TV Networks Fight Drug-Ad Measure

Recently, proposals have been made to "tax" advertising of prescription pharmaceutical drugs. Said to aid the economy in its current state of recession, the plan to eliminate advertising as a deduction for large companies is seen as a threat to American jobs by the major television networks.

Networks argue that eliminating such deductions will amount to millions of Americans losing jobs and result in a tax on advertising.

The House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), backs the plan and argues that if it is not accepted, the U.S. will be further indebted $37 million over the next ten years.

If companies across the nation, or even the globe, decided to reduce advertising on a grand level, we'd find a large sum of money available for problems plaguing lower and middle-class people, and the starving and sick.

With the issue of the cost of pharmaceutical advertising spurring from a failing or swaying economy, it is easy to take a step back and examine the wide world of media, marketing and advertising.

Especially in the United States, extreme emphasis is placed on developing and maintaining clientele and profit. The executives and presidents of large companies should place less weight on selling for a dollar, and more weight on making a difference in the world in the form of research, contribution and proactive intervention.

Understandably, it is childish or naive to assume that advertising agencies will utilize payroll in underdeveloped countries in the sake of humanity. But it is insightful and logical to assume that these companies can cut down on advertising and focus more on the well being of mankind.

After all, becoming more involved in the community creates good press and will be remembered. Sometimes good deeds can go further than a flashy package or catchy jingle.

Bill Gates' Speech to Students

It appears that President Obama was not the only person spreading the message of the value of education to students across the nation this week.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is partnering with Viacom Inc's television networks to launch "Get Schooled", a five-year awareness campaign targeted at students, especially those at risk of not graduating.

Viacom Inc's television network (which includes MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, BET, CMT and Spike TV) launched the initiative by broadcasting a 30-minute documentary simultaneously across all networks. The documentary highlighted the importance of education in your career path and featured pop artist Kelly Clarkson, basketball star LeBron James and President Barack Obama.

There is a reason Bill Gates is a billionaire. The day before Steve Jobs reappears, healthy, and with announcements of advancements in Apple's greatest selling products, Bill Gates is able to sponsor and spread a message across an entire media conglomerate. Good for kids at home watching MTV and good for Bill Gates.

View article from Associated Press

General Mills's Wheaties Targets Male Athletes With Wheaties Fuel

Wheaties is already known for their tagline, "Breakfast of Champions," but will be adding, "Fuel. Win. Evolve." to the their new Wheaties Fuel cereal. The new cereal is being billed as "the first-ever cereal designed specifically to help fuel wins." The Wheaties brand is hoping to increase sales by targeting their already 60% male customer base.

With the help of sports nutritionist Dr. John Ivy, three formulations were tested among "everyday athletes" drawn mainly from readers of Men's Health. The new Wheaties Fuel offers whole grains, along with more sugar than the flagship formula, 200 calories, 100% of the RDAs for the five B vitamins; five grams of fiber, and calcium and vitamin D. Fuel "takes advantage of the advances in science of the past 85 years," noted Wheaties marketing manager Dan Stangler, in announcing the formulation.

Fuel is featuring five male star athletes (NFL's Peyton Manning, the NBA's Kevin Garnett, gold medal-winning decathlete Bryan Clay, the MLB's Albert Pujols, and triathlete Hunter Kemper) to be featured not just in marketing, but on the initial "collector's edition" version of the cereal's box. For now, the cereal can be purchased online at Fuel's Web site and will be available in grocery stores nationwide in January 2010.

I think this is an appropriate approach for the Wheaties brand to take. The majority of the Wheaties customer base is already males so I think this will help bump up their sales. Also, by involving star male athletes it will definitely grab the attention of their targeted male audience. With Special K already targeting the women audience, it is about time that males have their own cereal, too.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113207

AIDS Awareness Video Uses Hitler as Analogy.

This company plans to use mass murders such as Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein and former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to draw the analogy between mass murder and aids.

Hamburg-based public relations company das commitee sought a shock effect in making the video as awareness of the risks of the disease ebbs, said Hans Weishaeupl, the company’s art director. The 45-second clip shows a shadowy sex scene that rolls to a close depicting a grinning Hitler.

“The criticism’s unfair,” said Weishaeupl by phone from Hamburg today. “We’re not saying aids victims are mass murders but that the disease is.”

A lot of people are angry, understandably, but maybe they just are making the connection. This really has nothing to do with Hitler, except the part where he killed thousands of people, as does AIDS.

