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  • jackhardy 00:15 on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: cycling, ,   

    The Man Who Lived On His Bike 

    Publicity with video clips is a strange beast. Engaging video clips can capture imagination, tell a story, persuade, inform, offend–you name it and there is a reaction to fit any example. From a PR perspective, these are great opportunities to share and reach a large audience, particularly if it “goes viral” and it has millions of views. This particular video is particularly entertaining, but for 2-3 minutes. If there is a cause or a reason that the producer created this piece, it’s lost on me other than for pure entertainment. Take a look and tell me what you think:

    Man Lives on His Bike

     

    • Lauren 05:45 on February 12, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      reminds me of this!

    • Matthew Bassett 05:18 on February 13, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      It is interesting how viral videos are making a huge presence in the business world and everyday life. People are creating videos for entertainment and educational purposes, and getting millions of views from it. Just the other week, i bought a cell phone case that was difficult to put on my phone, and it didnt come with directions, so i youtubed it and within seconds found a directional video of installing the case.

      I think this video was created to be viewed as an artistic work piece and potentially to promote biking as an alternative to driving, It did mention in the article or at the end of the video that the creator made this video for his father who got him interested in biking. So i think maybe it had a couple meanings to the author.

    • Quanah Pike Polichetti 06:09 on February 17, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      If it was meant to promote biking, it did not do the trick in my book. This is the message I got: it is ridiculous to try to live on a bike. At some point you have to utilize camera magic or stop pedaling.

    • Ashley L. Folsom 04:40 on February 19, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      Sounds to me like this was an artistic montage to his father by basically illustrating what you tend to give up with that much dedication to something like mass amounts of bicycling. If anything, I think this is meant to spotlight those who do long distance bicycling and illustrate the basic things we forget about that are incorporated into our everyday lives.

    • michaela 22:36 on February 23, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think that the creator was not only doing it for his father, but also to show that what people tend to do in their car can also be done on a bike. I think that in a way he was showing that people do too many things at once when they should be focusing on one thing at a time. I actually found the video to be funny and eye opening in that people try to do too much because of this need to save time. In the video he pretty much does stuff that we all do, but because it’s on a bike we think it’s just for entertainment and not to be taken seriously. In a way he was probably trying to be funny and based on the ending I can see that all involved did have fun, but I think that it would be unfair to say that he didn’t have any other intention behind it or that he didn’t have another message he wanted to convey.

  • jackhardy 23:46 on February 8, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , IPO, mark zuckerberg, privacy, shareholders   

    The Hacker Way 

    In the wake of the anticipated $5 billion Initial Public Stock Offering (IPO) for Facebook, a revealing portrait of founder Mark Zuckerberg’s management and company philosophy is found in an open letter to future stockholders found here: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2012/02/01/text-of-mark-zuckerbergs-ipo-letter.html?page=all

    The letter is alternatively forward thinking and snarky. Perhaps his mantra that “done is better than perfect” symbolizes his engineering-focused rule of computer programmers. Their stated company code to break it down and reinvent, otherwise known as the “hacker way,” seems troubling because of what it does not say. I did not find a long-term philosophy about building a great company. Perhaps this is an archaic business philosophy in a world where get-rich dot-com companies come and go. As a potential investor, I did not find anything reassuring about the company’s attempt to protect consumer privacy or to provide a long-term return on investment for shareholders. Does this sound like a nurturing place to work or one in which confrontation rules and no-holds-barred engineering trumps the value of the people who work there. What do you think?

     

    • Pouria Tehran 19:41 on February 14, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I believe Facebook has come a long way to achieve its social goal and mission, but the scale it is expanding seems to be too early for Facebook to grow in. As mentioned, the primarily intention of Facebook was not to become a company, however, potential growth and its great network for connecting people and businesses derived Facebook to form into a business, which just recently received its IPO worth $5billion. The company’s structure and philosophy don’t seem to have an anticipated future since Facebook culture is revolving around innovation and doing something that is ahead of what normally other companies do. Rumors about Facebook shutting down and then ending up going public has damaged consumers perception about safety of what Facebook is doing and offering over the air. Given that, it would have been a lot more assuring to the consumers or potential investors to see Facebook is focusing on engineering as well as securing the network and improvement in all of the business aspect.

    • Matthew Bassett 19:06 on February 15, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      From an investor outlook this letter would not be something that would attract me to this company. Obviously Facebook is doing extremely well and investing into the company, most likely will have returns for the current period. From this letter it is hard to say that Mark Zuckenburg is really defending his company on a level of competitive advantage, and profitability and looking into the future to see where Facebook stands against competitors.
      This letter touches a lot on the engineering side of Facebook and what they do to create the user face that has become so popular; it does not really go into the financials of the company and explain where the money is going and how they plan to be sustainable in the future. The assets that Facebook currently has are the members and its popular user face; another company can engineer a user face similar or better to Facebook, and all they will need to take market share from Facebook is enough members to convince others to switch from Facebook.
      Most consumers do not use more than one social media site, so they will generally go where there friends and family are; the switch from Myspace to Facebook was an example of this.
      I think that a letter to investors should have outlined the ways that Facebook will continue to attain market share, and keep a competitive advantage in the industry. This letter seemed to have a lot of fluff to it, and more personal opinions from the CEO, rather than a strategic plan.

    • Ashley L. Folsom 05:21 on February 19, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think this letter was more intended to prep its investors, rather than win a bunch over. If a bunch of shareholders jump ship after the first beta test a company releases, that’ll be harder on the company than the actual beta test release.

      Anyone who has a Facebook account knows that Facebook has a tendency to throw out a complete change of coding and formatting, and just put users into a new program while it’s still in Beta phase. This is not new news. Sometimes those developments work, sometimes Facebook has had to pull their “new design” out and bring back the old by popular demand. Anyone who is considering being a potential investor or shareholder should know this about the company.

      Being that social media is an ever evolving and continually growing being that thrives on its consumer needs, I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg *could* promise an outline of the future, because the demand of the market is ever-changing. I think Mark Zuckerberg promised exactly what he knew he could, which is showcasing his history of success through this constantly changing expectation driven segment of the social market.
      Is his theory of throwing people into a new Beta phas without warning the best? No. But the risk of jumping ship to another social media venue is too high, (otherwise Google+ would be #1), and not only does Zuckerberg know that, but Facebook users do to.

      I think if Zuckerberg were to try and promise *how* he plans a great company future, it would sound more like a presidential campaign promise that he might not be able to live up to. This however, sounds more like a promise to stay innovative, which in social media, is probably the most steady promise an investor could ask for.

  • jackhardy 19:32 on April 12, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: digital platforms, new media, online content   

    Consumer Appetite for Media Insatiable 

    Just read the recent Arbitron study that revealed the average person spends 1 hour and 21 minutes more each day consuming media than in 2001. This increase over the last ten years means that literally every spare minute of your time (is there really such a thing as spare time anymore?) is spent consuming content from the Internet, radio, television–literally absorbing new content. The reason is because of the proliferation of digital devices, namely smartphones, that enable 24/7 access to information that we are consuming during the time we normally take public transportation, wait in lines or offices. Smartphones, social media and online radio are the enablers of this behavior. It’s good news for content developers since it appears there is an ever increasing audience and appetite for all things digital. I only have one question: when was the last time you had a conversation with the person next to you at the grocery store, waiting room or bus stop?

     

    • Quanah P. Polichetto 15:51 on January 14, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      What is this concept you talk of called “spare time”? You are right! I know every chance I get I am on my cell phone checking email, Facebook, or texting friends. I am so addicted that I do the dangerous thing of doing so while driving… I have read many articles about people dying because they texted while driving. Myth Busters actually did an episode where they showed that talking on your cell phone, even on a hands free device, is just as dangerous if not more dangerous than drunk driving. Also in March of 2010 AT&T release a video that discourages attempts to discourage texting and driving. This is a serious problem! I have decided that I need to get serious about the dangers of texting while driving. It is a threat to everyone’s lives while on the road.
      Here’s the website to the AT & T video: http://youtu.be/DebhWD6ljZs
      One has to ask themselves the question: do I really want my last word(s) to be a text?
      It’s not worth it. A text is not worth my life or anyone elses. I do admit I have a problem. Even after all this knowledge on the subject, I still text while driving.
      I do still have conversations with that person next to me at the grocery store, waiting room or bus stop, but not nearly as much as I did as teen when I did not even own a cell phone. Technology is a wonderful thing, but like anything else excess can become a real problem. I need help! I don’t even think I could go 24 hours without my phone…

    • Michaela Specht 23:08 on January 26, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I saw a few episodes of Portlandia recently (television show starring Fred Armisen) in which they poke fun at Portlanders for being consumed in this technology loop and then again in another episode they make fun at how the possible loss of a phone would trigger a state of depression in a person. They claim that it’s an obvious exaggeration, but the fact is that the sketches are influenced by things that they actually witness. I for one, have forgotten my phone several times and have gone days without checking Facebook or watching television, and I’ve been fine, but that’s probably because of the fact that I just don’t have a lot of time to enjoy media. I get frustrated when someone says, I’m “anti-social” or ignoring them because I don’t ever respond on Facebook or take too long to respond to a text, when the truth is I still prefer normal conversation like a phone call or a chat over coffee.

    • Michaela Specht 23:26 on January 26, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      Here are some links to what I was talking about:
      http://youtu.be/7jT0JT3N47g

      http://youtu.be/NPL7Snp38rA

    • Pouria Tehran 03:01 on February 3, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      The increase in the internet usage shows the demand for information, however, addiction to such a trait is unfortunate. Internet, TV, and phone are meant to improve lifestyle and information search quality, and the fact that not having an access to it could be held accountable for depression would be a frustrating factor. I have personally and unintentionally been dragged into the high usage of internet which lack of access to internet, by phone or computer, would make me anxious. I believe this was not the original intention of technology, but such a high demand should be taken under control by considering technology, specifically internet, a product that improper usage of it could result in undesired outcomes.

