Maybe you didn’t take MTV News too seriously to begin with, but if you did you might want to reconsider. BrandChannel started noticing that MTV News was posting articles about FreeCreditScore.com’s contest for a new sellout band for its TV spots. (This is the same company as FreeCreditReport.com; both charge for their services and generally suck.) The problem with the paid MTV sponsorship is that it’s not disclosing that the “news stories” are just advertorials. [More]
ADS
"Magic Pleasure Bed" Only $300
By 7.12.10
We have to admit this is creative, but there is no possible way we’d ever buy a bed from an ad that mentions the Slovakian curling team. (Nothing against them, we just don’t want to cheapen the sport.) Reader Melissa thought you might, however, so we agreed to post it. [More]
How To Opt Out Of Apple's iAds Service, Eventually
By 6.22.10
If you don’t want Apple collecting data on you and using it to target you with ads starting July 1st, you can opt out from “any device running iOS 4,” says AppleInsider. The opt-out is automatic when you hit up http://oo.apple.com from an iOS 4 device, and as far as I can tell you can’t undo it, so don’t click the link unless you really want to opt out. Also, it’s not working at the moment. [More]
Coming Soon, A Way To Find Out How That Online Ad Knows What You Like
By 6.22.10
Last year the FTC asked online marketers to regulate targeted advertising, so in an attempt to avoid new regulatory policies the major ad industry groups have gotten together to launch a new service. Starting late summer, when a targeted ad from a participating marketer appears on your screen, you’ll be able to click a small icon somewhere on the ad and see your profile on that marketer’s site. You’ll also be able to then opt out of future ads from that ad network, reports Wired. [More]
Old Thermos Ad: Use Our Product Or Your Baby Will Die!
By 6.22.10
I know we all like to laugh at old homemaker ads, like where bad coffee will make your husband have an affair or the wrong douche will let the communists win, but here’s one that pushes it a step further. How? Dead babies. As the scary ad explains, a thermos keeps filthy germ-ridden flies away from the milk, and keeps the milk cold, and that means the milk won’t kill your baby. If you don’t buy this thermos, you may as well make your baby into terrible tasting instant coffee and use it to drive your husband into the arms of his secretary, because that’s what you deserve. [More]
Manufacturers To Market To You Via Messages Hidden In UPCs
By 6.22.10
Stickybits is a social network that combines your phone’s camera, a web connection, and UPCs to leave virtual notes and images scattered all around you like invisible sticky notes. The important question, as always, is can it be used to sell stuff? Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Campbell’s, Frito-Lay, and Ben & Jerry are all planning to find out in social media campaigns this summer, reports Brandweek. [More]
HP And Yahoo Want To Put Ads On Your Printouts
By 6.21.10
Google’s not the only company that wants to put ads on everything you read. HP’s new web-connected printers will let you send pages or photos directly from websites or phones and schedule recurring printouts from content partners–and the company is pilot testing a program with Yahoo’s advertising network to deliver targeted ads on those scheduled printouts. [More]
ABC Doubling The Commercials On iPad App, Online Streams
By 6.16.10
If you watch ABC’s shows online or with an iPad, your limited commercial interruptions are about to get a little less limited. So far, most of ABC’s streaming shows contain 5 to 6 ads of 30 seconds each, but mocoNews says one of ABC’s executives just confirmed that the network is going to double that ad load, perhaps leading the way for other networks to do the same. [More]
New Billboard Smells Like Steak, Sort Of
By 6.7.10
If you find yourself driving down River Highway in Mooresville, NC this summer and suddenly smell a vaguely steak-like odor, don’t worry, you’re not having a stroke. You’re passing by the billboard for Bloom, a supermarket chain that’s owned by Food Lion. The billboard went up last Friday and poots out a charcoal-and-pepper fragrance from 7 to 10 a.m. and again from 4 to 7 p.m. [More]
Harper's Magazine: Insider Reveals How You Get Jacked When Selling Jewelry
By 5.19.10
