Oh Pepsi. . . why would you make such a bone headed mistake like using music that you haven’t secured the rights to use? Especially when there are plenty of options for music that isn’t tied down by any of these problems. Pepsi used the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by the band “War” in this commercial spot:

The guys from War claim Pepsi stole their “signature song” for a national ad campaign … and now the band is opening a $10 million can of whoop ass to make things right. -TMZ

As of now on Jamendo alone has 1552 albums (each containing several pieces of music) available, licensed under an attribution only Creative Commons License. Which means you can use this music in any of your productions for the cost of a line in the rolling credits!

Kevin MacLeod has skads of royalty free music available to use as you like as long as you give him credit and even has options for applying for a Sans Attribution License in those cases where you cannot credit him (such as in a commercial).

There are many other royalty free / creative commons music sources including Free Play Music and places like RoyaltyFreeMusic.com (which offers royalty free music at a low cost).

With all of the options for royalty free music. . . don’t be like Pepsi. Don’t use music that you don’t have a license for in your productions, especially since there are plenty of pieces of great music readily available.

In my last post, I talked of the coming disruption of the three way relationship between marketer, agency, and media property. Essentially it centers on the idea that marketers (who are often behind themselves) are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of digital savvy of their agencies and are now turning to media properties for strategic ideas and creative capabiliites. And these media properties are making themselves all the more ready, willing, and able to carry out the needs and wishes of the marketers.

I believe that that’s happening. But there’s still a big problem with that model. Consistent brand messaging

On a micro-level, this new way of doing things makes perfect sense. Crafting an marketing campaign tailored to the offerings of an online property could maximize the effectiveness of the campaign itself. For that media property.

But last I looked, most advertisers don’t use all their spend on one property. They’ll pick many properties in many channels. They’ll test here and there. They’ll sometimes concentrate on branding, sometimes concentrate on direct , sometimes (and the web makes this more possible, concentrate on both.

If the marketer – the company that is the end client – has to tailor each of its marketing messages to that of the publisher, chaos could result.

Publishers will need to realize this and further expand their services, sort of becoming almost full service for their advertisers. But still, this still could run into brand confusion as each publisher will owe it to their paying client to create the most effective campaign for their specific property or properties, leaving potentially different and confusing brand messages across several media properties.

Wise agencies should see this as the window of opportunity and work with publishers before they even get clients to formulate the framework for effective marketing campaigns that can perform very effectively over a cross section of properties and platforms.

Then, Funny:

Now, Funny, still:

HOW did an ad from the Association de Producteurs des Fruits—some European fruit concern Americans don’t even care about—get to be the second-most viewed spot on ad rating site Firebrand.com, over tons of way more recognizable American brands? By being the single most sexual ad in the universe. It certainly does make you want strawberries. Full ad after the jump; NSFW within the continental US. Via Gawker and Firebrand

MediaPost is reporting that Kimberly Clark is going to unleash a consumer generated content (CGC) campaign for their DentaBurst Teeth Cleaning product.  It starts right around Valentine’s Day targets young women, aged 19 to 25 who go to movies and are online.  That probably accounts for 95% if that category.

The campaign will be fully integrated with this phase initially encompassing a thirty second commercial shown in movie theatres in which a young women calls on people to “replace me on the big screen nationwide. Upload your own video at dentaburst.com”.  The commercial will show young people using DentaBurst throughout the piece.  But that’s not all.  In this contest, the winner will get $10,000 for “the party of your dreams”.

A few things…

I’d suggest having multiple winners.  Keep those five as winners.  Have them go national.  The important thing here isn’t being #1, it’s being on the big screen.  A larger (and hopefully more diverse) pool of winners could make the entire effort more democratic and more tangible to its target audience.  I’d say it’s more common for young people to want to “be like them” as opposed to “be like her”.

I’d also can the line “party of your dreams”…unless DentaBurst is specifically going to spend the money on a party.  That’s because the $10,000 can come in handy for things like college tuition.

We’re getting some responses from our outreach effort for Firebrand. Some are impressive. Some aren’t. Some are downright funny.

Shel Holtz likes the idea a lot. He opines that it isn’t that we don’t like commercials; it’s that we don’t like their inerruptive nature. True. Especially when the commercials suck.