    • Jieyi Peng 08:49 on February 18, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      This discussion really makes me think how Media has impacted my life. First, I have to say media like internet, smart phones have brought lots of convenience to my life. For example, I can access the information that I want easily, and especially I am studying abroad now, internet and some web messengers provide more convenient ways for me to chat with my families or friends in my home country. On the other hand, I notice that since I have Smartphone, I have spent more time on media than before because Smartphone allows me to get the access more easily. Most of the times that I need to wait in line or bus stops, I usually surf the web, check my emails, or check on some social media sites through my Smartphone. Because sometimes I see people around me are doing the same things or sometimes we don’t know how to start a conversation, I just feel like these things could help me kill some waiting time. However, for communication way, although we have more ways to chat with to people now, I still prefer face-to-face communication rather than texting or emailing because I feel like face-to-face communication can cause less miscommunication.

    • Ashley L. Folsom 05:39 on February 19, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think when a person is by themselves…access to a phone is like a security blanket. If they would be otherwise in an uncomfortable situation, a smartphone can help people forget about their worries. I do however think it creates a more inhuman interaction, but it makes us cherish old forms of media like personal letters or cards.

      I think people have been predicting more technological advancements= more technological communication for years… Look at the Jetsons, or Terminator movies which have been around forever. It’s a give/ pull society…we go from one fad to the next..but just like 80′s trends and Atari games get brought back into current culture, so do concepts we miss… Like old fashion communication. Give it a few years… I bet someone will invent or re-market an old trend that will bring back old school communication lines. Then again,who can truly predict the future?

  • jackhardy 18:58 on March 15, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: corning, corporate video, futuristic, glass   

    A Day Made of Glass 

    My mantra of everything going Digital, Mobile and Video could possibly have another word added: Glass. I just ran across this use of corporate video, originally created to persuade large businesses to invest in the large glass conglomerate Corning,Inc. that proves that a compelling story–and futuristic applications can turn into a YouTube viral video:

    If that’s a future version of an Apple iPhone, I want one!

     

    • Emily Maxwell 00:19 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      If this is where the future is going, sign me up too! It is a good video but it does seem a little unrealistic to me as well. I like the idea of using this material instead of paper and metal if it is a more sustainable alternative. This video is visually inspiring but it leaves me feeling a little confused as well.

    • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 06:16 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Actually, not only Apple is influencing this future, many giant companies are looking for similar future. There are already working prototypes (most of them) of these devices but they are very expensive to be sold for the consumers. The idea is how to make it cheap and then sell it for these people
      This video reminds me of the following video made like two years ago:

    • Adrianne 06:23 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I was anticipating another glass object to reveal itself before they went back to sleep, but I think I would have trouble envisioning a futuristic version of adult glass wear too, and I’m pretty creative. What I think is pretty interesting about this video and I’m potentially not changing the subject here, is the the way that they base there futuristic planning on current technologies. Of course we will develop new technologies from our current ones, but what I wonder is if they chose to use our current technologies in this video so that there was a framework of base functionality so we could understand the potential products they were proposing. Said differently, I think that for a futuristic product example, they are aiming within the next five years and they are not really proposing anything that is actually that far beyond our current capabilities. So I’m curious if it’s because they didn’t dare to think of something truly revolutionary or if they knew we wouldn’t believe in the message of glass if they strayed too far from our current understanding of the way the world works.

    • abdulalah Naseeb 07:31 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Wow this is an awesome invention I have never seen something like that. Am personally willing to use this technology if am capable to afford it, because these futuristic devises are so expensive and not all the people could afford it. In my opinion, this is very useful and helpful for business people who like to be connected with the world all the time and everywhere. But every thing in the world has some advantage and disadvantage, we can’t really judge right now we should wait until they released it and see how it could possibly affects or impacts on our lives.

    • Adam W 06:41 on March 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      WOW! this is awesome, I want it all! I hope Corning got the funding and this stuff will be coming soon. Although it does not seem that this is that far out of reach right now, as someone said above. It just seems like alot of these applications would be more of a luxury item and not that practical. I do see how this could be quite useful in some of the business and industrial applications.

    • Pouria Tehran 01:05 on January 25, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I just felt the same way as when i first saw a concept phone without a keyboard and only touch screen. Its interesting how human’s imaginations are becoming our daily reality as we go along in life. I see this vedio to be maybe my house in a soon future, not just because i can afford it, but because i have seen the pace of innovative technologies to be part of majority in a short time after its discovery.

    • Michaela Specht 23:17 on January 26, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I like the idea that everything will be “your finger tips” but as previous comments prove, the idea seems a bit unrealistic. I’m not saying that the things in this video could never happen, just rather that not everything is perfect. I think having everything made of glass like that would be very expensive if not wasteful. We already use technology to keep us in touch with distant things, but while we’re watching television or searching for information we’re usually ignoring the things that are right by us. It will be interesting to see this idea grow, but at the same time I can wait.

    • Noah Nwokoma 23:30 on February 1, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      Very interesting video. Now that television sets are getting thinner and are being sold with wifi technology, some of the applications shown in this video don’t seem so far fetched. I can see companies even in the next year coming out with a touch screen tv that allows you to watch programing, movies and do everything that you can currently do on an Ipad. Just like flat screen tv’s, the first company to offer it will charge as much as possible and competition will ultimately bring the price down for all others that can afford this luxury product. As for the bathroom mirror and windows, I think we could all live without technology in these areas of the home for now.

    • Quanah Pike Polichetti 07:54 on February 5, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I agree with Michaela, the idea is quite unrealistic. Just think, the amount of money it would take in producing all of this technology, like electronic bus stops, street signs, more high tech traffic monitoring systems, etc. Given the current economy, do we really think we can even begin to dream about this stuff? Where would the government get the money? To have all this advance technology, imagine the taxes we would have to pay… I would not want to live in a world that connected. There comes a point of excess; enough is enough.

      Also, If the electrical grid system went down, can you imagine the chaos? If it went down now, there would still be chaos too, but probably not as severely. Just think, ATMs, GPS tracking, international trade, online transactions, business communications, etc would all be shut down. I think it would destroy the current world, to go even one day without being “connected.” If we lived in that fantasy world, it would be an even worse scenario. In the event of an unpredicted or accidental mass shut down of the system, imagine all the PR issues…

      • jackhardy 00:44 on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Reply

        Actually, there is much of this technology already currently available–or quickly heading that direction. New technology advancements can actually save money, improve our lives and reduce environmental impacts so the investment may prove to be worthwhile in the end. For example, space exploration has provided many of the following: integrated circuits, satellite technology, GPS navigation systems, bone-density measurements heart pumps, water filtration systems that turn wastewater into drinkable water, wireless light switches, remediation solutions for sites contaminated by chemicals and the list goes on and on.

    • Matthew Bassett 05:41 on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think this was a great ad. It was too long to be a TV ad at about 5 minutes, but it did truly illustrate the technical engineering that some companies are coming up with. It corning were to use this in a brief or a demonstration to a client, I think it would be a successful campaign. It is interesting to think that it is possible to create technology like this, and the uses that it could serve it everyday life, while this ad was a stretch I think it every day consumer life, big firms may be able to use this technology and integrate it into business life.

      • jackhardy 00:37 on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Reply

        Actually this video was created by the company to show to institutional investors. It was a corporate piece to persuade investors to fund the company and purchase stock. My understanding is that effort fell flat. However, when introduced on YouTube, it went viral and enjoys millions of views.

    • quanahpolichetti 06:35 on February 10, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I know that technology advancement moves quickly. I also know that when people say that an idea “looks good in theory, but it can never be implemented,” that those kind of beyond belief ideas change the world because they do get implemented. That being said, you are right a lot of the technology in the video does exist, is available, or will be soon. You also make a good point about New technology advancements actually saving money, I never thought about that aspect. Life improvements may come of it too, but it can also control our lives. Just ask any internet addict. As for Reducing environmental impacts, I am not so sure. A Prius is suppose to have a smaller environmental footprint than other cars. However, just to make a Prius, parts and components are shipped in from all over the world. Most importantly, It requires all sorts of rare natural resources not found in other cars, so in actuality it has a larger impact on the environment than other cars, even from the start. It is only when it is on the road that it is more environmentally friendly.
      For example, space exploration has provided many of the following: integrated circuits, satellite technology, GPS navigation systems, bone-density measurements heart pumps, water filtration systems that turn wastewater into drinkable water, wireless light switches, remediation solutions for sites contaminated by chemicals and the list goes on and on.

  • jackhardy 17:40 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: celebrity, charlie sheen, , , rehab, sheen, tmz.com   

    Charlie Sheen: The Ultimate PR Crisis 

    In more than 20 years of professional PR counseling, I’ve yet to tell a client to utter the words, “No Comment” to the press. It’s akin to saying, “I’m guilty” or “I have something to hide” in the world of public perception. However, today, I am coining a new term, “Pulling a Charlie Sheen,” which leads me to my inevitable conclusion.  If I were Charlie Sheen’s publicist–oh, that’s right, he just quit–I would tell him to simply keep his mouth shut. Whenever he does open it, he inserts his foot. Many American’s enjoy watching celebrity meltdowns on television or listening to their rants on talk radio – heck, even media sites like TMZ.com make a business out of provoking celebrities to anger in ambush interviews and paparazzi style photo opportunities. As a public relations teacher, we’ve enjoyed discussing the escapades of Charlie Sheen for the purpose of examining what not to do in a crisis PR scenario. It was actually a midterm assignment for my students. His story has all the earmarks of a disaster in the making. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is a disaster every day. What more do the students say? I will give every student in class 50 extra credit points if any of their blog comments to this post gets picked up by a national news outlet before our final exam on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Sorry Charlie! Coincidentally, a USA Today article here http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/03/charlie-sheen-this-could-be-my-final-interview-/1 quotes him as saying that yesterday’s radio call-in rant could be his last. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing in disbelief. If you believe that, I’ve got a great at-home drug rehab program for you.

