More Kardashian News

 http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/runway/kim-kourtney-khloe-launch-kardashian-kollection-swimwear-003521282.html

There is more news now over Kourtney Kardashian. Many are in an uproar regarding the sexy new swimsuit ad the Kardashian girls are in. Kourtney's "unseen baby bump" is the topic of controversy. Apparently, this photo shoot occurred in late January. There were paparazzi photos of Kourtney shot at the same time in which she had more of a baby bump than that. According to the source, she was about 3 months pregnant at this time. The issue is why would they do a bathing suit ad with her wearing a skimpy bathing suit whenever they know she is pregnant? If it is that big of an issue then why didn't she wear the coverup that Khloe is wearing? 

In my opinion, people give WAY too much credit to his family and people care WAY too much about this so it is kind of annoying that people would care about this and notice this to this extent. What are you all's thoughts??

Lessons from a tattered pink ribbon

A few months ago, the Susan G. Komen for the cure foundation created great controversy when it announced its decision to end funding for Planned Parenthood. The foundation reversed its decision quickly, however, it still was not enough to downplay the protest. Fundraising is now in a frenzy and highly ranked execs are resigning their positions. Events have even had to be postponed because the foundation is insure of fundraising.

It is crazy how one simple decision about a policy can make or break an entire foundation. In the article, it states some lessons that all organizations should learn from this crisis.

1. Never underestimate the power of social media. It was blogging that led this issue to mainstream news.

2. Always develop a crisis plan. No plan was developed prior so the organization was caught "flat-footed."

3. Maintain message consistency. Contradictory messages can damage credibility of not only an individual but an entire organization.

4. Prepare stakeholders in advance. You do not want your staff and its affiliates to be caught offguard of any changes in policy that are taking place within the company.

An organization so widely known as this one is going to be mending their image for a while. Now, they must spend the next months trying to regain loyalty which has been shaken up by this controversial issue.

http://www.prweekus.com/lessons-from-a-tattered-pink-ribbon/article/233957/

UPS Backfire

A few weeks ago UPS ran a TV advertisement dealing with the NCAA basketball tournament that tried to connect a pass that won "the greatest game" to its theme of logistical excellence. This blog post received 482 shares and 181 comments. Why?

In a 1992 game, "The Unforgettables" from the University of Kentucky had pulled ahead by one point in the closing seconds of overtime against Duke who were the defending national champions. Little did they know, the game wasn't over yet. Duke player Grant Hill threw the ball almost the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who turned and made the winning shot leaving Kentucky no time to answer.

“Everybody remembers the shot. But what about the pass? No pass, no shot,” the narrator says. “You need a special player to get the ball exactly where it needs to be, exactly when it needs to be there.”

Kentucky fans exploded. Not only was this the most heart-breaking loss in the history of their sports program which UPS was now playing over and over again, but UPS has major facilities in Kentucky.

UPS decides to address the controversy in a blog trying to sooth irate Kentucky fans by creating a post by an actual Kentucky graduate that explained the thinking behind the ad.

“I know our new ads will anger some UK fans, but if you truly look at that game with an objective eye, it’s hard to think of a better example of what determined people working together toward a common goal can accomplish—and that’s what UPS is all about.

“No one should think that UPS has some kind of anti-UK bias. On the contrary, UPS loves Kentucky. We love it so much we established our primary air hub in the commonwealth, which has driven the creation of 33,000 jobs with $300 million in annual payroll.”

This also didn't work. Kentucky fans responded with:
“Here’s an idea for your next UPS ad. How about you detail the ‘logistics’ of a major company receiving huge tax breaks from a state as an incentive to move there. Then you could show the ‘teamwork’ required to make an ad highlighting the most heartbreaking moment in that state’s sports history. Sounds like another winner.

“It’s bad you wrote this post trying to justify the ad, but to do so in such a condescending manner explaining to everyone how great the play was makes it even worse.”

Many Kentucky fans vowed never to use UPS again. UPS could suffer greatly from this ad.

http://www.prdaily.com/socialmedia/Articles/11211.aspx

Skittles: “Taste the…Backlash?”

Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea brands were thrust into the spotlight after the story of Trayvon Martin’s murder. Trayvon had purchased the candy and the drink shortly before he was shot. Now, Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea are experiencing social media criticism for not extending sizeable donations in Martin’s name.