C.C. Chapman thinks the concept of Firebrand is cool, although he’s remaining cautious overall. But he thinks the idea of tying in past Super Bowl games to this year’s Big Game is a great strategy. C.C., being a Granite Stater living in Mass. is staying true to his New England roots and predicting a Patriot blowout. Good man!!

Joanna Pena-Bickley gives us a mention too.

Apparently Paul Chaney did exactly what Chris asked him to do…thanks Paul!!

Steve Hall of Adrants is less kind. He’s trying to gauge when the Firebrand will flicker and go out. That’s odd, because Steve is usually never cynical. A warm and fuzzy guy. ;)

Shari Leventhal, CMO of Firebrand meets Steve head on in the comments section.

And Agency Spy plain hates us. But that’s cool. We don’t know who or she is.

Here’s what all the fuss is about

Me too.

You want to get back to the show, the game, the newscast. See the bad guy get his ass nailed, the final two minutes of the tight game, or news on the latest scoop on the election cycle. The last thing you want to see is a series of presentations about pills that can make you pee better, a car that supposedly makes you cool, and a law firm that chases ambulances.

Me too.

But every once and a while, you’ll watch something that will catch your eye. It will make you laugh. Chuckle inside. You’ll be able to relate to it. Or you’ll be impressed because it’s impressive, not because the commercial is trying to pretend that it’s impressive with itself. Or you’ll think, shit, how did they do that?

Me too.

If that’s what happens, then that’s a commercial that will likely end up on Firebrand.

Firebrand is a client of ours. We’re proud to have them. They’re a new media outlet – literally. We’re proud to have them. They’re a new media outlet – literally. They’re on the web at ‘re on the web at http://www.firebrand.com and on the ION network on cable in 95 million homes. They seek out and get the world’s best commercials and play them, MTV style. From the States, Britain, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, India.

Now, let’s talk football. Let’s talk the Super Bowl. I could go off on a tangent and first talk about the great commercials, but I’m a lifelong fanatical New England Patriots fan so to me, this Sunday means football. I had to get that in.Allright, so lets’s talk about those about great commercials that the Super Bowl is known for. They get plenty of press beforehand. People do stop and watch them and they then talk about them the next day. They remember them. And they wish that all TV ads were that good.

We’ll, this week Firebrand will be celebrating ads of Super Bowls past all week long. Then on Monday, February 4th, they’ll be hosting “Firebrand Monday”, showing all the ads from the previous day’s Big Game. Viewers will be treated to the likes of Terry Tate, Office Linebacker and Carmen Electra

Here’s the lineup for the week.

Monday January 28th: “BIG TIME ATHLETES” in classic Big Game commercials

Tuesday January 29th: “BIG BUDGET PRODUCTIONS” for classic Big Game commercials

Wed January 30th: “CHICKS IN CHARGE” in classic Big Game commercials

Thursday January 31st: “BIG TIME CELEBRITIES” in classic Big Game commercials

Friday February 1st: “BIG TIME BRANDS” in classic Big Game commercials

Monday February 4th: IT’S FIREBRAND MONDAY, THE DAY AFTER THE BIG GAME – CELEBRATE THE HOLIEST DAY IN ADVERTISING WITH THE OFFICE LINEBACKER, CARMEN ELEKTRA AND CLASSIC BIG GAME COMMERCIALS!

While you’re waiting for Firebrand Monday, you can spend some of your time obsessing about Super Bowl Commercials. Here’s some grist for the mill from Adage, Who’s Buying What in Super Bowl XLII.

Anheuser-Busch

Buy: Six of its seven Super Bowl spots will be devoted to Bud Light, the most ads ever placed behind a single brand in the big game.

Creative: One :60 for Budweiser will feature the traditional Clydesdale mascots, and one other will focus on a responsible drinking message. Most of the Bud Light spots will feature the now-familiar formula of men, women or animals going to great lengths to drink Bud Light.

Agency: Mostly being produced by Omnicom Group’s DDB, Chicago. But Cannonball, St. Louis; Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; and Latinworks, Austin, Texas, all contributed spots.

