Will Ferrell Spoofs Bush Ad

Will Ferrell and activist group America Coming Together have put together a spoof Bush for President Ad. Bush/Ferrell appears on his ranch acting dumb and afraid of his animals and making a fool of himself while attempting to convince people to vote for him.

Dell and Gateway Use Same Model in Back to School Campaigns

In a hilarious marketing goof, both Dell and Gateway used the same model on their websites in back-to-school promotions. Not only that, it looks like the images are from the same photoshoot. Oh, the perils of buying stock photography. Competing companies. Same promotion. Same model. Oops. Of course, both marketers have figured this out and the images arew no longer seen to be on their sites. But, here they are for your amusement.

Introducing Micro-Cross-Niche Magazines

NPR reports on the recent proliferation of a new crop of magazines that, while focusing on a niche, combine multiple niches into one such as Modern Dog which features celebrities and their dogs.

Timber Lodge Steak House Radio Ad Gets Played For Free

The Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal, via SportsbyBrooks (worth a visit), reports a radio spot for Timber Lodge Steak House featuring Vikings coach Mike Tice is apparently so hilarious, radio stations are playing it for free. We don't get it but, then, we don't live "out there."

Ads That Really Suck

Adland points to some outdoor ads for vacuum maker Electrolux that really suck.

Tom Hespos Says Advertise on Weblogs Now

I couldn't have said it better myself so I won't. Underscore Marketing's Tom Hespos writes in a MediaPost article about the benefits of weblog advertising.

While blogs carve out their niche in the realm of news media, advertisers and marketers can benefit tremendously. The blogosphere, as it is called, is filled with influential opinion leaders. By adding blogs to your media campaign, you can tap into these influentials through advertising and sponsorship and see a nice return for a comparatively light spend. Enjoy it while it lasts. Blogs won't be a cheap media buy forever, especially after our society fully embraces them as a critically important part of political communication and discourse.

Fast Company, YM Magazines Should Fold Say Media Buyers

In a survey of its readers, MediaLife, found readers are pleased with new Gruner + Jahr CEO Russell Denson's efforts to swab the decks of former CEO Dan Brewster's errors but respondents think it's time to drop ailing titles such as Fast Company and YM. Those two titles ranked the highest among respondents as being of concern. Many more survey stats here.

German Subway Promotion Calls Americans Fat, U.S. Rep Gets Pissed

Capitalizing of the return of Jarod Fogle as spokesman and his appearance in the film, "Supersize Me" which criticizes McDonald's, sandwich chain Subway has run a placemat campaign in its German franchises which shows an image of a fat Statue of Liberty accompanied by the headline, "Why Are Americans So Fat?" Aside from the fact that we are fat because we can't get off our asses long enough to make it even to the mailbox, U.S. House of Representatives Republican Leader Tom Delay said, "I guess for some companies' corporate patriotism is as flexible as Jared's waistline."

Reacting, Subway rolled over the giant American fat roll of overly conservative political correctness and caved in to complaints. "The staff over in Germany has been contacting us daily because they feel bad," said Subway Spokesman Kevin Kane. "They may have said 'OK let's wrap this up." From Adranter Steve Portigal.

Marketing a Musician Properly

While the title of this linked article is "Music Marketer's Top Mistakes," turned on its head, it offers some tips on how to use the Internet effectively to promote an artist. Briefly, develop a navigation-friendly website that offers full streams of a few of the artists songs for sampling with a link to buy the latest CD on every page. Offer fans a way to interact by providing forums. Join and use off-site forums and social networks such as MySpace.com to gut check consumer perception and to enter the conversation about that perception. Create a weblog that covers the artists activity from appearances to concerts to studio time. Use this weblog as a launching pad to get artist coverage from other weblogs that might find the artist's weblog of interest to their own readers.