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Ogilvy -- er, Lenovo -- Blogs and Tweets the Summer Olympics Lenovo is maximizing its Summer Olympics sponsorship with a social media rollout dubbed "Voices of the Olympic Games." Rohit Bhargava, SVP of Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, described the strategy in a sentence that would give William Faulkner brain freeze: Use Lenovo products to power athletes sharing their real experiences leading up to and during the Olympic Games directly with fans around the world. PFEEZ! Counters Ebay FEES! with Free Promotion A handy-dandy rule of thumb: avoid using a service whose name sounds exactly like "Fees!" (exclamation included). PFEEZ! is a site that publishes "creative" photographs of stuff people are selling on Ebay. The lunatic at left, par exemple, is selling a very old Swiss 20-franc piece. The site positions itself as "a totally bizarre photo/videoblog" that helps sellers "catch people's attention on curent Ebay sales (for FREE)." If you're a seller on Ebay, you'll need all the help you can get. Guffaw. Heave Poker Chip! Win PRIZES! Seeking distraction? Practice your competitive discus-throwing skills on Discus Champion, a game Tamba made for King Solomon's Casino, which is kinda funny because until I realized the discus was actually a head-sized poker chip, I thought this was a really lame promotion for Ultimate Frisbee. Just Another Orthodontics Ad, Taken for a Pimp For some odd reason I thought the ad at left, which appeared in my Facebook, was offering me young adults with straight teeth. The website isn't much clearer. (That is, if you can manage to ignore the glowing "Invisalign" logo at right.) Just spell it out, guys: we've got braces, get 'em while they're hot. Xeni Jardin Takes the Heat on Boing Boing Conference Call Quick backstory: Boing Boing removes all mention of sex columnist Violet Blue from its records. The news comes out, all hell breaks loose, Boing Boing talks back, but fans are unimpressed. Soooo... Yesterday Boing Boing held a conference call with Xeni Jardin, David Pescovitz, Joel Johnson, John Battelle of Federated Media, and The LA Times. Apparently they talked for over an hour. Here's parts one and two of the convo. The short and sweet: Xeni Jardin takes the blame for removing the posts. She also shares a little family history -- and I'm wishin' she didn't, because it feels like a cop-out (here's a little inside-shit for all the inside-shit you're not getting!). Then the Boingers talk "editorial autonomy," John Battelle puts Boing Boing's growth spurt in perspective, everyone discusses the philosophy of "site" and "content" ownership, and nobody says sorry. The end. PS. For a directory of "formerly wonderful things" that included Violet Blue and were whipped off Boing Boing, check out VioletBlueVioletBlue.net (via those naughty naughty gossips at ValleyWag). Coors Could Use a Little Help with that Zany 'Interactive' Concept Somebody didn't think this one through. This banner ad for Coors Light first attracted me with its weird copy: "GRAB A COLD ONE. When the mountains turn blue, it's as cold as the Rockies." I was like, what?! And then I noticed some other text: "COLD ACTIVATED BOTTLE." "Awesome!" I said. "I can frost this Coors!" So I started clicking all over the ad to make with the frosting. Nike Soccer Releases Ad-Infused Video Widget Eyeblaster, AKQA and Mindblaster put their wands together to create a video widget for Nike See widget here. Basically it streams a selection of Nike ads: watch 'em one after the other, or browse from a playlist. There are also embed options for social networks. I'm not convinced anyone wants a video widget pre-loaded with Nike soccer spots, but given that it starts with "The Next Level" by Guy Ritchie -- which makes my brain throb -- I'm glad it default-launches on mute. Way to go, Eyeblaster. But really, the idea behind widget technology is engaging people without them having to leave the website they're on. AKQA, couldn't you have snuck in a soccer game or some shoe-customizing awesomeness? The Social Path Takes Buzzwords, Superiority and Hype Out of Social Media David Griner of AdFreak fame has convinced his agency, Luckie & Co, to launch The Social Path. It's a clean, uncomplicated and sane place for learning about social media. The blog went live Sunday. I don't want to gush much, but I spent most of the last half-hour reading the entries. If you're looking for rants or hype-ridden miracles, you will probably be disappointed. What it will do is simplify topics that have become extremely noisy. And then it will walk you through them while clasping your hand -- not as an "expert," but as a person learning alongside you. For a sense of what I mean, read his second entry, Five Myths of Social Media. It's a great place to get started. Santa Has a Social Network! On Ning! Gone are the days when earnest, slightly manipulative letters to the North Pole get lost in the USPS ether. Now you can join Santa's social network and hit him up whenever. He even has a blog! That's sweet and stuff, but the Santa I remember -- the one from Miracle on 34th St. -- wouldn't be sending repeated emails asking me to join "Santa live now." There's something freaky and subservient-chickenish about that. Why Go the Long Way? Take the Career Path Express. If you happen to be a "..." seeking "...?", you're in luck! NYU's Career Path Express has your number. The Career Path Express is a co-branded program between NYU and NavAgility, which I guess helps full-time students or people with families get back on the fast track to DoctorLawyerville. 
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