Chinese government and use the data it collects from members to conduct misinformation campaigns. Since November, more …
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Super Sweet Sounds of the ’70s Used to Sell More Stuff
Supertramp, Grand Funk Railroad, Heart, and Chicago. These legendary bands from the 1970s are now providing consumer brands with one anthemic soundtrack followed by the next. https://youtu.be/IY4x85zqoJM?si=qGHjiYRgU0Ew0MmE https://youtu.be/QfQK6AcJxI8?si=KQ1d2eBD3fRPvyql https://youtu.be/HATSZnryr4w?si=UUlFphPJRmpETETz https://youtu.be/9uvgEymGQFc?si=_tFda2H0yq_fRqeJ I have some questions. Like, why …
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Please Don’t Vote for the Guy With 91 Felony Charges
It's an election year and the campaign is now in full swing. While former President Donald Trump appears to be headed for his third consecutive Republican nomination, current President Joe Biden is focusing on getting the facts straight about January 6th and delivering a message about how much worse it will be for everyone if Trump is reelected to a second term. Susan B. Glasser of The New Yorker notes that …
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Influential Voices in the Marketing and Advertising Industry Today
Last year I tried to resist AI. I had my reasons, and have them still, but I'm adopting a different, more curious, and accepting posture now. That's what led me to ask my AI Assistant, Claude, to name the 10 most influential voices in the advertising industry today. Claude quickly named Seth Godin and Bob Hoffman, plus unnamed heads of trade organizations like the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), American …
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