Archives: May 2008

Dunkin Donuts Move To Pull Ad Is Cowardly and Ridiculous

Posted by: David Kiley on May 28

Where do I begin? Dunkin Donuts has decided to pull an Internet ad featuring the compulsively perky Rachael Ray because a handful of blithering idiots said they objected to...

Olympic Sponsors Out of the Human Rights Hot Seat

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 27

Now a look into the world of public relations realpolitik: Olympic sponsors have used the massive earthquake in China to burnish their humanitarian image, writes AdAge, after ignoring advocacy groups’...

Memo to American Airlines: You Need a PR Transfusion

Posted by: David Kiley on May 27

There is much hub-bub over American Airlines’ $15 fee for a checked bag, and the PR fallout with consumers. PR fallout? That would presume that the airlines had any credibility...

Some "Idol" Time Shifters Up In Arms

Posted by: David Kiley on May 22

Supposedly some American Idol fans are kvetching that Fox ran the finale overtime by two minutes, leaving DVR watchers without the final announcement of who won. It’s not like this...

An Expert’s Analysis of Dove’s Campaign for “Real” Beauty

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 19

I asked re-toucher Kenneth Harris to take a look at several images. He saw what he thought was clear evidence of retouching on the ProAge shots. His thoughts on two...

Dove’s Photography Folks Simply Couldn’t Help Themselves?

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 19

I’m still digging into how Dove digitally altered photos from its Campaign for Real Beauty. Dove denied it did anything more than “color correction,” while a New Yorker profile says...

Meet The Press's Last Ad Pod: The Dead Zone

Posted by: David Kiley on May 19

Memo to advertisers buying time on NBC's Meet The Press: Don't waste your money on the last commercial pod. As a faithful DVRer of MTP, I have for many...

American Idol: Ratings Down. Commercials Up. Contestants Lame

Posted by: David Kiley on May 19

The Top 4 performance episode of FOx's American Idol earned 21.8 million viewers, the smallest audience for a Tuesday episode since 2003. The next night's episode was good for...

Brand Tags Fun, But Not Exactly Useful

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 19

Over at the WSJ's Buzzwatch blog, Tom Weber links to a site called Brand Tags. The deal: look at a random logo, and type the first word that comes to...

Dove: Deny! Deny! Deny!

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 09

So earlier this week, a New Yorker story implied Dove had airbrushed its Campaign for Real Beauty ads -- a practice which the brand has long boasted it doesn’t...

Brand Matters: The Whining About Wine Is Intoxicating

Posted by: David Kiley on May 08

Much is being made of “The Wine Trials,” to be published this month by Fearless Critic Media, along with recent studies about consumer psychology that says we consumers are...

Surprise! Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" ads actually kind of fake

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 07

Remember the first ads for Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, when it flaunted its defiance of the beauty and fashion industries with images of love-handled and cellulite-prone “real” women?...

Big Celebrity, Great Headline, and Hey, Even a Local Angle

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 06

The front page of today's New York Post shows that a brand that completely understands its customers can knock the ball out of the park almost effortlessly. The brand I'm...

Tumi's Cheap Shot at Green Marketing

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 06

Over at Seth's Blog, Seth Godin gripes about a Tumi ad, pictured, that never explains why more luggage equals more trees, or acknowledges that manufacturing luggage likely cancels out...

Stop SwiftBoating Latte

Posted by: David Kiley on May 05

Okay. I’m officially fed up with the innocent latte getting beat up as being elitist. From CBS News: A push-pull dynamic has redefined Hillary. As the mainstream media, the...

CBS Radio Plans its Own Pandora (And It's Not Last.Fm)

Posted by: Burth Helm on May 02

In the Old-Media-playing-catch-up department: CBS Radio plans to launch a custom internet radio site, similar to Pandora.com and Last.fm, where users can stream music that sounds like a given...

Nanhi Kali Shows How Net and Social Networking Can Pay Off For Non-Profits

Posted by: David Kiley on May 02

Look for more non-profit organizations to tap social networking as a means to spread the word and gather donations rather than relying on direct mail and ads. One recent...

RNC Slimes a DNC Anti-McCain Ad

Posted by: David Kiley on May 01

There are few things funnier these days than the Republican National Committee complaining about the Democratic National Committee over ads, and vice versa. This is bloodsport, and the two political...

Newsweek Has Coffee With Rance Crain---Slurp

Posted by: David Kiley on May 01

As i flew back from New York to Michigan, I was lamenting the slimness of Newsweek. For such good reporting, where have all the ads gone? And then I came...

P&G Outsourcing Media To AFA?

Posted by: David Kiley on May 01

Procter & Gamble is inviting consumers to vote on media decisions that historically have been left to profesisonals. On its consumer toll-free phone line, P&G is inviting people to register...