An anonymous blogger has launched two Blogspot-hosted Blogger blogs. One steals Gawker's entire editorial content word for word. The other steals the Post's Page Six content. The only thing these two blogs leave behind are the ads. In an announcement email about the Page Six Blog, the emailer claiming to be "a v" wrote, "The idea of the NY POST becoming spam peddlers has forced us to create a blog to alleviate gossip hounds of any barriers to daily trash. We don't like registration gates and here is our method of bypassing them."
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For those of you who have to slog through clip after clip of stock footage just to find the right nugget for your creative inspiration, you'll be happy to hear Thought Equity has released Speed View, a helpful feature on their website that shows full motion previews when the mouse is rolled over a still image in their clip gallery. Roll off the image, the preview stops. Roll back, it starts again. With 12 images per page, that's a lot faster than clicking and waiting for bloated video files to download and play. Check it all out here.
In a letter sent yesterday from Nike to Dischord Records, whose Minor Threat album art they used for a skateboarding poster, apologized for their misjudgment, writing, "Because of the album's strong imagery, and because our East Coast tour ends in Washington DC, we felt it was a perfect fit. This was a poor judgment call and should not have been executed without consulting Minor Threat and Dischord Records." The full apology letter is over at Pitchfork and on the Nike site.
Cheesy Chilltop Chillers
We knew this was coming though is it just us or does anyone else think CP + B's re-creation of the classic Coke Hilltop commercial, Chilltop, is a pretentious ball of cheesiness? We most certainly love CP + B and, granted, they aren't the one doing the singing but this is really bad. Apparently, there was something OK about a bunch of semi-hippie types banding together to save the world in 1971 but it just doesn't ring true in today's ironically post-ironic, cynically jaded culture. Perhaps we just can't get past white guys trying to sound black. Or ads that throw in the token black. Or the token cutie who whose sole purpose it to look cute, bat her eyelashes and start another fan blog.
Oh, don't listen to us. Come to think of it, the 1971 version is slathered with Whiz loads of cheese too. That said, remakes of anything, especially those referred to as "classic," are rarely a good thing.
While we're all for co-marketing, marketing tie-ins and other forms of mutual backscratching, an Adrants informant points out the striking similarities between Tom Cruise's War of the World movie poster and Tom Cruise's...uh...we mean L. Ron Hubbard's book about Scientology. Coincidence or subtle bully pulpitting?
Two recent studies of DVR usage point to potential advertiser benefits. an ESPN study found 85 percent of DVR households own just one DVR and 68 percent of DVR household viewing is done in front of the DVR-enabled television. Some believe this implies group and/or family viewing. MPG CEO Charlie Rutman commented to MediaPost on the study, saying, "I've felt for some time that in some respects, the DVR might actually encourage viewing, especially family viewing. When you think about it, the DVR becomes the media center of the household, and draws everyone to it."
Another study conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates found 55 percent of DVR users stop "on occasion" during fast forward to view a commercial. This leads some to believe all is not lost for the :30. The Magid study suggest agencies adopt alternative production techniques "with less cuts and stronger visual elements. Producers need to understand how each DVR system differs, such as how the fast-forward bar intrudes on the TV screen, and the impact it has on graphic placement."
