Writing on his weblog, Advertising Ourselves to Death, Todd Copelzitz celebrates the cluelessness of agency execs and media companies when it comes to understanding digital media. Copelvitz takes a look at the Pathfinder debacle - the old on and the new - and the genral cluelessness of elder creatives struggling to understand this thing called new media.
Citing an article written by Aaron Baar called Teaching As Old(er) Creative New Tricks, Copelvitz calls out some gems such as 54 year old Carmichael Lynch Chairman Jack Supple's regular meetings with his web designers (rather than just jumping into the new tech himself) to stay current with new media. From the same article, it appears 54 year old Jeff Goodby at least grasps the concept of jumping in with b oth feet saying, "I used to think you could noodle something out on a pad and have someone else execute it on a computer. But now I believe you have to understand technology just to know what's possible."
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Remember the days when hospitals didn't advertise, lawyers didn't advertise, spamming was unheard of and you just went to whatever doctor your neighbor recommended? Of course you don't because it's been eons since that simple life was the norm. Thanks to one Louisiana chiropractor, you might as well assume your going to get a call from your local chiropractor a day or two after you've had an accident. At least if you live in Louisiana. The Consumerist tells us Dr. Kirtland Speaks has gone to court asking for a repeal of the Louisiana Board of Chiropractic Examiners regulations which prevents doctors from obtaining accident victim's phone numbers from public accident reports.
While a lower court refused to overturn the Boards' regulations, a higher court ruled in his favor so, for the time being as the case continues to wend its way through the legal system, Louisiana resident can expect a call from Dr. Kirtland if they ever find themselves in an accident.
Reacting to a Cyclemedia press release which read, in part, "These billboards are impossible to miss and are fully interactive! Get ready for in your face advertising that literally screams from the streets of Toronto," Torontoist wondered, as we do, what the hell is interactive about a bike billboard. Oh, yea, as Torontoist says, it's the eggs that will be thrown at the poor billboard cyclist as he tries to weave his way in and out of pedestrian and automotive traffic on the narrow streets of Toronto.
Dave Blake sent us, and apparently everyone else in his address book, this old-ish commercial for U.K.-based William Lawson Scotch Whiskey. He tells us it's "never been seen" and that the agency was asked to change the ending to a more politically correct one. Apparently humping....oh...just watch the spot and find out. It's really not even that good. Let's hope this isn't some lame viral revival or something.
We were optimistic, though we're not sure why, the the McDonald's McMornings might be something special but the first thing we were greeted with was The Excuse Generator 3000, one of those lame, so five years ago, excuse letter generators for people without enough spine to stand up for themselves when their boss asks them why they were late to work. Of course that could all be due to some ingenious use of cookies automatically landing anyone coming to the site after, say, after 9A in a given time zone on that page.
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As if Citibank didn't already have enough problems with security breaches, it's now also suffering from contextual corrigendum (go ahead, look it up. We had to) and appears to be offering Brian, a visitor to a MySpace group about fibromyalgia, chronic pain and fatigue a credit card in the form on an ad that reads, "Chronic Feetigue." In reaction to seeing this, check out the suggestions Brian sent Consumerist for future contextual corrigendums such as AIDS - Annual Interest Depression Syndrome. Gotta love contextual advertising.
Because Bucky Turco said it so well, we're going to let him just say it in his own words here, "First it was the bus stops, now its the buses. Spotted today in Manhattan, two beers on the same bus panel: Sapporo and Corona Light. So, in a space as crowded as NYC, once again, brand exclusivity just doesn't happen, or the people placing the media are completely incompetent at this point."
Some marketers just don't know when to leave a good thing alone. Last summer, Chicken of the Sea launched an interesting commercial that mixed sex appeal with humor in the form of a hot chick strutting through a lobby wearing a miniskirt and an exposed, very flat belly. She has all the guys drooling until she gets into the elevator, the doors close and she lets her gut bulge out with the joke being she wouldn't have that gut if only she had eaten tuna.
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In one of the most idiotic, unnecessarily sensationalistic pieces of crap, The Weather Channel has launched a promotion based entirely on creating fear of highly unlikely catastrophic weather events. Riffing off the look and feel of the weather-themed The Day After Tomorrow movie, the promotion, which combines actual past weather events with sensationalistic scenarios, promotes the network's new show called "It Could Happen Tomorrow." Well, yea, the Earth could crack in two under the weight of a clan of obese, fast food-eating kids all sitting down on their fat asses simultaneously to play some stupid video game too.
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While we like articles that quickly come to the point, one letter Page Six stories, well, even Page Six needs at least a couple sentences to maintain interest. Take a look at this Page Sixe page Bucky Turcosent us. Relieve us from what book? Oh, and that contextual ad placement? Priceless.
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