You Mean Global Warming Is Still a Problem?

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Advertising educates for better or worse, and per the CGM trend we're finding everybody wants to be an advertiser. With this formula in mind, UK-based Cake Group and climate change charity Global Cool throw together Scene Won, a user-generated video competition with a global warming theme. The contest closes on June 30, and the winner nails £5k.

The videos are the usual fare but what's interesting is the discussion they spark. Is global warming really a problem? Opposing views butt heads for the same marketing space.

If we were Scene Won we'd give the £5k to one of the no-global-warming groups for purely aesthetic reasons just to throw people off-balance. Then you'd have a discussion.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 4-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Games, Social, Video



PETA Says Bludgeon Thy Fellow Man if Tastes Differ

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Because PETA gets a seratonin high from symbolic violence, they're using Adwords to push the crap out of these supposedly banned ads. We just finished watching an awesome one for their Fur is Dead campaign in which a woman in fur is clubbed unconscious and stripped of her coat.

There are a lot of people we'd like to club because of their clothes, but hey, we hold back. Why bunny-huggers who guiltlessly pillage living plantlife think they're special, we'll just never know.

We get the point, PETA, but why do you have to be bitchy about it? We'd even venture to say you'd look less mean if you left burning crosses on lawns, but somebody else has already got that gig.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 4-07    
Topic: Bad, Campaigns, Online, Social, Video



MySpace to Host Presidential Primary

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MySpace will host its own presidential primary on January 1-2, 2008. Advance polls will be conducted as well. If the number of friends is any indication of who will win, Barack Obama, by far, will crush the competition. He's got over 90,000 friends. The next closest is John Edwards with 17,070. Separately, the thought of MySpace actually influencing a Presidential election is, well, odd to say the least. Or not. Depending upon how you view social media and its impact.

One could argue MySpace is just a collection of teens uploading risque photos of themselves for middle aged horny men to slather over. Conversely, one could argue that's just a bad generalization and MySpace members are socially connected people and representative of society in general. If you ask us, we'd like nothing more than the convenience of voting for President from the comfort of home without having to deal with crowds and grumpy local officials.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 4-07    
Topic: Online, Social, Trends and Culture



Nike McFly Effort Contunues With Petition Site

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It seems the very dedicated Al Cabino just might have his way after all. For years, the man has been behind a grassroots effort to get Nike to manufacture the sneakers Michael J. Fox wore in the 1989 movie Back to the Future 2 during the year 2015 scene. A petition site McFly 2015 has been launched to collect signatures and convince Nike there's a market for the shoes. Oh, naturally, there's a MySpace site too.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Brands, Consumer Created, Online, Social



Ad Council Lays Smack Down on Gen-Y Exhibitionists

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Here's a campaign that's too relevant for comfort. Merkley + Partners get cozy with the Ad Council -- which was recently in bed with the US Army for a grammatically icky and unconvincing get-edumakayted campaign -- to inflict fear upon teens for more conservative internet practices.

Part peer pressure, part plain creepiness and all mortification, the spots are entitled Bulletin Board and Everyone Knows Your Name. A typically over-informative PR tells us it's meant to raise awareness about online sexual exploitation but could just as easily be a cautionary wrist-slap over the ever-growing epidemic of Google-happy employers.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr- 2-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Online, Radio, Social, Television



Kit Kat Says Get A Third Life

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For all you lovers of Second Life, this Netherlands Kit Kat spot, created by UbachsWisbrun/JWT is just for you. So get off your ass. Turn off the laptop and get a Third Life...or at take a break with a Kit Kat bar.

by Steve Hall    Mar-29-07    
Topic: Commercials, Online, Social, Strange



Hyundai to Give Away Four Elantras in Competition

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In early March, Hyundai began accepting applications for its Mash and Seek Challenge, a game somewhat similar to a game developed for Budget car rental, which will, on April 30, place 16 finalists in teams of four with a single photograph mashed up with the faces of the team members. The first team to find another will win four 200y Hyundai Elantras. Quizes will be administered every two weeks and those that answer correctly will be given clues to the location of other teams. Check it all out here.

by Steve Hall    Mar-28-07    
Topic: Brands, Online, Promotions, Social



Facebook, PR Newswire Conference to Examine Social Media

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On Tuesday, April 24 from 1:45PM to 6PM at the Microsoft Briefing Center in New York, conference organizer Business Development Institute, along with Facebook and PR Newswire, will be hosting "Authentic Communications - Examining Social Media & The Online Conversations," a conference which aims to bring the industry together and examine social media; it's successes, failures and what it means to marketers. Check out all the details here.

by Steve Hall    Mar-26-07    
Topic: Industry Events, Social



Hillary Goes Viral, Obama Still Has More Friends

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If you've ever harbored a politician payola fantasy or simply wanted your vote to count, Hillary Clinton gives you the Count Every Vote Act, her (hopefully) viral attempt to turn every American into a foot-stomping, vote-seizing "citizen co-sponsor" - not for her campaign but for the right to vote itself. (And don't forget to send to a friend.)

Well, it doesn't take a marketing douche to say it's always nice to have the addresses of several thousand online supporters on file and at the ready for a slew of e-mail blasts pre-2008. ZDNet notes, "The Clinton 'I need you to be my legislative co-sponsor' exhortation recalls the Web 2.0 cliche 'users are in control.'"

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by Angela Natividad    Mar-16-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Online, Social



SXSW: Tinker Toys For Technologists

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This week, SXSW Interactive featured a keynote conversation with Limor Fried (Adafruit Industries) and Phil Torrone (MAKE Magazine). Hacking the DIY culture, Torrone and Fried discussed the techniques of tinkering with technology. With examples such as the Bacon Alarm Clock, skin-embedded RFID chips, and the recent Gummy Bear Chandelier, the panelists whetted the audience's palate with a selection of delicious DIY snacks.

Hacktivism culture has been spreading at a rapid rate as of late. Simply said, "People make weird and bizarre things," Torrone stated in response to the movement. Sharing "recipes" has now become commonplace among tinkering communities and unlike dating, you're not slapped if you show all your intimate parts too soon.

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by Ariel Waldman    Mar-14-07    
Topic: Industry Events, Online, Social