Charlotte Church as popular as Britney? Crazy? Maybe. But I have this feeling that she will be. If I'm wrong, I'll look stupid. If I'm right, I'll at least be able to say I said so.
Why do I say this? Well, she can sing. That always helps. She's 16 and sick of doing her operetic stuff and wants to go pop. She is starring in a movie. She's cute. She has an English accent. OK, so maybe some of those are stupid reasons.
Just remember, if it happens, you heard it here first.
BBCi: Charlotte Church makes her big screen debut
Have we become so ridiculously green and politically correct that we can now say that the millions of SUV owners actually support terrorism? Author and columnist Arianna Huffington, came up with the idea to run this idiotic campaign:
"This is George," a girl's voice says of an oblivious man at a gas station. "This is the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The screen then shows a map of the Middle East. "These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The picture switches to a scene of armed terrorists in a desert. "And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his S.U.V."
A second commercial depicts a series of ordinary Americans saying things like: "I helped hijack an airplane"; "I gave money to a terrorist training camp in a foreign country"; "What if I need to go off-road?"
This is like saying when you buy a sweater, you support sweat shop work conditions. Or that when you buy an electronic gadget, you support dumping chemicals in a river. Or that when you buy milk, you are "hurting" a cow.
Get over it! What are we supposed to do? Nothing? Eat nothing? Buy nothing? Sure, lots of things we do in this country have adverse affects. and sure, there are some things we can do about it. The station wagon is gone, The minivan sucks so we buy SUVs because they carry lots of stuff and like it or not, Americans have a lot of stuff.
Huffington's argument falls flat on it's face since all cars use gas and therefore every one in this country that owns a car supports terrorism.
Should we have cars that are less reliant on fossil fuel? Of course. But do we need radical tree huggers to say we support terrorism? There's nothing wrong with the message of buying an SUV wastes resources. But to blame SUV owners for terrorism simply goes too far.
Give it a rest.
NYT: TV Ads Say S.U.V. Owners Support Terrorists
UPDATE: Here are the ads
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Neilsen has added five national cable networks and 9 national magazines to its list of monitored media. Nielsen Monitor-Plus will now collect advertising information from 45 cable networks and 222 national consumer magazines, along with the 13 other media types monitored both nationally and locally.
Neilsen Press Release: NIELSEN MONITOR-PLUS EXPANDS COVERAGE
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So Cisco is going to launch a $150 million campaign within the next three months. Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of the sagging tech industry followed.
BrandWeek: Cisco Rides Again with $150M Campaign
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Cupones Hispanos is a new monthly direct mail magazine targeted to the growing Spanish language population. The magazine will launch initially in the high density Hispanic areas of the Bronx and Hudson County where the Hispanic population, according to the publisher, reaches nearly 40%. The first issues will arrive in homes beginning January 9th. The magazine plans to reach all Hispanic household in the New York area by late Q3 of 2003. Additionally, plans are in place to expand to other Hispanic markets in the US.
The magazine was created by long time Spanish language broadcast/media executive Alfredo Alonso. Alonso, Vice Chairman of Mega Communications, LLC, has owned and operated 21 Spanish radio station groups since he started the company in 1996 with his first acquisition of WURD/Philadelphia. The group expanded into Hartford in 1997, Tampa in 1997, Washington DC in 1998, Orlando in 2000 and finally New York in 2000.
From the press release:
Cupones Hispanos releases its first mailing. Cupones Hispanos has been established in order to provide a new and affordable advertising medium for the growing Spanish language population. Cupones Hispanos becomes the first ever U.S. Spanish language direct multi-mail magazine. The unique concept of Cupones Hispanos is that advertising and coupons will be delivered in Spanish for best results with Hispanic consumers.
There is no web site. Contact Adam Velazquez (201) 225-9595 with inquiries.
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The newspaper industry saw large increases in circulation in 2002 as reported by ABC. USA Today, the nation's largest paper increased its circulation by 16% to 2,610,225. The biggest gain was the Chicago Tribune increasing 65% to 1,012,240. It was a good year for the newspaper industry.
Who said the Internet would kill newspapers?
ABC: Audit Bureau of Circulations - Reader Profile - Top 100 Newspapers
More: Editor and Publisher: Newspaper Outlook 2003
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Ad legend, Hall Riney, says the Internet is ready to give the :30 a run for it's money. Read more on MarketingFix.
MarketingFix: MarketingFix: Selling The Internet -- Is It Time Yet?
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Leslie Moonves of CBS is upset because rival network ABC is launching a competing reality show to Survivor. If I was Leslie, I'd be worried too. Does anyone still watch Survivor?
LA Times: CBS Exec Testifies on 'Survivor' Rival (registration required)
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When the Publishers Information Bureau publishes their ad-page report for the year later this week, it will show that People and Forbes top the list. People will show 3,700 pages which is a 2.4% increase over 2001. Even though Forbes is down to 3,505 pages or 6% from 2001, it will hold the second place position.
New York Daily News: People magazine ad pages leader
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Radio revenue grew 13% in October following an increase of 17% in September. The medium has been on the rise for 8 months now with a 2002 year to date increase of 5% over 2001.
MediaPost: Radio Posts Double Digit Gains Two Months In A Row
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