Android Unveiled, Candystand Sold, Teachers Targeted, Flat Screens for Fiesta

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- T-Mobile debuts first Google Android phone, thereby changing face of mobile forever, etc., etc.

- Wieden and Starbucks break up.

- Wrigley sells advergaming goldmine Candystand to Funtank. No word on why the service, which CEO James Baker of Funtank called "great viral marketing," was sold. Maybe it was just time to cash in.

- Biggie Smalls hits the big screen. "Too bad we're not in middle school anymore," says a twenty-something colleague. "I'm imagining the tears ... and the hugging."

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Twitter for Christ, Facebook Narcissists, Vaseline for Men, McCains on the Grill

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- Recap of the McCain/Rachael Ray glee-fest.

- University of Georgia claims narcissists can be pegged by their Facebook photos.

- Save your soul -- and the rotting souls of others -- while microblogging. Way to multi-task!

- AIG yanks all corporate ad campaigns.

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Shoot Clays, Cure Leukemia; LiveBar for Lifeless Websites; Pink Palin Kippahs; Crest Slogan Contest

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- LiveBar makes static websites instantly interactive. Hooray! No work for you.

- Twenis. Hilarity.

- Yahoo tries hard to be kooky. "That's the problem with Yahoo: It thinks it's an iPod -- universally loved and carried around. But it's really a Mac -- a fine product nevertheless rejected by many."

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Social Media is Real! Formation of Trade Group Proves It!

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Those following the social media gospel must be storming the altar like fanatics after a faith healer, following the announcement of the formation of The Social Media Advertising Council.

Yes! Yes! YES! Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! Hallelujah and yee haw! The segment of the internet that has spawned an endless procession of conferences, self-made gurus and a lot of hot air will now recede from the Wild West into a more subdued entity with...OMG...rules and standards!

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by Steve Hall    Sep-17-08    
Topic: Policy, Social



Sifting Through the Debris of PhotoShelter's Collection

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"Ok, so this picture is a metaphor of-sorts," began Rachel Hulin in her last post for PhotoShelter. "You see, those are beautiful balloons. And we had a wonderful New Year's. But eventually the balloons floated to the floor. And then the cats ate them.

"And it's with this bit of knowledge that I sadly depart as stewardess of Shoot! the Blog."

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by Angela Natividad    Sep-12-08    
Topic: Online, Social, Specialty, Trends and Culture



Today's Internet Is Not Killing Our Culture

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Occasional Adrants contributor Jennifer A. Jones, VP PR & Social Media Strategy for Fletcher Martin and author of Speak Media Blog, has reviewed Andrew Keen's new book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture and she doesn't like it.In both video and in written form, Jones takes Keen to task over his beliefs that bloggers have had no impact on journalism and don't add any value. Arguing against Keen's assertion, Jones asks us to note it was bloggers who first covered the LonelyGirl story, bloggers who outed Sony's fake PSP blog, broke the Alberto Gonzales scandal and the whole Rathergate thing.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-11-08    
Topic: Opinion, Social



Divorced? Divorcing? Hoping to? We've Got Your Card!

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Check out the "new face of divorce." FirstWivesWorld.com aspires to be the go-to social network for divorcees -- or women that expect to be divorced soon.

The site is chock-full of social media distraction, like blogs and videos from other casualties of wedlock. And like jilted partners trying with vigor to keep their outlooks sunny-side-up, desperately gleeful headlines shout, "A Single, Liberating Act: Reclaiming My Maiden Name" and "Divorce is the Best Thing Ever, Says Kate Hudson"!

But there are also practical lessons, like an old-fashioned schooling on the meaning of "honeytrap" and -- finally! -- a near-solid response to that irresistible question: do men have an infidelity gene? (Apparently some do.)

It's like the '50s! 2.0. With the most crucial difference being that while you drink alone, your charmingly redecorated home will ring with the slightly-delayed warmth and pixellated cheer of spankin' new digital chums.

Still perplexed? See video tutorial on why First Wives World exists.

by Angela Natividad    Sep-10-08    
Topic: Online, Social, Specialty, Strange, Trends and Culture



Frog Loves, Moms Hot, Cadbury Gorilla Remixed, Nano Chromatic'd

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- Strawberry Frog's Scott Goodson looks back upon the agency's move to New York and why it was the right thing to do.

- Are you a Hot Mom? If so, send your Facebook profile over to Yianna Garcia who's created a Facebook group and will highlight your hotness on the group.

- Wanna flirt with the hottie at the end of the bar? Ecast and LocaModa can help with its interactive network.

- Buddy Media's BuddyBrain is the social control system responsible for managing campaign intelligence and app-vertisement behavior in a social world. The BuddyBrain is split into four essential lobes: Project Center, Intelligence Center, Social Wire and Reference Tools. Um, whoa.

- Fallon London remixes the Cadburry Gorilla commercial to the tune of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart.

- And, yes. It's the new iPod Nano commercial. Apple's calling it the Nano Chromatic now.

by Steve Hall    Sep-10-08    
Topic: Agencies, Commercials, Social



Hatred of Adobe Expressed on 'Dear Adobe'

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Seems there's a lot of hatred out there for Adobe which, as we all know, has a pretty firm grasp on advertising's creative community. In fact, there's so much hatred, a site dedicated to that hatred, Dear Adobe, collect gripes about the company and its products. The number one gripe? "Why does the Acrobat Reader take two minutes to launch, and require updates twice a month, just to display PDF pages?"

The answer to that question? Who cares. Just use Foxit Reader (for Windows but available in Preview for Mac) and your Adobe Reader woes will be gone. That aside, there are hundreds of gripes on the site ranging from complaints about Photoshop, Adobe's installer and feature bloat.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-10-08    
Topic: Brands, Social, Tools



Visa Uses Facebook to Seduce SMBs, Ultimately Pisses 'Em Off

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In June, Visa worked with AKQA to offer $100 in Facebook ad credits to the first 20,000 small business owners that downloaded its Visa app.

The app now boasts 42,543 monthly active users, but comments on the Visa Business Network page consist almost entirely of people that never received a coupon. Others are confused about whether the credits are just supposed to appear in their Facebook Ads cache.

"I smell a scam," Johnny Premier says; Frank Horbelt shouts, "There's potential here ... (But you guys are squandering it!)"

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by Angela Natividad    Sep- 8-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Online, Social