Diagnosed with cancer in May and told only a liver transplant could save his live, Houston man Todd Krampitz, 32, has launched an ad campaign, including two billboards, a website and media interviews, hoping to find a liver donor.
Krampitz's web site says, "Unfortunately, tragedies happen every day. If you hear of anyone that is in a situation where they could be a donor, they or their family can request that the liver be designated to Todd Krampitz." The two billboards, both on Route 59, read, "I Need A Liver Please Help Save My Life!" and include the 800 number, 1-888-How-U-Can.
While Krampitz is sensitive to established guidelines regulating the allocation of donated organs, he's doing what humans to when faced with tragedy. He's trying to stay alive.
Wired magazine has a good summary article adressing the media habits of the 18-34 male. From reduced television viewership to increased video game useage to porn to TiVo to multitasking to tactics used to reach this elusive audience, the article will give you a clear picture of what's going on and where it's all going when it comes to men, media and advertising.
Hip-Hop has gone mainstream, ad agencies have seen that trend and now full service shops run by hip-hop producers and musicians are springing up. They are run by the likes of Sean Combs whose Blue Flame Marketing and Adverising has done work for Calvin Klein and Andre Harrell whose Nu America is doing work for Tommy Hilfiger.
"This is part of a bigger picture about how urban America is changing, not only in the way advertising looks and feels, and the way the country looks and feels, but also how you reach this new consumer and get a piece of the pie," Vibe Magazine's Emil Wilbekin said. "That's all it is. They're being very smart business people."
In what media buyers are calling a wave of the future, Time Inc. is launching it's new women's service magazine All You with a decidedly different strategy. The magazine will be launched exclusively in Walmart stores which Lowe Worldwide EVP of Media Mike Neiss called "the seventh TV network." It's not clear how long the relationship will last. Wal-mart spokesperson Karen Burke said, "It will be treated just as any other magazine. It is at the checkout for the time being, and I don't know if that will change."
The move allows Time to skirt around expensive newsstand delivery wholesalers which cuts heavily into profits. In doing so, All You, along with Time's admittedly "cheap" approach to editorial, allows for the very low $1.49 cover price.
Adrants reader and freelance designer Donna Carty claims she's been ripped off by Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Designer Bill Pull.
Bill Bull, designer of special costumes for the Victoria's Secret fashion show and dressmaker tailor for such folks as Anna Wintour and Holly Hunter is apparently ignoring a small claims judgement I filed against him and won in January. I worked two weeks on projects for the 2003 show and a cardinal Holloween costume for Annie Leibowitz's daughter, only to be given a check for half what he had agreed to pay me as a freelance fabric painter. Worse, the check was not honered by his bank, he didn't turn up to defend at small claims court, and has not answered an informational subpeona inquiring about his assets. The judgement was for $2400, a big amount for a small-time freelancer.
A little bird told us moblogUK may be using their weblog to market camera phones for the likes of Nokia and Sony. moblogUK has set up separate weblogs for each camera - and plans to do so for others - that displays pictures, audio and video taken from each phone and reviews the results. Is this an ingenious way to bypass and cut through ad clutter or simply an innocent editorial feature of the site? Adrants has asked this very question to moblogUK but has not yet received a response.
UPDATE: A response from moblog assures us that, while the phones are supplied by a PR agency, the reviews are purely editorial. Here's the full text of moblog's asnswer to our question from moblogUK's Mat Brown:
"Excellent question, and the answer is no, they're not. (being paid by manufacturers) They are totally independant reviews of the handsets, I was very clear that was the only condition we'd do them on. The handsets are supplied to us gratis by a PR firm, but nothing more than that. If they start telling us to "be more positive about feature Y" or "mention feature X more", then I'll start telling them we're not interested in being their puppets - I want to offer objective reviews that are actually useful to people, not just another online advert spot.
When we get some more handsets, they'll start to make their way out as prizes for moblog's users, but myself and alfie decided to keep the first two for ourselves - it's just about the only material reward we've got for the last year or so's work on the site!
