AOL EVP Lisa Brown Goes Crazy

Recently departed AOL EVP didn't know her tirades were being recorded by sales staff. As her insanity grew, her employees decides they better document her craziness.

The tapes reveal a management style that at times included tirades of swearing, personally insulting employees in the group and even Khruschev-esque shoe pounding on the table.

Weblogs and Chat Rooms Effective in Political Marketing to the Young

A recent study by the Council for Excellence in Government's Center for Democracy and Citizenship and the University of Maryland's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement finds chats and blogs are more effective in communicating with young voters than one way online advertising such as banners. Young voters want interaction and not one way communication that is the traditional form of political advertising over with traditional media outlets such as TV and newspaper. Luckily, several candidates are mirroring these new channels of communication with weblogs of their own.

Gillette to Launch Ad Campaign in Support of Wet Shaver

Slated for May, Gillete will launch a broadcast, in-store and online ad campaign promoting its new M3Power battery powered wet shaver. With this and Shick's four blade razor, it's only a matter of time before we have a nanobot razor that is invisible and will just crawl all over your body daily, plucking at any hair follicle it sees trying to sprout hair.

CBS Rejects MoveOn's Anti-Bush Commercial

Citing a network policy against "issue ads," CBS has rejected MoveOn's request to air the spot during the Super Bowl. The spot will appear January 17 through the 21st on CNN. More here.

Lesbians Kissing...OK, I'll Watch

Not receiving a good review from Variety's Brian Lowry is "The L Word," a new Sex in the City" copycat from Showtime. Girls cackle but these girls are lesbian lovers. The ads for this series just make you want to gag as those for "Are You Hot?" did. But, then again, we are talking about girls kissing each other here and that's at least worth some sort of trial viewing period.

The show debuts on Showtime, Sunday January 18 at 10 PM.

Advertising Industry Needs to Change to Meet Reality

Sharpe Partners Owner Kathy Sharpe brings the hammer down once again on the heads of clueless media executives who insist the television model of today and the method by which it is measured and says face reality. No, not reality TV but the reality of TV. Viewership is down. Executives are blaming Nielsen methodologies blind to the truth that viewers are simply not there anymore. They've left the couch for the chair - the chair in front of the computer. And if they are watching TV, that are watching it own their on schedule using TiVo.

Handing media control over to consumers is actually a good thing. When people are slaves to other's schedules rather than their own, they are less likely to be happy about it. If consumers can control and schedule how they consume media, it can be reasoned that they will be more attentive to what they actually do consume.

Marketers must create content that compel consumers to seek it out and experience it on their own terms rather than having it shoved down their throats in 30 second intervals. Refusing to recognize this sea change of behavior will do no good to media companies trying to preserve their business models. Go where the money is. Don't force the money to come to you.

Sun Models to Short: Hands Off Our Boobs!

U.K. Cabinet Minister and party-pooper Clare Short has re-upped her bid to ban "The Sun's" Page 3 calling it porn and degrading to women. The long running section features less than fully clothed babes who, like other models, just want to let others appreciate their hotness.

"I don't know how she can say it is degrading to women. We're making our own money, doing a job we enjoy. We are independent, intelligent girls sharing our beauty to give people enjoyment. I can't believe she hasn't more to worry about as an MP."

Classic story of less-than-hot chic trying to rain on hot chics parade.

Salon Gets Saviors, Editorial Slant

Aside from it looking like state buying church, Rolling Stone Editor Jann Wenner has invested $200,000 in struggling Salon and Adobe Co-Chairman John Warnock has kicked in $600,000. The deal includes an editorial alliance between Wenner and Salon in which the two will collaborate on a series of article about the presidential elections.

New Report Says Advergaming the Next Big Thing

Gartner G2 Analyst Denise Garcia previewed a report on advergaming at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In the report, Garcia claims advergaming - the embedding of advertising in electronic games - will grow rapidly in the next few months. The report reviews recent efforts by BMW, Chrysler and Pepsi and the success of long-running Candystand.com, Kraft's advergaming site.

Whiner John McEnroe to Host Prime Time Talk Show

Free from McEnroe's on court antics for several years, we will now be subjected to them in the form of a talk show on CNBC that is said to be the male version of "The View." God help us.