Categories: marketing/social policy

MSNBC Won't Run Bloomberg's Gun Law Ad

Posted by: David Kiley on April 16

MSNBC refuses to run an ad created by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The ad shows clips of all three Presidential candidates declaring their position on changing the loophole that allows...

Plastic Water Bottles: How many will just say No.

Posted by: David Kiley on October 08

One thing has always, ALWAYS, been clear to me about the bottled water market. The market has been driven more by the inherent laziness of consumers than by any fear...

Profiting from the Virginia Shooting, and Other Big Stories

Posted by: Burth Helm on April 27

Last week I blogged the news that media outlets were buying search ads on keywords like "virginia shooting," to drive traffic to their sites. That sparked my curiosity about what...

Profiting from the Virginia Shooting

Posted by: Burth Helm on April 17

We're in the news business. Naturally when there's a big story, more people read our stories and we make more money. So why am I so disturbed by this? Ken...

Ad Council's Parental TV Monitoring Spot A Good Start

Posted by: David Kiley on July 25

The Ad Council is releasing two public service TV ads produced by McCann-Erickson to remind parents of the importance of using the available blocking technology to keep young eyes...

Howard Schultz Looking For His Next Act:Maybe He's Found It At The Movies.

Posted by: David Kiley on May 01

Starbucks chief Howard Schultz clearly wants to be about more than the coffee. Back in the Fall of 2004, Schultz came to our offices to talk to BW about...

Whose Teens Are These , Anyway?

Posted by: David Kiley on January 31

The following findings from a new study by ad agency energyBBDO, Chicago makes me re-think what I thought I knew about the teenagers in my family and neighborhood. How...

The AFA Readies The Next Volley Against Ford

Posted by: David Kiley on December 15

No, Im not obsessed with this topic. It's a bit of a tennis match now, though. The latest--The American Family Association's Wildmon says he may reinstate the boycott on Ford...

Volvo's Gay Friendly Position Proves Ford Didn't Cave To The AFA

Posted by: David Kiley on December 09

The best definitions of “conservative” and liberal” I ever heard comes from….well…me. “Liberals” are about protecting freedoms of choice for individuals as long as those freedoms aren’t unlawful or...

Senate Bill Seeks To Shine A Brighter Light On Marketing To Children

Posted by: David Kiley on November 10

Association of National Advertisers lobbiest Dan Jaffe has responded by blog to a provision in the Senate Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations bill, won by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, that...

Nothing in Bad Taste About Anti Drilling Ad Featuring Bush and Bandar

Posted by: David Kiley on September 19

The Alaska Wilderness League submitted a design for a full-page ad to run in USA Today on Friday, September 16, to support the campaign to protect the Alaskan refuge...

Does The Taxpayer Really Need To Pay for Whiskey Promotion Overseas?

Posted by: David Kiley on September 07

A source of mine called me today and casually mentioned that he and a liquor company executive were off to Eastern Europe to promote the sale of Bourbon in...

Ad Agencies Can Help Hurricane Victims. And Some Are.

Posted by: David Kiley on September 02

It makes many of us sick to learn from very good reporting this week just how much our government leaders knew about the vulnerability of New Orleans, and the nation,...

A New Code of Ethics From A Madison Ave. Lawbreaker

Posted by: David Kiley on September 01

In an 18-page code of ethics written by convicted ad executive Shona Seifert, submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman, the former Ogilvy & Mather executive warns ad...

Cartoon Network's New Toddler Programs Just Answering a Market Demand

Posted by: David Kiley on August 23

Time-Warner's Cartoon Network is launching a two-hour block of programming aimed at 2-5 year olds, and the advocates decrying advertising aimed at little kids are up in arms. As the...

Ford Hops Away From Hip Hopper Eminem

Posted by: David Kiley on August 08

Ford Motor Co. was planning to place its new Fusion car in the Eminem video, "Ass Like That" in the hopes of creating some buzz around what is a...

Grand Theft Auto Marketers May Have Gone a Buzz Too Far. But We'll See...

Posted by: David Kiley on July 22

When news first broke about a hidden sex scene in videogame "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", I was pretty sure that the move was done by the company to create...

SpongeBob Veggies: Good PR Cover

Posted by: David Kiley on July 15

A few months ago when SpongeBob Squarepants was being criticized for everything from causing obesity to promoting homosexuality, insiders at Viacom, whose Nickelodeon channel owns the licensing rights to the...

Brand Bush May Be Down. But Brand USA is Fine, At Least At Home.

Posted by: David Kiley on July 01

President Bush may be suffering his worst approval ratings since he took office, but the good ol' USA is the top brand in America in both red states and...

Refund Marketing Second Best Thing To Getting It Right The First Time

Posted by: David Kiley on June 30

Michelin Tire. Co., fearing backlash and lasting bad PR in the motorsports world is offering fans of Formula One racing $100 refunds, costing the company about $12 million, after a...

General Mills Breakfast Campaign A PR Blunder

Posted by: David Kiley on June 22

I'm sure when General Mills began talking about promoting breakfast as a health benefit for kids, it seemed like a great idea. The company has all the data to back...

NBA: Ads On Unis. Sounds Pretty Cheesy

Posted by: David Kiley on May 30

The National Basketball Association says it's open to selling ad space on players uniforms? This is a bad idea. Recall when the prodcuers of Spiderman wanted to put web graphics...

Store Wars More Enjoyable Than The Last Two Star Wars Flicks

Posted by: David Kiley on May 18

"The Organic Rebellion," a send-up of the latest Stars Wars movie/product tie in bonanza is more entertaining than the last two Stars Wars films if you ask me. The five...

Companies, Brands and Social Justice an Interesting Three-Way

Posted by: David Kiley on May 13

Our story this week, “The Culture Wars,” by Jay Greene and Mike France, with an assist from me, spotlights a growing problem in this country, and for American businesses. There...

Cable Industry Follows Liquor Model To Keep Decency Police at Bay

Posted by: David Kiley on April 29

In a move designed to keep the FCC from applying decency standards to cable TV, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said its members starting June 1 will better and...

Reebok Pulls 50 Cent Ad. Spotlight Shines on the Difficulty of Aligning With Rappers.

Posted by: David Kiley on April 18

I have been spending a lot of time with rappers lately. It's a long story. One thing I find fascinating about these performers is their quest for marketing deals. Remember...