 Stuffed Animals or Me? Like that Doublemint commercial that used to say "Double Your Pleasure," a new study conducted by RAND and funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development finds teens who watch a lot of sex-themed TV are twice as likely to have sex. Additionally, it was found that 12 year olds who view lots of sexually charged content act like 14 or 15 year olds who view the least amount. That explains the proliferation of Thirteen-like teenagers strutting around the mall looking like 18 year old hookers.
The study fuels the age old argument of whether media causes changes in societal behavior or whether it simply mirrors it. Kids will imitate what they perceive to be cool. Much of what we see in media does make sex cool. Everyone wants to be attractive and to be desired and that yearning for desire usually manifests itself in the form of clothing and actions designed to get that attention. It's not always that a teen wants physical attention but simply any form of attention and media has instructed kids that looking hot is cool and helps them get what they want. Oh yes, this is blatant generalization but it's a game of one-upmanship - what can one do that will get one noticed more? It's like the Guinness Book of World Records. To "win," the skirts get shorter, the pants get lower, the thongs get higher, the boobs get uncovered and pretty soon everyone's fucking instead off studying.
It's impossible to go back but perhaps we are on the cusp of a generational climax in which we collectively reach a peak celebu-media fueled societal climax, retreat in the afterglow, take a few years off to recover, then re-angage thrusting ourselves urgently, helplessly and uncontrollably towards another inevitable, even more intense, cultural climax.
- Playboy's Hugh Hefner and Pow Entertainment's Stan Lee have joined forces to create the animated jiggle-fest Superbunnies.
- Saturday Night Live Alumna Cheri Oteri has teamed with Alias' J.J. Abrams to created a comedy project for ABC.
- Celebrity fashion brands grow in number. Now, you can even wear John Malkovick on your back.
- Looks like Janet's boob is going to cost CBS-owned stations $550,000 if the FCC has their way.
- Audi launches streaming video ads supporting the launch of its A6. Unlike the BMW films, these will just be long form ads.
In the U.K., Quaker has booted Olympic runner Paula Radcliffe from an upcoming ad campaign for its Oatso Simple following her poor Olympic performance and claiming she no longer lives up to the company's tagline, "It helps you go the distance." Radcliffe had said the product was a favorite pre-race staple and her agent, Sian Masterson, tries to deflect the issue by saying the deal broke not because of her Olympic record but because Quaker could not get script approval from the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Center.
 I'm Richer Than You Bitch Who knew that former Seinfeld star Julie Louis-Dreyfus is heiress to a $2.9 billion dynasty? Compare that to our favorite celebutante of the minute, Paris Hilton, who is heiress to a "paltry" $550 Million dynasty. That's right, Louis-Dreyfus is the daughter of Gerard Louis-Dreyfus who runs Louis-Dreyfus Group, a mega-corp in shipping, energy, real estate, manufacturing and communications.
Noting Louis-Dreyfus actually works and makes money on her own as compared to Hilton's "famous for nothing" lifestyle, Gorillamask's Ryan Perry has examined the two women and published a comparison of their childhoods, lifestyles, work ethics, accomplishments, television careers and achievements. Perry finishes the comparison with a summary of the two.
For Louis-Dreyfus, it's "Responsible, tireless actress who worked her way to the top of the entertainment industry, independently earning a lifetime of financial freedom for her and her family.
For Hilton, it's "Dipshit socialite who wrecklessly rode her family's wealth and ex-boyfriend's dick to the top of the American disgrace that is the reality television food chain." Draw your own conclusions.
From barcodes embedded in songs to product links in DVD's to holographic commercial projections, G-Man Music & Radical Radio President Scott G tells artists who try to fend off advertising encroaching upon their creations to stop complaining. Everything is about promotion. The hit songs on the radio are just promotions (paid in many cases) for album sale as are the lyrics within the songs themselves promotion for other products.
It's all heading toward what we'll call blended advertising.
Advertising that will no longer stand alone but become an integrated portion of content itself. In many cases, we already have that with product integration and adver-movies to name just two, but the ad and the content are, for the most part, still separate entities. We are moving towards a possible future where advertising is no longer a stand-alone effort but a seamlessly integrated component of content. In essence, there will be no more ad agencies but rather, content agencies.
UPDATE: And here's a New York Times piece confirming this notion of "brand wrangler."
Cities, and the interested parties behind them, are turning to the Times Square model in efforts to revitalize and rezone city districts and large electronic signage is playing a starring role. Those in favor of this move cite point to New York's success in turning Times Square from porn central to the electrified ad capital it is today. Critics claim this move will simply make every city look alike and therefore remove any special character the city might once have had.
Another point to consider in all of this is what vision of itself a city wants to project to the rest of the country and to the world.
During the dawn of the millennium, visuals of the world's cities flashed across the television screen as news operations covered each time zone's birth of a new millennium. Among all of the planet's cities, New York's Times Square stood out as the most commercial, most gaudy and most unbecoming city of the bunch. Those who involve themselves in the making of a city's landscape would do well to think long and hard before making parts of their cities one gigantic billboard. We already have a Times Square. We don't need hundreds more.
- TVWATCH's Wayne Friedman wraps about Fine Living Networks's "Day of Nothing."
- Six agencies go to war for the $180 million U.S. Army account.
- Guinness launches its second "Out of Darkness Comes Light" TV spot directed by Oscar-winng director Anthony Minghella.
- ClickZ's Pamela Parker analyzes Claria's recent activity and thinks the likes of AOL, Yahoo or Google could buy Claria for $805 million.
- AlmondNet's Roy Shkedi predicts the future cooperation between adware and behavioral trargeting companies.
- New York Times Online ad promotes George in the Box.
For years, Absolut vodka, with its bottle-morphing creative, has been seen on the pages of most every magazine published. Now, the vodka giant is taking its campaign to television with four new spots that will launch next week on national cable channels such as FX, VH1, E, Spike TV, USA and BET. Even as Absolut's print efforts have been very successful growing the brand to the number one selling imported vodka, Absolut President and CEO Carl Horton offers no good reason to bring the campaign to life other than to say, "We look at it as bringing the print ads to life. Our campaign has continued to evolve over the years. TV is another part of the mix."
Each of the ads will chronicle four artist's creative rendering of the Absolut Rasberri bottle in time lapsed fashion which are then displayed as, surprise, print and outdoor ads.
A new study from Harris Interactive states those in their early to mid-20's are "eager but anxious" about "living in a world of conflict."
Perhaps still bitter from the divorce and jealous that former husband, Donald Trump, is getting all the fame with The Apprentice, Ivana Trump wants in on the reality show fame game. In late Fall, FOX will launch "Ivana Man, " a two hour reality series in which Trump will play matchmaker for eight young bachelors competing for the affection of a 40-ish "older woman."
"For years, rich older men have traded in their wives for pretty young women with bigger 'attributes,"' but now "mature women are finding that true love can happen with younger men," Fox reality TV guru Mike Darnell said in a statement.
Ah, but will studly, young, 20-somethings find enough necessary hotness to satisfy their urges in a 40-something woman?
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