     

    • Alexi Parry 20:11 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Well, for the one hour that interview probably lasted, Charlie Sheen seemed like he had his head screwed on right. If Charlie Sheen stopped talking, he would no longer be in the press. His “I don’t care” attitude seen through his comments (obviously on top of his behavior) is what got him so deep into the press in the first place. Sheen should be done interviewing; it would save him the time for having to TRY to find someone that would even want to represent him now. He has dug a whole so deep that I believe is too late to get out of. Yes Charlie, grab the zipper and shut your mouth. Throw the key away while you are still feeling sane.

    • lacy s. t. 21:27 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      People love watching the disaster that is Charlie Sheen, while the media’s attention adds fuel to his destructive behavior. It is hard to find one good quality about Charlie Sheen, other than he is entertaining. He has lost his grip on life and is lashing out because of it. Sheen has become desperate and now is pathetically trying to claw his way back by his “apologies” and his attempts to get people to feel sorry for him… As mentioned in class, for an extreme case such as Charlie Sheen, no amount of PR will fix this. He needs to be fixed first, which could take a lot longer than the amount of patience producers have. It will take a while for people to forgive the arrogant, mediocre actor.

    • Alice Cabon 00:17 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Contrary to most people, I really like Charlie Sheen. He definitely has a problem with drugs, but most celebrities have one. I like his bad boy image, of who doesn’t care about what people think.
      That’s my personal opinion, but I agree that for someone to accept to work as a PR for Charlie Sheen, he needs to have balls (even too much). There is no easy strategy to change the public’s image. A lot of people hates Charlie Sheen, because of his numerous, intolerable behaviors, and I feel sorry for that because I’m sure that with some work from Charlie’s part, this bad boy image could be perceived in a good way by the public. From the beginning of his career, with an effective PR strategy and if Charlie was less unforgivable in all his actions, he could have been the favorite bad boy of America. The problem is that he already went too far, and it might means that regaining his public is a lost cause. Charlie’s statement about the possibility of this interview be the last one is a desperate act to try to win the sympathy of someone. He is probably realizing that nobody will accept to help his career anymore, and he is scared of that. I see his interview as a desperate call from him, because he realized that it’s his last chance.

    • Chelsea 00:44 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      At this point, it’s good for Charlie to be quiet. He pasted a point of no return and there is no room for damage control. He has become a very desperate man to try and clean up his image by saying his “apologies” but it’s too late. He needs to start taking care of himself and worry about his own health rather than doing all of these interviews. It’s very sad to see how drugs can consume someone’s life. One day you have it all, then the next it’s gone before you know it. Unfortunately people are very judgmental and most likely never look at Charlie Sheen the same way so he needs to just focus on himself. No amount of PR can fix what has already happened, at this point in time it would just be nice to see him overcome this drug battle.

    • Ruby R. 01:00 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Charlie “the warlock” Sheen has a hard time keeping his mouth shut because he knows the public is attracted to his persona. We eat up his ridiculous words, as long as we can hear/watch it from afar, because really, no one wants to deal with that mess up close. For those that want to, they get to live his over the top lifestyle vicariously through his antics.

      Let’s not be hypocrites, regardless of his poor mental state, Sheen does enjoy what many people consider a fabulous life: he’s rich, he has a fun job, goes on spur of the moment vacations, has lots of sex and gets to party and do lots of blow. Sounds like a Portland hipster dream to me, just sayin’.

      Sheen is probably just like a million other wealthy, self-indulgent, drug-addled egomaniacs; the only difference is his excess and need to brag about his “winning” lifestyle. Let’s just leave him alone and maybe he’ll go away. I will do my part by never posting about “him” again.

      What we really need to do is work on the society that allows, no, encourages people to become like this, but that’s another discussion for another time.

    • Kevin N. 05:11 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Several weeks back I would have advised Charlie Sheen to lay low and avoid all media if possible. This would have been effective because we all expect Charlie to misbehave from time-to-time; unfortunately he has gone so far that simply shutting his mouth at this point won’t work. There’s so much content out there that now he doesn’t even need to say anything more for the media to have material to make a piece on him. If he would start releasing innocuous comments maybe that would help sway the balance of the coverage of him, as of now it is all very provocative.

    • Jennifer T 05:40 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I have to admit that I can’t seem to stop watching Charlie Sheen’s shame train. It is like watching something horrible that you know you should look away, but you just can’t.

      I am also in the same boat as a few other commenters’ in how I feel that pleading the fifth would be a mistake. He has been so open about his life that if he stopped the conversation now people would just assume he had something much worse to hide and the rumor mill would take over. Although I wouldn’t recommend this specific conversation, it is still one that he seems to be in charge of.

      His pop culture status has reached an all time high. People are making whole clothing lines, websites, and other small businesses just from the one-liners that have come from his crazed interviews. I don’t see a come back to One and a Half Men, but I do see reality TV in his future.

      I myself would love to see a Sheen comeback and I think the world will forgive him his misdeeds eventually… pending something truly horrible happening.

    • Sammy Al-B 06:53 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Listening to Charlier rant, and convince himself that he is in “control”, it’s clear in my mind he is most certainly is not in control. Most recovering addicts that have been interviewed and asked by the media about their opinions about Charlie, say that his rants sound much like their own and they too were confident that they were in control of their addiction. Charlie’s PR person quit on him, because he was too much to work with, but what the PR person didn’t understand, is that he is trying to cover up the symptoms of Charlie, and not addressing the real problem which is his addiction. I dont think the PR person’s first step in fixing Charlie’s image was to MAKE DAMN sure Charlie actually completed or benefited from his drug and alcohol rehabilitation program

    • Laura Cooper 19:08 on March 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Regrettably, the American public loves a dramatic, boisterous, train wreck. Enter: Charlie Sheen. What better way to lift the American spirit than to give them an example of self-induced pity, and an opportunity to re-frame their own circumstances and shortcomings.

      • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 03:53 on March 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I agree with you Laura. American public do loves this stuff. I’ve been hearing and reading Charlie Sheen name all over the place such as radio, TV channel, News, tweets, and many other media. This is like the celebrity flavour of the month. The media is making fun of him in every way which is a shame for him. I also read that they fired him from “Two and Half Men” show recently!
        I suggest for Charlie Sheen to disappear for a while (real while) and stop showing himself to the media or working. I’m sure he got a lot of money to live several years.

    • Emily Maxwell 23:06 on March 15, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      #fastball a whopping 2,837,318 tweeters are following the one and only Charlie Sheen.

      This is more publicity than Sheen has had in the last 10 years, there is no way he is giving it up now. Until the public officially shuns him and his irresponsible lifestyle by putting down the gossip mags, changing the channel and not responding to tweets… I’m pretty sure he will continue to “ride the wave” as long as possible.

    • Adrianne 06:42 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      So the Tsunami and earthquakes in Japan only knocked Charlie out of the media for about a day. Evidently Charlie is taking his rants on tour with a live show called “Violent Torpedoes of Truth.” I can’t think of a lunatic addict that’s had this much exposure to the public since Ed McMahon. What I think is even more impressive about hurricane Charlie’s rampage of destruction is that he is actually able to top the inane nature of the television program that helped relaunch his career. I mean Two and a Half Men was the kind of show that made me ashamed to be an American. I have no idea why it was a highly rated show. I have seen parts of the show while flipping through and I just don’t get it. Perhaps the show is so bad it’s good, like many of the Jon Cryer movies from the 80s, or Showgirls. But this new Charlie show has even more power than Showgirls, fewer boobs and dancing girls, believe it or not, but it has that same horrible power to grab you even though it’s absolutely abhorrent and you know if will end badly, you just can’t quite grab the remote and make it stop.

    • abdulalah Naseeb 07:13 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Charlie sheen is a great actor with phenomenal personalities. You can’t really think of words to describe him. Although I think he is addicted to the media but I don’t like the way that he presenting him self! I have seen a lot of celebrities have been facing troubles over and over often they handle the situation so well by using specific techniques to solve their problem. But what can you say business is business this is how Charlie makes his living/money being on the spot all the time and make people talk about him frequently to build his empire in a unique way, by creating problems and try to show the world that he doesn’t care about anything. In The other hand, i think he is smarter than you think and he knows what he’s doing, i personally admire his shows and enjoy watching him.

    • Adam W 06:24 on March 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I think that this is to be expected from a character such as Sheen. He is only doing what he always has. Sheen has gained his popularity through portraying a gambling, binge drinking prostitute user on his show. Now everybody wants to freak out and make a big deal of the situation when Sheen goes to far. I think hes right when he says “Im winning” because really he is. He’s probably going to write some ridiculous book about all of this and make a boatload of cash through manipulating the media.

    • Dahir Moalim 08:04 on January 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      One of my favorite show of all time would be Two and Half Man with Charlie Sheen. We all know that Hollywood celebrities are all about publicity stunt to capture people attention. Charlie Sheen case i think he used this crazy character act to see what people reaction would be. I think now America audience wanna watch the latest drama in celebrities private life. In Charlie Sheen ideal life of partying and hooking up with hookers, would actually bring his fame back to people, but in the other hand it actually made stupid to some viewers. I think shutting his mouth would be the right answer if i wan Charlie Sheen shoes.

    • Matthew Bassett 17:12 on February 5, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think that regardless of whether Charlie Sheen had a publicist or a PR representative, it would not have made a difference. When he first started exploding there was no way he was going to stop, I think between the drugs and the fame, he felt like no matter what he did, he was unstoppable. Two and Half Men replacing him may have been the final response he needed to check himself though, the show that he thought could not continue without him went ahead and did. I personally think the show isn’t the same without Charlie, however, the only funny part about the show were his drunken antics, and it was funny in real life as well. There’s no doubt i laughed at his expense for a while.

  • jackhardy 00:23 on February 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: encyclopedia brittanica, research, wikipedia   

    Wikipedia vs. Encyclopedia Brittanica 

    Wikipedia turned 10 in January 2011. It has come a long way from its roots as a hackneyed collaboration of articles to up-to-date content moderated by editors around the globe. A recent survey from the Pew Research Center revealed just how popular the service has become. Read it here: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Wikipedia/Report.aspx

    However, Wikipedia is still not accepted as a definitive source of news because the content and descriptions can be added by anyone and some people have figured out how to fake out the system. At the heart of the controversy is its banishment from academia. According to professional researchers, the information is not vetted using a more rigorous, scholarly method as used by its nearest competitor, Encylopedia Brittanica. Does it matter? Is the venerable Encyclopedia Brittanica nearing extinction? Will Wikipedia ultimately turn to advertising to fund its existence? Will this influence the content?