Audi of America Buy: :60 spot in the first quarter Creative: The spot will reference mafia movie “The Godfather” and will include the go-fast R8 sports car, which starts at $109,000. This is the VW-owned brand’s first Super Bowl appearance in 20 years Agency: Independent Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco

Bridgestone Firestone North America Buy: Two new :30 spots, the first during the break between the first and second quarters, the second during the third quarter. Also the sponsor of the half-time show. Creative: Both spots will demonstrate Bridgestone tires’ performance in a humorous way. The first spot will use animals, while the one in the third quarter features an unlikely pair — Richard Simmons and Alice Cooper — and a deer, and is called “Unexpected Obstacles.” Agency: Richards Group, Dallas

Cars.com Buy: Two different :30 spots, one late in the first quarter and one early in the third Creative: Each spot takes place at a dealership, showcasing consumers closing in on the ease of their new-car purchase thanks to Cars.com. In all cases, their ability to get what they want keeps them from resorting to outrageous “Plan B” back-up plans they initially thought they would need to get what they wanted from the dealer. Tagline will be “Confidence comes standard.” Agency: Omnicom Group’s DDB, Chicago

Careerbuilder.com Buy: Two :30 second spots, one in second quarter, one in the third. Creative: Spots target the disgruntled worker who is stuck in a career funk, and gives that worker a good push to move on with his career. Spider attacks, a raging heart, an unusual rescue, self-intervention, an overbearing boss are the devices used to convey the message that you don’t have to stay in a dissatisfactory or unfulfilling work experience. Ending with the imperative “Start Building,” each spot pushes the worker to take action by providing nuggets of simple wisdom such as “If you don’t like your job, then get a better one” or “Self-Help Yourself” or “Wishing won’t get you a better job.” This is the marketer’s first Super Bowl work from Wieden & Kennedy, which was hired after the agency that did last year’s Super Bowl spots, Cramer-Kresselt, was fired for failing to score well in USA Today’s consumer poll of favorite Bowl ads. Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Oregon.

Coca-Cola Co. Buy: The company plans several ads in the Super Bowl. Creative: Expected to include new creative for brand Coca Cola Agency: Independent Wieden & Kennedy is agency of record for Coca-Cola brand.

Dell Buy: :30 spot in the first quarter. Creative: To be directed by Samuel Bayer, a noted director of commercials and music videos, spot will play off “Yours is here” campaign. Dell will also unveil its association with the RED campaign, and introduce RED branded PC’s and printers. Agency: Independent Mother of New York.

Walt Disney Co. Buy: Considering using its Super Bowl time to promote the new Pixar film “Wall-E,” according to a person familiar with the situation Creative: N/A Agency: N/A

FedEx Buy: One :45 ad set to appear in the first spot in the fifth ad break in the first quarter Creative: N/A Agency: Omnicom’s BBDO

Frito-Lay Buy: One :60 to run between first and second quarters. Creative: Much like last year, Doritos is running a contest asking consumers to create its Super Bowl ad. This year, Doritos invited unsigned music acts to submit an original song. Consumers voted for the song they thought was the best and Doritos will air a professionally produced music video of the winning song during the Super Bowl. Agency: Agency of record is Omnicom’s Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, but the ad was conceived by the contest winner.

Gatorade Buy: At least two spots. Creative: Plans to promote new beverage G2. TV teaser spots featuring city streets that change to a baseball field and basketball court are already on air. For the Super Bowl spots, it will reveal that the feet belong to Yankees Derek Jeter and Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade. Agency: Element 79, Chicago.

Garmin GPS

Buy: One :30, second quarter.

Creative: Plans to reveal details about its Super Bowl spot at a New York City event Jan. 30.

Agency: In-house.

General Motors Buy: One :60 ad during the second quarter. Creative: Originally planned to feature Chevrolet, but now GM is considering featuring a hybrid vehicle from either Chevrolet, Saturn or GMC. GM plans to advertise Cadillac in the pre-game show, and Chevrolet in the post-game. Agency: Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Campbell-Ewald is the agency of record.

GoDaddy.com Buy: One :30 during first quarter. Creative: CEO Bob Parsons said on his blog that GoDaddy.com is submitting storyboards to Fox. Once Fox approves a storyboard the company likes, GoDaddy will go into production on an ad concept. GoDaddy.com, known for its racy Super Bowl spots, submitted no less than 11 concepts to Fox for approval, but the commercial Parsons loved best was rejected. The spot, which features race-car driver Danica Patrick and an animatronic beaver, will be shown on GoDaddy.com Super Bowl Sunday. The aired commercial will feature a group of people watching the game and talking about the Danica Patrick ad, which Parsons said is the “the funniest best ad we’ve ever done.” Agency: In-house.

