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[Carrie McLaren <stay.free AT verizon.net>]

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