Following the recent court ruling limiting political broadcast advertising within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election, the National Rifle Association has snubbed the ruling and is looking to buy its own broadcast outlet to skirt the ruling. The NRA is taking advantage of a loophole in the law that allows station owners to broadcast stories and commentary on issues such as, you guessed it, gun control. So, the NRA is out shopping.
"We haven't bought anything yet, but we are actively exploring the option," said Wayne LaPierre, the group's executive vice president. "It's one of the ways under the bill that we'll be allowed to speak up until Election Day."
Either Americans have given up all pretense of appearing to care about important issues like Iraq, Africa and South Korea's nuclear threat or we just want a vacation from the incessant bad news flying through the media. It's probably both as typified by our voting Paris Hilton the number one media star on iwantmedia's/The Week's online "Media Person of the Year" poll. Paris is followed closely by Bonnie Fuller. No mention was made of those old farts who actually discuss important news issues on Sunday mornings.
 Really, Advertising IS Important! Suffering from chronically low self-esteem and always in need of a good party, the ad industry is self-congratulating itself with what it hopes will become an annual event on par with The TriBeCa Film Festival or The New York Film Festival. The Advertising Association of America announced Advertising Week, to be held in New York City next September 20 - 24, as a means to celebrate the industry's contribution to society and to bring together other industry related trade associations with seminars, panel discussions and, oh my God, it's own Advertising Awards For Excellence and even an Advertising Hall of Fame. Mark your calendars! This is an event not to be missed.
The week long event will also feature a Madison Avenue "Advertising Walk of Fame" that will forever embed the likes of Tony the Tiger, the Energizer Bunny and the Jolly Green Giant into the sidewalk so that passers buy can stomp on the logos while yelling, "Stop making me buy your shit!" The best part is that the public gets to choose which logos and slogans they want to stomp by voting on Yahoo and USA Today. There may also be a parade of inflatable brand images to further allow consumers to express their love for advertising by, oh, I don't know, shooting darts at the inflatables.
Some serious stuff will be discussed too like the self-importance, I mean importance advertising has to the culture and economy of the country and how it has and will continue to change the country's social fabric.
AAAA and Advertising Week President and CEO O. Burtch Drake blustered, "We've been through several tough years. We seem to be coming out of it, and we think now is the time to showcase what we do and how well we do it. We're here to reassert Madison Avenue as one of the pre-eminent industries in New York City."
New York City's Upper West Side resident are banding together against Clear Channel Communications' proliferation of blinking billboards that, as residents claim, are turning their neighborhood into Times Square North. Over the past four years, in a deal with the financially struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Clear Channel has erected 800 backlit displays near subway stations through out the city with the newest in the Upper West Side. Residents feel the signs are distracting and intrusive to neighborhood life and they want them gone.
 No Letters to Santa Removing any last vestige of hope for disillusioned children, the South African Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advertisement for the country's Post Office that gave children an address to write to Santa Claus with their Christmas wishes. In a ruling this week the Authority said the Post Office was selfishly "profiting from the natural credulity of children" rather then providing a bit of uplifting hope.
"It creates the impression, in the mind of the credulous child, that by writing to the given address she/he will be writing to Santa Claus, who, according to the Santa Claus myth, will then bring him/her the requested presents," it said.
The Authority banned the advertisement, upholding a complaint from the self esteem police which said it encouraged "a falsehood that could break the fragile spirits of the already disillusioned youth of South Africa."
We've added a couple of posts called "AdBriefs" to the site. They are the same type of news stories that we list under the "Advertising Headlines" section over to the right of the site. They are quick summaries of advertising stories on other web sites. Question: Would you prefer they stay where they are under the "Advertising Headlines" or would you like to see them integrated into the main section of this site? Let us know in the comments section. Thanks.
Indigo Palms, a division of Tommy Bahama, has selected Interpublic Group of Cos.' Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis, to handle the launch of its new clothing line and associated stores
America Online yesterday laid off 450 employees, mostly software engineers and developers. The job cuts are the second largest this year by the Time Warner unit, which had laid off 420 call-center employees this past spring and shifted the jobs to India
Mark Glaser, writing in the Online Journalism Review, explores the much maligned pop up ad and it's pending death due to the adding of a pop up blocker in the next version of Internet Explorer. Adrants couldn't agree more and was thusly quoted generously in the article.
"I think there will be a dramatic decline in the use of pop-ups and hence, the revenue they generate,' Adrants' Steve Hall said via e-mail. 'Already, there is backlash in the advertising community against the format in that the use of pop-ups is perceived to give the advertiser a bad name by association with all the other sleazy companies that still use pop-ups. With the growth of rich media ad formats (expanding banner, page takeovers, etc.) and other more effective forms of online advertising, I am quite sure the pop-up is on its last legs."
So take that you lame-assed, sleazy piece of shit ad format!
Men are getting a lot of attention these days. First with the whole metrosexual thing and now with shopping. Gawker covers the New York Times article about the next new magazine niche: men's shopping mags. Following the success of female focused shopping magazine "Lucky," men will now have "Cargo" and "Vitals," the former published by condo Naste, the latter published by Fairchild.
"Vitals" grew out of a "Details" insert and will become a standalone publication in September 2004. "Cargo," which launches in April 2004, has begun an ad campaign that consist, in part, of outdoor boards and posters that get to the heart of the shopping man: Men just want their shit without all the other crap that goes into shopping.
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