Tweets Go Black to Protest NZ's 'Guilt Upon Accusation' Law

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Avatars on Twitter are going ominously black to protest a new law, Section 92A, that's been passed in New Zealand.

After the 28th, users can get their lifelines internet disconnected "based on accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without any evidence held up to court scrutiny." Because of the unveiled creepiness of that language, the law's been dubbed "Guilty Upon Accusation."

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-17-09    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Online, Social, Worst



Revisionist Historians Add The Watchmen to Man's Timetable

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Every once in awhile you come across some viral propaganda that's actually pretty neat, actually. (Consider.)

Hoping to reignite the sleeping flames of The Watchmen comic series fans, Rubber Republic launched a YouTube channel to populate with retro news stories.

Commentary's mostly favourable and views are high: all signs of happy viral life. People seem impatient for more news stories to appear as the public release of The Watchmen draws near. (In theatres March 6, boys and girls.)

We're suckers for an elaborate backstory, so this is some pretty cool shit. Hopefully the film will maintain the same fidelity to the spirit of the original comics.

Find more goodies -- including a retro game, widgets and all the necessary social network tie-ins -- at thenewfrontiersman.net. One of the videos has also been posted below.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-16-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Guerilla, Online, Social, Video, Viral



Misguided Intent + Lawyers = Social Media Disaster

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Didn't we just go though this with Google or something? Facebook's TOS has been revised to state, basically, they own all your content forever and ever and they can do anything they want with it forever and ever. From the TOS:

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by Steve Hall    Feb-16-09    
Topic: Policy, Social, Worst



Facebook's Scary Content Stance, Gatorade's Mid-Brand Crisis, 'This is Why You're Fat'

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- Facebook revises TOS, Twittersphere goes apeshit.

- Wisdom from the front lines. Via.

- Gatorade's new packaging and naming conventions betray desperate need to fit in with the minimalist lifestyle 2.0 crowd. Here's an idea! from reader Elinora: "Make a drink that doesn't taste like vomit!" Come on, Ellie, it's not Gatorade's fault; those are the electrolytes.

- Hardees/Carl's Jr. slips into the Daytona via YouTube.

- "Do we need a new internet?"

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-16-09    
Topic: Best, Cause, Good, Online, Packaging, Social



Adrants Launches Facebook Group. Will Anyone Care?

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Ya know, it's not like anyone ever does anything after they join a Facebook group, right? Seriously. How many Facebook groups do you belong to? Can you even remember? When was the last time you left a comment or even visited one of your groups? Are Facebook groups lame or do they serve a purpose?

I suppose you could call the "launch" of the Adrants Facebook group an experiment designed specifically to answer these questions. There's already AdGabber so who needs and Adrants Facebook group? Hmm. I guess we'll find out.

by Steve Hall    Feb-14-09    
Topic: Social



Stone Tweaks Twitter Stance

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Co-founder Biz Stone wrote a blog post that elaborates on a suggestion he made earlier about monetizing Twitter. The crucial stuff:

"Twitter will remain free to use by everyone--individuals, companies, celebrities, etc. What we're thinking about is adding value in places where we are already seeing traction, not imposing fees on existing services."

So businesses already using Twitter can chill: they won't be charged extra for what they're already doing. Stone seems to be saying -- and we write that tentatively, because he leaves a lot of room for interpretation -- that only add-ons will cost anything, unless he means Twitter plans to bring ad support to high-traffic areas. (Hot hash tags and Summize search results look prime for this.)

"[We] hope to begin iterating on revenue products this year," he added.

Sounds like Jeff Bezos et al. are starting to tap their watches.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-12-09    
Topic: Online, Opinion, Social, Trends and Culture



Twitter Tweaks, Speeding Kills, Power to the Pot -- Oh, and Phelps Too.

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- Speeding could turn you into Haley Joel Osment.

- The Marijuana Policy people are boycotting Kellogg's for firing Phelps for smoking pot, even though he's been nailed in the past with a DUI. They feel this is hypocritical because pot doesn't necessarily kill; it just makes you real, real sleepy.

- So Good is boycotting Kellogg too, as is HuffPo.

- Guerrilla Comm rebrands.

- Twitter to charge brands for use. No word on how.

- Dame Edna for MAC.

- French billboard rage.

- Radiohead licensed House of Cards one of its songs to a homeless shelter for an ad, dubbed "House of Cards," that breaks this month.



Agent Provocateur Goes -- Wait for It! -- Social.

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We don't know why we're writing this up, given that "going social" is not difficult, or costly, or even all that imaginative anymore, but hey -- if the PR people went out of their way to put this on the wire, then by gad we will honor their service.

Requisite quote candy:

"This is the first time a luxury fashion brand has launched a provocative social media campaign tying together their various data-linked platforms, like a multi-entry daily blog, twitter feed and facebook."
-- Scott Goodson, CEO, StrawberryFrog

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-10-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Social, Trends and Culture



'Because Nothing Says Forever Like Up to 6.4 Terabits per Second.'

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A valuable lesson from Cisco: it doesn't matter who you are or what you're selling. Like Hallmark and Disney's made-for-TV movie department, you can turn any holiday to your advantage.

In this case, Cisco takes cheesy expressions of Valentine's Day love and wraps them around its ASR 9000, "the first in a new series of edge routers in nearly a decade" -- and more importantly, the fourth way to say I love you.

The video is presently circulating YouTube with FIVE out of FIVE stars! so far. It's the culmination of a months-long campaign in which pseudo-reporter Ira Pumfkin roamed Cisco's halls in pursuit of a big story. See the blog at Tech Edge Weekly (the link also appears at the end of the vid).

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-10-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Guerilla, Online, Social



Hope in the Slammer, Witch Buddies, Ad Poetry

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- "Twitter for sports." And then our eyes rolled back in our heads, and then we died.

- BFFs with the Wicked Witch of the West. She seems fun. DDR, your house or mine?

- The question we all must ask. Sometime.

- Shepard Fairey, the guy who did that Obama/Hope poster we all love to wheatpaste on walls that don't belong to us, gets arrested before his first solo art show. Duuuude. Sux.

- Scroll down to the part that reads "cb with a Flair."

- Intern sweatshop haiku.