Monday, March 31, 2008

Another silly sandwich ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVd3kmwMU
Watch two roast beef sandwiches chatter. Who signs off on this silliness?

More on "ads are everywhere"!

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Out_of_Home_19/Your_client_shopping_at_airport_stores.asp

The young and hip allegedly pay attention to ads on plastic shopping bags they get with purchases at airport stores.

Journalism students don't despair

http://www.collegemediainnovation.org/blog/2008/03/27/journalism-school-graduates-how-to-increase-your-chance-of-finding-a-job-and-decrease-your-chance-of-having-to-vent-on-angryjournalistcom/
The site angryjournalist.com shouldn't make J-students disheartened.

Report: Internet addiction should be labeled disease

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=125987
Adage.com reports: "A Prominent Doctor Considers the Mental State of Internet Addicts. But, Hey, What About the Dealers?"

Buyout leaves Newsweek's cupboards bare?

Radar reports on the buyouts: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/03/newsweek-buyouts-writers-david-ansen-gates.php

And more media buyouts are listed at mediabistro.com: http://www.collegemediainnovation.org/blog/2008/03/27/journalism-school-graduates-how-to-increase-your-chance-of-finding-a-job-and-decrease-your-chance-of-having-to-vent-on-angryjournalistcom/

Writer consider NPR National Pentagon Radio

http://www.alternet.org/stories/80604/
Is NPR reporting the biased information from the Pentagon--or is it remaining independent and balanced? This writer explains the problem.

Death by newscast?

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19855
The AP reports that a woman blames the news media for her husband's suicide

Socially responsible: Gore foots bill for ad campaign

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/31/algore.uselections08.climate
Former U.S. vice president Al Gore is spending $300 million on global warming ads.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Ashton K spoofs the press: Celeb mags worried?

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/03/25/2008-03-25_mags_watching_ashton_with_disbelief.html
Ashton Kutcher spreads false news via his new show Pop Fiction.

Private Facebook photos unveiled!

From medialifemagazine.com:
Say cheese: Glitch unwalls private Facebook photos
Be warned: Despite a recent upgrade to ensure privacy on Facebook, a security lapse yesterday allowed anyone to see personal photos on the popular online social networking site. The security breach was discovered by a Canadian computer technician, Byron Ng, who reported it to The Associated Press, which verified the lapse. Facebook reports that the breach only lasted about an hour. Last week, Facebook announced that it had added more privacy guards to ensure that it keeps its 67 million members’ profiles personal. Ng was able to circumvent the new protections using a computer-coding trick that he shared with an AP reporter. The reporter then had the ability to look through personal photo albums that were supposed to be private, including one of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. It’s not the first security breach of this type. MySpace.com, the world’s largest online social network, had a security lapse earlier this year during which its members’ private photos were also exposed.

Banning junk food ads: It's going global

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/New_media_23/War_on_kiddie_junk_food_moves_online.asp

Check out the latest on advertising to children. Junk food is evil!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Internet access at work: Now employees watch videos all day

http://globalethics.org/newsline/2008/03/17/one-more-workplace-ethics-problem-watching-online-videos/

This report examines how much time is wasted by employees who watch sites such as YouTube.com while they are supposed to be working.

Cereal flake sells for big bucks: What's the world coming to?

From Medialifemagazine.com reports the following: Illinois-shaped cereal bit sells for $1,350 Who says your breakfast cereal isn’t worth taking a closer look at? A corn flake shaped like the state of Illinois has sold for $1,350 on eBay. The flake will find its home in a collection of Americana and pop culture items, new owner Monty Kerr says. Kerr runs TriviaMania.com and is interested in starting a traveling museum. He plans to have someone pick up the flake by hand to avoid damaging it. The now-famous flake was discovered by two Virginia sisters while eating breakfast. It has sparked other state-shaped corn flake auctions as well as a cottage industry including Illinois corn flake T-shirts. The auction lasted more than a week. The sisters, who plan to use the auction proceeds for a family vacation, say they are just relieved the auction and the hoopla surrounding it are over.

More advertising in new places

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Out_of_Home_19/Your_client_s_message_at_the_drugstore.asp

Medialifemagazine.com reports on the latest places ads are positioned. This week: drug store security pedestals.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

You can't pray for beauty!

From the Guardian:http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/12/asa.advertising
Christians upset that a gal in lingerie is praying for beauty in this ad campaign.

It's a social thing

http://www.adrants.com/2008/03/socialthing-the-new-social-thing.php
New site let's you put flickr, facebook and everything else on one site. I can't catch up with all of this! The site, which was brought to my attention by adrants.com, is being introduced at South by Southwest.

Coast Guard recruitment ads appeal to Jerry Bruckheimer fans?

http://www.adrants.com/2008/03/military-service-glamourized-with.php#more
Adrants comments on the latest TV ads from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

DIA blocks sites to protect kids

Media Life reports the following: "If you’re traveling in or out of Denver International Airport with your laptop, you won’t be able to access porn. Or Vanity Fair magazine’s web site. Or the hipster site boingboing.net. That’s because airport officials are blocking sites they believe to be racy or unfit for youngsters’ consumption. The Denver Post reports that airport officials decided to prohibit access to potentially provocative web sites when the airport's free wireless service went online in November. While critics say the airport is employing the same technology used by repressive regimes in the Middle East, airport officials say they would rather deal with infrequent complaints they receive about lack of access than deal with irate parents."

Stunt or gimmick?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/books/06esqu.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
The New York Times reports that Esquire magazine publishes a "diary" of Heath Ledger's last days--not all of it is true, though.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Made-up memoir of gang life blasted

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/books/04fake.html
Once again, another writer publishes "a memoir" that is false.
Motoko Rich of the NYT reports the following:
"In 'Love and Consequences," a critically acclaimed memoir published last week, Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang-bangers, running drugs for the Bloods.
The problem is that none of it is true."

Blogs being blamed for suicide

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/business/media/03blog.html?_r=1&8seia&emc=seia&oref=slogin
Accroding to NYT Times writer Bob Tedeschi, "Visitors to AgencySpy and AdScam, two sharp-tongued blogs written by advertising industry insiders, posted comments blaming the sites for contributing to the suicide late last month of Paul Tilley, 40, the creative director of DDB Chicago. " Read the story at the above link. Could blog postings really contribute to pushing someone over the edge?