Joshua sent us this link to the Google Maps aerial view of a Target store in Alexandria, Va. There’s something to be said for branding, advertising, and taking advantage of unused space, but maybe a giant bulls-eye isn’t the logo to start with.
advertising
Bank of America-Sponsored Poll Shows That Most Americans Don't Trust Banking System
By 5.7.09
It may be a random confluence of sponsorship, but this poll from the front page of CNN.com last night is too funny not to share. Thanks to Douglas for sending it in.
Please, TGI Friday's, Stop Sending Me Welcome E-Mails
By 5.4.09
Dasha, the “savings” blogger at my former newspaper, signed up for the TGI Friday’s mailing list, hoping to receive deal notifications and coupons. She didn’t expect the volume of mail that showed up in her inbox before 6 AM.
What Happens When You Actually Try To Buy The Stuff In Target's Ads?
By 5.4.09
We’ll give away the answer right away. You need to talk to at least 3 people, and 2 of them will try to sell you a Target credit card. Finally, the last one will locate a product that may or may not be the one from the ad. It may, however, be cheaper than the advertised deal.
Art Vigilantes Paint Over 120 Illegal Billboards In NYC
By 5.1.09
Last Saturday, ads-in-public-spaces activist Jordan Seiler spearheaded NYSAT, or New York Street Advertising Takeover, where teams of artists, videographers and activists replaced 120 unregistered billboard advertisements throughout the city with original art installations.
Need A Cheap Way To Bring In Business? Try Mannequin Breasts
By 4.30.09 — Updated: 10.25.12
An Ohio barbeque restaurant owner was having trouble getting drive-by customers to stop, so he decided to prop a mannequin in a bikini top outside (warning: video). He says that over the past three weeks she’s been standing in front of his store, he’s had over 70 new customers come in and buy food—a 30% increase in business. So far, he says, no complaints; apparently his “mail girl” even donated a different top and some Daisy Dukes that he’s going to use on the dummy next week.
It's Tough Being The Only Popeye's In Minnesota
By 4.30.09
What happens when you mix a chicken promotion, a national ad buy, and a franchisee not taking part in the promotion? You get a lot of hungry and annoyed people. And, last Thursday in Minneapolis, you have to call the police.
Kellogg Agrees To Tone Down "Frosted Mini-Wheats Are Brain Food" Nonsense
By 4.21.09
What? It turns out that giving your kid a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats will not guarantee a nearly 20% uptick in classroom attentiveness, despite what Kellogg claims on packaging and TV? I probably should have figured that out on my own, but I rarely eat Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast, so I am quite likely retarded. Luckily for all of us, the cereal company just reached an agreement with the FTC to stop misleading consumers with its faux-scientific claims.
Monster Cable Misuses Engadget Quote To Sell Its Crap
By 4.17.09
If there’s any blog more anti-Monster Cable than us, it’s Engadget—they refuse to review any Monster Cable products because of the company’s dishonest sales tactics and legal bullying. Monster either doesn’t realize that (doubtful) or doesn’t care, because they pulled a quote from Engadget out of context and slapped it on the home page of the Beats By Dre site in a way that implies Engadget has reviewed and approved of Monster headphones.
Customer Sues Sears Over Bogus Black Friday Deal… And Wins
By 4.2.09
Once upon a time, way back in November, a St. Louis MBA student named Cheri was the one of the first inside her local Sears store on Black Friday morning. She rushed to get the best deal they were offering — a washer and dryer for $599. To her dismay, she found out that the heavily advertised deal was not available — customers were being asked to pay now and get the washer and dryer in 30 days. Even with this disappointment, the deal was too good to pass up, so she agreed. Months later there was no sign of her washer and dryer, so she took Sears to court. And won.
FTC To Require Advertisers Using Testimonials To Show Typical Results
By 3.22.09
Subway spokesman and occasional thin guy Jared Fogle may soon be out of work thanks to a new FTC rule banning commercial testimonials that warn “results not typical” or “individual results may vary.” Under the new rule, marketers using, say, body builders to advertise weight loss pills are also going to have to show an average lardass whose results might be more typical. You can guess how advertisers are reacting to the change…
How To Opt Out Of Google's New Targeted Ads
By 3.16.09
Last week, Google introduced its new “interest based” ads, which is based on tracking your browsing activity and targeting ads based on that behavior. Fortunately, there are several ways to opt out.
The Easier It Is, The Safer It Seems
By 3.10.09
Self-identified rational people take pride in the fact that they can’t be easily manipulated, but of course that’s the pride part of their dumb monkey brains talking. Here’s an interesting study that measured whether hard-to-pronounce words were perceived as riskier than words that were easier to pronounce—in this case, by comparing fake additives in food and asking which ones were more likely to be harmful.
FTC Launches Own Singing Credit Report Commercials
By 3.10.09
As we’ve said repeatedly, AnnualCreditReport.com is the good website to go to when you need to pull a credit report, because it’s actually free. The others, including freecreditreport.com, use the promise of free the way an angler fish uses its forehead-worm-thing to trap dumb little fish. The FTC has decided to fight fire with fire by releasing its own jingles. To be honest, we’re not 100% sold on them—they have kind of a squaresville, PBS vibe, which is gonna really hamper their viral power. Check them out below.
Dunkin' Donuts' 99 Cent Latte Ads Are Misleading
By 2.26.09
Corey pointed out to us that the Dunkin’ Donuts advertising for their 99 cent latte is a bit misleading. He writes,
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Our reader Hank Scorpio, while taking a break from plotting to take over the world, suggested an awesome web tool earlier today: Readability. Drag the bookmark to your browser’s bookmark bar, then click it when you’re on a badly cluttered page and watch magic happen. [via Hank Scorpio]