Last week I enjoyed another laid back family vacation on the South Carolina coast. If you’ve never been to Fripp Island do yourself a favor for some rest and relaxation and spend some time at Fripp. My week was so busy with rest and relaxation I lost track of my television shows and maybe that’s [...]

This quote was on the footer of the AAF daily newsletter today. And I think it pretty much says it all:
“The product that will not sell without advertising will not sell profitably with advertising.” — Albert D. Lasker

I think we’ve all been hearing the exhaustive back and forth over Katie Couric’s new career. While I’m, personally, a little over it, I do think it brings up some interesting points from an identity standpoint. Of course, so many of the conversations are all about her being a women.  And Dan Rather [...]

Summertime always brings a mix of sequels from Hollywood. Some get my attention and others I could care less about. The other day I was watching another forgettable episode of an entertainment show when I caught a photo from the first day of shooting Indiana Jones 4. The theme song from Raiders instantly popped [...]

Yesterday, we learned via SGClark’s blog, that McDonald’s has leveraged one of our favorite pieces of citizen marketing, the “I’m into Nuggets Y’all” video, for a mainstream commercial running during MLB. My gut reaction is: brilliant. This rap is an earworm in the first degree. All it takes is for one person [...]

Via Adweek, the Federal Trade Commission is considering “getting more restrictive in its guidelines on the use of testimonials and endorsements in advertising.”
Why? Because testimonials aren’t always the “typical” result. Like in the case of weight loss programs, or results from exercise equipment. Or even acne medication. So the FTC is thinking about having companies [...]

You’re trying. And you really do get points for that. This “Share Your Story” thing that you’re doing is a nice baby-step into the world of connecting with your customers. And while the site looks pretty and you use the word “real” a lot, you’re still falling way short of authenticity.
The first thing that jumps [...]

Via Wired:
Modest Mouse and Columbia Records let Final Cut Pro users submit videos for the latest Modest Mouse single, called “Missed the Boat,” in the latest example of a band and label harnessing fans for purposes of collaborative content creation.
Visitors to the site selected the top eleven submissions, and now have the final say on [...]

It seems that 7-Eleven and the Simpsons have teamed up. To promote the forthcoming Simpsons movie, a dozen 7-Elevens in major markets around the county transformed themselves into Kwik-E-Marts and are selling Buzz Cola, KrustyO’s cereal and Squishees (where’s the Duff Beer?!?).
I have to admit, 7-Eleven gets bonus points for poking fun at themselves and [...]