Why Milk’s PMS Campaign Went Sour

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 27 Jul 2011

Over the past few weeks, a bold campaign by the California Milk Processor Board, featuring men as suffering victims of PMS-crazed women and milk as the cure, has become the latest poster child for brands using shock and awe to generate online conversation at any cost. If controversy is its own reward, the campaign was a smashing success. But since the campaign, and its spiritual home at everythingidoiswrong.org, was hastily shuttered late last week, it seems very forgiving to call it a smash hit, doesn’t it?

Share

Live Cam Showdown: Red-tailed hawks vs. “Petite lap giraffes”

Posted by Karen Nagy, 08 Apr 2011
This morning, my coworkers were excitedly watching the NY Times Hawk cam, which features a pair of red-tailed hawks that have made a nest for themselves at NYU. Pretty cool, right? But after a few minutes of watching the hawk’s slight head turns and subtle feather ruffling, I remembered the “Petite Lap Giraffe cam” that I’d just stumbled upon over at Brand Channel. I decided to send the link around. Subject line: “This animal is WAY better than the hawk.” Soon I heard ooohing and ahhhing from nearby desks. “Oh my gosh; it’s so small!” “Is it real?!”
Share

Will the New York Times Paywall Succeed?

Posted by Steve Solomon, 31 Mar 2011
As just about anyone with internet access is now painfully aware, this week the New York Times imposed a “paywall” on visitors who want to read more than 20 articles per month. In other words, the newspaper is trying to leap from “basic cable” to “premium cable,” apparently without making any changes to its content or even going commercial-free. The big question is: Will it work?
Share

Taco Bell Harnesses Social Media to Squash Customer Beef

Posted by Andrea Fjeld, 01 Feb 2011
Few are naive enough to think that Taco Bell is authentic Mexican cuisine. But diners were recently surprised to discover that the restaurant chain's “seasoned beef” actually consists of only 35% beef, technically classifying it as something known as “taco meat filling.” Not sure what that means? No one is. In response to the massive social media outcry stirred up by the class-action lawsuit that brought the disqualified beef to light, Taco Bell started to “think outside the bun” itself, actually giving away the secret recipe. Bon appétit!
Share

Beauty Product Ads Killing Sales, Self Esteem

Posted by Karen Nagy, 28 Dec 2010
After seeing a beauty ad, are you more likely to go shopping, or dig into a fresh pint of Ben & Jerrys? While advertisers bank on the former, new research shows we're more likely to do the latter. The New York Times reports that in a new study published in The Journal of Consumer Research, undergraduate females who looked at advertisements featuring beauty-enhancing products reported feeling less attractive afterwards. So if beauty ads lower a woman’s self-esteem, what happens next? Does she lounge about in self-loathing or head to the mall for a facial and those hot new heels she saw in Vogue? Ads equal sales, right? Not so fast.
Share

Negative Advertisers Face Digital Justice

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 14 Dec 2010
The story of online glasses retailer Decormyeyes.com has exploded since the New York Times reported on the owner's “negative advertising” scheme. Online complaints about the company's horrendous customer service may have produced great SEO, but now the article has induced Google to actually change their search algorithm. And the owner has been arrested. Turns out there is such a thing as bad press.
Share
The Relationship Between Curators and Publishers

We’re All Curators Now

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 23 Jun 2010
Business Insider columnist Steve Rosenbaum recently riffed at length about the changing nature of the media game. Here's the gist: Our old media overlords are out and anyone and everyone is in. The new demand is for people and platforms that make sense of the online cacophony. Cue the culture of the curator.
Share

National Geographic Locks Up Its Programming

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 17 May 2010
The National Geographic Channel developed a rather unusual promotion for “Solitary Confinement,” its new documentary about life on the inside. For a week straight, three (voluntary) victims were locked up in real jail cells, their stay recorded, and the footage broadcast online. The verdict? It was a captivating and relatable introduction to the special—and one that caused quite a stir.
Share

A New Party for Tupperware, Post-Ad Pioneers

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 24 Mar 2010
For the fine folks at Tupperware, pushing plastic has never been a stale experience. The brand—64 years young—has long used small, tightly knit social gatherings to seal the deal with customers. Appropriately, they’re called “Tupperware parties” (hangover not included).
Share

A Difference of Opinion

Posted by Andrea Fjeld, 04 Nov 2009
In September, The Huffington Post surpassed the Washington Post in terms of unique visitors. "The Huff Post was up 26% year-over-year to 9.4 million uniques, while uniques at the Washingtonpost.com dropped almost 30% to 9.2 million," reports Jennifer Saba at Editor & Publisher. Look out, media giants. You are never safe.
Share