PATH: BS | Business | Advertising

Mining Lobby Tries To Shut Down Activist Web Site Parody

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[Industry]
By invoking Australian copyright law, the New South Wales Minerals Council (NSWMC) twice succeeded in shutting down a website that satirized its "Life: Brought to you by mining" advertising campaign.

However, the website of the spoofers, Rising Tide Newcastle, is now hosted overseas. Following protests that the mining industry was attempting to "silence" them, the environmentalists are enjoying more web traffic than their corporate rivals. NSWMC's chief executive, Nikki Williams, said the industry's campaign is about "establishing a fair voice for the mining industry."

Associate lecturer in law at the Queensland University of Technology Peter Black argues, "This is clearly a situation that would be covered by the fair dealing defence of parody and satire. This is political speech that is being suppressed by our copyright regulations, which is something that should not happen."

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Exxon Mobil Acquires Stanford University

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[Industry]
"Exxon Mobil has teamed up with Stanford University to find breakthrough technologies that deliver more energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions," enthuses a TV commercial by the oil giant. Under Exxon Mobil's partnership with Stanford, first announced in 2002, the university "will get up to $100 million from the company over 10 years to fund climate and energy research."

After seeing the ads, major Stanford donor Steve Bing "decided to rescind a promised $2.5 million donation to the school." He is also "asking other major philanthropists to reconsider their promises to give to the Stanford cause," and is pushing for "an end to the 4-year-old ad campaign." Bing's advisor on climate issues said, "Exxon Mobil is trying to greenwash itself, and it's using Stanford as its brush." A Stanford spokesperson countered, "We are proud of our work on seeking solutions to serious energy and environmental problems and our collaborations in these areas with a variety of private and non-profit organizations." An earlier Exxon print ad, carrying the Stanford seal, "suggested that scientists were debating the cause of global warming."

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Cinema Comes Full Circle With Burger King Feature

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[Movies]
It's bad enough that going to the movies these days is like poking your head into a bar in a bad neighborhood: maybe you'll have a good time, or maybe you'll be sorry you ever got out of bed that day.

It's even worse that moviegoers are now subjected to at least fifteen minutes of obnoxious commercials prior to the movie; adding insult to injury is that often these advertisements are for lame television programs.

Could things get any worse?

Well, it looks like they have.

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Truth In Advertising

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[Video]
This short film really demonstrates real "Truth In Advertising". Ever wonder what people really mean? Check it out!

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Geico Caveman Commercial Series

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[Humor]
Normally, I despise corporate advertising, but these commercials are so clever I can't help but call attention to them. I still wouldn't piss on a flaming insurance agent to save his life, but I will laugh at the Geico caveman. Check out the series here...

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Coming To An Airport Security Checkpoint Near You: Advertising!

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It's a good thing the TSA has its priorities in order, otherwise we'd think that air safety might have more importance than promoting the new Dodge Neon.

Under the one-year pilot program, TSA will allow commercial advertising at passenger screening checkpoints in select airports throughout the U.S. and its territories. "Interested parties will have to partner with airport operators to develop a proposal for TSA review. Only airport operators can submit proposals for use of the checkpoints for advertising," according to a Dec. 21, 2006, posting on the Federal Business Opportunities web site.

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Playstation 3 Worth 12,000 Tacos?

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The latest person to go completely nuts over the latest video game console is not a person, but a corporation. Taco Bell has announced that if you're willing to donate your precious Playstation 3 to them to give a Boys & Girls club, they'll offer the generous gamer what they consider a "lifetime" worth of taco bell food (~ $12k in "taco bell bucks" -- no word about whether Angioplasty is included).

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Will It Blend? That Is The Question.

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So what do you do if you make an industrial grade blender and you want to show off what it can do? How about seeing exactly what it can blend? Marbles? A Coke Can? A Rake Handle? An entire McDonald's Meal?

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Advertiser Blacklist Against Air America Revealed

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An internal ABC Radio Networks memo obtained by Media Matters for America, originally from a listener to The Peter B. Collins Show, indicates that nearly 100 ABC advertisers insist that their commercials be blacked out on Air America Radio affiliates. According to the memo, the advertisers insist that "NONE of their commercials air during AIR AMERICA programming." Among the advertisers listed are Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Federal Express, General Electric, McDonald's, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Navy.

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Jesus Gets MySpace Page; Ad Campaign

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In an attempt to encourage more Britons to go to church this Christmas, an image of Jesus Christ in the froth of a half empty pint of beer will be used on posters.

Pastor Francis said he "hoped the poster and accompanying radio advertisements would spark a debate about religion." The church will also use a Jesus MySpace Profile (Jesus hasn’t accepted my friend request), the social networking portal for teens, to promote the frosty miracle.

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Gorilla Glue: The Toughest Advertising Snowjob on Earth

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They advertise their product as "The toughest glue on earth." Really? Well, it took a competitor, Elmers, to challenge this claim and take it to the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. Gorrilla, if you're making that claim, you can back it up right?

Wait until you hear their response...