Hershey Buy: One :30 spot. Creative: New spokeswoman Carmen Electra touts Ice Breakers Ice Cubes gum. Agency: Omnicom’s Tracey Locke.

Hyundai Motor America Buy: Has purchased two :30 spots in the third quarter. Automaker considered dropping its buy, but later committed to staying in the game. Creative: May promote its new luxury car, Genesis. Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

Kraft Foods Buy: :30 for Planters nuts in second half of the game Creative: This will be Planters’ first appearance in the Super Bowl and Kraft’s first ad in the game in about 10 years Agency: Interpublic’s Draft FCB

NFL Buy: One :60 spot. Creative: Fans will vote on 48 different video stories from big-name football players, each of whom reveals a personal and often humorous story about their football experiences Agency: BBDO

Paramount Pictures Buy: One :30 spot Creative: Will promote “Iron Man”, a co-production with Marvel Enterprises/Entertainment starring Robert Downey, Jr. Agency: In-house.

Pepsi-Cola North America Buy: Two minutes worth of ad time. Creative: The “Magnetic Attraction” spot for Pepsi features Justin Timberlake hurtling himself through various stunts as he demonstrates how every sip of Pepsi gets consumers closer to the music and stuff they want. The ad promotes Pepsi Stuff, a partnership between the beverage giant and Amazon.com, which allows consumers to download music from Amazon MP3. Agency: Created by BBDO NY and directed by Craig Gillespie, whose credits include “Lars and the Real Girl.”

Procter & Gamble Buy: One :30 in second quarter. Creative: Will support Tide-to-Go, an instant-stain remover. A P&G spokesman said the instant-stain category is valued at around $125 million and Tide controls about 60% of it. Agency: Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi

Salesgenie.com Buy: Three spots in pre-game show, first and third quarter. Creative: Animated call to action for the mailing-list company. Agency: In-house. Vin Gupta, founder-chairman of Salesgenie.com, conceptualized and wrote copy for the ads himself. Geoff Callan and Daniel Grace from Creative Mint, a San Francisco-based ad agency, handled the animation production for the spots.

Sony Pictures Buy: One spot. Creative: Will promote “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” an Adam Sandler movie. Agency: In-house.

T-Mobile Buy: One :60, second quarter. Creative: T-Mobile myFaves service. Last year it bought :30; this year it upped it to :60. Agency: Publicis in the West, Seattle.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Buy: Two spots for Toyota brand. Placement TBD. Creative: One is a launch spot for the redesigned Toyota Sequoia sport utility; the other will feature the updated Corolla. Agency: Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles

Unilever Buy: One :30 for Sunsilk during two-minute warning in fourth quarter. Creative: Features singing — and hair — of Marilyn Monroe, Shakira and Madonna in ad that kicks off new global campaign for the brand. It also represents Unilever’s attempt to upend the agency model, by handing the creation of its Super Bowl ad to a design shop outside of its agency networks. Agency: Desgrippes Gobe, Paris.

Universal Pictures Buy: At least one spot. Creative: Insiders speculate that the studio will promote the trailer for the visually stunning “Wanted,” by Russian film-maker Timur Bekmembatov, which stars the equally visually stunning Angelina Jolie, but Universal would not confirm Agency: In-house.

Under Armour Buy: One :60. Creative: Spot will promote launch of new cross-trainer line, its first non-cleated footwear. As with all UA creative to date, the ad was produced internally. Agency: In-house.

Victoria’s Secret Buy: One :30 spot in the second half of the game. Creative: Victoria’s Secret Angel Adriana Lima and a football. Agency: In-house.

Warner Brothers Buy: At least one spot. Creative: Studio would not say which films would be promoted, but likely candidates include “10,000 B.C.”, set for a March release, or “Speed Racer” expected to open in May. Agency: In-house.

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

Buy: At least one spot.

