Food Bloggers Bitch About Getting Free Food

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Oh it's been a while since the "blogosphere" - to coin a humorous and long-dead term - got their panties in a twist over some stunt a brand pulled. But these "kerfuffles" - to coin yet another humorous term - are always great fodder for a good 'ol internet bitch-fest.

So what's all the hubbub about? In August, ConAgra Foods, parent to the Marie Callender's brand of frozen foods, invited food bloggers to a New York restaurant they were told was owned by TLC Ultimate Cake Off Host George Duran and where they would receive a special, four course meal.

But instead of a meal cooked by George Duran, the bloggers were served frozen lasagna from Marie Callender's. Hidden cameras were in place to record diner's reactions. As it turned out, about 62 percent of the food bloggers actually liked the dish. But they were miffed and claimed they had been misled.

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-11    
Topic: Guerilla, Opinion, Promotions, Social, Weblogs



VideoEgg Acquires Six Apart to Form Say Media

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Video ad network VideoEgg, tomorrow, will announce it has acquired blogging platform Six Apart. The new entity will be known as Say Media and will combine "VideoEgg's engagement technologies with Six Apart's social publishing platform to power advertising campaigns that are more conversational and interactive."

Say Media claims it will have reach to a global audience of 345 million. A platitude filled video on the site (currently password-protected) explains the offering which, in a nutshell, delivers the scale advertisers need from the individual voices of independent publishers.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-21-10    
Topic: Brands, Social, Video, Weblogs



Splice Misrepresents, Sony Attacks, VanHoven Out, Fashion Fails

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- The ad campaign for the Sarah Polley Adrien Brody movie, Splice misled viewers into thinking it would be a horror click when, in reality, it was something else.

- Sony opens marketing spigot to combat iPhone.

- On June 23 during Cannes, Massive Music will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a party on the beach.

- Matt VanHoven is leaving AgencySpy where he was Editor for a position as communications director for New York agency Skinny.

- In fashion advertising, when out of ideas, shoot ass.

- W+K Portland's Jimm Lasser, Greg Rutter and Joe Staples give us a behind the scenes look at the making of the Dodge Challenger "Freedom" spot.

by Steve Hall    Jun-16-10    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Poster, Weblogs



Graduating Ad Student Turns Job Search Into Reality Show

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For a graduating college student the impending job search is a daunting. It's a painful process laden with ridiculous requirements. Twenty-two year old Russian student Stepan Mitaki knows this and will be documenting his attempt at landing a job in advertising with a reality show.

On a regular basis, Mitaki will share videos, blog posts and tweets with the world. You can check out his video introduction here, his blog here and his tweets here.

by Steve Hall    May- 5-10    
Topic: Video, Weblogs



New York Times Awards Gothamist's Hatred With Massive Ad Buy

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Apparently, Gothamist editor Jake Dobkin has no love for the New York Times and he made that very clear with scathing post on his Facebook page last month. That didn't seem to dissuade the Times from tossing a bunch of money Gothamist's way for a site-swallowing wallpaper ad. Nor did Dobkin's hatred of the Times stop his organization from accepting the Time's money.

You see? There really is a separation of church and state. That or, as Gawker posits, "Bitch, we OWN you."

by Steve Hall    Mar- 9-10    
Topic: Newspaper, Publishing, Strange, Weblogs



Ad Blogs Beware. There's a New Blog in Town

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Work in advertising? Want to blog about it? Then The Denver Egoist's new program is for you. They've launched a city-based blogging platform similar to that other "ist" blogging network. The organization is looking for creative types to report on local creativity and advertising-relating news around the world.

We have no idea how anyone's going to make money or if that's even a concern but it sure sounds like fun. Or is it? Perhaps not for us. Now we'll have to read all these new ad blogs to make sure we're not missing anything. That sounds like work. We don't like work. That's why we blog instead.

Interested? Check out the opportunity here.

by Steve Hall    Jan-28-10    
Topic: Weblogs



Faces Clopped, D&AD Calls, ADC Calls, Gen Y Speaks

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- If for no other reason than to stave off boredom, check out Monoclops and turn yourself into a morphlicious monoclop.

- The deadline for entering the D&AD Awards in Wednesday, January 2010. If you're inclined, you can view the call for entry ads here.

- For the second time in the history of the broadcast, Super Bowl ad pricing has dropped. Last year, spots went for $ 3 million. This year, they are going for $2.5 - $2.8 million.

- Mullen-supported The Next Great Generation is a GenY-focused blog which covers crowdsourcing, explores the GenY demo and aims to educate brands and marketers about the segment's thinking and lifestyle.

- The Art Director's Club is looking for entries for its 89th Annual Awards. get them in by January 22.

- How were Legos...uh LEGO bricks...invented? by some strange looking dude with a mustache after he realized people can't fly. And it's all about community. And there's a video. And there's a Twitter profile to follow. And there's an iPhone app!

- Hmm. Branding people with AIDS? Or just making them aware of it?

- When making a billboard buy for alcoholism, it's best not to place the board near a board that promotes an alcoholic beverage.

by Steve Hall    Jan-13-10    
Topic: Games, Industry Events, Strange, Super Bowl 2010, Weblogs



Ads of the World Launches Campaign, Trumps Adrants' Ads

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Hey we like this. Ads of the World, the compendium of of all things advertising...OK, it's not the only ad compendium but still...has launched an ad campaign. Yes, an ad campaign for an ad blog. Who knew? So they have this cool ad campaign and all we have are these lame banners. They're our version of two cups, one...oh forget it. They're nothing like that. In fact, they're much wittier. And much less gross.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-10    
Topic: Weblogs



Where the Hell is Matt...Uh...Oops...Coke?

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Joe Jaffe's Crayon (among other companies including Adam Brown at Coke) is behind a new program for Coke called Expedition 206. Beginning January 1, 2010, Coke will send three ambassadors around the world to visit 206 countries in 365 days. The purpose as Jaffe writes is to "seek out, discover and celebrate the epitome of 'happiness' as it presents itself across different people, places and cultures."

Sounds a bit like a corporate version of Matt Harding's work for Stride but hey, you can never leverage and monetize the power of "world happiness" enough. So it's all good.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-22-09    
Topic: Brands, Guerilla, Podcast, Promotions, Social, Weblogs



P&G Wants You to Take A Dump and Blog About It

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When did we arrive at a point in time when it was OK for a brand to essentially say, "Please take a shit in public and tells us about how it felt, what it looked like and how effective the toilet paper was at wiping it off your ass?"

Thanks to Charmin's Enjoy the Go promotion, we're in that moment right now. The toilet paper brand is seeking five people to spend five weeks in a Charmin-branded bathroom in Manhattan and blog about dropping a log.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-22-09    
Topic: Brands, Promotions, Social, Strange, Weblogs