Group Claims Media Makes Political Coverage All About Money

Activist group FreePress, suddenly realizing the media business is all about making money, has launched a campaign claiming the media have hijacked democracy and made political coverage all about keeping advertisers happy rather than reporting actual news.

Oh, the horror.

IKEA Hangs Mattresses in Paris For New Campaign

Agenda reports a new campaign from IKEA which consists of 39 mattresses wrapped to look like billboards and hung in major Paris railway stations. We wonder how long it will be before Parisians tire of the campaign, rip the mattresses from the ceiling and hop on for a nap. Or how about all those teens who are looking for a place away from their parents to get a little closer to their girl/boyfriend? Looks like IKEA has some nifty experiencial marketing going on.

Annie Leibovitz Snaps Peninsula Ad Campaign

Hot off her work for for A&E Biography's Naked Truth ad campaign with the Olsens, Annie Leibovitz stepped into the world of Peninsula Hotels to shoot images for the hotel's recent ad campaign called, "Portraits of Peninsula."

The press release gushed in typical fashion, "So much of what makes Peninsula’s style of hospitality special is the personal connection our staff has with guests," said Peter C. Borer, Chief Operating Officer, The Peninsula Hotels. "Our culture of warm and genuine service is expressed through every one of our family of employees. To us, service is an art, which is why we chose a true artist to represent it. Annie Leibovitz captured the spirit of our employees with sincerity. Through the honesty of her images, we have created a campaign that will resonate with our audience for a very long time."

AGENCYSACKS New York created the campaign.

AIR Network Brings Marketers Closer to Online Consumer Buyers

London Ad Agency ASABAILEY has rolled out AIR (Advertising In Retail), a network (demo) providing advertisers the ability to place television ads or long-form videos alongside the advertiser's product listed on a participating online merchant's website. The AIR network provides marketers the ability to influence sales at the moment of purchase. The premise that influencing consumers at the moment of purchase is, of course, not new.

However, the proliferation of digital media and online buying may make models such as AIR network viable options for marketers interested in getting closer to consumers at the moment of purchase as well as maximizing production dollars spent creating ads.

Fox to Air 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss'

Capitalizing on the success of its My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, FOX is making the obnoxious thing a trend with its new My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. The reality series will spoof both Fiance as well as NBC's The Apprentice complete with Donald, Caroline and George look-a-likes telling 12 contestants to "get the hell out of my office" after failing such tasks as begging for money on the street. Oddly, we think this series will be a success. We don't know why, we just do. The series airs November 9 at 9 PM.

Jessica Simpson Debuts Edible Body Fragrance

We know jessica Simpson is already as delicious as they come but she's now made herself, much to the delight of hubby Nick Lachey, even more delectable announcing the an addition to her Dessert line of body care products. At Rockerfeller Center Sephora earlier this week, Simpson debuted Taste, an edible body cream designed to taste like the foods Simpson experienced in childhood.

"It's low-calorie," Simpson said. "It's like having dessert without the calories, so if you're on a diet, it's a good thing to just kind of lick off every now and then. Or have someone else do it - that's even better" We wonder if the streets of New York will now be filled with wafting, mouth-watering food scents driving people to helplessly lick strangers as they pass each other by. Perhaps Simpson should donate her product to the homeless. They need it more than those of who have homes and spend our money on stuff like this.

Adrants Billboards: People Care About Politics

• At a recent Public Relations Society of America seminar, PR professional Steve Rubel and journalist Pamela Parker discuss the role of weblogs in public relations and marketing.
• New York Times' Nat Ives analyzes Howard Stern's recent announcement regarding his move to Sirius satellite radio in 2006.
• Kawasaki has decided to switch agencies from FCB Worldwide to O'Leary and Partners, Irvine, CA.
• In a surprising revelation that Americans even care about politics, 43.6 million tuned into the Cheney Edwards debate, the most watch VP debate since 1992. Of course there are 250 million Americans who chose not to but who's counting.
• Amy Coor's MediaPost Out to Launch column reviews recent campaign launches from Yahoo, Ambush Makeovewer, Captivate Network, Corbis and Clairol.