An underwater billboard hoax helped a restaurant on the Puget Sound increase chowder sales by a factor of four.
Ivar’s Seafood Restaurant placed billboards underneath the Puget Sound, then told the media that the boards had been placed there in the 50s by Ivar’s founder who, as the story goes, thought people would one day travel beneath the Sound in submarines. The founder wanted to make sure...
Continue Reading »
Ads on the sides of buses in Des Moines, Iowa, have caused a debate about free speech. The ads, purchased by the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers, feature clouds against a blue sky and say, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.”
The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority removed the signs, but replaced them after a meeting with the Atheists & Freethinkers, writes the Associated Press.
The...
Continue Reading »
Adam Rifkin is trying to promote his new movie, Look, an examination of how pervasive video surveillance cameras have become and the sometimes shocking footage they capture. The movie’s producers intended to mail postcards with scenes from the movie and the copy “Will you be watching? May 5, 2009” on the back.
One of the postcards carries an image from the movie which shows a man having his...
Continue Reading »
Mars has yanked a Snickers ad running in the U.K., following complaints that the ad was offensive to gay people. It is the third ad in recent weeks that has come under scrutiny for offending one group or another.
While the ad caused no ruckus in the U.K., complaints from the U.S. charged that Mars was perpetuating “the notion that the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is a...
Continue Reading »
We polled marketers with real experience conducting green marketing on what works, where, and with what media and messages. Some results were pretty surprising. Click here to get our executive summary and see some of the key charts.
NBCU’s prez and CEO Jeff Zucker awkwardly stars in a television ad that is said to be airing April 3 before the return of My Name Is Earl. In the ad, he recaps the season “to get everybody back to speed.” He also makes several snarky references to issues from the writers strike and mocks the writers themselves.
The recap of the season can be seen on NBC.com, he says, “where you can watch all...
Continue Reading »
MSN’s top executive is leaving to lead a new division at SpotRunner.
Joanne Bradford, former Microsoft corporate VP-global sales and marketing and chief media-revenue officer, has been with the software giant since 2001 and led early strategy to be a big player in the online ad market.
Bradford will join SpotRunner, where she’ll command the new national marketing services division. Up until...
Continue Reading »
Sony BMG is employing zombie guerrilla marketing to enliven sales for the commemorative album to mark the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Videos posted on the web chronicle paid dancers busting into seemingly-impromptu dance moves inspired by the original Thriller video, which featured all-manner of ghouls dancing in a graveyard led by Jackson. Part of the fun of the videos,...
Continue Reading »
NBC and ABC are squabbling over Scrubs.
NBC was apparently unaware that ABC is in negotiations to grab 18 episodes of the medical series from show producer ABC Studios. A network insider said NBC is still in “first negotiation period,” a period of exclusive negotiations, with ABC Studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
NBC and ABC Studios have tussled over the medical show since its...
Continue Reading »
The E-Trade commercial that starred a talking, barfing baby was the most TiVo’d spot of the Super Bowl, according to TiVo.
Pepsi’s Justin Timberlake ad, Doritos’s Mouse Trap ad, and the Coke spot featuring James Carville and Bill Frist followed the E-Trade ad in terms of being replayed, writes Multichannel News. The TiVo data did not show how frequently DVR customers replayed each...
Continue Reading »
Julie Roehm has decided not to pursue the lawsuit against Wal-Mart that she filed in January; in return, Wal-Mart has said it will not pursue litigation against Roehm.
Roehm’s suit against Wal-Mart claimed she was wrongfully terminated from her position as svp, marketing communications.
Roehm said in a statement that she is not receiving any money or compensation to settle the complaint. As...
Continue Reading »