Burger King’s slogan is “have it your way,” but if most parents could truly have it their way, the fast food chain wouldn’t have released its latest vulgar advertisement. Burger King’s new sandwich, the BK Super Seven Incher, is featured in an extremely crude advertisement that is obviously suggestive, and begs the question, Why is Burger King bringing in sex to sell sandwiches?
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By Mark Finkelstein | June 22, 2009 | 8:09 AM EDT
Obama and Neda: same struggle!
Who says Pres. Obama isn't backing the Iranian uprising strongly enough? Why, supporters of the struggle have chosen to immortalize Neda, the young student reportedly slain by the current regime, by creating a poster of her in the style of the iconic Obama poster made famous during his presidential campaign.
Might that have been CBS's subliminal message this morning? Of all the possible posters of the fallen girl who has become the symbol of the Iranian uprising, the Early Show chose the one displayed here in the unmistakeable style Shepard Fairey used to create his Obama poster [displayed after the break].
By Noel Sheppard | June 22, 2009 | 1:06 AM EDT
In today's "Truly Delicious Irony" segment, the Federal Trade Commission, just months after so-called journalists decided who should win a presidential primary and subsequent election, is going to begin going after bloggers who make false claims about products and/or don't fully disclose conflicts of interest.
Imagine that.
As reported by the Associated Press Sunday:
By Ken Shepherd | February 24, 2009 | 12:08 PM EST
Folks watching President Obama's first address to Congress on CNN tonight will not see CatholicVote.com's latest ad (embedded at right) reportedly because network executives think the ad falsely attributes pro-life political views to the nation's chief executive.
As Christianity Today's Stan Guthrie reported on Friday:
Brian Burch of CatholicVote.com says CNN has rejected the group's "Imagine" ad for broadcast during the president's State of the Union address next Tuesday. Previously NBC rejected the video, which links the pro-choice Barack Obama with a strong pro-life message, for airing during the Super Bowl. Executives at both networks cited concerns with the content of the ad: NBC that it doesn't run issue ads during the Super Bowl, and CNN because the ad suggests that Obama is pro-life. In an e-mail today to supporters, Burch disputes CNN's conclusion:
By Warner Todd Huston | February 4, 2009 | 5:19 AM EST
A large grouping of newspaper publishers have joined together and launched a public relations campaign to inform readers that, yes, newspapers are still relevant -- despite the financial hardships and layoffs of thousands of employees industry wide.
Unfortunately, the PR campaign does not seem to recognize that one of the main problems that newspapers are having is with their own content, not just the economy and the Internet.
By Matt Philbin | January 29, 2009 | 4:54 PM EST
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3">NBC won’t accept “issue advocacy” commercials for its Super Bowl broadcast on Sunday, February 1. Apparently, the network that “</font><a href="http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081112134215.aspx"><font size="3" color="#800080">went green</font></a><font size="3">” for an entire week last fall, and that did an </font><a href="http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2007/20071102170522.aspx"><font size="3" color="#800080">environmental stunt on a football show</font></a><font size="3"> the year before, wants to stay away from politics. Or maybe just some politics. </font></p><p><font size="3">NBC has rejected an ad sponsored by the <span style="color: black">Catholic group Fidelis “after days of negotiation,” according to an article on <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/nat4801.html">LifeNews.com</a>. The ad, which can be seen at the LifeNews site or on Fidelis’ <a href="http://www.catholicvote.com/">Web site</a>, shows an ultrasound image of a fetus while it tells of the hardships the child will face in life, only to become the first black <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> president, Barack Obama. As Fidelis President Brian Burch told LifeNews, “There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement. We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC’s parent company GE has done for years."</span></font></p><font size="3"><span style="color: black"></span></font><span style="color: black"><font size="3">NBC’s claim that it demurs from issue advertising rings particularly false in light of its recent rejection of a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ad. The </font><a href="http://www.peta.org/content/standalone/VeggieLove/Default.aspx"><font size="3">PETA ad</font></a><font size="3">, said the network, “depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards.” It was rejected as being to sexually suggestive, not because of its clear advocacy. And LifeNews reported that NBC had suggested edits to make the PETA spot acceptable. <o:p></o:p></font></span><span style="color: black"><o:p><font size="3"> </font></o:p></span>
