GoldenPalace.com Does The U.S. Open

Hey, there's all kinds of advertising out there...

New Ad Medium: Homeless Billboards

In a unique twist in the outdoor medium, a Seattle pizza company is paying homeless people with food and money in exchange for holding advertising placards. Pizza Schmizza's Andre Jehan came up with the idea and sees it as a way to help the homeless as well as get advertising for his company.

"People don't have to feel guilty, while still appreciating the person is homeless. It's a gesture of kindness more than anything," said Jehan.

Predictably, there are detractors of the tactic. Gary Ruskin, director of Portland-based Commercial Alert, an ad-watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, said homeless people acting as billboards should be paid minimum wage.

And he thinks it adds to the clutter. "People don't want to get hammered with an ad every time they turn their head. Most advertising is either somewhat of a lie or deceptive, and it's an assault on our attention."

Gary, can't we all just get along?
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Panasonic Says Do Not Have Fun

Here's an interesting promotion for Panasonic put to gether by Renegade Marketing Group Among other things, they have created a campaign called People Against Fun poking fun at people's need to have fun and calling attention to the fact that "fun" is a new thing. Of course, there's links to a sweepstakes and Panasonic products but the approach is kind of fun. There's even commercials.

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Sex Does Sell

We all know that sex sells. Now there is another new book out on the subject. The book, called �The Erotic History of Advertising" and written by University of Alabama professor Tom Reichert, explores the use of sex and sexual imagery over the years from the Civil War era all the way up to today's Miller Lite CatFight style of advertising.

In this interview by MediaLife, Reichert marvels at the surprising use of sexual imagery and even nudity back in the 1930's and compares that to today's more blatant, in your face style of sexually realtyed advwertising.
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Advertising to Babies

Marketers just can't get them early enough. The cocophony of advertising is starting at an ever younger age as marketers try to build brand loyaly early. Procter and Gamble is now marketing its toilet tissue, Charmin, to kids 2-4 in a children's book. That's right, P & G is publishing a book that features the cartoon bear from the advertising campaign and will reference key words used in the ad campiagn in the book.

I suppose the "target market" is ripe for P & G's message. With most 2-4 years olds joyously exclaiming, "Daddy, I went poopy in the tiolet!" with the glee usually reserved for getting their favorite toy at Christmas, the message will surely resonate appropriately.

Do we really need to have a toilet paper preference at age 2?
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What's Up With Product Placement?

In a recent study by InsightExpress and MediaPost summarized in eMarketer, 80% of media planners think consumers notice TV product placements yet 46% of consumer say the placement leaves no impression on them. Now, that's a marketing quandary isn't it? All is not lost though as the studies also found only 11% of consumers leave them with a negative impression of the placed product.

Great. Pay a lot of money. Place a product. Leave no impression. Sounds like well spent marketing dollars to me!
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