A reader over at Best Week Ever spotted this little makeshift “tribute” to recently deceased actor Heath Ledger in a San Diego Best Buy.
marketing
Get Tax Advice Over The Phone With FreeTaxQuestion.com
By 1.23.08
If you’re uncertain about something on your taxes, you can get free tax advice over the phone until Jan. 31, thanks to a special TurboTax promotion at FreeTaxQuestion.com. Just enter your question and name, phone, email, and best time to reach you, and an IRS enrolled tax pro will call you and help you out. If you’re worried that this is just a lead generation ploy, use a disposable email address and disposable phone number. The FiLife blog tried it and had to submit their question twice, but they got it answered and answered good. They said that TurboTax was casually mentioned among the array of options one could use to finish filing, but there was otherwise no overt product pushing.
Chinese Exporters Use Kosher Certification To Quell Food Safety Concerns
By 1.19.08
Kosher certification is the new darling of health-conscious consumers who misguidedly believe that biblically blessed health standards can reign in the excesses of commercial food production. Even Chinese exporters are betting that kosher certification can convince foreign consumers that their wares are safe. To companies, certification is just a marketing tool: it lends the aura of safety without offering any actual food safety benefits.
Many Chinese companies were unfamiliar with the concept: One furniture maker asked for kosher certification, drawing a polite rebuff. Another facility asked to get certified as kosher even though it was smoking eel on site, a kosher no-no. The company was turned down; it is now building a separate, kosher-only facility.
Worst Business Reply Postcard Ever
By 1.16.08
Can you spot what’s wrong with this Business Reply postcard? That’s right, The Huntsville Times wants you to write down your full contact information and credit card number on a postcard and send it through the mail where anyone can see it. Hellooooo, identity theft.
Disturbing Cheese Ads With Luis Guzmán And His Fellow "Cheddar Hunks"
By 1.15.08
Okay, we’re just going to say it: calling men of a certain age “cheddar hunks” just sounds like they all smell like stinky feet. That’s a table I want to stay far, far away from. Nevertheless, Cabot Cheese of Vermont has launched a new television campaign featuring Guzmán and his Stinky-Feet-Friends sitting around drinking beer and eating cheese. It’s weird. And though we have always liked Cabot Cheese, now it’s going to be hard not to think of middle-aged toes (and werewolves) whenever we go cheddar shopping. Urg.
Opting Out Of Junk Mail Now Free
By 1.14.08
Opting out from the junk mailings will no longer have the onerous cost of $1; the Direct Marketing Association is now offering to not bother you, free of charge! It will, however, require entering a credit card number for identity verification purposes. How nice, we’re no longer being assessed a fee to regain the privacy that was taken away from us. DMA has also added a way to opt-out of the mailings of just certain stores, in case there’s places you like getting promotional material in the mail from.
Taco Bell "Fresco" Bowl: 13g Of Fat or 8g? 350 Calories or 430?
By 1.14.08
I ordered the Zesty Chicken Border Bowl Fresco style without dressing. On the menu at the store, it reads under 9 grams of fat but on online, it reads 13 grams of fat. Please compare your special nutrition page for Fresco menu items to the Nutrition Calculator on the Taco Bell site. I made sure that I chose “Fresco Style” on the calculator and to be advertising something as under 9 grams of fat, but really having 13 is very misleading and wrong.
JetBlue: You're 4 Years Old, Would You Like An Amex?
By 1.11.08
Thought you might enjoy this: We got an application for a jetBlue-branded American Express card in the mail today for our oldest daughter. She is four. We flew on JetBlue about four months ago, so I suppose they sent their entire passenger manifest over to AmEx.
How To Become A "Brand Strategist"
By 1.10.08
Don’t Believe The Hypebeast gives a mock tutorial on how to become a “brand strategist,” basically some white douche who figures out how to make brands and products appeal to that fabled white unicorn, youth culture endowed with ungodly amounts of disposable income.
1. To be an influential and successful youth culture brand strategist, you’re going to need to be a White male, preferably with an affluent upbringing, but with a penchant for rap music and 80’s punk. Don’t have that particular penchant? Wikipedia that shit!
Hit the link for the next five easy steps to siphon monies from big brands wanting to get jiggy with it, whatever it is.
Highmark "Healthcare Gift Card" Usable To Buy Cigs, Junk Food
By 1.10.08
A health insurance company is touting what some might think sounds like a great idea, a gift card that can “cover out-of-pocket expenses related to personal health and wellness.” Perfect for sick friends and ailing relatives, right? Well a Pittsburgh paper got one of the Highmark-branded cards and was able to buy from Rite Aid: cigarettes, chewing tobacco, Doritos, fudge brownies, Butterfingers, Hot Pockets, Mountain Dew, and a plastic World Wrestling Entertainment World Championship belt.
Congress Asks Pfizer: Why Is Dr. Jarvik Qualified To Pitch Lipitor?
By 1.9.08
Dr. Robert Jarvik is the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, right? You know that because he’s the pitch-man for Lipitor, a heavily advertised cholesterol drug. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why inventing an artificial heart qualifies the man to pitch a drug?
If The Critic Doesn't Say Exactly What You Want, Change It
By 1.9.08
Speaking of blurbs and quote-whores, Gelf Magazine has compiled a list of the most egregiously misrepresented blurbs cherry-picked from various reviews last year.
Ads For Gays Focus On Exactly What You'd Expect
By 1.7.08
Ad Guy #1: Okay, these gays have money. How do we get it?Ad Guy #2: They like wangs! And cross-dressing!Ad Guy #1: Done! [They high five.] Radar takes a look at eleven gayish ads that range from over-the-top crass to “Well, if you want to see it that way” coy.
Amish Build Miracle Fireplace Using Steam-Powered Adobe Photoshop
By 1.4.08
This ad for Amish “HOME SURGE” fireplaces that appeared in USA Today, designed to look like a typical USA Today article, begs the question: are the Amish allowed to use Photoshop?
Chase Resets Marketing Preferences, Asks You To Opt-Out Again
By 12.23.07
Chase will reset everyone’s marketing preferences under the guise of providing “more options to specify which mail offers you do not want.” Remember when you originally opted-out? They didn’t quite understand. What about their Value Added Products And Services and Used Vehicle Financing? Unless you opt-out again by January 24, Chase will acknowledge your implied change of heart. Read their notice after the jump.
6 Major Retailers Selling Real Fur As "Faux"
By 12.20.07
Six big retailers are selling jackets advertised as having “faux” fur, but the fur is actually from real animals. It’s not only mean, it’s a violation of the federal Fur Products Labeling Act. An investigation by the Humane Society of The United States * found jackets sold at Saks, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, Dillards, Yoox and Bloomingdales containing the faux “faux” fur. Much of the world’s fur is processed in China, a place where they skin animals alive for their fur.
Starbucks "Cheer Chain" Coupon Revealed, Nation Mourns
By 12.19.07
Yes, actually it is a PR stunt. They’ve even provided coupons to kick it off. This one (scan attached) came from Esquire magazine, I believe.
Nooooooooooo, you mean they’re not even passing back a drink someone that someone actually paid for? They’re passing a BOGO coupon?