Creative: N/A

Agency: Interpublic’s Draft FCB

The Road to Firebrand starts next week on ION (at 11PM every weekday night) and online at Firebrand.com. Firebrand loves working with me because I love commercials more than I love television. I am an evangelist. This week, they’re coming down the pike with something called The Road to Firebrand, “the multi-million dollar media buy will include spots on cable networks like MTV, G4, Sci Fi and VHI, as well as online video placements on TVGuide.com, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook, among others.” Check it out — it’s quite good and highlights all of our favorite stars from a lifetime of TV commercials and ads — true icons. Here are the teaser spots: Pregame, Kickoff, and Half Time. Via Chris Abraham & Memes.org

Pre Game

Kick Off

Half Time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR Contact:
Dawn Rowan
646-747-3600
dawn.rowan@firebrandtv.com

Press can access images and further information at
http://press.firebrand.com

FIREBRAND LAUNCHES FIRST NATIONAL AD CAMPAIGN:
“THE ROAD TO FIREBRAND MONDAY”
WHERE ONLY THE GREATEST COMMERCIALS GET TO PLAY

All-Star Campaign includes the Geico Caveman, the St. Pauli Girl, the Crash Test Dummy,
Mr. Peanut, Bob’s Big Boy and Mr. Clean, among others.

New York (January 21, 2008) – Firebrand, the hottest spots from the coolest brands, on TV, web and mobile, will celebrate “the Holiest Day in Advertising,” with the launch of its first national holiday campaign, “The Road to Firebrand Monday.” The multi-million dollar media buy will include spots on cable networks like MTV, G4, Sci Fi and VHI, as well as online video placements on TVGuide.com, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook, among others.

The Road to Firebrand Monday campaign begins today with at least three new commercials– PreGame, KickOff and HalfTime – on-air and online over the next two weeks, driving viewers to tune into Firebrand, starting January 28th on ION TV (weeknights 11PM/10C). And all that week on TV, web and mobile, Firebrand will begin showcasing playlists related to the Big Game.

The campaign culminates on the first annual “Firebrand Monday,” February 4th, the day after the Big Game. On TV, the hour will be dedicated to major ads from the Big Game, featuring Celebrity CJs such as Reebok’s “Office Linebacker” Terry Tate and Carmen Electra, who makes her Big Game debut in an ad for Hershey’s “Ice Breakers.” All content is downloadable on mobile devices, iTunes and Firebrand.com. And that morning, Firebrand.com will have only the best of the previous day’s commercials ready for download, allowing viewers to share and rate them all, and to decide for themselves which spot wins the coveted “Firebrand Water Cooler” trophy.

“The Big Game has always been the holy grail of advertising and Firebrand celebrates that,” says Shari F. Leventhal, Chief Marketing Officer. “Most people watch the big game with hopes of seeing the best, most creative commercials the ad industry can serve up. The greatest commercials get to play every day at Firebrand. So the Firebrand Monday campaign is our way of saluting the best of these commercials, past and present, as well as the famous icons that make commercials so memorable, and in many cases, a part of pop culture.”

Viewers watching the Firebrand Monday commercials will be treated to a series of spots featuring a parody of some of the most popular commercial icons including Mr. Clean, Mr. Peanut and the Cavemen, among others. The icons are placed on a football backdrop, either behind the scenes getting psyched up for the game, in the locker room, or huddling conspiratorially on the field. No matter how you slice it, Firebrand delivers an entertaining tribute to what has become advertising’s greatest sporting event.

The fun continues for a week starting Firebrand Monday to the following Monday where every spot that is viewed, downloaded, emailed or embedded earns the viewer a chance to enter to win cash.

Major investors in Firebrand include Microsoft, NBC Universal and GE’s Peacock Equity Fund. Firebrand can be found at www.firebrand.com <http://www.firebrand.com> , and weeknights on ION television network at 11 PM/10C and on www.itunes.com <http://www.itunes.com> . For additional information, check out http://press.firebrand.com.

Firebrand. Where only the greatest commercials get to play.

###

Firebrand Multimedia

• Road to Firebrand Monday

  • Half Time 30secTV
  • Kick Off 30secTV
  • Pregame 30secTV
  • Road to Firebrand Monday-JPG

• Screenshots of Firebrand

  • Firebrand Logo-AI
  • Firebrand Logo-JPG
  • Firebrand Logo-SWF
  • Firebrand Search
  • MOBILE
  • SYNCHRONOUS
  • TV
  • WEB

• Firebrand Social Media

  • Del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • iTunes
  • Myspace
  • YouTube

2007

November 27

Just What The World Needs Now

David Burn, AdPulp
(read more…)

Firebrand Makes Its Debut As The First 3 Screen, Multi-Platform Network Dedicated to Commercial Culture

Alan Weinkrantz, 3 Screens.net

(read more…)

November 26

Can Firebrand Make Commercials Hot?

