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Real Mad Men and Women Make Moments of Madison Avenue Magic

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What do you do when you find yourself in a room full of the people that imagineered your childhood?

You lose all social poise and most of your moxie -- not on purpose, but inevitably.

That's what it felt like during last night's press debut for The Real Men & Women of Madison Avenue and Their Impact on American Culture. As I walked across the floor, treading over familiar phrases like "Got milk?" with Ed McCabe! and Judy Wald! at either elbow, I fell back (hard) on responses like, "Awesome!" and "Woooow!" and "Ha-ha-HA!" -- sometimes even before they could finish a sentence.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Agencies, Best, Industry Events



OMMA Social: Sink-or-Swim in Social Media

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After the behavioral targeting panel, OMMA attendees sat for "Sink or Swim: The Best and Worst of Social Media Marketing."

The discussion revolved around social media campaigns that the panelists thought were "sinkers" and "swimmers." Each concluded by presenting one piece of advice.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Industry Events



OMMA Social: Do Behavioral Targeting and Social Media Tread a Star-Crossed Path?

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OMMA Social went down at the Yale Club all of yesterday. I arrived around 2:50 or so, in time to catch part of "Behavioral Targeting: How to Connect with the Right People in Social Media."

Here's a taste of what I heard. (catch photos here.)

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by Angela Natividad    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Industry Events



ooVoo Wants Your Money -- for a Tea Party Larger than Three, Anyway

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ooVoo, a six-way video conferencing site that most of us used exactly ONCE -- and probably never again -- is converting to a paid model for PCs, according to an email from Deb Wiseman of Crayon.

Users that participated in My ooVoo Day in February get a month of free use. Mac owners, expect to cash in on that glorious month in a year -- which is when Mac joins the paid model.

Options on the ooVoo site now enable Windows users to "purchase ooVoo options." The charge could be per-use, per-person or time-based; Windows users, any insight?

Aaaanywho, Deb's email is below. And if you're in a nostalgic mood, check out the My ooVoo Day commemorative video.

UPDATE: Deb responded to this post with a detailed purchasing plan (see comments). It's a lot to swallow but at a glance it seems to make sense. One cannot live on sponsorships alone.

Three-person video chat will continue to be free, along with "unlimited one-minute video messages" -- the audiovisual version of Twitter.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Online, Strange, Video



Yawn. Dudes Fill Levi's With Helium and Float

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Following the questionably-real video of a guy back flipping into a pair of Levi's, a new, definitely not real video has a guy with his pants filled with helium float off into the air. OK. A.) Ever try to see how many helium-filled balloons you'd need to get yoursself off the ground? Exactly, you gave up after 100 which wouldn't even launch your dog. B.) Curiously, the guys is always floating in the same position...as if hung buy a wire that was later digitally removed. Not at all like the people you see floating around in space or on dive planes.

OK, it's fun but this is just dumb. Some poor low IQ idiot is going to try this at home and kill themselves thinking they can jump off their roof with a bit of helium in their pants. Law suits will ensue. Levi's will apologize. And American stupidity will continue to reign supreme.

by Steve Hall    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Opinion



Morbid Press Play Capitalizes on George Carlin's Death

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Today, not more than a few hours after word of George Carlin's death spread across the internet, this atrocity arrived in the Adrants inbox:

"Today, we learned of the passing of comedy great George Carlin, an unintentional champion of freedom of speech.

Over the years, the discussion of WHAT CAN BE SAID on TV has raised eyebrows, and court gavels. From "period" to "pregnant," how are companies talking to their audiences these days and how has it changed since years before.

An editor at [redacted] is available for commentary on this new media culture, including:

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by Steve Hall    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Magazine, Online, Opinion, Strange, Worst



David Beckham Puts Package Away, Lusts After Sharpie Pens

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There's been a lot of talk about David Beckham's package and all those ginormous billboards on which it is displayed. Well now, as we mentioned back in May, Beckham has put all his clothes back on and is sparring with people over Sharpie pens he covets in a new commercial breaking July 7.

In the commercial, created by BrandBuzz New York, Beckham is asked to autograph several items and, after signing his name, covets the Sharpie he used to do so. Along with a cute street fight with a little girl, Becjham also steals a Sharpie from a woman at a gas station but he can't fool her. So, he gives the woman his shirt, autographs it and makes off with the Sharpie of his dreams.

While it's understandable the people asking for autographs would have some increased affinity for Beckham but for Beckham to have that sort of affinity for a...pen, well, oh wait...this is a commercial, not real life. Oops, sorry. Unrealistic things happen in commercial all the time. Totally normal. All good.

by Steve Hall    Jun-24-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Commercials, Good



McCain Invades Pork With facebook Game

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John McCain, the man who doesn't use a computer and has his wife tend to all his computing needs, has launched a Facebook game called Pork Invaders.The point of the game? Who cares but, damn, ain't McCain gettin' all jiggy with this internet thang!

by Steve Hall    Jun-23-08    
Topic: Games, Political



Undies Are Fun, Binge Drinking is Not, Vodka Goes Phallic

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- Kmart says it's more fun in your underwear. That is if the world were made up of perfectly toned, 20-something hotties.

- You wouldn't start your night like this so why end it that way?

- Hmm. If you wished you could market your vodka brand with futuristic female robots but were saddened to realize a competing brand already does that, there's always the phallic route with cherries standing in for balls sucked by women with big red lips.

by Steve Hall    Jun-23-08    
Topic: Commercials



JCPenney 'Endorses' Teenage Sex (Not Really, As It Turns Out)

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Come on. You know you can remember it. You were in high school and your boyfriend or girlfriend was on the way over to visit and the anticipation was killing you. Killing you! Your heart was pounding. Chills were running through your body from head to toe. You couldn't wait to see her/him when you opened the door. And when you did, a gush of warmth filled your body and you smiled a big smile. And then...you couldn't wait to tell your mother you were "just going down to the basement to watch some TV" so you could....go down the basement, each tear your clothes off the other and embrace with an urgency words can never describe.

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by Steve Hall    Jun-23-08    
Topic: Best, Brands, Commercials, Worst



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