Jim Coudal does not like Agency.com's pseudo-viral, a video the agency used to pitch the Subway account. Instead of whining about it, he made his own mockumentary, in response. Adfreak posted the Agency.com vid two days ago and they now have 67 comments on their post. Seems lots of people want to weigh in on this feeble attempt to be cool and different. And viral. It's all about being viral. If you're not viral …
Point Counterpoint
"Advertising has a problem. It's not efficient. Yes, you can buy results-only advertising, but the waste-to-results ratio runs in the same range as lotteries. And yes, Google has revolutionized advertising by 1) making results affordable to nearly everybody, and 2) moving the waste to where it's best tolerated, which is by servers pumping out stuff most people don't mind ignoring. But it's still waste. The day will …
People Who Shop Wawa Love Wawa
According to New York Times, a regional convenience store chain treats its employees right, which leads to happier customers. In fact, many of these happy customers have become online evangelists for the brand. The I Love Wawa group on MySpace.com has more than 5,000 members, making it the largest of several Wawa-related groups on the online-community site. Over on Livejournal.com, there’s a group called We Love …
“Free Agent Nation” Not So Far Fetched After All
CNN/Money reports on a Census Bureau survey which indicates 19.5 million U.S. businesses have no employees on the payroll, up 4.7 percent from the previous year. Businesses without a payroll now make up more than 70 percent of the nation's more than 27 million companies, with annual sales of about $887 billion. Building contractors, Internet service providers, nail salons, e-shopping and mail-order houses, lessors of …
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Colbert Chaos on Wikipedia
Stephen Colbert stirred the Wikipedia pot on Monday when he coined a new word--"Wikiality." You Tube has the footage and Newsvine has the story: In the segment, Colbert logs on to the Wikipedia article about his show to find out whether he usually refers to Oregon as "California's Canada or Washington's Mexico." Upon learning that he has referred to Oregon as both, he demonstrates how easy it is to disregard both …
War Is (Seemingly Never) Over
Rueters reports that an old outdoor campaign is being recycled to promote a new documentary film. In an effort to tap into anti-war sentiment, billboards will appear in New York and Los Angeles this month declaring "War Is Over! If You Want It." The statement is not so much political as commercial: independent film distributor Lionsgate is using them to promote its documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," set to open …
Hotel Chain Breaks Away, Seeks Reinvention
According to USA Today, Wyndham Worldwide, which completed its spinoff from Cendant on Tuesday, now plans to bulk up its top hotel brand with better marketing and a new, more consistent look. CEO Stephen Holmes acknowledged that the Wyndham brand has suffered from varying standards at its 87 hotels, all in the USA. The result: Travelers don't know what to expect. To reinvigorate the chain, Wyndham recently tapped …
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Speak Out. Rake In.
San Francisco Chronicle sent a reporter to BlogHer on Saturday. The reporter took note of the growing corporate influence on writers and their blogs. If the word "bloggers" conjures a romantic image -- of fiercely independent writers, untouched by corporate influence -- this may be the convention where that image begins to die. It also may be the convention where the divide between writers who want to pay rent …