Should these brands be facing public backlash for something they didn’t want? Specifically, some say Skittles has benefitted from the unwanted publicity. BuzzFeed has a collection of tweets to that end.

Many people have written complaints on the Skittles facebook wall, but the brand is not weighing in on the conversations. The Skittles social voice is remaining silent.

For the full story, go to: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11236.aspx

"Operation Hackerazzi"

Read the article here.

Following a year long investigation dubbed as "Operation Hackerazzi" by the FBI, the Florida man that was arrested for hacking celebrity emails and posting their nude photographs on the Internet has agreed to plead guilty to nine felony counts.

The felony charges, which include wiretapping and unauthorized access to a computer, could land him up to 60 years in prison. Some of the more prominent celebrity victims included Christina Aguilera, Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson.

Overall, prosecutors say that the unemployed Florida man illegally entered the email accounts of more than 50 entertainment industry professionals and obtained the email addresses of fellow stars from their contact lists.

The most frightening part of the scandal, for me at least, is how he managed to weasel his way into the accounts, though. He didn't need any extensive hacking skills or programs; all he had to do was search through publicly available data to figure out password and security questions for the celebrity accounts.

Obviously, celebrities should be much more careful with the amount and quality of information they disclose to the public on mass media outlets. But the issue I want to bring up is the question of whether the photographs should have even been taken in the first place or not.

I'm not by any means saying that the hacked celebrities were to blame or that what the hacker did was anything less than 100% wrong. My point is simply that the whole thing could have been avoided if the celebrities were smart enough to not take nude photos.

Johannson told Associated Press that the photographs were taken for her now ex-husband, Ryan Reynolds. But once something is published into a media document and stored in a hidden file or folder for 'safe-keeping' it's like a sitting duck that's always just a milli-second away from going viral... no matter how safe we think it is.

Why take a chance when the costs could have such devastating effects? In my opinion, nude photographs are irresponsible in any circumstance, even if you've been happily married to the recipient for 30 years. I think Skype is a much safer, less-permanent alternative for couples. Plus, nobody wants those skeletons in their closet after a nasty divorce.

HUNGER GAMES!!!!!...........Racist?

I don't know if you were as enthusiastic or "pumped" as I was last Thursday, but I must say it was with great reasoning. With all concentration pertaining to academics, work and a slew of other things slowly withering away as the day drew on, I couldn't help but just anxiously anticipate catching the "Hunger Games" midnight premiere. Safe to say, it was AMAZING and apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way. "Hunger Games" had record-breaking munbers flood theaters with box office reporting $155 million over the the weekend. Despite the monumentous support ofr the film there also comes critixcs, knocking the film for leaving pivotal parts of the film out and other miniscule factors some didn't agree as with any other major motion picture.One bit of news I was disappointed to hear was occurances of a racial manner concerning some of the characters and the actor playing them. Various tweets expressing discontent with assigning characters "Rue" as well as "Cinna" were seen throughout the weekend on the social media website.

Here a liks to some of the tweets mentioned:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hneucg9snuqjpg/original.jpg
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hng9beyz0hjjpg/original.jpg
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hnfgjjvy499jpg/original.jpg
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hneuahestnvjpg/original.jpg

For the full story:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fm.jezebel.com%2F5896408%2Fracist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made&h=FAQERvzjt

Duracell Powers Up Olympic Marketing

Procter & Gamble is working with Duracell to promote its first Olympic marketing promotion for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Duracell wants to use their signature colors and "power" the athletes to receive a medal at the Olympics this summer. They will use different marketing strategies to help promote their batteries and encourage athletes and fans to "Rely on Copper to Go for the Gold."

Duracell has hired several professional athletes to help promote the batteries through social media, fan engagement and events. A picture of an Olympic athlete will be on the Duracell packages with a message that tells you how you can support the athletes. The intention of this program is to promote power to the Duracell brand just like Olympics athletes.

I think Duracell is using great marketing skills to promote something as big as the Olympics because it will attract the United States to the brand and having the athletes stand behind the brand gives it even more power. Reading this got me excited for the Olympics this summer and I hope Duracell can have this power on everyone!