Big wigs in entertainment, advertising and Internet technology gathered at Orbita US 2009, a digital media summit hosted by Terra in New York City this week. Those in attendance got the chance to hear Oliver Stone speak. "I've heard the democratic argument [for the internet] and I'm not an elitist, but ... a mashup is not a movie. It's offensive," said the director of Natural Born Killers, Wall Street, Platoon and …
Energy Drink Employs Dude Speak, Draws Scorn
According to CNET, PepsiCo has tweeted an apology on its Amp Energy Twitter account, as well as its Pepsi account, to those who may be offended by its new iPhone application, Amp Up Before You Score, which some have complained is insensitive to women. The soft-drink maker stopped short of removing the free application from Apple's App Store. …
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Down With The Spreadsheet
Shelby Bonnie, the CEO of Whiskey Media wants to kill the tradition of buying online ads on a cost per thousand (CPM) basis. In a guest post on TechCrunch, Bonnie argues: OK, Advertising Week just ended... does anyone else feel like the online advertising industry is the orchestra, playing on while the Titanic is sinking? I have been in the Internet media space for 16 years and will start by stating the obvious: The …
It’s Really The Machine’s Fault
Sony Vaio W Series claims to be the perfect machine for social media addicts. They sure have a funny way of showing it: Be sure to visit the Social Media Addicts Association web site, StopWritingOnMyWall.com, where you can make your own video confessions, sign a petition or purchase t-shirts that say things like "I Have Real Friends" and "@everyone, leave me alone!!!". This is good stuff. If AdPulp gave out awards, …
Move It
Cultural critic, author and professor, Douglas Rushkoff, believes movements are over and done with. It's a shocking and cynical claim on its surface, for the labor movement, the suffrage movement and the civil rights movements have all changed America for the better. Part of Rushkoff's problem is identifying a real movement in the first place. Is health care a movement, or a political topic? Is gun control a movement …
An SEC Shocker: Digitally-Enabled Fans Run Up The Score On Flatfooted Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is trying to restrict the use of social media by its core constituency--its fans. According to Michael Kruse of St. Petersburg Times: The SEC, one of college sports' biggest, richest, most prominent conferences, earlier this month sent to its 12 schools an eye-opening new media policy. It places increasingly stringent limits on reporters and how much audio, video and "real-time" …
Be Afraid of Mastercard
[via The Guardian] …
Nothing To Fear, But The Supermodel Herself
According to The Local, a commercial for Apoliva featuring Swedish supermodel Adina Fohlin has frightened over 100,000 Swedes into joining a Facegroup group called "I am scared of the girl in the Apoliva commercial" ("Jag är rädd för tjejen i Apolivareklamen"). The description of the Facebook group reads: "Those of us who have a TV and like to watch commercials/can't be bothered to reach for the remote are facing a …
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Willis Tower? That’s Like Calling Deep Dish “Cheezy Pizza”
The corporate naming game has run amok for years, but the recent name change from "Sears Tower" to "Willis Tower" in Chicago has touched a nerve. Or 96,814 nerves, as the case may be--that's how many people on Facebook don't like the idea. Another 48,747 on ItstheSearsTower.com have signed a petition to bring back the original name, something that's unlikely to happen. What is likely to happen is a steadfast …
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You Can Control Your Data, Or Be Controlled By It
Ernie Schenck's column in the current print edition of Communication Arts is called "Creativity Interruptus." In the piece Schenck details the difficulty he has concentrating in a world full of digital distractions. Schenck says, "It's mind-popping, all the stuff that's just waiting inside that T1 line, just chomping at the bit, aching to get inside that head of yours and clutter it up with all kinds of cyber flotsam …
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