The heath care debate is getting nasty. I suppose that happens when there's a lot at stake. I could say something about the fraying of civic life in America, but that would be too obvious (and off point). So, let's address advertising's role in fomenting this civic unrest. Here's a hard-hitting ad from Americans for Prosperity: Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times doesn't like it. He's sick of the right's distortions, …
What Did That Fool Say? And How Many “Friends” Does He Have?
According to the third annual Deloitte Ethics & Workplace survey, 60 percent of business executives believe they have a right to know how employees portray themselves and their organizations in online social networks. However, employees disagree, as more than half (53 percent) say their social networking pages are not an employer's concern. That said, employees appear to have a clear understanding of the risks …
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Domino’s Takes Bad Eggs Off The Menu
The Strategic Crafting of Your Story
Seth Godin is offering a great description of public relations. Most PR firms do publicity, not PR. Publicity is the act of getting ink. Publicity is getting unpaid media to pay attention, write you up, point to you, run a picture, make a commotion. Sometimes publicity is helpful, and good publicity is always good for your ego. But it's not PR. PR is the strategic crafting of your story. It's the focused examination …
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Umpqua Bank Has Money Coming Out Of Its Ears
According to The Oregonian, Portland-based Umpqua Bank may return the $214 million in bailout money it didn't need in the first place. "We have been put in the same bucket with all the institutions that have failed, these companies that are being bailed out," said Ray Davis, Umpqua CEO and chairman. "I've gotten calls from shareholders and customers (who say) 'You dirty dog, you shouldn't have done this.'" Davis …
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California, Prophet On A Burning Shore
"Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin slow My time coming, anyday, don't worry about me, no " - John Perry Barlow Mark Morford is a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. In his latest piece, he imagines a glorious "green in every way" future for the Golden State. Pot is, by a huge margin, the single largest cash crop in the state unless you count porn stars and celebrity rehab. It rakes in upwards …
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Crazy Baldheads Exported
Hey, I know. Let's get consumers to humiliate themselves on our behalf! According to The New York Times, that's what Air New Zealand marketing execs were thinking when they commissioned 30 "cranial billboards," made with henna on newly shaved heads. Maybe that's why it's called buzz marketing. For shaving their noggins and displaying the ad copy for two weeks in November, the hairless ones received either a …
Info Soldiers Battle For Our Hearts And Minds
Giving new life to the phrase "PR operative," the Pentagon is busy spending money to shape opinion at home and abroad. How busy? An Associated Press investigation found that over the past five years, the money the military spends on winning hearts and minds at home and abroad has grown by 63 percent, to at least $4.7 billion this year, according to Department of Defense budgets and other documents. That's almost as …
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“Getting Robbed” Has Additional Meaning Today
> The Wall Street Journal has the full story and multimedia treatment on ousted Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich. But this is the thing I find intriguing. He used his office improperly. But how common is this "crime" in corporate environments? That it's common doesn't make it right, but will you agree that it's all too common? What shocked me in Blagojevich's case was the outrage from pundits. Getting caught on …
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Man’s Handheld Survives Memphis Meltdown
It's rare, but sometimes flies get caught in the social media honey. There are two such stories floating today. One involves a man who murdered his wife after she changed her status from "Married" to "Single" on Facebook. Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb has the goods on that one. The other story is about a PR guy's unwise use of Twitter and how that came back to bite him and his agency on the ass. According to …
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