If you still live in 2003 and have a Yahoo e-mail account but also use Ad Block to, ya know, block ads, then the folks at Yahoo might have a nasty surprise for you when you go to check your inbox. [More]
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John Oliver Has Rewritten Those DraftKings & FanDuel Ads For You
By 11.16.15
With daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel in a high-profile legal battle with New York state over whether they are a form of unlicensed gambling or games of skill, HBO’s John Oliver has released his own version of the sites’ infamous “anyone can win” ads. [More]
Bloomingdale’s Apologizes For Ad Suggesting You Should Secretly Get Your Friend Drunk
By 11.11.15
You know what’s kind of funny and cute? In the movies when two best friends are standing near a punch bowl at a lame party and they’re like, haha, let’s put some whiskey in our punch glasses to liven this thing up. You know what some people find not so adorable? A retailer suggesting you get your friend drunk without them knowing it by spiking the egg nog, possibly so you can take advantage of said friend. Cue an apology from Bloomgindale’s. [More]
New Bud Light Deal Means Active NFL Players Can Be Used To Shill For Beer
By 11.6.15
Bud Light has been an official beer-like drink of the National Football League for a few seasons now, and ads for Bud Light have long featured retired athletes, but the league had barred the use of any active players in beer commercials. That’s about to change thanks to a multi-year deal between the NFL and the popular beverage brand. [More]
Firefox’s Private Browsing Mode Can Now Block Invasive Online Ads
By 11.3.15
Any decent web browser has some sort of incognito browsing mode that adds at least the appearance of a more private user experience. Now the folks behind the Firefox browser say their latest update includes an enhanced Private Browsing mode that limits tracking to the point of actually blocking some ads. [More]
Pediatricians: Raise Smoking Age To 21, Ban Flavored Tobacco, Restrict E-Cig Sales
By 10.26.15
Even though the percentage of smokers in the U.S. has been slashed by more than half over the last 50 years, smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in the country. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes there are a number of steps that should be taken in order to prevent people from picking up the habit in the first place. [More]
Now You Can Take Your Kids To The “Krispy Kreme Challenge” Clinic
By 10.26.15
While hospital naming rights have long been up for grabs to big donors, it’s not every day that a healthcare facility is branded with the name of a product that most people associate with being unhealthy. There’s no “Black Tar Heroin Elder Care Facility” or “Stick Your Finger In The Light Socket Cancer Center,” but there is now a Krispy Kreme Challenge Children’s Specialty Clinic. [More]
AirBNB Apologizes To Own Employees For Passive-Aggressive Ads
By 10.23.15
If you’ve ever walked up to a government employee and shouted, “You’re welcome for paying your salary!” you wouldn’t see anything wrong with a recent series of ads from lodgings site AirBNB that recently appeared around San Francisco. Even some people who wouldn’t do that had issues with the tone of the ads… including the company’s own employees. [More]
Regulators Drop Probe Into Walmart’s “Made In The U.S.A.” Labeling After Designation Dropped From Website
By 10.21.15
Four months after an advertising watchdog group called out Walmart’s website for selling more than 100 products labeled as “Made in the U.S.A.” even though they were manufactured in other countries, raising the watchful eye of federal regulators, the retailer announced it had removed the designation from its products. [More]
Online Ad Industry Admits “We Messed Up” With Too Many Invasive Ads
By 10.15.15
As ad-blocking plugins become increasingly popular, the online ad industry is realizing that maybe it shouldn’t have helped to create an environment where ads bog down, interrupt, annoy, and track users. [More]
Verizon’s New Ads Are Apparently Unfamiliar With Verizon’s Own Business Practices
By 10.12.15
Verizon recently began airing an ad where the telecom titan declares that, “A better network doesn’t mess with your data.” Whoever made this Verizon commercial has apparently never heard of this company called Verizon and the ways it has — and wants to — mess with your data. [More]
Christina Hendricks Nice ‘n Easy Ad Banned In UK For Being Misleading
By 10.7.15
As her run on Mad Men came to an end, famously redheaded actress Christina Hendricks started showing up in an ad for Procter & Gamble’s Nice ‘n Easy hair dye, where she transforms into a blonde. Now the commercial has been red-flagged in the UK after an ad watchdog declared it misleading. [More]
Comcast Officially Launches Its “Watchable” YouTube Competitor
By 9.29.15
Back in August, we mentioned that Comcast was working on something called “Watchable,” its attempt to cash in on the curated online video craze that all the marketing and advertising kids are talking about. We also hoped that “Watchable” was just a working title, because it’s not exactly an astounding endorsement of quality. Today, Comcast announced that it’s indeed launching Watchable, so-so brand name and all. [More]
Viacom Will Try Running Fewer Ads During Prime Time TV
By 9.21.15
Advertisers pay a lot to air commercials, and the price they pay is based on the projected popularity of the show being interrupted. When a TV network’s ratings are great, it might try to cash in by airing as many top-dollar ads as its viewers can take. But when ratings sag, that network has to contend with both annoyed viewers and shortchanged advertisers. That’s why, according to a new report, after years of cramming ads into every nook and cranny, media giant Viacom (MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon) is going to try shaving a few minutes of ads during prime time. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Pull Ads From “The View” Because Nurses Do Indeed Wear Stethoscopes
By 9.18.15
An offhanded, but definitely ill-informed, comment by View co-host Joy Behar about a nurse wearing a “doctor’s stethoscope” has resulted in one of TV’s biggest advertisers pulling its commercials from the ABC chat-fest. [More]
Buffalo Wild Wings May Cut Ties With “League” Star Who Lied About Harrowing 9/11 Experience
By 9.16.15
Another celebrity may be losing his job after admitting he included himself in a real-life tragedy that he had nothing to do with. This time, it’s Steve Rannazzisi — co-star of The League and recently hired TV pitchman for Buffalo Wild Wings — who revealed this morning that he’d lied about his account of being in the World Trade Center when it was struck by a terrorist-piloted plane. [More]
With Ad-Blockers Coming To iPhone, Ad Industry Poised For A Fight
By 9.4.15
According to one estimate, some $22 billion in online ad revenue was lost last year because so many people use ad-blocking plugins on their web browsers. And that number is set to soar with an upcoming tweak to Apple iOS that will allow ad-blocking on the iPhone and iPad’s Safari browser. The ad industry is looking at a number of ways to stem this tide, including the legal route. [More]
