Chicken of the Sea Mermaid Given Life Through Animation

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With a series on online videos and radio commercials, Chicken of the Sea is giving life to its iconic mermaid. In the videos, we see the mermaid sitting on a rock conversing with different characters and sharing the reasons why Chicken of the Sea is so great.

One video features a boy who, as children often do, continuously asks "whay" after every answer the mermaid gives until she distracts him with, well, yet another entity that isn't as real as some would have us believe.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 7-11    
Topic: Brands, Social, Video



Charlie Sheen to Earn One Million Annually by Tweeting

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Right in line with the insanity that is the Charlie Sheen Saga, the Two and a Half Men star has hooked up with Celebu-tweet company Ad.ly and could earn a million dollars in his first year of sponsored tweets. Of course that's a drop in the bucket compared to what he currently earns but it never hurts to have a back up plan. Especially when you're Charlie Sheen.

As you may have heard, Sheen gained a million followers in the 25 hours and 17 minutes following his opening a Twitter account.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-11    
Topic: Celebrity, Social



Facebook Home to Fantasy and Hookers

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- Today, Herbal Essences launched the Fantasy in a Bottle contest on Facebook. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi Canada, users can select from various fantasies - such as a trip to Hawaii or maid service for a year - and get a chance to win $5000 towards it.

- The number of hookers using Facebook to advertise their services is on the rise.

- Ogilvy has apologized for a pamphlet and website offering money for body parts that was actually part of a campaign to advertise a South African horror movie.

- Some lawyers are better than others when it comes to rape.

- Into Wii? Like to spank women in short miniskirts? Like threesomes? Foursomes? Girl on girl? Then you're gonna love this Ubisoft We Dare trailer.

- Mashable has hired its own ad sales forces to be headed by former Ziff Davis VP Ken Detlet. Previously, Federated Media handled sales.

by Steve Hall    Feb-28-11    
Topic: Social



Kelly Brook is About to Explode and Needs Our Help

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You of course remember the Dutch Axe commercial in which super hot angels fall from the sky to hook up with Axe wearing men, right? Well now there's a follow on to that. It seems on angel has been left behind. One very, very hot and very, very frustrated angel.

Yes. Left behind. Left writhing in a state of perpetual, hyper sexualized ecstasy. Pent up with explosive desire because she hasn't found her match. A match who can offer her much needed release from all her unrealized desire. Desire so powerful it causes her to moan with wanton abandon from the clouds above. Desire which brings her to the edge of nirvana but refuses to deliver. Desire which, if not given the chance to release itself in a flood of orgasmic delight could very well cause the world to end as we know it.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-22-11    
Topic: Celebrity, Racy, Social



Social Media Fail: Homesense Facebook Fans Referred to 800 Number

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When Canadian home apparel retailer HomeSense decided to sell posters depicting images of old Gold Dust ads in which two black children are seen cleaning, a fan posted pictures of them on the Homesense Facebook page. Along with the image, the fan wrote, "I realize that recreating old advertising and media is an art form but this goes far beyond that, in my opinion."

Quite humorously...and idiotically, HomeSense responded with the comment, "Please contact Customer Service at 1-800-646-9466 for more information."

Quite predictably, commenters lambasted the brand for its complete mis-understanding of social media communication. Commenter Elizabeth Laurin Kells wrote, "If you are going to use this site to represent your company you need to do something about issues and not just pass out a standard customer service number."

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by Steve Hall    Feb-21-11    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Social



Dog Owners Would Rather Kiss Their Dog Than Their Spouse

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OK, this borders on gross. But to each their own. To hype Dogbook, a Facebook application with 3.5 million users, Dogbook Founder Geoffrey Roche (of Lowe Roche Toronto) and Tyler Williams of Eye of the Storm Pictures created a video which shares a view factoids.

- 67% of dog owners would rather kiss their dog than their spouse.

- 75% of dog owners say this year their dog is going to be their Valentine.

- 89% of dog owners say their dog loves them more than their spouse.

- 97% of dog owners would rather spend a sunny afternoon in the park with their dog than with Justin Bieber.

Check out all the slurpy love here or below.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-10-11    
Topic: Social, Video



Alka-Seltzer Celebrates Embarrassing Moments With Facebook Contest

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We all have one of those stories. You know, the one where a simple miscommunication turns into something strange, embarrassing or hilarious. Enter Alka-Seltzer, the familiar plop, plop/fizz, fizz brand that wants us to know that while it's all well and good to tell hilarious stories, those stories can lead to a certain degree of heartburn, upset stomach or headache.

Acknowledging both the joy is telling and hearing about these stories as well as the reactions they can cause, the brand, today, announced the launch of its Said/Heard Mishaps Contest on Facebook. The contest gives entrants the opportunity to share their miscommunication experiences for a chance to win big.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-11    
Topic: Social



'Old Farts' Take Over Social Media

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People over 65 are adopting Facebook faster than any other age group. That's the message in this video from the AARP. Additional statistics include the fact 6.5 million of those 65+ joined in May 2010 alone. Less surprising is the fact the fastest growing age group on Twitter is 35-49 year olds. Add to this the fastest growing group on Match.com is over 50.

Overall, 47 percent of 50-64 year olds are using social media; an 88 percent growth from 2009. The takeaway? It's the same takeaway no one in this youth-obsessed advertising business has ever listened to. There's a lot of "old people" out there and they have a lot of money to spend. The trouble is, there's a mentality in the advertising business that it's just "not cool" to create advertising for "old people" because, at least according to those in the business, "old people" aren't cool.

In addition to the fact "cool" is largely irrelevant, this line of thinking is ridiculous and illogical but as long as the hallways of ad agencies are primarily staffed with those aged 25-34, it's quite likely nothing is ever going to change.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-11    
Topic: Research, Social



SocialFresh Launches Social Media Services Directory

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SocialFresh, an organization that hosts social media conferences and other events, has launched InvestInSocial, a directory of social media companies and resources. The genesis of the site was the proliferation of comments thanking SocialFresh Founder Jason Keath for mentioning companies in his blog posts.

The site, currently in public beta, will list agencies, vendors and consultants that offer various social media services. Currently, rankings are based upon the completeness of a company's profile.

During the private beta period which began three weeks ago, 72 companies have listed themselves including Edelman Digital, Porter Novelli, 360i, Cake, Klout, Dachis Group, C.C. Chapman and Convince & Convert.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-11    
Topic: Social, Tools



Subservient Chicken + Steroids = Max My Dreams

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For Johnson& Johnson's Pepcid AC, Barbarian Group, along with JWT New York, has launched Max My Dream, a site which transforms a visitor's dreams into an animated experience that can be shared. To do so, the agency built a custom language processor capable of recognizing more than 16 thousand keywords and how they relate to one another.

Much like the agency's famed Subvervient Chicken it created for Burger King, a visitor simply responds to the phrase, "I dreamed that...," and waits for the dream to be transformed into an animation. Some interpretations are better than others.

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by Steve Hall    Jan-21-11    
Topic: Online, Social