I think it is a great idea, it defiantly gets the point across! I think that shock is a great way to get people's attention. Also, I know that if i saw a Hitler look-a-like on a commercial I would want to know what it was about.

I hope that they don't cancel the ad because it is too controversial.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aAFdA6Zlt49M

Dos Equis Promotional Effort Goes Awry

On July 15, Twitter told a tale of terribly planned promotional event; The Dos Equis “The Most Interesting Academy” at Falkenstein Castle.

After a fury of tweets and text messages the picture of what was happening hit the web.
Guests were left sweltering in the heat as self-parking spread over improvised lots, shuttle buses backed up and long lines formed outside the overcrowded faux castle.

Some guests said for the beer promotional party they waited three hours, but were never admitted. Others entered the landmark between Marble Falls and Burnet easily from other parking lots.

“Great intentions, poor transportation logistics, amazing party, lack of communication, high expectations; weak results for many,” tweeted Austin’s Marcus Ceniceros. More than one Facebook page has already cropped up with complaints about the event.

Meanwhile, inside, some of the Austin promoters were left unaware of the crisis.

“It’s amazing what Twitter has done,” says Kristin Owen of Austin’s Do512, which publicized the event and accepted confirmations from guests, along with Rare magazine. “I’m so grateful right now, I wouldn’t have even known there was a problem. I have started to receive some horror stories from guests via e-mail.”

Taylor Perkins, publisher of Rare, says the Academy: “was an absolutely incredible production and was very well-attended by local Austinites that were wanting to partake in the festivities.”

Owen and Perkins emphasized that Mirrorball, a New York-based event coordinator, along with Dos Equis, hosted the event. Attempts to reach a Mirrorball representative were unsuccessful.

“The local police force seemed to be very overwhelmed with the number of people that were attending the event,” Perkins says. “And they were less than pleasant with the guests and attendees wishing to get in to the event.”

Invitations to the party included a long list of activities : “parachutes, edible bugs, vertical wind tunnel, birds of prey, barber shop, martial arts Instruction and demonstration, bungee, and water slides along with live music, DJ’s, and celebrity
guests.”

On August 5, Yahoo! Finance featured the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man" party on the top 10 Promotional Stunts That Horribly Backfired list.

Goodbye NFL Mid-game Tweets

The NFL has recently announced that players will not be permitted to use social media within the 90 minutes prior to kickoff or during games. Players may not use social media sites themselves nor can a representative of the player post updates on the player’s account.

Players are permitted to update their sites after interviewing with traditional media outlets.

It is more understandable that many teams in the NFL have imposed restrictions on using Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites on the practice field. What goes on in practice is rarely shown in the media, and if it is, it is only in the form of short video clips. On the contrary, games are shown live, so as long as players avoid leaking confidential play information, what should stop them from twittering about how slippery the grass is or how awesome that last run was?

It is most likely that the restriction is an effort to protect the brand rather than an attempt to preserve the game. For example: why was Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie fined $2,500 for criticizing the food service at his training camp? There should be no reason why a personal complaint about one’s meals should interfere with a football team’s efficiency on the field. It is possible, however, that the complaint about NFL-hired help may somehow tarnish the “no nonsense” image the brand fights hard to maintain.

I think this last bit of information reiterates my claim: Charlie Villanueva, previously with the Milwaukee Bucks, tweeted during halftime and got reprimanded by coach Scott Skiles. Was Skiles upset that Villanueva was focusing on other things rather than on his contributions on the field? Well, not really-Skiles was upset that the tweet gave the impression that Villanueva wasn’t focused.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8124976d&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true

Radio Shack Changes Name

Radio Shack is no more. In this new age where people no longer have time to stop and smell the roses and must be able to update their facebook page while doing 80 down I-35, Radio Shack decided their name was ready for a makeover.

I don't like the new name. When I hear "The Shack," I think of a run-down store on the shore of some beach that sells those stupid shell necklaces and other useless that is populated with dirty hippy surfers, and nobody likes a dirty hippy surfer.

I asked my roommates what they thought about the new campaign, and one of them hadn't head about it yet.

"The Shack? Really? That's the best they got?" Said Chris Wilson, senior at Texas State.

The "The Shack" campaign was masterminded by Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners. a marketing firm based out of Sausalito, CA. Lucas Arts, Priceline.com and Chipotle are all clients of BSSP.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=111007