Angry Fans Seek 5 Million in Damages After Super Bowl Seating Fiasco

Shortly before this year's Super Bowl started, 1,200 temporary seats were deemed unusable. Angry fans have now brought lawsuits against the Cowboys, their owner Jerry Jones and the N.F.L with accusations of fraud and breach of contract. The plaintiffs are seeking 5 million in damages and making it a PR nightmare for the Cowboys.

One fan from Texas, Mike Dolabi, had paid $100,000 per season ticket that included the privilege of being able to purchase "comparable seats" for the Super Bowl. When Dolabi arrived he was forced to sit on the 10-yard-line in one of 1,740 temporary seats and said he was not even able to see the new giant video board.

The other plaintiff, Steve Simms, was one of 400 people who were denied seats after the 1,200 were deemed unusable. He was so obviously upset that he left the game during halftime.

The N.F.L. has offered two solutions to compensate the roughly 400 affected fans:

1) A free ticket to next year's Super Bowl game and $2,400 (three time the face value of the Super Bowl XLV game ticket held by the individual). The ticket to next year's Super Bowl is transferable.

Or:

2) A free ticket to a future Super Bowl game of the fan's choice, including next year's, if so desired, and round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations provided by the N.F.L. This offer will be personalized in the ticketholder's name and is not transferable.

I think that the offers sound reasonable for the fans who purchased the tickets at the cheaper price, but for the fan who had season tickets should definitely be compensated much more than he is being offered.

This is obviously a PR nightmare for the Cowboys and the N.F.L. The PR teams are going to have to work hard to earn the forgiveness from the fans and get their trust back.

Groupon Super Bowl commercial offends some

It generally takes a lot to offend people, but Groupon did just that with their Super Bowl commercial. The company, which sells group discounts, started their commercial talking about the Tibetan people's suffering. It then proceeded to say, "But they still whip up an amazing fish curry, and since 200 of us bought at Groupon.com, we're each getting $30 worth of Tibetan food for just $15 at Himalayan restaurant in Chicago."

Groupon certainly has created buzz from the advertisement, but it isn't a positive stir. They also mocked efforts aimed at saving whales and the rainforest in two other commercials. In return, they are matching up to $100,000 in donations for each cause.

http://www.theworld.org/2011/02/07/super-bowl-groupon-ad-offends/comment-page-1/

AOL is Alive and Kicking

If you're like me, you thought AOL died along with broad band connections years ago. However, its new acquisition of the Huffington Post has proved that they are very much alive. With Huffington Post's innovative use of social media as a news outlet, AOL has proved it knows how to evolve and make strategic moves to benefit the company.

HuffPo was founded in 2005 and from the start utilized social media. It has been the poster child for how a media-based company should evolve with social trends. This is probably the reason why the co-founder and editor-in-chief of HuffPo will be named the president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will include all Huffington Post and AOL content.

This acquisition didn't come cheap. AOL will spend $315 million on the deal, but the strategic move should prove to be very beneficial. This should serve as a reminder to everyone that staying with the social trends is not only important but necessary to keep your business alive.

Redbox to Offer Online Streaming Service

Redbox has offered customers easy access to the latest films at bargain prices and announced last week it will offer an online streaming service. The company is currently looking for partners, but continues to expand by now offering game rentals at $5,000 Redbox kiosks. The company has to managed to reach over 16 million customers through an online database that offers promotion and Redbox news. Redbox has not announced whether it will charge per rental or offer a monthly subscription program.



http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=144383

News Corp. launches digital news paper

On Wednesday News Corp. launched The Daily, a digital newspaper that can be read on an I Pad or other tablets. The Daily will cost 99 cents a week or $39.99 a year. It will feature news, opinion, sports and lifestyle content, including audio, 360-degree photos and video.
The new paper is being closely watched throughout the media industry, and is being seen as a new way to make money in an industry that has been hurting. "We can and we must make the business of newsgathering and editing viable again," said Chairman Rupert Murdoch. "We believe The daily will be the model for how stories will be told and consumed."
The Daily will be distributed using a new billing-and-delivery system from Apple that will automatically charge the customers credit card every week or year so readers don't have to pay each time they want to access a new issue.
This project is likely to change the way news is received, and could help save an industry that is seen as "dying". It will also save loads of paper!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960804576120072163471538.html

Egyptian Social Media Advancement

Egyptians protesting for the removal of their president have been given a voice thanks to a new tool that is brought to the world by Google, SayNow and Twitter.

The Egyptian government has been threatening to terminate Internet to those who speak against the current president or advocate his removal, but with phone service still available they are able to use this new social media to record their opinions and share them with the rest of the world.

Launched the same day as President Hosni Mubarak's controversial speech in Cairo, this service allows anyone in the world to call one of three numbers to record a message that will then be posted onto Twitter. This is extremely important for the citizens of Egypt however, because they have been using social media sites to congregate for mass protests.

The idea was specifically for Egypt, but anyone can leave a message in support of their efforts, or follow them on Twitter at #Egypt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/world/middleeast/02twitter.html?_r=1&hp

Office Depot selects IMPAQT to increase search engine marketing

Office Depot has decided to look for help to increase its search engine marketing capabilites to help increase returns of overall marketing dollars. The search engine market is a highly competitive market that has the ability to increase business or bring it to a halt.

IMPAQT is a leading search engine marketing firm that has experience with other enterprise-level retail clients. The work that IMPAQT will be able to do for Office Depot will help create more traffic on Office Depot's Web site.

I think that this is a great idea for Office Depot because it will help the company to be more competitive and have a stronger search results presence.


http://www.prnewsonline.com/prnewswire/Office-Depot-Teams-Up-with-IMPAQT-to-Step-Up-Search-Marketing-Capabilities_6067.html