Chris Albrecht, GigaOm

(read more…)

Firebrand Makes its Debut as the First Multi-Platform Network Dedicated to Commercial Culture

create magazine

(read more…)

Commericals as Content

Charles Sipe, Cool Marketing Stuff

(read more…)

Forget about the Super Bowl Ads

By Tarik Moody, RadioMilwaukee’s Diggin’ with the Architect

(read more…)

November 15

Firebrand movie includes work!

Be.Interactive

(read more…)

FirebrandTV; A Great Way to Waste Time at Work

Marketing Conversation

(read more…)

Fond of commercials? This post is for you

VOIP

(read more…)

November 14

In (Mild) Defense of Firebrand

grokdotcom

(read more…)

For the birds

Make The Logo Bigger

(read more…)

Firebrand – For those without enough commmercials in their life

Movie Marketing Madness

(read more…)

November 13

Firebrand

Be.Interactive

(read more…)

November 12

all in one place

zefrank

(read more…)

October 10

Influx Interview- Shari Leventhal- Firebrand

Influx Insights

(read more…)

October 1

Brands on fire

‘Cross The Breeze

(read more…)

September 26

Firebrand Shows Ads The Way MTV Used To Show Music Videos

By Rohit Bhargava, Influential Marketing Blog

(read more…)

September 25

how firebrand lit a blog on fire

Brand Flakes for Breakfast

View Full Article

Firebrand All-Ad Video Network Set to Debut

By Kamau High, Adweek

(read more…)

Commercial Culture Gets Its Due

Brand Noise

(read more…)

Brands on fire (with a little help from crayon)

By Greg Verdino, Greg Verdino’s Marketing Blog

(read more…)

Life after the 30-second spot?

By Joseph Jaffe, Jaffe Juice

(read more…)

Consumers Gain Greater Control As Brands Get Fire

A Media Circ.us

(read more…)

Firebrand Preview Launches during Advertising Week – Love Coverage

By David Berkowitz, Inside the Marketers Studio

(read more…)

Firebrand – Extremely Ambitious Advertising as Content Destination

Karl Long, Experience Curve

(read more…)

Microsoft, NBCU Back Venture That Turns Ads Into Content

By David Goetzl, Media Daily News

(read more…)

Commercials serious business at Firebrand

By Alex Woodson, The Hollywood Reporter

(read more…)

TV Commercials Redistributor Firebrand Raises Funds

Submitted by Mark Hefflinger, Digital Media Wire

(read more…)

Firebrand All-Ad Video Network Set to Debut

By Kamau High, Brandweek

(read more…)

Tech company offers commercials only

By Amanda Fung, Crain’s New York Business.com

(read more…)

NBC: That’s Advertainment

By Stuart Elliott, The New York Times

(read more…)

Related Posts

• No Sculling until Monday, the 20th
• People Wait Until the Last Possible Moment to Order Gifts Online
• Ready Set Go Go Gadget Road Trip 2006

As if there were not enough media saturation already in the Big Apple, after 2 driver walkouts, the long awaited touch screens in the back of NYC cabs, mandated by the city of New York, are finally flying around the streets. I have personally asked many drivers what their gripe was to the machine, and I have heard a myriad of responses-from noise control to financial reasons.

While I am typically offput by overt/annoying marketing tactics, this one is actually great for the user, great for the advertiser. Advertisers can place their messages on the screens for passengers to view as they browse information about local weather and events. The screen also has a digital map so you can follow your route.

At the bottom of each ad there is a “touch for more info” button that links to special offers or actual store locations on the digital map of NYC. The format can be full-motion audio and video, a TV commercial, full-motion flash banner or a static image. The ads are fantastic because they have the option to really hook some people and give them great information, while others have to option of just shutting off the screen.

The best part, in my opinion, for advertisers is the ability to rotate the appearance of ads by day of the week, time of day, and even according to the weather. That means Campbells can advertise on rainy days, haagen daaz on hot days, cruise ships on snowy days…you get the idea.