    Here’s a test, search for the following words–Oliver North–using both services and then compare the results. (Naturally, membership is required to get detailed information from one of the services–which is a very important distinction.)

    What are your thoughts?

     

    • Nathan Gancher 01:15 on February 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      It does make sense that Wikipedia is not accepted by academia because of the fact that anyone can post or edit information; there does need to be some standards for which acceptable research can be conducted. Having said that, Wikipedia members do a great job of self monitoring, and most of the information on the site is accurate. If you try and post false information on Wikipedia, it will be taken down rather hastily (for example, when reading about Duke basketball a few months ago, someone changed the introduction to say something alone the lines of ” a bunch of d-bags.” As soon as I refreshed that was gone).
      For personal research on everyday topics, or to look something up quickly, Wikipedia far exceeds the encyclopedia, both in the amount of articles size of the articles. When Google-ing a subject, wikipedia link to that subject is often one of the first responses. Also, when comparing Oliver North on Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia, the Wikipedia article was far more in depth.
      I personally believe that Wikipedia is becoming a far stronger research tool, if nothing else just as a jumping off point. It may never be accepted by Academia, but that doesn’t diminish the value that it presents.

    • Namyot Pulkasem 04:10 on February 20, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Although Wikipedia in not accepted as a reliable source for the research, it’s such a great tool to start any research. Because at least we can obtain the ideas or definitions for the topic that we’re working on, and some articles on Wikipedia have written in depth than the Encyclopedia. Personally, when I have no place to start my project, I often use Wikipedia as the basic information for my research, and it usually guides me to the wider information later by following the reference links on Wikipedia. We can actually get so many benefits from utilizing this source, if we know how to use it in the right way.

      I believe that most people use Wikipedia as a “compass” to reach their objective for any purposes. Google is mainly used as the primary searching engine for everyone, and when they look something up quickly, Wikipedia always shows up first as the first choice for us.
      Even though something occurs, or Wikipedia turns to advertising, it might not affect the content that much because the Wikipedia is now widespread and very well known as th research tool(still not acceptable by Academia), and the information is getting stronger and accurate enough to rely on for starting the research or everyday topics.

      • Alexi Parry 17:18 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I totally do the same thing! When I need to find research on something that I am not already aware of, Wikipedia is the first source I always go to, whether it is just for a definition or for an entire history of someone’s life, such as Oliver North. Encyclopedia Brittanica gave me two very small paragraphs on Oliver’s life in the marines, then asked me to activate my “no-risk free trial” to continue reading. I understand that Wikipedia information may be scewed, but I really wish it could be used as a reliable source of research. Many times, Wikipedia says things much clearer than any other Encyclopedia could. I also feel that Wikipedia can be used as a “compass” like Namyot stated. You can go to the page on a particular subject, and it links you to where they got their information from. So although I went through Wikipedia at first, I ended up using a viable source in the end.
        I think many people do trust the information found in Wikipedia. Encyclopedia Brittanica will probably go extinct because they make it so difficult to get information from them. People like fast, easy, and convenient, and that’s where Wikipedia stands as of now.

    • Erin McBride 21:18 on February 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I completely agree with Nathan. Wikipedia often gives more detailed and in-depth articles than the Encyclopedia Britannica and although it would probably have to jump through too many expensive hoops to become academically accredited, its value is undeniable to its users.
      If Wikipedia has to go to advertisements to help pay for the site, I hope that they do so in a manner like Google, keeping everything separate and easily identifiable. Encyclopedia Britannica is expensive, about $20 as an iPhone app and over $100 a year to become a member of the website! If a little side advertising is all I have to “deal with” in order to have free access to an encyclopedia, then I am okay with that.

    • Brent Jorgenson 21:27 on March 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I think Wikipedia should be an accepted source of news. Even though a person doesn’t have an official degree or official background behind a subject doesn’t mean that they are unable to share information that is valid. The collaboration of information from many different people with different backgrounds is what gives Wikipedia articles better depth. The reason that it has grater depth is that anyone can contribute to the articles and this creates a large number of people involved. When an article is posted by only a few individuals it is limited to their experience, while Wikipedia eliminates this limitation. Quality is often put into question, but this site is monitored for quality. The public should recognize the success of Wikipedia’s ability to monitor information and trust the quality because of this. I personally trust Wikipedia and I haven’t had any experience where the information that I’ve seen was false.

    • Chelsea 03:35 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Wikipedia is a good source for someone to start with when looking for information on a certain subject. However, I don’t think it is a creditable source and completely agree that it shouldn’t be accepted. Anyone can post on Wikipedia so therefore people should take that into account when basing their finding off of that. It is a good starting point but it is not a creditable site.

    • Christopher Harley 09:46 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      All research can start with Wikipedia but it should never end with Wikipedia. That’s how I’ve always considered the service’s quality. Having grown up before the advent of the Internet, I fondly remember relying on the Encyclopedia Britannica but that too was only a starting point for research. We, as researchers, shouldn’t try to find the answers in one place, but rather in several places that both challenge and compliment one another.

    • Erin O. 18:59 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      While Wikipedia is not an accepted source many people do use it in research. As a student I use it at the beginning of every paper I write. I then use sources and facts that are written in the article and do further research. I believe that Wikipedia needs to be used with a grain of salt for the fact that anyone can put anything on the site. Though I am not sure it should be discredited entirely.

      The difference between Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Brit. is that Encyclopedia needs a user name to access more than 100 words of information, while Wikipedia does not. I also am not sure how updated Encyclopedia is while Wikipedia is updated all the time. For this reason I use Wikipedia all the time and never use Encyclopedia.

    • Laura Cooper 19:22 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Wikipedia’s lack of acceptance among academics is understandable; however the service should not be devalued as a general source of information or starting point for research endeavors. Much like Google’s main search engine is ashamedly used as a starting point for schoolwork inquiries, it is simply that, a starting point. Still, the free component of Wikipedia follows the open information trend, the uprising of citizen authors/ journalists, and the need for internet monitoring.

      • Jennifer T 06:52 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I agree, especially with the rise of citizen journalists, I think that Wikipedia will gain the street cred it deserves. Just like many blogs and citizen journalists I think there is always going to be a bad apple in the group, but for the most part I think that Wikipedia is gaining ground in the research arena.

    • Kevin N. 05:23 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      There definitely is a place for Wikipedia in the world, it just isn’t with academia as of now. I know that I use Wikipedia frequently to look up quick facts that aren’t under scrutiny, but beyond gaining a superficial knowledge of something it isn’t of much use to me. It should be stated that what makes this site so great for starting research is not the page itself, but the links that are supplied and cited near the bottom. As has already been stated, Wikipedia is a useful site, but shouldn’t be the source backing whatever argument you are presenting by any means. I’m curious to see in the near future if Wiki will have gained enough clout to be mentioned as a credible source; my bet is that it will eventually.

    • Jennifer T 06:50 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I am 100% guilty of checking Wikipedia first before I move onto places like Google Scholar or the library. Wikipedia is definitely ready to be part of my citation list, but it is a super place to start. I seem to find better secondary sources that are cited within Wikipedia than I do at other search engines.

      I also have been to some Wikipedia sites where the person updating the information probably wasn’t an expert on the issue. Usually when you see words like “dude” and you’re not on the John Wayne page is a dead giveaway.

      I think over time Wikipedia will gain more and more popularity and using these pages in research, especially for advertising and marketing majors, will become more common place.

    • Sammy Al-B 07:17 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I echo the sentiments of the other commenters that wikipedia will always have a place on the net. However, I believe that Wikipedia can surpass Britannica in quantity and quality of information. It’s all about designing the right QA mechanism. I believe in general, Wikipedia is more robust and useful and Britannica, it just requires the user more effort to verify sources of edits, which isn’t that hard.

    • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 01:28 on March 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Wikipedia give more information than Encyclopedia Brittanica on words Oliver North. This happens because more people using and editing Wikipedia than Encyclopedia Brittanica these recent years.
      Speaking of which… typing http://www.wikipedia.com is easier than typing http://www.britannica.com and even saying “Wikipedia” than saying “encycloooo …. what? “. Just like saying let’s google something rather than yahoo it !!
      I always start with Wikipedia because it gives me some basic information about sometime I am looking for.

  • jackhardy 23:55 on February 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: fish curry, groupon, , superbowl, tibet   

    Offensive Super Bowl Ads 

    Another year and another round of Super Bowl advertising. Some people actually watch it for the football game, but you wouldn’t know it if you read anything in the blogosphere about the (failed) half-time show or the consumer backlash over some commercials. Take Groupon for instance. Their ad touted human rights issues in Tibet, but for the purpose of advertising fish curry. The challenge, it seems, is to succeed at championing social issues, while not appearing insensitive or demeaning. Here’s a link to the advertisement:

    What’s really interesting from a PR perspective is how the company is handling the situation. Here’s a link to a recent news article about the company’s efforts to apologize–sort of.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/02/07/groupon-ceos-non-apology-apology-letter-for-super-bowl-ad/

    What is your opinion?

     

    • Jennifer Teeples 21:20 on February 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I am not sure that Groupon’s half apology was really what they wanted to convey,.. if it was, uh … oops. I agree that they were really just apolopgizing to the fact that YOU didn’t get it. Perhaps in an effort to respond they were a bit hasty in some of the wording they used or maybe they didn’t have a good response prepared, or maybe their PR person is just that awful. Mayhaps they shouldn’t have brought up other advertisers sins while they were apologizing for thiers.

      Groupon’s big idea for thier commercial was honorable/humorous and I don’t think they did anything wrong, other than not get their message across in a clear and creative way. Instead of being cheeky they chose to go the real route, i.e., real celebs. Now if they had fake celebs or celebrities that are serious looking and sounding, but aren’t taken seriously in the eye of the public, ala Alec Baldwin, or actually had done a good job getting thier message accross, then maybe the half apology would not have even have been needed.

