Archives: November 2006

Draft "On Top" Ad Stirs Controversy. But I Like It

Posted by: David Kiley on November 29

There is a hulabaloo about an ad that Draft/FCB created to salute award winners at the 2006 Cannes International Ad Festival. Adweek's Adfreak bolg and The Chicago Tribune have...

Kramer's Tirade, Part II

Posted by: Burth Helm on November 28

When we last reported on this, AOL had replaced the pre-roll ad that ran ahead of a very profane, racially charged video with one for a Hershey's candy bar. The...

O'Reilly's War on Christmas: Truth Takes a Holiday Again

Posted by: David Kiley on November 28

I'm sorry. I can't help it. But Bill O'Reilly's argument that there is a war on Christmas is so inspid and vacant of facts and truth that I can't...

Branson, Bond, and the anatomy of a product placement

Posted by: Burth Helm on November 28

Last weekend I caught the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. The flick packs more than its fair share of product placements, of course. But look closely, and you'll also...

Racist Tirade, brought to you by "Flushed Away"

Posted by: Burth Helm on November 21

Ahem, adjacency problem? Like everyone else I clicked in to watch Seinfeld’s Michael Richards rant on TMZ.com. Anybody else raise an eyebrow when you clicked to watch the video, and...

Does L'Affair de OJ Hurt or Feed Judith Regan's Image

Posted by: David Kiley on November 20

So, Rupert Murdoch issued an executive order. Kill OJ. The head cheese at News Corp. decided he'd had enough. Fox affiliates were refusing to run the Fox produced documentary...

Who'll Jump For a Golden Gate Sponsorship

Posted by: David Kiley on November 20

I hate to sound crass. But as I read in Adage.com, the directors of the Golden Gate Bridge are looking for corporate sponsors to close its $87 million deficit,...

No Need to Brag, Maxell

Posted by: Burth Helm on November 20

Though I agree with Maxell’s attitude – a riff on your brand in pop culture is almost always a good thing – nothing screams "zero authenticity" like a corporate press release. It smacks of a paid placement, even if there isn't one.

Walmart's Roehm Up To Her Old Publicity Marketing Ways

Posted by: David Kiley on November 17

First, I saw Walmart's advertising honcho Julie Roehm on The O'Reilly Factor vamping for Bill O'Reilly about how Walmart was going to be proudly marketing Christmas trees and Christmas merchandise...

Smith Barney's To-Do List: Learn grammar, class

Posted by: Burth Helm on November 14

I picked up my Wall Street Journal this morning to find Citgroup unit Smith Barney’s new brand campaign emblazoned on the plastic. To the marketers' credit, the advertisement caught my...

Buick's Woods Youtube Video Shows Lack of Imagination About New Medium

Posted by: David Kiley on November 13

Buick put a grainy short video up on www.Youtube.com that appeared to be shot by a bystander at a commercial shoot. Buick outed itself and said that, in fact, GM...

The YouTube Election Ratifies Google’s Investment

Posted by: David Kiley on November 08

As I was watching Election returns last night, I was struck by NBC’s Tim Russert’s comment that this may be the first election that turned on YouTube.com It caught...

Kellogg Testing The Brand Barriers for Special K

Posted by: David Kiley on November 07

Kellogg has enjoyed nice success expanding the Special K brand. Among other things, its become almost a default product to buy for baby boomers when they get a bad...

Argument Over Commercial Ratings May Be Missing the Point

Posted by: David Kiley on November 06

Nielsen, TV broadcasters, cable networks and advertisers continue to haggle over a system they all can agree on to measure the audiences of TV commercials in the age of digital-video-recorders...

GSD&M's Dontvote.com ads Best of Campaign Season

Posted by: David Kiley on November 03

Sprinkled in among the truly dreadful and insulting political ads this month has been a campaign, paid for by the AARP and done by Austin TX agency GSD&M, that has...

Bill O'Reilly: Does "This Man" Have A Problem With Strong Women?

Posted by: David Kiley on November 01

Bill O'Reilly is all over the place, like, the saying goes, manure. His book, Culture Warriors, is climbing the charts. He's on Letterman, The View. And, of course, his nightly...