via blog.nielsen.com
For ad agencies thinking of saving money on actors: Nielsen finds live action "more effective than animated ads across all major demographics".
Posted via email from The Flow
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tell Discovery Communications to cancel Palin! "Drill, Baby, Drill" comes to Discovery?
The media conglomerate Discovery Communications used to be known for their earth-friendly offerings. But they’ve just paid millions to Sarah Palin to host a “nature” show, despite her decidedly anti-environmental stance: She vocally advocates for habitat-destroying oil drilling, she denies global warming is a human-caused threat, and she spearheaded a brutal wolf-slaughter program as governor of Alaska.
Giving anti-environmentalist Sarah Palin a television platform like this runs entirely counter to everything Discovery has always been about.
Unless the network plans to expose her as the land-raping globe-heating dolt that she is, this show needs to be canceled.
Regardless of the angle, paying this imbecile $1.2 million per episode is nothing short of obscene.
Was Discovery Communications bought by Rupert Murdoch when I wasn't looking?
Sign the petition for cancellation!
Tax Day 2010 Freebies
via mashable.com
From free tax form copies at Staples to free coffee at Starbuck's, and from pizza to PF Chang's, there are some free (or discounted) goodies you can reward yourself with for being a prompt taxpayer. Check 'em out at Mashable...
Friday, April 9, 2010
The Cave Restaurant by Koichi Takada Architects » CONTEMPORIST
via contemporist.com
Now THIS is smart design. We've all been in restaurants that have great energy, but where it's impossible to hold a conversation due to the noise level. This architectural firm has used the kind of acoustic software used to tune concert halls to create an atmosphere that allows intimate conversation while maintaining that nice background buzz. The restaurant is called "The Cave"... But it could just as easily be called "Monstro". Now, hopefully the cuisine will live up to the look and sound...
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Is anyone really surprised? - RNC document mocks donors, plays on 'fear'
The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on “fear” of President Barack Obama and a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism."
The strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how “ego-driven” wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and “tchochkes.”
The presentation was delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart to top donors and fundraisers at a party retreat in Boca Grande, Florida on February 18, a source at the gathering said.
In neat PowerPoint pages, it lifts the curtain on the often-cynical terms of political marketing, displaying an air of disdain for the party’s donors that is usually confined to the barroom conversations of political operatives.
The presentation explains the Republican fundraising in simple terms.
"What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate...?" it asks.
The answer: "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!”
Manipulating donors with crude caricatures and playing on their fears is hardly unique to Republicans or to the RNC – Democrats raised millions off George W. Bush in similar terms – but rarely is it practiced in such cartoonish terms.
One page, headed “The Evil Empire,” pictures Obama as the Joker from Batman, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid are depicted as Cruella DeVille and Scooby Doo, respectively.
The document, which two Republican sources said was prepared by the party’s finance staff, comes as Chairman Michael Steele struggles to retain the trust and allegiance of major donors, who can give as much as $30,400 a year to the party.
Under Steele, the RNC has shifted toward a reliance on small donors, but the document reveals extensive, confidential details of the strategy for luring wealthy checkwriters, which range from luxury retreats in California wine country to tickets to a professional fight in Las Vegas.
The 72-page document was provided to POLITICO by a Democrat, who said a hard copy had been left in the hotel hosting the $2,500-a-head retreat, the Gasparilla Inn & Club. Sources at the event said the presentation was delivered by Bickhart and by the RNC Finance Chairman, Peter Terpeluk, a former ambassador to Luxembourg under President George W. Bush.
The RNC reacted with alarm to a question about it Wednesday, emailing major donors to warn them of a reporter’s question, and distancing Steele from its contents.
via politico.com
It's been painfully obvious for quite some time, but now the RNC has graced us with a document that puts in writing their own special brand of institutionalized, systematic fear mongering... while at the same time demonstrating just exactly who the "elitists" are. Displaying mind-boggling contempt for its own donors, not to mention smacking of race-baiting, this is the sort of thing that should be the undoing of a party. But given the fact that so many in America seem to be more than willing to believe the GOP's lies, it's very possible that no one at the top -- save, perhaps, Michael Steele -- will be dislodged from their corporation-insulated ivory towers.Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Neanderthals everywhere mourn: G.M. to Close Hummer
DETROIT %u2014 Hummer, the brand of big sport-utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term %u201Cgas guzzler,%u201D is being shut down after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart, General Motors said Wednesday.
G.M. said only that its planned sale of Hummer to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Company %u201Ccannot be completed,%u201D without giving a reason, but the $150 million deal had been stalled as the companies awaited approval from the Chinese government. G.M. had been trying to sell Hummer for a year, and struck a preliminary deal with Tengzhong last June.
The two companies had planned to close the deal by the end of January, then delayed the deadline by a month in the hopes of getting the green light from China.
%u201CWe have since considered a number of possibilities for Hummer along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed," John Smith, G.M.%u2019s vice president of corporate planning and alliances, said in a statement. "G.M. will now work closely with Hummer employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner."
It was the third time since G.M. emerged from bankruptcy protection last year that a deal to sell one of its unwanted brands collapsed. The company is shutting down Saturn after a sale fell through, and it began to halt operations at Saab after an agreement with Koenigsegg AB in Sweden was called off. G.M. later reached an agreement with a Dutch company, Spyker Cars; that deal closed Tuesday.
G.M. also is closing Pontiac but it never attempted to sell that brand.
G.M. said it still would honor Hummer warranties and provide service and parts to current Hummer owners worldwide. Hummer has nearly 400 dealerships globally.
The deal would have made Tengzhong the first Chinese company to sell vehicles in North America, though it planned to keep Hummer%u2019s operations in the United States.
via nytimes.com
...and people of conscience everywhere rejoice.
Friday, February 19, 2010
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