      I am not really surprised or shocked that they released a sub-par ad and used the same sub-par-ed-ness to craft a psuedo apology. It doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out that they were unprepared. Of course the hype didn’t help them, the higher the hype, the more the public expects.

      I was reminded of a quote when I was reading their apology, goes a little something like, “If fortune favors the prepared… then I am skrewed.”

      • Ruby R. 01:29 on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I agree, I definitely don’t think they should have even bothered with the apology they released. Whether the commercial was funny or not is irrelevant, the fact that some people found it offensive makes it offensive, period. A company should never respond to public concern in such a passive aggressive manner.

        • Laura Cooper 19:10 on March 10, 2011 Permalink

          Agreed. The attempted parallel between brand philanthropic efforts and group savings was fragile at best. Still, how Groupon thought this ad was salient among consumers is baffling, as it reveals no consumer insight or deep emotional appeal. Try something like, “Saving money can save (fill in the blank).” My advice: do more research before you spend millions or advertising.

    • lacy s. t. 22:44 on February 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      It just so happens that I saw one of these three ads for my first time last night while watching TV. It was the one about Brazilian deforestation with Liz Hurley, and I have to say I was pretty furious. The fact that they were using humor in relation to something as serious as the Brazilian deforestation crisis as a marketing ploy for Goupon, instantly destroyed any respect I had for the company previously. This one 60 second TV spot had successfully pulled a genuine response out of me. I actually felt forced to look up their reasoning online and look at the other ad spots. Upon reading other articles and the one included about the companys “unapology,” I started to get the feeling that maybe this company wasn’t in fact making fun of good causes, but endorsing them??? Those tricky b*stards got me. I am all for the company’s “unapology.”-They really have no reason to apology, but they should however be clear on their reasoning. I think they were walking on some really thin ice taking a chance like this but they may have pulled it off. However, not everyone is as curious as me, there does seem to be slight disconnect, and perhaps this may anger people enough to completely write them off as a respectable company.

    • Kevin N. 02:24 on February 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I viewed this commercial as partially a criticism towards companies that tack on human rights issues just to appear socially conscious. Considering that the Tibetan issue is serious this tongue-in-cheek approach is a risky one, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily disrespectful. We live a politically correct world that will take something as offensive when the actual statement is pointing out a particular thing that is wrong in our culture.

      It’s also hard to criticize Groupon when they do work closely with charitable causes. Showing a provocative ad such as this might also help bring awareness to this issue since the commercial will be a topic of conversation.

      This ad has placed Andrew Mason in a tricky situation in terms of an apology. If he does apologize then he could be considered admitting guilt, which he clearly does not believe. Hiring a PR specialist might be a good idea bearing in mind that the framing of this commercial is important for it to be palatable for some viewers. This looks like a near no-win situation.

    • Brent Jorgenson 01:43 on February 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Huh?What? The commercial is relating money saved at a Tibetan restaurant to the trouble that Tibet faces. I found this commercial to be confusing. I don’t see where the humor is at in this commercial. I can see how it would be distasteful to bring up the troubles that a country faces to make a point about saving money. It is somewhat shocking that they would choose to show this commercial during the Superbowl. The content contains nothing that would interest or relate to the typical Superbowl crowd. This was a bad ad and was also directed to the wrong audience.

    • Adrianne 07:42 on February 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I am not offended by these commercials. I knew that Groupon has a particular and ridiculous sense of humor because I take the time to read the hilarious company and product descriptions that accompany every one of their group purchase coupons. The humor in these spots is totally in line with their brand image. Unfortunately the people that watch the Super Bowl aren’t necessarily the kinds of people that pay attention to descriptions at the bottom of pages. In fact most people aren’t the kinds of people that pay attention to the fine print even when it is funny. I liken this situation to the fun stuff some producers choose to place at the end of television or movie credits. Chuck Lore productions was known for those bonus frames of hilarity that fans could only read if they looked online or pressed the pause button.

      The main stream audience is not as aware of Groupon’s humor as they are of its product offer. I believe that enough time will pass that people will forget why they were upset at Groupon and it will just be top of mind for its service rather than this controversy. In other words, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

      • Ruby R. 01:34 on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I’m not really offended by the humor in the commercial per se. What offends me is how a corporation or a commercial can so willfully distill an entire country’s culture to costumes, food and something deserving pity. They are actually people…

    • Alice Cabon 03:45 on February 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I’m not a fan of those commercials. I feel really concerned by these causes and the beginning of the ad directly caught my attention. But the transition disappointed me and at the end of the ad I feel more upset than convinced. I like the honesty attempted, but I don’t think the humor is well managed. I value commercial that wants to raise awareness to a cause, but comparing it with saving money on fish curry in New York is not really a creative link. They could have highlighted the charity they support or show how the brand is concerned about this cause.

      I think that a “unapologies” letter is a great way to answer criticism without admitting they did something wrong. Which they didn’t. They didn’t give less importance to the cause. They just made a mistake in the way to communicate their message. They couldn’t just don’t say anything while everyone was blaming them. It was a good initiative to explain to the public what was their intention. The letter helped me understand the commercial better, but their attempted humor doesn’t work for me.

    • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 18:56 on February 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      ok … I watched the commercial several times just to make sure that I can view it from different points. The first 12 second was you get touched by the Tibet culture. The other half is promoting their fish curry. Most people will think that is not funny to make this connection from Tibet culture and promoting a restaurant in US although Groupon sees it differently.

      The CEO see ads in general, in his point of view, “ads are traditionally about shameless self promotion”. The letter of Apology did mention that they would never run these ads if they “Trivialize” the causes. I think they did not measure that well in this ad. The letter also mentioned that if anything will happen regards this ad, it would bring more funding to the cause.

      The good thing is that they value their customers and they don’t want to offend them in anyway.

    • Erin McBride 21:58 on February 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      The world is a little too PC…The commercial shocked me when I saw it during the Super Bowl but it also made me laugh. Why? Because I have read about the company and know about its charitable philosophy and understood the commercial to be a spoof.
      I think the Apology letter was fitting: Groupon shouldn’t apologize about the commercials. The point of the commercials is not to highlight their charities, it was to make fun of the trivia aspects of life when such bigger issues are out there in the world. If people are offended by the conditions in Tibet, then do something about it, but don’t be mad at Groupon for bringing up its existence- be mad at companies that support China and its hold on Tibet. Ignoring the reality of Tibet’s situation should be more offensive to people than this ad.

    • Erin O. 20:58 on February 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I personally found the commercials to be rather funny. Though I can see why so many people had issues with them. I think the reason the Tibet commercial was so shocking is because the issue in Tibet is so new.
      I do think that the apology letter was ok. I do agree that they shouldn’t have to apologize but to then blame other commercials is probably not the best idea. The letter got the point across and as Groupon is a newer company I think that the commercials go the attention of people who didn’t know who they were. As they say any publicity is good publicity and in this situation I think they were right.

    • Alexi Parry 01:20 on March 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This was a horrible way for Groupon to advertise. You would NEVER think from the beginning that this would be an ad for “fish curry.” It is so incredibly insensitive to Tibet. I agree with Erin O. that the apology letter was needed, but are they really apologizing if they turn around and place blame on other companies? Groupon can find other ways to advertise. This may have not offended some people, but it did upset many others. They need to be more thoughtful of everyone when producing future ads.

    • Nathan Gancher 22:44 on March 3, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I watched the Super Bowl, and either was away from the television when this ad came on or didn’t notice it at first, and just watched it online. I can see where some of the backlash is coming from, but this was FAR tamer then I was anticipating. If an ad tries to be even moderately edgy today, someone or some group of people is going to be offended. I applaud Groupon for not given a sincere apology, and I don’t think they have anything to apologize for. Fact of the matter is the publicity they got for this ad, and the subsequent apology, even though it is bad publicity, helps their name recognition and has probably garnered them more customers. Groupon offers low effort savings to people who want to eat out, and I think their are very few out there that would turn that down, even if they were offended by the ad.

    • Chelsea 03:02 on March 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I thought the commercials were pretty funny but I can see were all the upset is coming from. I think the reason the Tibet was so shocking is because the issue is a new subject with high Sensitivity. Honestly, I think the commercial was harmless. I don’t think Groupon meant it in a cruel way. Yes, I do agree Groupon did use rather poor taste when developing this ad and probably shouldn’t have showed it. I can see both ways.

    • abdulalah naseeb 01:49 on March 7, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I found this advertising very funny and I can see why a lot people have some issue with it. But, in my opinion I definitely agree with Groupon about this advertising, they grab a lot of attentions/eyes ball in such a short 30 sec ad like this one, at the beginning you can’t tell what’s going I personally thought this is about a charity or some travel agency that advertising for countries and tickets with deals like Expedia.com and travelagency.com. The Groupon could’ve done better ad, but actually this is what they needed to have the people attentions and hear their name. “Whether you like it or not you are talking about it”! there are too many different methods to garb people attention. obviously, Groupon used their own method to find out what people think about them.

    • Christopher Harley 09:58 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I was shocked when I first saw the Hutton commercial for Groupon and further shocked by Groupon’s attempt to explain their rationale behind the campaign. Since then, I’ve definitely lost faith in their service. Groupon seems to be operating under a certain smugness that leaves them looking as though they don’t care about their customers. Too big, too fast, and too diluted. Lately, I’ve noticed that I quickly browse Groupon’s daily email offerings and then just as quickly delete the emails that don’t immediately serve a useful need. I doubt that Groupon’s clients want me to so quickly pass up an opportunity to learn about their brands, yet they’re ultimately at fault by relying only on price to get my attention. I think as time goes on, many businesses will realize that turning over so much power to Groupon may serve diminishing returns.

    • Dahir Moalim 07:51 on January 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think now a day people don’t care about what kind of example they use to peruke when it comes to commercial. Groupon do seem like they don’t care about their consumers, which can give them a bad representational opportunity about their brand image. My opinion towards this commercial that i don’t really agree what their coming from, and now i understand why people should have issue with the company. I think its smart idea how they used a partial country to advertise their image brand, but i think they could of done a lot better with just attracting their consumer with a simple factor.

