The Five Stages of Starbucks Grief

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.24.08 @ 11:51 AM

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.23.08 @ 01:52 PM

This is nowhere near as annoying as the Pit Bull Brigade having a hissy fit over a Verizon ad. Rather, this is mildly amusing. An HR director was interviewed to see what today's Human Resources take would be on the world of "Mad Men." An outtake: "By today's standards, the atmosphere resembles a fraternity house more than a workplace." Which is probably why people are watching it. (And while normally, I wouldn't insult my readers' intelligence by stating the obvious, there's a whole lot of people stuck on stupid this week, so here it is: I DON'T CONDONE THE BEHAVIOR IN MAD MEN.)

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Why You Should Respect Comic-Con

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.22.08 @ 05:37 PM

Sci-fi blog io9 has a list of reasons why entertainment marketers with the appropriate properties/content should be at Comic-Con every year. Definitely worth checking out.

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Stephen King Should Do a Bud Ad

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.22.08 @ 12:12 PM

Budweiser needs help. Maybe they should get Stephen King to do an ad. Hey, it was good enough for Ernest Hemingway, who went to bat for Ballantine Ale. I say Stephen King, because quite frankly our modern male writers who are considered "literary" aren't man enough to drink an old-fashioned (soon-to-be-former) American brew except in "ironic" circumstances (proving that they're both too precious for their own good and don't really understand what "ironic" means). Of course, there's nothing to stop Bud from doing the same campaign with women literary heavyweights (who probably outclass the men in writing chops and story-telling). After all, Bud is a brand that struggles with the ladies. Then again, the argument could be made that things didn't end particularly well for Hemingway or Ballantine.

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Be Prepared: The Great Starbucks Closings of 2008

Don't Be Caught by Surprise if Your Store Shuts Down!

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.21.08 @ 05:20 PM

Panic is spreading across the country as rumors spread that the Starbucks closest to you might just be the one that gets shut down. You may be living in fear. The anxiety may be turning your stomach. You. Can't. Take. The. Suspense! Well, the Wall Street Journal has a handy-dandy map that lists which Starbucks in each state will be closing down. Luckily for me, none of the ones I depend upon will be shuttered. Indeed, only six in Manhattan will be closed (compared to the nine in Baton Rouge, La.). But if your local 'Bucks is closing shop, you can join the Save Our Starbucks campaign.

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Watch Out for Falling Brands

Posted by Max Lakin on 07.21.08 @ 03:40 PM

Advertisers are always looking for fresh mediums to hook consumers into willfully relinquishing the small part of their paychecks they have left after whatever Apple product is redesigned this month, and for a long time, companies have been lamentably pigeonholed into "classic" outlets of television, magazines and 80-story digital Lite-Brite boards.

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Classy to Trashy: Gawker Mocks Agency Bars

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.21.08 @ 11:43 AM

Gawker has read the Ad Age story about agencies' in-house bars. And it's repackaged the story, so to speak. It sees the Digitas bar cart as the equivalent of a homeless drunk beggar. Nice!

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A Look at Potential Talent for 'Jingles'

Our Five 'Favorite' Audition Tapes

Posted by Rupal Parekh on 07.17.08 @ 04:02 PM

If CBS's "Jingles" actually gets off the ground later this year as the network has promised, we're in store for a train wreck of a show based on the ad biz, judging by a quick survey of audition tapes posted to YouTube.

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Snickers Sticks Another Feather in Its Homophobic Cap

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.17.08 @ 12:56 PM

Two years ago, Snickers was slammed with charges of homophobia for a Super Bowl ad in which two men react with disgust after kissing one another. You'd think the brand would have learned something from that experience. Apparently not, judging by the following spot featuring Mr. T shooting a speed-walker with Snickers bars and yelling at him to "Get some nuts." As Mark Blankenship writes: "Um ... can Snickers please stop hating gay people? We like nougat, too."

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Word of Warning to PR People, Marketers

I'll Show You a Lively Reaction

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.16.08 @ 11:12 AM

The first one of you who sends me a press release announcing a party or a conference or a store in virtual world Lively (from Google) is going to get a real-world office visit, complete with a real-world baseball bat. The only thing that will stop the ensuing rampage will be a real-world offering of Jack Daniel's on the rocks. (So you see, Second Lifers, it's not just you ... and you should know better, BusinessWeek.) Previous virtual-world hatorade here and here.

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