Your Ad Career Got You in an Ethical Quandry?
If you can't sleep at night because you have to lie, cheat, and steal in the advertising world, there is a solution. It's called Ethic-eze...
Try some today!
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Interpublic Downgraded to JunkBad news for Interpublic. S & P has lowered its rating to Junk status based upon operating performance challenges. S&P credit analyst Alyse Michaelson said in a statement: "The downgrade is based on Interpublic's recent record of weak profitability and higher debt to [earnings], and the likelihood that restoring earnings prospects ... could take longer than anticipated." [via Crain's New York Business] Puma Ads: Not For the SqueamishSo here they are. At first, these ads were thought to be real. To have run in Maxim magazine in Brazil (see below). Then, it was thought to be a viral stunt by PUMA itself. Then, it became known that PUMA had nothing to do with them and that they were just created by someone to have some fun. They are, in fact, fake ads.   A little chronology: (1/8/06: A lot of these links are broken because they are external and it's been almost three years since the story originally broke. Sorry.) 1. According to "dabitch" from Adland in my comment section below, the ads are running in Maxim in Brazil. More on that here. (This is now not true) 2. Puma contacts Salon where the ads appeared on reverse cowgirls weblog asking that the ads be taken down. 3. PUMA makes this statement after catching wind of the whole thing: "It has been brought to our attention that several unauthorized, sexually suggestive advertisements portraying the PUMA brand have been released over the Internet. We are appalled that images like these would be created and distributed under the PUMA name. As a brand, we seek to take a unique perspective toward our advertising in an effort to challenge the boundaries of our industry; however we would never consider using these tactics. We are in the process of researching the circumstances and reserve any legal steps available." 4. They are, in fact, fake as stated in this press statement from PUMA. [via Gawker via Yahoo via WSJ] 5. PUMA sends out Cease and Desist letters to many bloggers. 6. I respond to the Cease and Desist. 7. Gawker responds to the Cease and Desist. 8. A nice summary of the whole thing from Felix Salmon. 9. Gawker offers to organize legal defense for anyone served with cease and desist letters. [via Reverse Cowgirl via YayHooray!] Gandolfini May Leave SopranosActor James Gandolfini has sued HBO over a contract technicality and is using that suit to either get out of the fifth season of HBO's The Sopranos or to leverage a raise in pay. More... BBDO Wins AOL Broadband AccountGreat news for BBDO. Now it will face off against Weiden + Kennedy for the whole account. Good thing. AOL needs all the help it can get and either one of these agencies will do a great job. More... TiVo Subscriber Base Grows and Advertisers NoticeThe once hated, now embraced Tivo medium is passing the one million subscriber mark. And advertising as we now it will, forever, be changed. Tivo's Showcase area, an interactive branded entertainment area, is growing too. "We've been adding promotions almost weekly to the TiVo Showcase area," said Mike Ramsay, Tivo's chief executive. "As we near the 1 million subscriber mark, this promotions business starts to reach critical mass." The research firm, Researcher Screen Digest, predicts that there will be 15 million Tivo users by 2006. The television viewing habits as well as advertising methods are going to change dramatically. I can't wait. Men Get to Read About Shopping TooConde Nast is going to launch a male focused version of Lucky, the magazine focused on shopping. The name will change and there is no editor yet but hey, us guys get to read about shopping now too! More... Technology's Role Increases in Audience MeasurementDana Blankenhorn has joined Mediapost and he is covering the current AAAA meeting in New Orleans. The topic of his first article is that of the declining response rates among measurement companies and technology's increasing role in audience measurement. More... Kelly Osbourne Featured in New Doritos Ad CampaignWell, her show tanked so she will make the usual psuedo star come back...be in an ad campaign. Kelly will appear in the new Doritos "Friendchips" ad campaign. Kelly said: "It's fantastic to be involved with a big brand like Doritos because I've enjoyed eating them since I was a kid. "I immediately wanted to do the commercials after I read their script ideas where I would get to perform my songs ... and munch on Doritos. All I can say is, it doesn't get much better than that!" More... The Great Cross Media Effectiveness DebateOver on the other weblog I have, MarketingFix, and on a discussion forum I belong to, a great debate has raged on about a study referenced in the post below that concluded a very enlightening fact about the mix of offline and online media: that the shift of media dollars from offline (specifically TV) to online increased schedule delivery. You can read about it here. Several people chose to rip apart the methodology of the study without having reviewed the actual study. But my friend and co-blogger on MarketingFix, Rick Bruner, pointed out very gracefully that research is directional. And that taken in combination with other factors, it can be very valuable. It will never answer all the questions. There is always a margin for error. But the fact remains, there is indicative evidence that moving media dollars to the web will increase the delivery of your media schedule. Read up on it and decide for yourself 
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