Have you ever sat through an advertisement before being able to watch that super cool, totally in-the-moment viral video on YouTube, and thought “Man, I really need that [insert random item you probably don’t need]?” No? Okay, but in case that ever is you, Google wants to ensure it’s as easy as possible for you to make a purchase right then and there. [More]
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Soon You’ll Be Able To Easily Buy The Stuff Showcased In Ads Played Before YouTube Videos
By 5.22.15
YouTube Kids Accused Of Running Beer Ads, Crotch-Grabbing Lessons, Wine-Tasting Tips
By 5.19.15
Since Google launched the YouTube Kids app in February, the service has come under fire from consumer advocates for its advertising practices. Now, instead of focusing on the commercials shown through the service, several of those same groups are raising concerns with federal regulators over what they call disturbing and potentially harmful content for young children to view. [More]
Coca-Cola Says It Didn’t Pay For Placement In Mad Men Finale
By 5.18.15
If you haven’t watched the series finale of Mad Men, then you really shouldn’t be reading a story about the series finale of Mad Men. And if you continue reading this story about the series finale of Mad Men, don’t get angry at us for giving away what happens in the final moments of the series finale of Mad Men. [More]
That Was Then, This Is Now: How 72 Brands From ‘Mad Men’ Have Changed Since Don Draper Was In Charge
By 5.15.15
Because nothing gold can stay, AMC’s popular Mad Men has reached the final episode of its final, seventh season. Over the course of the show, we’ve seen pitches for a multitude of companies, brands, sports, groups and even cities. While some of those brands were created for the show, the large majority were very real — and some continue to exist today. In the spirit of nostalgia, we thought now might be the right time to check in on those products and companies pitched by Sterling Cooper (and its various rebirths), to see which have been lost to the mists of time, and which still remain. [More]
Verizon/AOL Merger: Good For Their Business, Bad For Your Privacy
By 5.13.15
Every day, the great amorphous mass of consumers creates millions upon millions of trackable, quantifiable pieces of data. Every purchase at every store. Every click on every website, every bit of geotagged data, every installed or opened app and every interaction on social media. All of it adds up together into one giant Mount Everest of data to be sliced, diced, bought, sold, and traded. [More]
Verizon Buys AOL For $4.4 Billion To Create Video Content, Ad-Sharing Mega-Company
By 5.12.15
Old tech and new tech are coming together in a massive $4.4 billion deal, with mobile service powerhouse Verizon Communications buying the brand of the ’90s AOL — a deal that gives the country’s largest mobile phone operator a stronger foothold in the race to create ad-content that targets customers as they move from desktops to mobile devices. [More]
Uber Discouraging Drivers From Using In-Car Advertising Services
By 5.11.15
While some taxi services are using every available square inch of their cars to advertise to passengers and the public, Uber cars have remained ad-free thus far. Some Uber drivers had hoped to make some extra cash through in-car marketing, but the ride-sharing service is saying no.
[More]
Exec Behind Nationwide’s “Dead Boy” Super Bowl Ad Steps Down
By 5.6.15
Not too many ads from the most recent Super Bowl will be remembered years from now, perhaps with the exception of the Nationwide insurance commercial that was instantly dubbed the “dead boy” ad by the Internet, because… well, the star of the spot is an adorable moppet who also happens to be dead. Now the Nationwide exec who signed off the infamous commercial has stepped down from his top-level job at the insurance giant. [More]
“Injected Ads” Are An Annoying Security Risk Affecting Millions Of Internet Users
By 5.6.15
Legitimate advertising is an annoyance that most of us tolerate and do our best to ignore. But there are more pernicious forms of advertising that aren’t just a nuisance but actually pose a potential security risk, like the “injected ads” that find your way into your web browser through software and extensions. [More]
Philip Morris International Uses Copyright Claims To Quiet Marlboro Critics
By 5.1.15
Earlier this year, John Oliver thrust Philip Morris International — the New York-based cigarette giant that markets Marlboro and other brands in hundreds of countries outside the U.S. — into the spotlight for its questionable legal efforts to delay and block tobacco regulation around the globe. And this morning, the company used copyright claims to have videos posted by critics of Marlboro removed from the Internet. [More]
Google Wants To Use Your E-Mail Address To Provide Targeted Advertising
By 4.15.15
If you’re a Gmail user, or one of the millions of workers whose employer now uses Gmail as their email platform, you could soon be seeing new ads targeted directly at you in your Google search results. [More]
Florida Movie Theater Apologizes For Playing “Suggestive” Ad Before Family Flick
By 4.14.15
A Florida movie theater has apologized and pulled a makeup ad that ran before a PG-rated movie after a mother complained and said that the scenes of people putting on lipstick and kissing each other are images better suited to a screening of 50 Shades of Grey. [More]
Coca-Cola Tripling Number Of Names For Next “Share A Coke” Campaign
By 4.10.15
Last summer, Coca-Cola briefly reversed a decade of sagging sales by slapping a bunch of peoples’ first names on Coke bottles and telling folks to share on social media. And because all follow-ups to successful campaigns must be bigger than the original, the beverage giant is tripling the number of names that will be slapped on bottles when the sequel arrives this summer. [More]
YouTube Kids App Accused Of Deceptive, Excessive Advertising
By 4.7.15
It’s only been a few weeks since Google launched its YouTube Kids app targeted at the youngest Internet users, and it’s already taking heat from consumer advocates who are asking federal regulators to investigate whether the service’s advertising practices run afoul of the law. [More]
Depend Attempts To Get Sexy With New Ad Pitch Aimed At The Younger Set
By 4.3.15
Lest you think wearing Depend undergarments is something the older folks do, the company has set out on a mission to spread what it calls “Underwareness” with a new ad campaign showing younger people, especially women, wearing the the protective skivvies. [More]
Coca-Cola Makes Splash At Final Four With “Drinkable” Coke Zero Billboard
By 4.3.15
The whole point of food advertising is to make you crave the product and buy as much of it as you can right then and there. But for this weekend’s Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, Coca-Cola is showing off a billboard that actually satisfies that craving by dispensing the beverage on the spot. [More]
Utah Restaurant Owner Removes Over-Sized Genitalia From Bull Sign After Uproar
By 3.30.15
The owner of a steakhouse who added an extra-large genital enhancement to the bull on the restaurant’s sign says he’s removing the nether bits that caused a slew of complaints from residents, but he’s not doing it because of the controversy. [More]
Study: Alcohol Advertising Grew 400% In 40 Years — But Americans Aren’t Drinking More
By 3.26.15
Since 1971, advertisers have churned out more and more content dedicated to pushing alcohol in its various forms. But just because we might see a galloping horse promoting beer in slow motion or a fun gang carrying a cooler of malt beverages on a beach every time we turn on the TV, computer or sit staring at a subway ad, that doesn’t mean Americans are drinking more booze than we did 40 years ago, according to a new study. [More]
