Consumerist

marketing

Why Generic Is Just As Good: Sometimes It's Just A Different Wrapper?

By consumerist.com 9.25.07

This random, unverified comment scavenged from Metafilter archives syncs in with our preconceived notions and suspicions just enough that we’re going to publish it and wonder aloud if it is true:

When I was a kid I remember taking a tour of the big Wonder Bread factory in our town. I was scarred for life when I realized that one of the production lines for loaves of bread that I was following split into two packaging lanes just before the plastic went over the loaf. One lane was for Wonder, the other was for the local supermarket brand.

Is it really all just packaging? Bring on the blind taste tests.

university of iowa

Alumni Associations And Public Universities Profit By Selling Student Data To Bank Of America

By Meg Marco 9.24.07

We stumbled across a very interesting article in the Des Moines Register that discusses the methods public universities’ alumni associations (in this case, the University of Iowa and ISU) use to obtain and sell student data.

deceptive practices

Ohio Attorney General Sues Credit Card Marketers Over Ohio State "Free Burrito" Event

By Meg Marco 9.24.07

Ohio Attorney General, Mark Dunn, is suing Citibank-affiliated credit card marketers for violating Ohio’s consumer protection laws during a “Free Burrito” event at Ohio State University.

advertising

Video Of Old TV Production Company Logos

By Meg Marco 9.17.07

We’re inexplicably drawn to this sort of thing. Maybe it’s our fascination with marketing and advertising. Maybe it’s nostalgia for Ubu. He’s a good dog.

advertising

Tiny USB Flash Drive In Entertainment Weekly

By cwalters 9.17.07

CBS and Cadillac are running a fancy-schmancy new ad campaign in the September 21st issue of “Entertainment Weekly” (the one with Britney on the cover) that includes a free “world’s smallest” 128MB flash drive. It doesn’t appear to be in the issues for sale on stands, so if you know anyone who subscribes, ask them for their copy.

carriers

Coming Soon To Paris, Bluetooth Ads For Mobile Phones

By cwalters 9.14.07

Marketers in France are planning to beam location-specific ads to your phone via Bluetooth, the common short-range wireless transfer technology that’s now included in nearly every new cellphone, reports Reuters. Currently under consideration is just what sort of ad would be compelling enough to tempt consumers to opt in on such messages, since there’s no way advertisers can force you to accept Bluetooth communications.

damage control

By cwalters 9.14.07

../../../..//2007/09/14/canadian-telecommunications-giant-bell/

Canadian telecommunications giant Bell Canada is pulling down over 50 ads placed around parts of Toronto and Vancouver, because they show a woman wearing a button that reads “Belsen was a gas,” the title of a Sex Pistols song and a reference to the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. The button is one of many the model wears, and the company says it was impossible to read during approval and proofing, and only became legible when blown up to billboard-size proportions. [Reuters and Free Republic]

advertising

By cwalters 9.12.07

../../../..//2007/09/12/researchers-find-that-shopping/

Researchers find that shopping malls can encourage healthier “incidental activity” by placing signs next to stairwells that read, “Take the Stairs,” which caused a 190% increase in stair activity over three weeks. Or, just do what most the stores in NYC do and make sure at least one escalator is out of service at all times. [Reuters]

advertising

Attention: Starbucks Is Officially A Family Destination

By Meg Marco 9.12.07

Starbucks spokesman Brandon Borrman said there are still no plans to market specifically to children, and grown-ups need not worry that the Cartoon Network will be playing on the flat-panel screen of their neighborhood Starbucks anytime soon.

certification

Prevented From Calling Your Produce USDA Certified Organic By Federal Law? Call It "Artisan Naturals" Instead

By consumeristcarey 9.8.07

Stemilt Growers can’t call its produce USDA Certified Organic until they grow without chemicals for three years, but that isn’t stopping them from branding their produce “Artisan Naturals” in the interim. The three year chemical-free transition period is marked by insect infestations, infertile soil, and poor crop quality, which conspire to ravage a farm’s profitability. Stemilt, one of the nation’s largest apple growers, is hoping that consumers will pay a price premium for “natural” produce, which will likely be confused for USDA certified organic produce.

The orchard is in its second year of transition to organic, but the fruit will be sold under Stemilt’s Artisan Naturals label, promoting its naturally farmed history.

packaging

Apparently Marketers Still Have A Lot To Learn

By cwalters 9.6.07

Adweek reports that in a recent Nielsen study of shoppers’ in-store behavior, even the study authors were surprised to discover how little some marketers seem to know about what works and what doesn’t. First, they determined how we shop for specific product categories:

marketing

KFC Launches Program Designed To Make Your Office Smell Like Chicken

By Meg Marco 8.31.07

KFC has issued a press release explaining their newest marketing effort: They’re going to make your office smell like chicken.

advertising

What's Up With All The "Special" Kinds Of Vodka?

By consumerist.com 8.31.07

Why are there so many different kinds of new vodkas, while brands of gin, rum and tequila stay the same?

pools

Would You Let This Guy Pay You To Wrap Your Car In Ads?

By Meg Marco 8.27.07

We’d always heard rumors that there were companies that would pay you to wrap your car in their ads… but we thought it was a bunch of hooey. That’s right. Hooey. It’s not. There really are guys like Brian Morris of Pheonix, AZ who will pay you to wrap a big vinyl ad around your SUV.

promotions

Do You Really Need The Neosporin Tote? Does Anyone?

By Meg Marco 8.27.07

You’re probably asking yourself, “What the hell is a Neosporin tote?” Apparently (and we wouldn’t know this because we buy generic Neosporin from Walgreens), Neosporin now comes with a small plastic totebag that you can use to remind yourself that you should take the ointment with you in case you carelessly plunge a knife into your tender fleshy parts while you are away from home.

at&t

AT&T Stops Pretending To Be The Network With The "Fewest Dropped Calls"

By consumeristcarey 8.25.07

AT&T is no longer claiming to be the network with the “fewest dropped calls,” according to a company insider. The assertion was widely panned as a lie:

The ad campaign, which launched last March, was based on a Telephia report that actually noted AT&T Wireless (then Cingular) did not have the most reliable network in New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. A recent JD Power report gives that honor to T-Mobile in most markets. Similarly, a report from Consumer Reports placed Cingular/AT&T at the bottom of their rankings for reliability and satisfaction.

AT&T will instead boast that they have: “more bars in more places.”

advertising

Will Jessica Simpson, Donald Trump and Martha Stewart Convince You To Shop At Macy's?

By Meg Marco 8.24.07

Other celebrities in the campaign include Sean Combs, Kimora Lee Simmons, Russell Simmons, Marc Ecko, Emeril Lagasse, Tyler Florence, Tommy Hilfiger and Kenneth Cole. Some ads also feature Tim Gunn, co-host of the TV show “Project Runway.” The ads were created by WPP Group’s JWT.

lawsuits

American Airlines Sues Google Over Trademarked Search Terms

By Meg Marco 8.20.07

American Airlines has sued Google over search terms that include words that American Airlines has trademarked. For example, if you search Google for “Aadvantage,” American Airline’s frequent flier program, Google will display a link to the program, but also show ads from competitors.

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marketing