Struggling to make next month’s rent, you might be tempted to dig out some necklaces and rings you don’t wear and try to sell it to your friendly neighborhood jeweler. But you might actually be buying a ticket to a sick magic show. The jeweler performs a blistering series of slight of hand tricks, whipping out calculators, spouting off fees, keeping your eye on the supposedly worthless diamonds under a tenth of a carat while double-deducting for the base metal. By the end, you slink out in a dizzied blur, accepting 1/5th of what the piece is actually worth. In this exclusive excerpt from the latest issue of Harper’s, ex-jeweler Clancy Martin takes you on a journey to the dark underbelly of the jewelry game. [More]
Ex-Jeweler Dissects "Buying Roadshow" Ads
By 5.18.10
The ads are cheesy as all get out: “Buying Roadshow” “Instant Cash For All” “Will pay up to 1100%” in giant block letters and starbursts. And the crazy thing is that they’re really good at packing in suckers eager to sell their “scrap jewelry,” dreaming of riches, but eventually convinced to be happy walking away with a few bucks. Over at Harper’s Magazine, ex-jeweler Clancy Martin takes apart these ads piece by piece and reveals what really goes on behind the black curtain. For instance: [More]
Paper Company Plans Campaign To Encourage Kids To Print Things Out
By 5.12.10
If John Williams, the CEO of Domtar Corp., has his way, kids all across North America will be asking for printers this holiday season. Somehow I doubt he’ll have his way, but here’s his plan: his company is about to launch a “Put It On Paper” campaign via print, Facebook and YouTube that will encourage people to print out things like emails and web pages. [More]
VIDEO: You're Doing It Wrong, A Tribute To As Seen On TV Ads
By 4.22.10
Whatever you’ve been doing, you’ve been doing it wrong. That’s what infomercials teach us, by showing us failing at simple tasks, and then offering the amazing new product to solve it. Showing it in black and white or monochromatic with a big red X seems to drive the point home for some reason. Never mind that these products are usually substandard and make most of their money on over-inflated shipping charges… you need this now! To this end, here’s a tribute to your failure, a remix, set to “Help!” by The Beatles, of 50 different “before” scenes of consumers grinding, chopping, squirting, chopping and wearing their pants intellectively. Can you name all the infomercial products shown? Give it a shot, then scroll down after the jump for the answers. [More]
"Brownie Husband" Brings Emotional Eating To Delicious New Level
By 4.12.10
Tina Fey’s new fake commercial for a product called “Brownie Husband” is delicious and gross. (Whoever made the prop should get a special award.) It captures in one ridiculous product all the promises advertisers make about filling your emotional needs, with just a microwave and a vacuum-molded plastic tray. It’s also kind of food porn-y. Watch it below. [More]
AirTran Makes Fun Of Southwest Seating In Commercial
By 3.31.10
If you’ve ever been part of the mad dash for seats on a Southwest Airlines flight, you might find this video from AirTran funny. In it, mooing passengers race down the jetway while a Southwest employee makes ridiculous jokes. Meanwhile, AirTran serves its assigned-seat passengers Kool-Aid. Wait, now I’m confused about who’s being mocked here. [More]
Tim And Eric's Crazy Price Fight! Blood!
By 3.29.10
Tim’s got discount prices, Eric’s got premium prices. No, they’re not selling goods and services at discount and premium prices, they are selling actual prices. “Get $39.99, for forty dollars!” Adult Swim’s Tim and Eric parody discount super-stores and crappy local ads. NSFW for crude gestures, sexual remarks, and a horse beheading a man. [More]
Video: Kotex Apologizes For Years Of Euphemistic Ads
By 3.24.10
In this new Kotex ad, the 90-year old tampon company sends up, well, Kotex. “How do I feel about my period? I love it…Usually, by the third day, I really just want to dance,” says the actress as trio of women frolic and twirl. “The ads on TV are really helpful because they use that blue liquid, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s what’s supposed to happen.’” It’s to launch their new line of feminine hygenie products called “U,” which pander to women’s desire to feel like they’re not being pandered to. [More]