      • Pouria Tehran 11:59 on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Reply

        I agree with you on how companies disregard the image, vision, and reputation of their brand with lack of attention towards consequences of their advertisement. I also agree with the point that Groupon could have potentially done a lot better job with less risk threatening the brand reputation and image. However, I also believe that regardless of how much attention companies put into advertising to prevent sending wrong cultural messages, there will always be a group that they cannot satisfy.

    • allisonsjothun 05:44 on January 30, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I watched all three of these ads and I didn’t like them at all. They didn’t offend me, I just thought they were bad. I didn’t find them funny or particularly insightful, obviously Groupon was just going for the shock value. Aside from that, I didn’t think the apology letter was all that great either. I think it’s fine that the company didn’t directly apologize, it deserves credit for sticking to its guns, but I think it was poorly written. It seems very poor form to through other advertising under the bus, women being objectified wasn’t part of the discussion and to bring it up is a ridiculous tactic that just makes the company look worse. In fact, I think by doing that, it is a subconscious admission of guilt. It was as though the CEO knew he made a mistake and instead of owning up to it, he tried to distract by pointing out the short-comings of other advertising.

    • Matthew Bassett 21:26 on February 8, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I first saw this ad a while ago, after that Superbowl, and felt it was extremely loose with its outlook on human rights and existence. I also, thought that the ad was an accident and that Groupon was not trying to convey this message but made a very large judgment error on what consumers would think was humor. This being said, now having read the apology letter, or lack there of, makes me think the company was trying to portray this humor. Whether Groupon intended for this ad to convey this message or not, I think it was the wrong campaign to run, humor used in the right way can be extremely successful, and a large part of humor is either poking at political issues or business ethics; the issue in Tibet, however, is extremely fragile and not properly educated enough throughout conusmers for this ad to be effective.

      It is hard to say whether Groupon should have apologized, if they actually believe they were trying to help the cause. In my opinion whether this helped the cause or not, it put the company in a bad public view, and not apologizing for the misrepresentation of their ad is a pretty poor move on the companies part. If they truly did intend for this message to be perceived this way, I think the company should have confronted the consumers it offended and tried harder to convince them of their angle, whatever that may be.

      In short this was a very contravention ad, with what seems to be a lack of care from the company about who they may have offended.

      • jackhardy 00:34 on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Reply

        I agree that I think Groupon didn’t intend to be offensive, but was trying to go for the humorous angle, but fell flat. As a result, the company later issued a formal public apology.

  • jackhardy 19:10 on December 14, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: atomic tom, ,   

    Savvy Marketing Video 

    It seems there’s a publicity stunt worth commenting about nearly every day of the year. This one has an interesting twist. It started as an e-mail being circulated about a band improvising music after its instruments were stolen. The link in the e-mail take you to an iPhone video posted on YouTube. That’s not unusual. What is unique is that the entire band performance, on a NYC subway ride, was performed using iPhones/iPods by the band members, including vocals, guitar, drums and keyboard. Plugged into a Mac laptop computer and some small speakers hidden among the band members and voila! an instant concert performed for commuters. What is also relevant is that in only 3 days following the Internet upload, the video was viewed a million times. About a month later, over 4 million views on YouTube. An instant hit for the band Atomic Tom. Watch the video here:

     

    • Kevin N. 22:54 on February 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I was definitely impressed with both the execution of the song and the filming of the singers in this video. Apple did a good job in finding a group that fits with the company image while at the same time showcasing their products in action. I had seen ads for these apple apps and questioned if they actually worked, I guess they do. The choice of shooting in a subway was also effective in that it gave a realistic setting where people could use this product/app. The 4 million-plus views show that the decisions made were based on a good understanding of who they should target with this stunt.

    • Brent Jorgenson 01:27 on February 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I thought this video was pretty amazing. The band members were able to replace their usual instruments with just the use of an iphone. The quality of the performance was very good. This video definitely displayed apples instrument app well. I believe that this bands identity helped the iphone be seen as “cool”. The band is modern and up to date with their appearances. If this performance was done by people with lesser talent or by a band that doesn’t follow an acceptable style, then it would result in a less than impressive act.

    • Erin O. 21:10 on February 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I was really impressed by the band and the video. Talk about a great product placement promotion. The ability for the band to replace there instruments with apple applications and items was amazing. The fact that the video went viral so quickly goes to show how much an interesting concept can inspire people. I have to wonder if Apple has contacted the group, I think they could do some amazing tie in promotions with the band.

    • Namyot Pulkasem 08:10 on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      OK! Apple, you’re great! First, I was very impressed with the performance of these professional musicians who were to able to use iPod/iPhone to replace their usual instruments. This delivered the message about an awesomeness of Apple products,
      and it incited other people to try out their products like Atomic Tom. It’s such very
      effective marketing strategy that made the technology become more realistic in the reality.

      Also, iBands seems to become more popular on the social networking, and Apple uses are able to produce some amazing stuff to indicate how great Apple products are. It’s just getting better and better, and the technology directly influence our everyday activities. Maybe we might see more professional musicians utilize some gadgets to produce their music in the future.I’ve already seen some bands use these fantastic apps to create the new sounds, and it’s unbelievable!

    • abdulalah naseeb 01:17 on March 7, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I actually thought this video is pretty impressive. I have an I-phone and I didn’t know that there are such apps where you can use too many deferent instruments such as guitar, drums, microphone speaker and so on. Even though, the most intersecting thing that I love about the video is the melody, which they created by using too many instruments at one time and making a great song, this is defiantly talents and skills. I just download this app and it is entertainment and fun to play with.

    • Alice Cabon 01:31 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I loved this video; it’s a great initiative. They got stolen their instrument and saw in that an opportunity to show their talent and their ability to improvise. Their music is good and their performance in this video is impressive. Being able to do great music in a subway, only with Ipods prove that they know how to adapt to this changing environment. It’s enough to create a buzz, and to catch their public attention.
      The fact that everything is done with Apple products, the video and the music, shows as diversified and effective are Apple’s products. It’s a great promotion for Apple. Since it’s the band initiative, it gives Apple solid credibility. It’s not Apple’s initiative, it shows that they used Apple’s product just because they are the best, and not to do some publicity against money.
      It increases the public interest in those products, by showing how it works and how much it’s effective.
      I saw that Apple approached Atomic Tom and that a partnership is being discussed. That’s good news. There’s definitely an opportunity here, and Apple has to take advantage of it. I hope they are going to use this buzz to launch an effective promotional campaign.

    • Erin McBride 05:41 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Awesome! That is just so cool; people doing impromptu things and have a moment with total strangers is just such an experience. It would have been so cool to have been on the subway when they were preforming. It is too bad that their instruments were stolen but they have certainly shown that their talent goes beyond having the right instruments. Hey Apple, use them in a commercial…payment? Apple making instruments yet? :-)

    • Chi Long Lao 07:44 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      They are awesome for sure, however, this is not special anymore because there have a lot of people can do that everywhere in the wrold today or even few years ago. The video give me the feeling that Apple is the sponsor of this group, that’s why all people are using Apple’s products. Try to think about it, Galaxy S(Asian one), SE X10, HTC HD2 etc are all the cell phones which have the same level as Apple Iphone4 do. All of them have the pinao, drump, guitar apps as same as the video showed. Then why they only use Apple products? but not other products? And, the title said “only 3 days following the Internet upload, the video was viewed a million times.” there must be someone or some group of people advertised the video first, that’s why the video can have that many people viewed in only 3 days. Because, when we type “Iphone piano” on youtube, there have a around 5000 videos all about a person or a gourp of people using Iphone to play music. Therefore, in my opinion, this is one of an advertisings of Apple product.

    • Chelsea 03:42 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I love this video! It an awesome way for Apple to promote their brand! That’s what Apple is all about, Innovation. This video did a great job about creating a buzz to catch the attention of people. It helped build brand reputation, creditability and interest among the product.

    • Adrianne 05:41 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I totally see how this could be beneficial for Apple, but I understood this as a band promoting themselves. I’m going to keep it in my head that way, because it is a brilliant way for a band to stir up some PR. I’m excited about finding innovative ways to promote art. I remember back in 2001 Fred Durst was visiting Guitar Center and a bass player friend of mine from a band called something like Gwar decided to pie Durst in the face as a publicity stunt to bring notoriety to his band. Um. This idea is much better than that one. Although there’s still time to pie Durst in the face and now that you can capture it on video…

    • Nathan Gancher 07:27 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This could very easily be a promotion for apple. It’s interesting that the iphone is so ingrained in consumer culture that videos like this pop up. It just goes to show that if you have a great product and brand personality, there becomes a point where you don’t have to rely on advertising and promotion as much; consumer generated PR like this will do a lot of the work for you.

    • Christopher Harley 10:34 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Exponentially, it seems there’s a publicity stunt going on every five minutes, somewhere in the world. That’s both the magic and the misery of being so thoroughly connected online. Soon, we may have to make time for one Internet sensation that’s quickly eclipsed by the next. I honestly think the delivery cycle for Internet memes is tightening up. That could be good if you’re on the receiving end of new found attention. But it could be bad if you don’t have a second act to follow up that attention. In the case of Atomic Tom, we’ll have to see if they have the staying power to remain relevant beyond their first salvo.

      There’s a latent pity underlying the idea of someone resting on his laurels. But in that reference the laurel wreath was won by claiming a victory. Meme-victory is never more shallow than when it’s left to rest there on the Internet like some other meme we hazily strain to remember.

    • Laura Cooper 18:24 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Love this band. What an inventive use of technology and indirect promotion for Apple products. The arresting nature of this video acts as a flash mob, promotional stunt, interactive public relations, and viral advertisement. Although originally under the impression that this was “band” promotion rather than “brand” promotion, both hold equal weight in execution. I would be curious to see if Apple promotes future apps through online demonstrations or other viral campaigning.

    • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 23:59 on March 12, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Very nice! Those guys are not just any band. They are pro! You don’t find many people using these apps instead of the actual instruments. Too bad many people love their actual instruments but it is nice that you can have an alternative instrument everywhere you go.
      I wonder if someone called them in at that moment what will happen!

