Zagar and Steve pulled from airwaves

Can you see why this ad campaign might have bothered advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples?

Advertising that crosses the line

Here's a post by a well-known ad guy, Ernie Schenck, about an Ohio car dealer with a very special promotion.

Tracy

When I first heard this story, I found myself extremely interested and kept trying to think of ways to mix it up in order to write about it in here. Then it dawned on me. I don't need to find a way to make it relate to advertising, because it does that on it's on.

If you don't feel like reading the story, I'll up it up easily. Spain is banning skinny models from their runways, and England is considering doing the same in the near future. They've set weight minimums on all of their girls in order to nix the heroin-chic trend that has recently returned to the catwalks.

The runway is advertising in it's simplest form. These girls, and men as well, are walking ads for the high end fashion world - which is undoubtably one of the most influential and powerful entities in the world today. The whole world is watching them, seeing what's new, what's next, what they should be doing, wearing, how they should be walking and talking, who they should be seen with and who to avoid.

I think that for a country to ambush such a large mark in culture such as the fashion industry, the problem must be huge. In America, it seems like young Hollywood is more of a showpiece for our advertisers than the runway is, although in recent years there has been a much more promenant role in the runway bizz. And yes, even in young hollywood there is the 'Nicole Richie plague', where girls just don't eat, thinking that their Louis Vuitton dress looks better drooping from their frames, but these girls aren't wearing these clothes as ads, so to say. So I guess there isn't much we can do here.



In places though, where all eyes are on the lighted runway, and where that is where people are getting their ideas, I don't blame the authorities for stepping in and trying to solve this epidemic. So far, they've had to turn away 30% of their models for not meeting the weight requirements. While this number seems shockingly high, it gets worse. Sure, they've set these requirements and in retrospec that makes them look good, like the role-model country and such, but when you actually look at the number - 120pounds for a 5'9" model - it's even more shocking. That is still disgustingly thin, and the fact that 30% of the models were turned away already, means that they were under even THAT weight.

I guess this whole story just made me think about the incredible affects that advertising has on the culture. When bans have to be placed and people have to be out of jobs to make sure that there isn't an overwhelm of bulimia patients in the hospitals, you know you're looking at something powerful. The fact that I am working towards becoming a part of an industry that will be part-taking in the shaping of peoples lives, actually scares me sometimes, especially when I look at stories like this one.

I'd love to know what everyone thinks about this.

Beating the Technology...

Everything is a rat-race! Here is a brief article on NBC Universal. I can't believe how many companies own other companies today... General Electric owns NBC which is part of Universal! Anyway. The CEO of NBC Universal hopes to get between 400-500 billion in advertising via digital means. Using in-show advertising is one way he hopes to accomplish this because more people are using ad-skipping devices. He also said they are working toward shorter ads to keep viewers attention.

I attempted to use my link here and you must sign up/in to access the article... I found a similiar article at CNN. Check it out. :) This article talks about UTube and how NBC demanded it pull pirated SNL shows off its site...and later setup a deal with UTube so viewers could upload promotions.

Global ads aim for one brand, image

Here is a article done by USATODAY.com. It is an article about Global ads aiming to keep one brand image. what do you think about this article?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2004-06-23-global_x.htm

TV Show Advertising...

Some find it annoying while others, maybe, like myself, make a game of it (kind of like "Where's Waldo"...). I'm referring to product placement advertising within a television show. Years ago it used to be that only a generic label like "soda" or "pop" was shown on a can of soda in a tv show. It looked quite funny. Well, after searching high and low for a recent article about product placement ads within tv shows I decided instead, to link to one about TV stations using the WWW as a tool to connect to their viewers in various ways. Read about the online connection for tv viewers... here .

Twenty Funny Commercials Not Really From Japan

This one's been making the viral rounds, a blog post featuring twenty commercials viewable on YouTube supposedly from Japan (many of them aren't). What do you think?

Tracey here...

Hi there. I'm new to blogging, haven't exactly been too into this new technology for some reason. When I first went online when the WWW first "went online" (to the public) I would chat all night to everybody and anybody... guess I outgrew it and see blogging as a tool to talk about oneself unrelentingly. Although I do realize blogging goes much deeper... Anyway.

The majority of the time I'm at my mom's in NH helping her out and taking care of our animals as well. We have a rambunctious Golden Retriever, a whacky black cat, a fiesty cockatiel and two aquariums that have taken over my life! I started one this summer and struggle to get/maintain the water just so. Looking forward to getting immersed in the world of blogging and any other technology as I want to work in an IT Dept. again, doing support of some sort and exposure to any and all such stuff is beneficial.

Hi Lauren - I see we have alot in common.... I love dogs too and agree they are alot of work. Especially since this Golden, Takoda, is a super baby. All our other ones were a little more independent... Takoda is very clingy and great at guilt trips. But Labs and Goldens are the sweeetest.

The pic. you see is from my graduation from Dean College in .... 1989.. EEEEK!!

About Lauren

Hello,
This is my first time using blogs, so bare with me! I am also in the process of getting a picture posted. A am a senior this year going for Public Relations and minoring in Sociology. I am from Danvers, I currently live in Byfield (near Newburyport) and will be moving to Georgetown next month.
I have a yellow lab named Yeller, after Old Yeller, and she will be 1 Sept 21, I'll post a picture of her too. She is so cute and so much work - she has a lot of energy! Well, I am going to start reading the articles and write my paper before I begin to procrastinate even more!
Talk soon-

Let's do introductions (again)

For this week, let's just practice posting and commenting. So do another introduction and comment on someone else's.