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Geologist Fired/Re-Hired After Refusing to Peddle Propaganda

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A Canadian scientist fired for lampooning an order to call Stephen Harper's Tory government "Canada's new government'' is back on the job.

Geologist Andrew Okulitch said Tuesday he was reinstated as a scientist emeritus with the Geological Survey of Canada after a call from the deputy minister of natural resources.

The 64-year-old Saltspring Island resident, who has worked for the federal government for 35 years, said he was fired Sept. 5 after he e-mailed an undiplomatic response to a government directive.

The government memo ordered him to use the phrase "new government of Canada'' on official correspondence from the Geological Survey of Canada.

Okulitch immediately fired off an e-mail saying civil servants are not paid to mouth political slogans.

He said the policy was "ridiculous and embarrassing'' and said he will use Geological Survey of Canada in any official correspondence "as opposed to idiotic buzzwords coined by political hacks.''

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Ron English's Popaganda

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[Activists]
Ron English puts up illegal billboards, so he has only one way of knowing if it has been a good day.

"I consider it a success if I don't go to jail," he explained. He should know. He has had two very unsuccessful days in the past.

You may have seen Mr. English, a 43-year-old father of two, wandering around the streets of Manhattan or New Jersey with a bucket of glue, a set of rollers and a crew of accomplices. He plasters his original paintings in broad daylight on billboards he does not own. This is a conscious decision, because billboarding in the dark would only look more suspicious. "If you're out at night," he said, "it's obvious that you're not supposed to be there."

It is worth being careful. Though he has posted more than 1,000 illicit signs, Mr. English says he has been chased while half-drunk by the police in Texas, has been the object of death threats and barely escaped an angry mob in Jersey City.

Mr. English is not a run-of-the-mill graffiti maker. He is widely recognized in the art world as one of the earliest and most celebrated in a line of "culture jammers"--

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Vegas Slogan Responsible For Increased Crime?

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"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" ...except sometimes it also stays on your police record, according to an area Sheriff when explaining the increased crime in the Nevada area.

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Gold Rush: The Latest Scheme To Get People To Watch Commercials

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[Get-Rich-Quick]
Mark Burnett, creator of the Survivor and The Apprentice reality shows, and AOL have teamed with CBS to create a web-based treasure hunt titled "Gold Rush". The idea behind the series is that clues will be embedded on various web sites and within commercials on CBS. Burnett seems to think that the quest for hidden gold buillon throughout the country will entice users to watch commercials, if not actually Tivo them and watch them over and over to get clues.

Personally, I'm convinced that Burnett doesn't have a clue either.

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Oil Company PAC Launches Pro-Pollution Ad Campaign

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"Carbon Dioxide... they call it pollution, we call it life."

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a political action group funded by oil companies, is launching an aggressive campaign designed to snowjob people into thinking that global warming may not actually be going on, and that the pollution from oil companies and related industries is a good thing. Just how low will the oil companies stoop? How gullible do they expect the populace to be? Check out this commercial and see for yourself.

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Peter Parker Drives a Dodge Caliber?

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[Entertainment]
Superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man can save mankind from natural disasters, space aliens and evil mutants. But there's one thing they are powerless to stop: Advertisers shilling products within the pages of the comic books they call home.

Both Marvel and DC comics have now signed deals to include product placement within the stories and characters of their comics. Marvel has begun polluting scenes with Nike logos while DC will have superheroes driving cars like the Pontiac Solstice, which some advertising douche claims is analagous to James Bond's Aston Martin. Yea right. Maybe the next Speed Racer will have him competing against Racer X in a Subaru Impreza.

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Indy Rockers Turn Down Hummer Endorsements

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[Activists]
The Thermals, a rambunctious rock band from Portland, Ore., were en route between gigs last year when they got a phone call from their label, Sub Pop. Hummer wanted to pay them $50,000 for the right to use their song "It's Trivia" in a commercial.

"We thought about it for about 15 seconds, maybe," lead singer Hutch Harris said. They said no.

These guys aren't alone. Many groups in music are not keen on having their art exploited to promote the gas-guzzling road behemoth that is Humvee, at any price.

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McDonald's Food Sucks Even More??

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[Junk Food]
Not long after disclosing that its french fries contain more trans fat than thought, McDonald's Corp. said Monday that wheat and dairy ingredients are used to flavor the popular menu item--an acknowledgment it had not previously made.

The presence of those substances can cause allergic or other medical reactions in food-sensitive consumers.

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New Orleans Puts Mardi Gras Up For Sale

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For the first time in Carnival’s 150-year history, city and krewe leaders will seek corporate sponsors to underwrite the huge cost of staging “the Greatest Free Show on Earth.”

Any acceptable company that steps forward with $2 million to help pay for police overtime, fire protection, and sanitation during next year’s abbreviated eight-day Carnival will be crowned the “official sponsor of Mardi Gras 2006,” the Mayor Ray Nagin’s office said.

In a related story, Nagin has announced that Easter is for sale for $350,000, Christmas is offered at $1 Million and there's a two-for-one special on St. Patrick's Day and Passover.

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