'Smug Little Twit' Mac Guy Gets Heaved From Apple Campaign

In reaction to an apparent country-wide disdain for Apple's Mac Guy in its current campaign, the company will not ask Mac Guy Justin Long back for the next iteration of the campaign. Calling the Mac Guy a "smug little twit," Slate ad critic Seth Stevenson think Apple is "parodying its own image while also cementing it." This is what passes for big news in our industry. Next

Intel Gives Laptops to Bloggers, Hopes For Nicey Nice

Intel has launched what it calls The Intel Centrino Duo Blogger Challenge. For Intel, Ogilvy PR gave six bloggers (Gothamist's Jen Chung, Popgadget's Mia Kim, Make Magazine's Bre Pettis, The Mommy Blogger's Mindy Roberts, Paul Stamatiou's Paul Stamatiou and Chezpim's Pim Techamuanvivit) Intel Centrino Duo laptops to seek their views. Like the Sprint Ambassador campaign and the many other blogger campaigns before, Intel hopes to get some grass roots juice and cred, none of which can usually be attained through traditional advertising excepting, of course, Apple's advertising.

The promotion also has a twist in that there's a mystery seventh blogger who supposed to be well know and will be unveiled at noon EST November 15th. Anyway, stay tuned to what the bloggers have to say and we'll see how this campaign goes.

UPDATE: Big fucking surprise. The mystery blogger is former Microsoft employee and famed blogger Robert Scoble.

Brand Identities Filled With Pedophilia, Faggots, Bodily Fluid

It seems a lot of businesses in this world need a slap in the face when it comes to the double meanings their company names and logos connote. First, we have pediatric doctor's office signage that alludes to pedophilia. Next, we have get rich quick wackos who like to embed their sexual preference in their logos. Now, we have a store in Brookline Massachusetts that likes to create visions of a certain bodily fluid with its unfortunate name KumOn. Perhaps everyone really is as bad at proofreading as we are.

Microsoft Does Aerial Software Drop on Willow Springs Illinois

Not quite like Axe helping a small male-heavy town attract women by spraying the town with deodorant, Microsoft has, apparently, completed an aerial software drop over the town of Willow Springs, IL to promote its new Office Accounting software. In perhaps an attempt grab share from Quickbooks, the small business software arrived from the sky on a CD attached to a miniature parachute which netted the usual "news footage" now "found" on YouTube. While one might assume there's laws against this sort of thing,

The aerial package also directs people to the IdeaWins site on which the software and a free download are promoted on the basis that everyone's got a big idea therefore they need accounting software to manage that big idea. Hmm. Well, that line of thinking might work for, say, software that actually aids the development of an idea rather than account for it but, then again, even accounting needs creative assistance at times.

Boneless Animals And Farewell Tour Return For McRib

Like an aging rock star who won't roll over and die, Mcdonald's has brought back their McRib sandwich with the MicRib Farewell Tour II, a follow up to last year's original McRib Farewell Tour. On the site, visitors can build their own rock concert light show that can be recorded and sent to friends, download McRib themed t-shirt designs, download McRib "power rock ballads" and download McRib wall paper for their computer. While that all makes for a good time, we found ourselves spending way to much time just watching that intro rocker chick do her thing. Over and over. Yes, we are truly ill. We admit it.

Also back is the BPFAA (the Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America) website, bonelesspigs.org, a fictitious organization that promotes the good will of boneless pigs. This whole boneless animal thing. It just makes one wonder if all the PETA videos capturing the mythical boneless KFC chicken are for real.

Following Wal-Mart, McDonald's Caught With Fake Blogs

Perhaps directing some of the attention away from Edelman who was behind the Wal-Mart fake blog (flog) thing, are two new blogs for McDonald's, but not labeled as such. The co-promote with Monopoly. The Consumerist points to 4railroads and McDmillionwinner (link goes to Google cache as someone inside McDonald's apparent said "oops" and pulled the blog) and explains how the two sites are inter-related. Even though they carry dead giveaway copy written not by bloggers but by copywriters, the two blogs do not mention any association with McDonald's or Monopoly.

It's not that the blogs were launched in a clandestine manner. In fact, an October 19th press release makes reference to the 4railroads blog. It's just that things should be marked as they are. There's nothing wrong with cute, teaser campaigns but to pass something off as something it's not because it's thought slapping a brand name on it will lessen it's effect is, well, just not right.

Dropping Prices, Increasing Sexiness Sell Pontiac G6

In this art director's visual wet dream for the new Pontiac G6, the ever declining prices and increasing speed and sexiness of computers, music equipment and telephones are cited as an analogy to the less expensive and supposedly sexier G6. Created by Leo Burnett Detroit, the spot kinda gets the message across but does anyone really believe cars can get cheaper and a Pontiac cold be classified as sexy?

Homeless People Could Live In A Car For A Week Too

There's a law somewhere that says two makes a trend and with Chevy joining Nissan in the "our car is so awesome you could live in it" thing, we officially have a trend. As you know, some dude is living in a Nissan and making a "film" about it. Opinions as to how and when and ad somehow became a film aside, the series of "films" is supposed to endear us to the vehicle and the glory of its comfort.

Now, Chevy, with its Livin' Large in Aveo, is following eight college student teams across the country for a week with webcams and blog entries. Everyone gets to vote on which team lives the "largest." Wow. Cool. Yea, road trips are fun and we've had our share back in the day when every friggin' move you made wasn't commercialized.

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Ashlee Simpson Launches Skechers Line, Can't Speak

Ashlee Simpson, who seems to be morphing into some kind of plastic representation of her older sister Jessica, has hooked up with Skechers to launch a new line of footwear. During the launch announcement a few days a go, she said, "Skechers is brand that is not afraid to going the beyond. I look forward to representing Skechers clothing line; I also hope to add a few more pairs to my wardrobe," causing some to wonder if English is her first language. Whatever. She looks way better with blond hair and whatever facial/nasal adjustments she's had than her former I-Must-Look-Different-Than-Jessica look she forced upon us earlier.

Marketers Will Not Destroy Second Life

Much negativity has surrounded the launch of a new marketing company called Crayon. The company chose to make their launch announcement within Second Life where they established an island outpost. Some seem to think it's the end of Second Life because Crayon, along with all kinds of other marketers, will enter Second Life with no respect for the world's current residents. To coin a Second Lifers anti-marketing sentiment, it's all a gallery of lies. Second Life will be just fine with or without marketers.

First of all, Crayon is not a company whose sole purpose is to create marketing programs within Second Life. The company created the outpost as an efficient place to conduct business. Sure, some of the work they do may be Second Life-related but that is not the focus of the company. We don't profess to know anything more than what a couple months-worth of visits to Second Life have provided but, as far as we can see, no one is forcing Second Life residents to pay any attention at all to brands entering the world. In fact. most have been set up on islands which can easily be ignored or never discovered in the first place.

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