Comedy Central Uses Apple iPod Commercial Theme For Promo

Comedy Central is running an iPod style commercial for its upcoming Redneck Weekend. Featuring good 'ol banjo music and country boys woopin it up, the spot is complete with our favorite cultural redneck moment: the Howard Dean scream.

Saturn Gets Pummeled, Makes Great Commercial

In this commercial for Saturn, all kinds of items are hurled at its plastic body in a rhythmic form that creates a nice little tune and demonstrates Saturn's relative indestructability. One of the more amusing spots out there. View spot here.

Media Agency MPG Has Received Acquisition Offer

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Havas media agency MPG has received an offer to acquire 49 percent of the company which has been valued at $150 million. Sources and suitors are, as yet, un-named. Read the story here if you have a WSJ subscription or read it at MediaPost if you do not.

'Martha Stewart Living' May Change Name to 'Everyday Living'

Hardly one to live an "everyday life," Martha Stewart or, rather, her company, has applied for a trademark on the name "Everyday Living" most likely to separate itself from the famous homemaker when she heads to the slammer.

Paris and Nicole Prepare For 'Simple Life 2'

Celebutantes Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton are off on their 30 day ride across the country in a pink pick up and silver trailer.The premise of the series has the two crossing country from Miami Beach to Beverly Hills with stops along the way to act stupid and make fun of locals.

In the eight episode series, the two will make the trip with no money, no credit cards and no (oh my God) cell phones. They will stop in several towns along the way, stay with different families and hold various jobs. All for our voyeuristic amusement.

Following this, we might see a more mature Hilton emerge. Paris says she's tiring of the party circuit saying it's not that much fun to go out anymore and she also wants us to know she's really not the bimbo we've all portrayed her to be saying, "People who don't know me or haven't met me they'll assume she's spoiled or this or that. That's what people will think because of where I come from. Every time I meet someone or people talk to me, they're like 'You're completely the opposite of what I thought. You're so sweet.'" Well, Paris, I'm happy to meet you whenever you are.

The Adrants Discussion List

Question. Would readers of Adrants participate in an email discussion group? It's purpose would be to discuss all forms of advertising and media.

The Adrants Discussion List would look to the future but also concern itself with current practice. The advertising industry is undergoing a huge shift right now, with entirely new forms of media and consumer media habits. Gone are the days of placing ads on TV and watching the sales roll in. Today, television viewership is trending down. TiVo is changing how television is watched. The Internet has had a huge effect on media consumption. Today's consumers are much savvier than in years past and can smell a marketing ploy a mile away. Product integration (product placement), video game advertising, SMS marketing, IM advertising and musical tour sponsorships are several of the emerging marketing communications channels through which advertising will occur. Marketing is shifting towards a two-way conversation between marketer and consumer rather than the one-way street we have today. That said, change takes time and the traditional models of advertising still live on and remain effective in their respective realms. Embracing the change while respecting existing models is key to successful marketing.

Each time a list member sends and email, everyone on the list receives it and can reply to everyone else on the list. There's no plans to launch such a list but I'd be interested in whether or not you'd join such a list. Please answer yes or no using the simple form below. Thanks.

BEA Systems Ad Uses Same Image as Male Enhancement Company Brochure

In one of those random, embarrassing business moments, BEA Systems found out an image they had selected from Getty Images of Seattle, a stock photography company, for use in a recruitment ad run in the Wall Street Journal was, in fact, the same image used by Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, makers of an erection-enhancement product, in a brochure for its Enzyte once-a-day pill. Oops.

Advertainment Has Place Alongside Contextual Advertising

So much has been written about the importance of search engine marketing and its contextual cousin. The search mantra has always been relevance - relevant messages placed in relevant context. Writing in Brand Republic, Digital Marketing Communications Managing Director of Online Viral and Buzz Marketing Justin Kirby asserts those online are not always looking specifically for relevant content but also entertainment. Kirby suggests people are online for diversionary purposes as well and are looking for amusement, and are not just on a hunt and peck mission for a specific piece of information.

This claim supports the use of viral marketing and advertainment. If a piece of advertainment is informative and amusing, it will spread across the web perhaps faster than the most elaborate search engine marketing program. Of course, both tactics have their place and neither one should exclude the other.

Google AdSense Ads Now Useless

Maybe it's me. Maybe it's this site. Maybe it's because this site is about advertising and the readers are hip to the click....so they don't. When Google AdSense text ads were added to this site, it turned out to be a very profitable venture. That was 6-8 months ago. Over the past several months, AdSense has gone from a profitable venture to one that now brings in less that pennies per day.

I know Google has messed with how they compensate websites though AdSense but this is ridiculous. While traffic to this site has grown exponentially upward, income from AdSense has gone exponentially downward to the point where the text ads are just a useless waste of space. Are there any Kevin Lee-like search engine marketing experts out there that can shed some light on this?

Ad Compares Taiwanese President to Hitler

While we Americans are getting all up in arms about 9/11 imagery in presidential ads, a candidate in the Taiwanese presidential election ran an ad that compares the sitting president to Hitler. The ad appeared in three of the nations largest daily newspapers. It was placed by the Kuomintang-led opposition for candidate Lien Chan and likens Taiwanese President Chen to Hitler.

Of course, everybody got irate, issued pompous quotes and finally apologized. Politics are the same everywhere.