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05 Feb 2010 10:34

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Politics: “Demon Sheep” still a heavy source of debate among wonks

  • It just oozes that special brand of ludicrous hilarity that the Internet loves. The thing’s going viral, but not necessarily in a way that will help Carly Fiorina’s campaign.
  • WeeklyStandard.com conservative commentator Mary Katharine Ham • Regarding Carly Fiorina’s “Demon Sheep” ad, which has continued its viral rush to insane popularity (and many parodies). The clip, built largely from stock photos and spare footage (hence the heavy use of the Ken Burns effect), cost $15,000 to make, which is about $14,500 more than we expected. The Fiorina campaign is very much in the “any publicity is good publicity” mode (as they should), while the target of the ad, State Rep. Tom “Demon Sheep” Campbell, is using it in favor of his political campaign (as he should). If this works, Carly Fiorina is a genius. source

01 Feb 2010 10:00

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Biz: Super Bowl ads: A symbol of a quickly-disappearing era?

  • It’s so expensive to buy time and produce a Super Bowl ad, and you have so much competition and so many distractions, that you must hit an absolute home run to be able to get return on investment.
  • Quell Group senior vice president Jim Cain • Regarding the evolution of the Super Bowl ad. In recent years, many companies have balked at the $2.5-$2.75 million price tag per 30-second slot, the latest being Pepsico. Despite this, ads have been selling for as high as $3.2 million and are still in high demand. But with the added diversity in the advertising sphere – the Web is a pretty formidable option nowadays – along with the recession, many big brands are staying out of it altogether. Which used to be unheard of. source

29 Jan 2010 11:54

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Biz: ManCrunch.com: Our favorite (possible) Super Bowl ad evah!

  • This ad is gonna be sooooooo controversial. Nothing like a gay men’s dating site to make the Tim Tebow anti-abortion ad seem pretty tame. Unfortunately for ManCrunch, CBS is slow to approve the ad, which could prevent it from being shown at all. If they approve the Tebow ad but don’t approve this, we know the truth. CBS is full of hypocrites. source

05 Jan 2010 09:44

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Biz, Tech: Apple spends big bucks to follow Google’s mobile ad dreams

  • $350 million amount Apple agreed to spend on Quattro Wireless, a mobile ad firm, just last night
  • $750 million amount Google agreed to spend on AdMob, another mobile ad firm, in November source

17 Dec 2009 21:42

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Biz: Pepsi doesn’t think the Super Bowl is the best use of their ad money

  • 23 the number of years that Pepsi has had a prominent part of the Super Bowl advertising extravaganza
  • refresh what Pepsi plans to do with their ad money instead, using it for a Web-based charity program source

09 Nov 2009 22:40

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Biz, Tech: Google admits its mobile ads aren’t working, acquires AdMob

  • $750 million for the mobile golden goose source

04 Nov 2009 10:51

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Biz: Time Warner’s third-quarter profits look scary and anemic

  • -38% decline in profits at Time Warner; the company’s been most hurt by publishing and online ad declines source
 

22 Oct 2009 09:47

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Tech: Dear Apple: Please don’t load OSX up with annoying ads

  • They applied for a patent to do just that. Yikes. Word on the street is that Apple applied for a scary-sounding patent which would allow them to place advertisements within a reduced-cost version of their operating system. The ads would be audiovisual in nature and would limit system functionality when playing. May we just say to Steve Jobs and company: Are you out of your )#&(!)(# mind? source

07 Oct 2009 20:17

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Biz, Tech: Google: We made it through the worst of the ad slump just fine

  • The worst is behind us. We’re clearly seeing aspects of recovery, not just in the U.S. but also Europe.
  • Google CEO Eric Schmidt • Speaking to room full of journalists about the state of his company. He says that his company has started to hire again in anticipation of a major rebound. Big question: Will newspapers recover along with Google? • source

06 Oct 2009 10:30

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Tech: If you want to pay us to big-up a product, do it before Dec. 1

  • $11,000 fine for bloggers who don’t disclose source