Ad options include flash banners, full-motion 15-second video or audio commercials, tower ads, leaderboard ads and micro sites. The screens also give users the new option to pay with credit card, and yup, you guessed it, on the pay screen is another space to place an ad. Sounds like a pretty cool system. For more information check out the full article at Media Life Magazine

Millions of netizens – including me – have taken a great liking to YouTube. And for good reason. You can find videos of practically anything you want. It’s given us the hilarious, the creative, the intriguing. I’ve learned a lot from watching some old videos and have found scenes of old movies that I loved and wanted to see again.

That being said, NBC’s recent closing of its channel on YouTube and pulling of its videos content show us that YouTube, as an entity, is far from being completely vital to content distribution. When push comes to shove, it is actually expendable. At least, that is, to big media companies that have significant amounts of valuable content.

NBC shut down its channel because they’re launching their own service, Hulu. A joint venture with News Corp., Hulu is set to launch in late October.

I’d say this is a good move by NBC.  While it may initially cause some confusion at first, once it’s up an running, it will easily be found.  The traffic that goes to Hulu will be 100% traffic for the site.  On YouTube, someone can watch 10 minutes of something and then hop over to a video of a guy picking his nose.  NBC will essentially own their traffic.  They can measure it better, the can monetize it better.  They’ll be able to create greater brand affinity and loyal communities of interest.  The ROI could be excellent.  The model is unproven at this point, but so is YouTube.

Mediaweek reported last week that MSN is going to limit it’s veiwers pre-roll exposure to what it had currently been. I don’t think it goes far enough but it sure is a step in the right direction.

Until now, their system had been set up to feed you an ad that depended on the amount of seperate videos you had watched. That often resulted in seeing a :30 repurposed TV ad for a :18 news story. The new method will deliver those intrusive ads after a viewer has viewed three minutes of video.

The time proportion of new-to-commerical will surely be better. But what it is missing is context. At times, one most defiinitley doesn’t want their user experience to be conintually interrupted by and ad for some sort of headache pill or car. They’re clicking on to read about a natural disaster, a plane crash, or someting else vital.

MSN and others are going to have to come up with models that are more contextual, less intrusive, and frankly, less frequent. User experience online is different. And getting a new commercial every three minutes is still mind numbing.

Cox has agreed to interfere with our decision making process now as they’ve agreed to carry shows from ABC and NBC on their Video On Demand service post a show’s initial run. ABC has chosen to run it’s top rated series (Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives), while NBC will be showing it promising but not quite fulfilling potential shows such as 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights.

The problem is that both networks want the shows to be run entirely with the same commercials embedded. Some of the commercials may be ‘updated’ to reflect immediate advertising needs.

Now it’s understandable that the networks want to maintain ads in their programs. They’ve got advertisers to please and they need the advertisers’ money. But for them to insist that Cox disable a subscriber’s fast forward button for the show to me violates the relationship between the content delivery system and the user.

That’s going to piss a lot of people off. And it should. The networks have to realize that they don’t have the level of control they once had. Otherwise we should all invest in Tivo stock.

What they should have is sort of what we have when we go to the movies. The ads up front. It is understandable to have it in one bulk spot before we view the show. And a lot less irritating.

I asked Kevin to write a blog post (which rocked) based on my assumption that the US is headed towards a recession based on the devaluation of the dollar, the housing market slump, and the war in Iraq. I believe that marketing and advertising online is recession-proof, especially as attention profiling and behavioral targeting strategies improve and ads become customized to each the unique hopes, dreams, needs, wants, and context of users online.

My premise, in short, is that folks will hunker down during this recession with only the “Internet” to keep them company, in the form of VOIP, IPTV, social media, MMORPGs, and networked video games.

Essentially, folks will spend all of their attention online so there will be more ad and marketing dollars spent online in order to reach them. During the upcoming recession, search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), new marketing, online outreach, online engagement, online advocacy, viral and word-of-mouth marketing, targeted direct marketing, and laser-targets online ad buys will thrive because they’re relatively cheap, focused, and where the people are, while print ads, commercials, and radio spots will plummet: too much buck for the bang.

We’re going to have a recession. let’s just make that assumption.

