Calling attention to a certain form of tourism in Ukraine that the country isn't all too pleased is popular within its borders, non-profit group Femen has launched Do You Want Me, a website on which visitors can dig into the seedy side of the country's sex trade.
The site aims to call attention to the notion paying for sex creates a form of slavery. Similar efforts to fight the proliferation of the sex trade have been done by Amnesty International (here, here and here), by Stop the Traffik in London, by The Salvation Army in South Africa and by the Helen Bamber Foundation.
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Said to enhance buyer control over ad placement and context, the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced the launch of the Ad Network & Exchange Quality Assurance Certification Program consisting of compliance guidelines, procedures and a certification program. Companies that undergo training, conduct an internal audit and assign a compliance officer to maintain the IAB's Quality Assurance Guidelines will receive a compliance seal from the IAB. The seal, which can be placed on the company's website and marketing materials, certifies that the company is adhering fully to the only industry established criteria as outlined by the QAG, finalized in June 2010.
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Ever heard of Demand Media? Apparently, they are an annoying boil on Google's back and the reason the search giant recently altered its algorithms to eliminate content mills that create boatloads of questionable relevant content. In a nutshell, organizations like Demand Media find out what people are searching for and then right articles to match those search queries thereby insuring Demand Media sites glean heavy traffic which can then be monetized through advertising.
Even though Google did make changes to its algorithms, many say it hasn't affected Demand Media at all much to the dismay of those who find the sort of content Demand Media propagates rubbish.
In an attempt to get to the bottom of Demand Media's success, Online MBA created an infographic that illustrates the process Demand Media goes through to create and monetize its content.
The spin cycle of sadness. All we are saying is give socks a chance. I'm the Johnny Appleseed of missing socks. They're like sweaters on your feet. Kumbaya, my socks. If we're not careful, there's going to be a sockpocalypse.
As a follow up to its clever debut video, LBi has launched its second Sock Loss video for GE. The new PSA is for L.O.S.S. (Laundered and Orphaned Sock Society), continue to explore the mystery behind loss socks and why there always seems to be one missing.
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The Booth at the End is a 62 episode web series that tests the moral fiber and fortitude of its characters. Xander Berkley stars is the main character and sits at the booth at the end of a diner. People come to him with things they want: a parent with a sick child, a woman who wants to be prettier, a nun who wants to hear God again.
For a price, Berkley can make these desires come true. In exchange for what they want, these individuals must sacrifice their morals and perform tasks they otherwise wouldn't. They may be asked to set off a bomb, rob a bank or kill a child. They then must return to the man and describe every step in detail. As the characters' tasks begin to overlap, complications ensue. But the man never forces anyone to do anything.
Promoting the series is an online game called Can You Kill which requires the player to shoot a person and then explain why they shot the person when they did. Once the mission is complete, the reason can be tweeted or shared on facebook.
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Stink Digital is out with new work from Wrangler and the brand's Bluebell and Wrangler spring/summer 2011 collections. The company created two "interactive experiences."
The first is a puzzle which features film moving both forwards and backwards, separated by a user controlled splitscreen. Shot in Palm Springs' Ace Hotel, it features model Tony Ward in the role of a man haunted by visions of his own ghost as he moves through the hotel. The effect is bolstered by a non-linear soundtrack which develops as the journey progresses, and a hazy ghosting effect, done interactively, which appears whenever the user opens up the split screen.
The second effort, for Wrangler's "Worn Across America", is more straightforward with a collection of film set pieces the user can 'scrub' back and forth to distress the appearance of the films themselves....just like Wrangler jeans are distressed. The work is accompanied by a southern rock soundtrack from Hear No Evil.
New work from Gotham, Jason Bateman's production studio DumbDumb and Ben Silverman's studio Electus for Denny's brings us Always Open, an online celebrity talk show of sorts. Hosted by comedy actor David Koechner, the series debuted today and has Bateman and Koechner exchanging some witty banter at a local Denny's.
Future episodes will feature Will Arnett, Sarah Silverman, Amy Poehler, Will Forte and - oh yes - Kristen Bell. The content of each three minute video will center around questions asked by Koechner of the various celebrities with the resulting videos distributed on College Humor, Denny's website, Bateman's DumbDumb, YouTube, Facebook and other platforms.
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Today, Skype announce the launch of an advertising program - it's first ever - which will place ads on the Home tab of Skype for Windows. Groupon, Nokia, Universal and Visa and some of the initial advertisers.
The Home page ad unit will measure 650 X 170 and will expand to 650 X 340. It will also include the ability to embed audio and video. Each ad will contain a Click to Call button and sharing functionality with Facebook and Twitter.
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One of CarMax's Super Bowl commercials last night led to a site entitled A Brief History of Bad Customer Service. Beginning with the Romans dropping the thread count of their togas from 500 to 400 to the invention of Bait and Switch to the pioneering of hold music, the site highlights some of the more negative aspects of the customer experience.
Of course the scroll ends with CarMax's revolutionized customer service in 1993. Whatever that is. And for the geeks, CarMax really wants you to know the site was done in css/html5/jquery and not Flash.
The Barbarian Group, in partnership with Super Size Me creator Morgan Sprulock and creativity tools company Aviary, has created NoAd: New York, an internet-based effort to remove all advertising from New York's Times Square.
Spurlock was inspired by Sao Paulo's ban on all outdoor advertising since 2007. He then contacted The Barbarian Group to develop NoAd: New York.
Using the tool, all of the ads in Times Square can be edited out. Of course, this has no effect on the real world ads that plaster Times Square and show no signs of disappearing anytime soon. After all, as much as Spurlock tried to convince us fast food is bad for us, have we really seen an reduction at all in the proliferation of McDonald's or Burger King?
- The Bees Awards, celebrating successes in international social media, is looking for sponsors for its upcoming awards event.
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