    • Emily Maxwell 01:42 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Viral video success!! What a great advertisement for Apple products and publicity for the band. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this before considering 4 million people already have. So smart.

    • Noah Nwokoma 23:46 on February 1, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I thought those making the video found an excellent way to cut through the clutter and create a real buzz for themselves. While I still don’t understand why people are so crazy about overpriced apple products, I think this video further solidifies the fact that truly creative concepts will always be more effective than traditional marketing and advertising messages. A company like Apple, with their forever branded customers, will see success in the years to come if they keep their brand image of being innovative and in touch with what their customers want and need. Not quite sure if the idea was Apples or the bands but it was beneficial to both of them.

    • michaela 20:50 on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      What a great idea. I hope that Apple replaced their instruments and offered them recording software to create more songs with their products. Considering what happened to them the band should definitely be compensated. Great video and advertising for both the band and Apple. The video made me want to research and upload Atomic Tom’s music and look into Apple products again.

    • Matthew Bassett 05:54 on February 19, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I like this ad, i saw it some time ago and wasn’t sure how real it was, or whether it was put on by Apple as a form of advertising. It is interesting to see how people use media to get their messages across. I was not aware that the band made this video after their music equipment was stolen; it is fun to see people get creative in the music industry and put out things like this.

      I think for Apple this was an extremely great advertisement that they did not have to pay for. Getting a million views within a couple days, was great public image for the band and Apple.

  • jackhardy 16:29 on December 2, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Christmas, flash mob   

    Christmas Flash Mob 

    Does the thought of Christmas shopping get you excited or wear you out? For a few holiday shoppers, the trend of flash mobs, a twist on the time-honored tradition of publicity stunts, turned into a cultural experience. Interestingly, a photography company tried a stunt, with the help of many, many dozen singers at a local mall. Watch and listen here for the results. (And by the way, Merry Christmas!)

     

    • lacy s. t. 23:10 on February 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      If you are as big of a sucker for flash mobs as I am, I encourage you to visit the site improveverywhere.com. It has some pretty brilliant stuff in there. In regards to this particular flash mob, this one video received over 31 million views. By hiring some talented singers and someone to capture the moment, this company effectively used a viral video with very little costs. It worked for them and associated their company with holiday spirit and a positive reputation. My only real criticism of it the whole thing is the length of the flash mob. Its all one song, and there isn’t any variety. If you look at other flash mobs, there is usually dancing, or a little bit of variety involved to keep the attention so people may be be more inclined to watch the whole video.

    • Brent Jorgenson 01:02 on February 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This video reminds me of a flash mob that I recently watch on youtube. The video can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULVQOneeZE. It’s very entertaining to watch flash mob videos because of the audiences reaction. I never thought of flash mobs as publicity stunts until now. I am wondering how this stunt relates to photography. Maybe this stunt promotes the ability of “capturing” an unexpected moment.

    • Emily Maxwell 00:23 on February 18, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I have always wanted to participate in a flash mob but have only viewed several online. My favorite flash mob was done with cellphones in a library. Hundreds of people checked in their purses and backpacks at the door of the library and using different cell phone carrier ring tones, they were able to make a musical flash mob. It started subtle and then escalated, breaking the silence and causing chaos.
      I think this example is mediocre compared to the organizational skills required in others I have seen.

    • Kevin N. 00:54 on March 5, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I have to say that I also find flash mobs very compelling when done correctly. What I find especially important in this case is the natural tie-in created by people photographing this spectacle that came out of nowhere. People love a break from the routine when something positive happens at an unexpected time, relating this feeling with the photography company through a product specific flash mob is just about as good as it gets. Having the performers mingle with the unsuspecting viewers stays true to the term mob, often times when people call something a flash mob I feel it’s a bit of a misnomer, but not in this case.

      As already pointed out, I also think the song was too repetitive which allowed for the viewers to gain a certain level of comfort with the performance. I know this is general statement, but I feel that the goal of these flash mobs is to keep the viewer on the edge of his/her seat for the duration of the performance. Although I would have picked a different song, the end product was not compromised by the decisions made.

    • abdulalah naseeb 02:14 on March 7, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This is an incredible video, I always wanted to see them in the reality and hearing them singing live front of me; they have a really nice voices,enthusiasm and energy. The interesting part is that there were a verity of ages as you can notice from the video old and young people have participated in this flash mob. Recently I saw a lot of video about flash mobs such as people who suddenly freeze or dance etc. This is very entertainment to me I really like it and want to join these kind of flash mob if I have chance.

    • Erin McBride 05:58 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I love flash mobs and would love to be in one. The Michael Jackson ones are great and they are all over the world, even as close as Seattle. I do agree with Emily that this one, although filled with talented singers, was a bit lame compared to other flash mobs that are filled with dancing as well. I can’t imagine how loud the singers must have been in an area essentially lined with tile. The kid standing on the chair was just mesmerized; awesome way to hear great gospel music.

    • Chi Long Lao 08:02 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Even though I don’t have relaigion, but I still think this video is very cool. I think the meaning of this video is very relating to PR because it shows us that only few people can affect more and more people to joy you. Such as in the video, we are pretty sure that the first couple of people are from the group of chorus, but later on, when more and more people joyed, it became more and more difficult for us to know who are the people from the chorus and who are just a normall consumers. Therefore, trends always can make a lot of people to follow but aslo always make the follower don’t know what they are doing.

    • Chelsea 03:51 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I have always loved the flash mobs. The Michael Jackson ones are my favorite and I always hear about those ones. I think it’s pretty neat to see the talent that people have and completely love that they have guts to perform like that. People are crazy and one thing I love about these is that they are random and entertaining.

    • Namyot Pulkasem 06:44 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I love the flash mobs, and it’s great to see many participants joining and sharing memorable moments. I would like to be one of the flash mobs if possible because its such a prompt activity that it must fun to show my guts feel. I also thank that doing the flash mobs always requires a person to start off the event, and he or she really needs to be able to persuade other to react like them. I love to see people sharing the happiness, and it might sometimes look crazy or wired, but it’s worth to see amazing reaction from those people.

    • Adrianne 06:58 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I still remembered most of my parts of this song. Every year I mean to get out to see Handel’s Messiah. They have sing along versions as well. It was a tradition in my high school that every winter concert would end with the Hallelujah chorus and any returning alumni could join the current students on stage. It was amazing to see the number of people who would return to sing for the director who had been there over 20 years. I believe he picked up the tradition from the previous director. So we had a large range of ages on stage each year. It is amazing that in a lot of ways the singing voice gets better with age, especially for men and especially for choral music.

      None of this has much to do with the PR impact of this particular flash mob, except that this song means different things to different people. I think it would be amazing to stage a battle in a food court while a choir sings from O Fortuna from Carmina Burana. (you’ve heard it in many battle scenes) I’m just saying that O Furtuna is really a intense and theatrical piece and would create a totally different vibe.

    • Nathan Gancher 07:33 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I would like to see an instance of a company/brand trying to generate PR by using a flash mob in some way. I’m sure it has happened before, but nothing stands out. How would a flash mob for a company like subway, mcdonalds, coke be received?

    • Christopher Harley 10:50 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I love flash mobs. There’s something inherently optimistic about their organization, execution, and reception. It’s that eager willingness to stand up and ask that your fellow human being drop the facade of individualism and embrace, if only for a few minutes, that interconnectedness that demands participation even when it’s only passive participation.

    • Laura Cooper 17:54 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      While a moving example of holiday spirit and the power of surprise, I found this video to be disjointed from photography and the brand flashed in the super frame. That transfer of “fuzzy feelings” or temporary escapism might work for some, but how did these unassuming audience members know who sponsored the mob? Did they have to sign a waiver for YouTube uploading? Furthermore, a brand’s subscription to any type of religious viewpoint can be treacherous.

      • Alexi Parry 00:35 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I agree. I thought this was a great idea in order to get people in the Christmas mood, but I don’t think anyone in that cafeteria understood it was for a photography company. This would be a great tactic for the mall to use to increase Christmas shopping, especially EARLY Christmas shopping since this flash mob was done in early November. Putting people in the Christmas spirit and lifting their mood will most likely equal more spending while you are already at the mall. As far as photography, they should have used a different method to ensure listeners WHY they were doing this.

    • Erin O. 19:09 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      The first thing I would like to say about this flash mob was that it was a holiday song sung on Nov. 10. I really do not like Christmas before December. As for the flash mob I though it was well done and I think flash mobs are a great mood lifter. Though this flash mob was done as a publicity stunt for a photography company. I don’t quite get how flash mob and photography come together. So while the flash mob was fun I don’t think this stunt worked the way it should have.

      • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 23:48 on March 12, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I think the idea is to get people ready for Christmas holiday starts from November. I don’t know if that is really early or not but it is nice moments for those who were around the flash mobs. I have heard of those flash mobs but never seen them in real life before. I wish to watch them anywhere but not be a part with them.
        It seems to me that they are just celebrating Christmas only. They did not mention anything about their company name or product at all in the video.

    • Alice Cabon 23:51 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I also love flash mobs; it’s a great way to catch the public’s attention. What is amazing about flash mobs is the effect of surprise on the public. As an example, in this video, when the first singer starts, nobody really understands what’s going on, and the public spends a little bit of time figuring out what’s happening.
      What I wonder about is how they link the flash mobs to the product or the brand. In the video, we only see the people singing, and everyone likes it, they are talented, and it’s a good initiative for Christmas, but how it relates to the photography company?
      I think flash mobs offer huge opportunities to promote brands or products, but they are risky and need to be handled carefully. I would love to participate to one, and to experience the anxiety to see if people are going to follow you as it’s supposed to be. I think that flash mobs, used to promote a brand, give it a lot of credibility because it’s a human experience. If a group of people concords to assemble for a specific mobilization, the public usually feels that they agree with the message being conveyed, and it’s really entertaining!