By Erin R. Brown | January 29, 2009 | 3:30 PM EST
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document" /><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><style> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->The Super Bowl is - or should be - typically a family-friendly event: an annual occasion in which dad, mom, and the kids gather around their television set to see the top two NFL teams battle it out, enjoy an entertaining half-time show, and laugh at the ridiculous commercials. But as of late, the Super Bowl entertainment has been controversial, and this year is no exception. <p>Two naked women in a shower or a woman exposing her "enhanced" chest in front of the Congress? You choose!</p> <p>That's right. This year, <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/">godaddy.com</a> has asked people to vote on their website for which revealing ad of Indy racer Danica Patrick they would like aired on Super Bowl Sunday.</p> <p>After the 2004 Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110114,00.html">controversy</a> affectionately now known as "Nipplegate," many wonder why NBC would air such a commercial. But NBC apparently has some standards, as it has recently rejected the animal rights group PETA's sexy vegetable ad. An NBC spokesperson <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/entertianment/story/1007109.html">told</a> the Washington Post that "the ad was rejected because it did not conform with our standards."</p>
By Jeff Poor | January 29, 2009 | 12:12 PM EST
Who would have thought a blanket with sleeves, available in a variety of pastel colors, could serve as an economic indicator?
While several sectors of industry are seeking bailout money in some form or another, the Snuggie, an oversized fleece blanket with sleeves featured in cable television ads, is one of the good-news business stories of 2009. According to an article in the Jan. 27 USA Today, 4 million Snuggies have been sold and the product has even developed a bizarre cult following. And, according to CNBC "Squawk on the Street" co-host Erin Burnett, that's proof television as a medium isn't dead yet.
"Hey guys, guess what - Joe, you just gave me a thought," Burnett said on the Jan. 29 "Squawk on the Street." "You know how everyone says television is dying and all the advertising is going to go to the Web eventually? Isn't the Snuggie proof that that is not true?"
By Mark Finkelstein | January 10, 2009 | 4:25 PM EST
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer could be going out of business. And the culprit is . . . capitalism. That's Pilgrim's Complaint. Tim Pilgrim, that is. The professor of journalism at Western Washington University was quoted today in the P-I's article about its own pending demise. The P-I's parent company, the Hearst Corp., has put the paper up for sale, and prospects aren't good for finding a buyer.
But not to fear. Prof. Pilgrim has a solution:
[Pilgrim] suggested that the P-I staff buy the paper and run it at a lesser profit than Hearst requires -- perhaps assisted by a wealthy patron such as Bill Gates or Paul Allen.
By Jeff Poor | January 2, 2009 | 3:00 PM EST
Some call it "the dead tree edition" of the news media. But as 2009 dawns, trees may not be the only casualties.
Newspaper companies as an investment are less lucrative than they once were. Alan D. Mutter, a Silicon Valley CEO, pointed out on his blog that newspaper companies took a hit in 2008 in terms of share value to the tune of $64 billion.
"In the worst year in history for publishers, newspaper shares dropped an average of 83.3% in 2008, wiping out $64.5 billion in market value in just 12 months," Mutter wrote on Jan. 1. "Although things were tough for all sorts of businesses in the face of the worst economic slump since the 1930s, the decline among the newspaper shares last year was more than twice as deep as the 38.5% drop suffered by the Standard and Poor's average of 500 stocks."
By Erin R. Brown | December 17, 2008 | 2:25 PM EST
One “very very very lonely calorie” uses poison, among other methods, to commit suicide in a PepsiCo advertising campaign in Germany that has been pulled amidst controversy over its horrific depictions. The ad, aimed at generating sales for "Pepsi Max," the company’s one calorie drink, has drawn ire from people whose lives have been affected by suicide.
By Erin R. Brown | December 12, 2008 | 10:48 AM EST
Washington, D.C., local JoEllen Murphy has received a steady stream of media exposure for her Biblical message to counter the controversial "Why believe in a god?" ads seen on metro-area busses. On Monday, December 15, D.C.-area Metro busses will sport a pro-God advertisement that is a direct response to a $40,000 atheistic ad campaign sponsored by the American Humanist Association. Those ads read, "Why believe in a god?