In a move that could be described as both the display of good corporate behavior as well as a cheesy effort to leverage natural disaster for corporate gain, MasterCard is lending its "Priceless" campaign to the state of Florida for use in a combined campaign to persuade Floridians to make sure they're ready for hurricane season. On the good corporate behavior side of the story, MasterCard will donate the cost of a print ad campaign in four Florida markets to deliver the hurricane preparedness message. On the not so good corporate citizen side of the story are the lobbying efforts MasterCard may have implemented to get Florida Governor Jeb Bush to sign into legislation a bill creating a tax holiday from May 21 to June 1 on all purchases. Hmm. Lower taxes. Higher purchases. More charge card usage. More money for MasterCard.
We already forgot who this is for but it has something to do with soccer and it's a lot easier to play than the FIFA game.
If you like soccer (football to the rest of the world), you might like this new game from Philips which is promoting the game and providing a chance to win tickets to the FIFA World Cup Finals. While the game is supposed to be simple to play which just three clicks, we couldn't get it to work. But, don't let that stop you from tryting.
Stardust's LA design director Brad Tucker and executive producer Eileen Doherty teamed-up to co-direct an in-store video, which will be featured in international M.A.C stores through June, and is part of a Culture Bloom CD-ROM release being distributed to M.A.C event attendees. Along with directing the live action, Stardust also provided editorial, design, animation and finishing on this project. It's very floral and arty but we like it which makes us sound gay which, while, of course, there's nothing wrong with being gay, we're, clearly, not. Just to put that...uh...straight.
There's a little rumor going around that a disease called Morgellons, a creepy skin disease that involves little bugs a bug-like sensation under the skin, and the websites associated with it are just a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming movie A Scanner Darkly. Michael Shostack of The Halting Point has collected some information pointing to the likelihood the disease is, in fact his opinion, a viral campaign. Shostack, who, since one never knows when it comes to virals, may actually be part of the viral campaign, points to a Slashdot story which says "Imagine having a disease that is so controversial that doctors refuse to treat you." The Slashdot story leads to a June 2005 Popular Mechanics story about the disease which has, reportedly, been around since 2002 when websites (1, 2) about the disease began appearing.
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Anytime the subject of woman and orgasms arises, everyone jumps on the topic and goes nuts. Everyone's writing about a company called Surprise Parties which hosts parties for women to sell sexual aids and discuss means to rekindle their romance. Recently, Carr Knowledge, an agency with offices in Nashville placed a large billboard buy for Surprise Parties that contained the company's new headline, "Stop Faking It." Nashville outdoor companies CBS and Lamar have refused to accept the buy. The 41 other states Car Knowledge placed boards had no issue with the ad which features company's seven senior managers dressed in pink under the headline. The only skin showing on the board are hands and faces.
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