    • Sammy Al-B 07:28 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I think the reason flash mobs would be effective for any PR campaign or stunt, is it’s uniqueness. People inherently remember and retain information or a memory that is important or memorable. But give it another 2-3 years, and if these flash mobs dont continue to evolve or just remain about singing and dancing, then it’s effectiveness will wear off some. It is hilarious though to see the reactions on some of the bystanders’ faces!

    • Dahir Moalim 11:40 on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I think it’s really funny how the flash mobs made all the participants join them in the memorable moment of Christmas song. I really think it was a great idea how everyone in the mall was in the mood of singing, and I really believe it was a good tactic to do it in cafeteria mall. One of my favorite flash mobs was with their cellphones and how many people checked in their backpacks at the door. Overall, it was very entertaining moment, and I wouldn’t mind joining.

  • jackhardy 17:50 on September 23, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: coeds, jobs, kentucky fried chicken, KFC, , , steve,   

    Publicity, P.T. Barnum and KFC 

    In P.R., the father of publicity stunts, P.T. Barnum made a name for himself while promoting the circus. Whenever the American Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Baily circus came to town, it was usually preceded or accompanied by a publicity stunt. These stunts included parading an elephant through the town square, acrobats or trapeze artists performing feats of strength or skill to encourage public attention and get the media to promote the event. It’s no different from the stunts created by companies today to promote new products. Some of these stunts are intentional, others are not. For example CEO Steve Jobs of Apple periodically responds with rather blunt, condescending e-mails to customers who complain or question him. (see here: http://gawker.com/5641211/steve-jobs-in-email-pissing-match-with-college-journalism-student?skyline=true&s=i

    Enter Kentucky Fried Chicken. More recently known as KFC, home of Colonel Sanders if you remember the iconic founder, the company has embarked on a new strategy to attract customers using the behinds of college co-eds. It’s crass and irrelevant. See the story here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-09-22-kfc22_ST_N.htm

    College students market KFC product on their rears

    The bottom line (pun intended) is exactly what one brand expert suggested: Clean up the stores and make a better product. Bunless chicken sandwiches?

     

    • lacy s. t. 05:04 on January 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This was the first time that I have personally seen this, making me already question whether this was even remotely effective. Its grabs about… mediocre attention. I know that most guerilla style marketing is in and out, but usually its something that is more relatable to the product they are trying to promote. So now KFC just looks cheap to a few college campuses and will be overlooked, in my opinion, in the long run. (Especially since these sandwiches are “bun-less,” yet they chose to advertise on girls “buns”).

    • Kevin N. 23:53 on January 24, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This might be the most uninspired ad campaign that I have seen. Sex appeal has always been used in advertising, but this example of it is too blatant. It’s disappointing that KFC went this route to promote their new quirky chicken sandwich. With a product like this they could have done something pretty interesting if they would have devoted a little more time to it. I would say that this product is especially sensitive to advertising compared to other fast-food items. when used properly, advertising has the capability of drawing out the positive features of any product, but in this case it was used in way that made this chicken sandwich look incredibly tacky.

    • Adam W 03:17 on February 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I think this is a good idea by KFC because it did the job of getting people to talk at a low cost. Ya I do think that this may have been a low class way to go about it but since when was KFC high class? Sex sells and I think this may be an especially effective techniques when dealing with the demographic this big nasty deep fried meat mass is created for.

      • abdulalah naseeb 23:09 on March 7, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I totally agree with (ADAM) since when KFC is a high class, and KFC did the job that they needed at low cost, this is very affective way…sex sell’s such as that of a pretty woman, typically has no connection to the product being advertised. The purpose of the imagery is to attract the attention of the potential customer or user. In my opinion this is not appropriate or unacceptable in our society.

        • Emily Maxwell 00:07 on March 16, 2011 Permalink

          I agree. It’s KFC.. a cheap, low-end, unhealthy product. This kind of advertising is exactly what will attract the type of people who will be overly excited to save .50cents on a $3 sandwich.

    • Alexi Parry 00:45 on February 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Whether we want to disagree with it or not, sex does sell. Carl’s Jr. used this technique with Paris Hilton and Audrina. Yes it was gross for us to see anyone eating those disgusting burgers, but I guarantee it brought a few more men through the drive thru. KFC was trying to reach males, and if their new bunless chicken sandwich wasn’t enough to get them hooked, they figured sex would help. It definitely was not the most creative way for KFC to go about advertising a new product, but I’m sure it caught some attention. One bad thing about wearing these pants is that those type of sweats that have writing on the butt are usually what trashy girls wear out, and I mean white trash. Having your models where these “trashy” sweats might not have received the attention from guys you were hoping to reach. Overall, I’m sure the college girls wearing Double Down sweats helped with business some, but KFC could have tackled this campaign in a much more strategic way.

    • Brent Jorgenson 23:00 on February 18, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I personally see this kind of publicity stunt as distasteful and question whether the person implementing thought about potential backfire. KFC put “double down” on some young females rear ends and I get that that there is some creativity because KFC is trying to to put emphasis on their bun less sandwich. There is some truth behind “sex sells”, but I do not believe that these sweatpants are sexy. I see sweatpants as dressing down rather than up. The other problems with these sweatpants is that it objectifies women and says its okay to stare at gals behind.

    • Chelsea 20:52 on March 5, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I have never heard of this nor do I ever go into KFC. I feel that, that whole campaign was cheap and lazy. Clearly KFC, didn’t put enough thought into this marketing plan and did more harm to their reputation than anything! Seeing a model wearing a cheap pair of sweats saying “double down” is one of the worst advertising methods I have heard of. I know they are trying to direct it to fit in with the “college” life style but honestly that is not the way.

    • Nathan Gancher 23:45 on March 7, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I don’t see this as all that tasteless, but it certainly isn’t all that creative, inspiring, and probably not effective on a mass scale. Girls wear these type of sweatpants all the time with words on the behind, so there really isn’t much shock value in doing that. All this probably did was raise the awareness of the “double down”, and that had just as much to do with handing out the product as it did with having the name written on the behind of those girls.

    • Erin McBride 06:27 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Lame. Their food is unhealthy and now, so is their campaign. I’m offended only because I have to spend the time thinking about this; really…ads on young women’s bottoms? Cliche and a bit pathetic. Grabbing attention anywhere you can get it
      I guess. But I have to question the awareness of the women participating in this, selling yourselves a bit cheap, dollar menu cheap… don’t you think?

    • Namyot Pulkasem 10:47 on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      It’s just okay ad, and it’s not appropriate for those girls. My understanding is that KFC wants to represent the bun by using the rear of those young female, but why didn’t use other aspects instead of the buttocks. I think this would affect other target markets ,such as other women and parents. It seems like campaign depreciates the women, especially the name written on the sweatpants. I think KFC should really pay attention to this issue because this is not the way to go for the advertisement. The company should give the precedence to those young females and be respectful for their parents, and they should be careful before using this distasteful ad.

    • Alice Cabon 10:16 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I definitely don’t think this campaign is creative and insightful. But it’s still a cheap and easy way to grab attention. I don’t think they had that many expectations from this initiative. They just found an effortless way to catch more attention. More and more new vehicles are used, and I think that almost everything is considered a possibility for advertisements. Moreover, I think that women are already confident enough to not find it degrading. This subject is less sensitive than it used to be. The ways of dressing are more and more provocative, and it’s intentional. This “double down” on the back of their pants is not an elegant promotion, but it’s not more debasing that other outfits some women choose. From these girls perspective, it’s a way for a young student to make a little money, and it can be taken with humor.
      I’m also not really surprised of this initiative, coming from KFC. It has never been a classy brand, and I don’t think their principal target audience would be revolted by this campaign.
      It’s not a great and effective way to promote their product, and it will probably not bring considerable results, but it increases awareness of this new sandwich, and it will probably make people talk about it around campus.

    • Laura Cooper 17:17 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      It is not uncommon in the age of alternative and guerilla marketing for companies to enlist local student brand ambassadors. In the case of KFC, the goal to generate male ‘buzz’ around the product was poorly executed and resulted in negative brand associations. While sex does sell, the sweatpants and crass tagline could have been nixed altogether. Instead, KFC could have used the attractive college females to hold a booth or pass out samples of the new product—there were alternatives.

    • Erin O. 19:13 on March 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      While words on bums have taken over sweats I don’t think it makes for a good marketing stunt. Obviously KFC is trying to reach a specific segment with this group and I am not a man. So maybe it is an effective stunt as for my point of view I think it is targeting such a specific group in such a specific way that I feel they might be alienating other segments.

      • Abdulrahman Al-Homaid 01:44 on March 12, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I agree with those who said it is one of the worst and uninspired ads. It is obviously targeting the male audience. I consider this as a cheap strategy to draw and do not works on some of us but unfortunately most of us will be affected by this ad. I believe that KFC has more male customer than female. I am glad I am not of the one who got attracted to KFC’s foods and ads.

    • Jennifer T 06:34 on March 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I don’t think this campaign is creative, but I don’t think this is too out of the ordinary. Many college campuses seem to use these types of guerrilla style events. I am not really offended by the “bun” messaging only because most colleges sell sweats like this with their own logo on them. Even major fashion brands take to flashing their logos on backsides.

      I am not sure KFC is getting the right message across. I assume that it was trying to show that good looking co-eds eat KFC, but I think they need to focus more on making their food better for you instead.

    • Adrianne 07:11 on March 16, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      What’s funny is there are no buns in the double down. So it makes some sense to have the double down advertised on the buns of college students. The sandwich is a sandwich that doesn’t have buns. Instead of buns, or where the buns would be they have meet. So they have meaty buns. meaty buns is pretty similar to buns buns. I say it makes complete sense. Plus college girls have been wandering around with words on their sweats and shorts for years. Why not advertise something as amazing as a meat sandwich with meat and cheese in the middle. I mean guys are looking at girls buns anyway, why squander that attention grabbing moment.

    • Dahir Moalim 23:08 on February 1, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      I really think KFC is gripping the public attention towards their buns of the sandwich. But I’m not really sure if KFC is sending the right message across, because using female college students can promote their brand image, i believe their basically targeting their type crowd in their target market. I think their ad is appropriate to the media, because either way KFC is completely unhealthy fast food market.

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