Stay F---! | June 14, 2005
Carrie McLaren
stay.free at verizon.net
Mon Jun 13 18:33:20 EDT 2005
Here are a few more recent highlights from our blog, Stay F---! Daily.
For images, links, and complete text, visit
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org.
TEXTBOOK ADVERTISING
McGraw-Hill is offering corporations advertising space in its
textbooks. Again.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/textbook_advert_1.html
IS DEODORANT THE NEW TOBACCO?
Remember the post about Procter & Gamble’s new deodorant spray
targeting 7-year-old girls? The deodorant, Secret Sparkle, bears a
warning: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. What a riot. The marketers at
P&G apparently didn’t think twice about marketing something to children
that they know to be unsafe, because when the Children’s Advertising
Review Unit (a public relations tool for the ad industry with no actual
regulatory power) raised a red flag, P&G’s spokesperson expressed
surprise.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/body_spray_kids.html
AN INQUIRY INTO THE EFFECTS OF PRESERVATIVES IN MCDONALD’S FOOD,
OR,
WHAT DOES THE FUNGUS KNOW THAT YOU DON’T?
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/mcdonalds_exper.html
AXING CORPORATE GRAFFITI
In Chicago, pretty much anyone has the right to remove graffiti from
private property, thanks to a citywide initiative known as Give
Graffiti the Brush. So last week, a trio of champions used the rule to
their advantage and painted over a graffiti-style billboard for Axe,
the perfume for boys.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/axing_corporate.html
JETS STADIUM GROUNDED
Posted by Charles Star
Sheldon Silver (Democrat and NY Assembly Speaker) and Joe Bruno
(Republican and NY Senate Majority Leader), in light of the IOC report,
have declined to provide state financing to build the Jets/”Olympic”
stadium on the Hudson Yards. Unless they change their minds, the
stadium plan (as currently structured) is dead.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/jets_stadium_gr.html
JUDGES TOSS OUT DUIS BECAUSE BREATHALYZERS’ SOURCE CODE IS SECRET
Via Boing Boing, we learn: “Florida judges are tossing out DUI cases
when defendants ask to see the source code for the breathalyzers that
busted them -- the manufacturers won’t turn over the source, and since
the machine’s correct operation is critical to establishing the case
against the DUIers, the case is dismissed when it can’t be produced.”
Now if only they could find a way to apply this to voting machines.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/judges_toss_out.html
ISN’T THAT THE CUTEST LITTLE TERRORIST?
Posted by Charles Star
It is so hard, when crossing cultural lines to know whether something
is intended as kitsch or not. Take the Osamaiana for sale in Southeast
Asia.
Is the Osama bin laden doll a GI Joe for kids in the Middle East to
play “terrorist training camp” (picture Osama sitting in the middle of
the circle, lecturing about the inevitable realization of the will of
Allah) or for lobbing fake grenades at bunkers filled with plastic army
men?
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/isnt_that_the_c.html
BOOKSTORE PAYOLA
The New York Times has a story about bookstore payola and the fact that
chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders determine their display space
based on how much publishers are willing to pay them. Not that this is
news to a crotchety zinester; the practice extends to the magazine
racks as well, which is one reason pubs like mine end up shoved in the
back (though certainly not the only one). And it also applies to the
music biz. In fact, a label rep once told me that Tower makes more
money from selling in-store display space and other co-promotions than
from selling CDs themselves. I find that a little hard to believe, but
if anyone has real, compelling numbers on this, I’d be glad to share
them.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/bookstore_payol.html
YOU HEAR (STUFF ABOUT RADIO CONGLOMERATES) HERE FIRST
Posted by John Aboud
Stuart Elliott “In Advertising” e-column for the New York Times is
consistently informative and, often, unintentionally hilarious. The
chuckles come from two sources. First, Elliott’s style. He is a
shameless pun user, and he takes giddy delight in chronicling campaigns
he enjoys. A recent email, featuring a recap of some new 2(x)ist
underwear ads, actually caused cold sweat and drool to puddle on my
monitor. Calm down, Stu.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/you_hear_stuff_.html
HOW TV ONCE SOLD ITSELF
In that odd way that things seem to happen in the publishing world, two
new art books out appear to be the same thing: collections of
advertisements documenting the rise of television. TV Wonderland is
barely worth mentioning. The ads are printed so small that you can’t
read the text, and the authors’ commentary is close to pointless.
Window to the Future: The Golden Age of Television Marketing and
Advertising is a different story. The author, Steve Kosareff, looks at
the ads with a critical eye and offers some historical insight, but the
ads themselves are the real draw.
Instead of doing a standard review, I thought I’d post some old TV ads
-- some from Kosareff’s book, some not -- and share a few observations.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/how_tv_once_sol.html
INTERVIEW WITH STAY F----’s CARRIE McLAREN, ON GOTHAMIST:
http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/06/07/
carrie_mclaren_editor_stay_free.php
POP WILL EAT ITSELF (AND THAT’S A GOOD THING)
This Wall Street Journal article about Asian pop music made me realize
an obvious solution to the music industry’s downloading woes: abandon
the assumption that pop music is anything other than advertising and
dissolve the music biz into the ad biz. That’s essentially what has
happened in Asia, where pop hits are commissioned by cell-phone makers
and fast food chains.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/ad_songs.html
A LITTLE PRESENT IN BABY’S DIAPER
Posted by Charles Star
Marketers are going after pre-cognitive infants by using their sense of
smell to fix positive affiliations with brands in their memories.
Continued:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/a_little_presen.html
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