Usually, during a recession, ad revenues drop. My argument is that during a recession, people stay home more. Web surfing is cheap, amusing, plentiful, and also most amusing with broadband. While people may cut down cable, they will keep their Internet connection — and will hunker-down on the Internet while they’re low on personal spending money, on discretionary income.

My dad was an photographer and ad man in Hawaii during a recession in Japan that totally gutted the the Hawaiian economy. Traditionally, the first thing companies do when the shit hits the fan is pull ad dollars.

In that scenario, my dad’s company almost shuttered. What this shakedown did, however, was created stock photography and video, killing the bespoke day-rate on-site corporate photographer. Something always comes out in the end.

Downturns result in a need to make systems more efficient and more effective. It just wasn’t affordable for agencies to hire shooters to do shoots, bespoke. There were too many variables and all the risk was on the shoulders of the client. Stock photography changed all of that: cheaper and oftentimes better, since the shooter incurs the risk and the stock is “all the best of all time” and not the best that a particular day, week, or season had to offer.

How effective is plastering walls with bills or standing on a soap box when people are at home and online? How effective are commercials on cable channels people drop as a “luxury?” How worthwhile are those magazine ads when people drop their subscriptions to GQ and O?

The Internet is a commodity. Broadband is no longer a luxury — people are not willing to either go back to “rabbit ears” or to dial up. Folks will keep their basic cable, I am sure — it is a commodity — and they will keep their Internet, another commodity.

Is it very interesting time. I guess this is sort of a prediction. We’ll see if it all comes true. Check out that Canadian Loonie, eh?

Well, at the end of the day, I will always quote Kevin Donlan quoting someone else:

“When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.”

I don’t have the video yet, but the new Mercedes-Benz commercial for the new C-Class has the following anti-social gaff, “Why did we engineer suspension that automatically tightens for aggressive driving?” Isn’t aggressive driving a criminal offense? Is it prudent to advertise the new C-Class Mercedes as designed for aggressive driving? Really?

In Web 2.0 vs. Traditional: The inability to think outside of one’s self, Jonathan Trenn talks about “upfront” and “upfronting” and I didn’t know what that meant, so I asked and Jonathan enlightened me, “Upfront is a time period when the TV networks display their schedules for the upcoming season to major marketing decision makers. This gives top marketers the chance to bid on slots that they think would serve them well. Often the rates can seem to be favorable.” Very interesting.

Joe Jaffe is frustrated after reading that, yes, upfront is supposedly on the upswing. That’s understandable…although to me, it’s not about numbers, its about the attitude that upfront is back. It never left. It’s just not as strong. And it isn’t bouncing back. But it still exists and it will continue to exist.

But what got me thinking was the larger conversation that was brought upon in the comments. Two things actually.

A debate began to develop between Tangerine Toad and Paul.

Paul says that “Advertising is dead – the advertising that bombards you with crap you don’t need and brands you don’t care about. Any online advertising that does this is also dead.”

Well, yeah. But when was this not true?

He then adds “people don’t mind being advertised to at all! As long as it is relevant, interesting and engaging (the key one being relevant).” Bingo!! I’d add as long as it’s convenient. Not too disruptive. We have come to expect that advertising can be disruptive to an extent. Especially when the content is free or cheap. But if we’ve gotta completely change our experience to deal with it, then it now sucks.

Toad however, is more absolutist. He calls out Paul, saying his view on advertising is a “clichéd mindless crock you should be embarassed to repeat.”

WTF?

Sorry, Toad, but your above-it-all blather doesn’t work. You contradict yourself a bit later by quoting Howard Gossage. “‘People don’t read advertising, they read what they are interested in”…To Gossage’s point, it doesn’t matter what media your message runs in so long as it’s interesting.”

Interesting. Compelling. Relavent.

I then headed over to Toad’s blog where he has a very interesting and insightful series going on, here, here, and here.

From Part 1…one thing he points out makes total sense…

“Yet to listen to all the self-appointed Web 2.0 gurus, this is the wave of the future, it’s a matter of years before every single American- nay every single denizen of the planet- has a MySpace site and that hanging out on MySpace will replace watching television and anyone who disagrees with them is a fucking Luddite.

Okay.

Only there’s one thing they keep forgetting: The whole world is not made up of people EXACTLY LIKE THEM.”

Yes, how true. Everyone uses Skype, has a blackberry, blogs, has profiles on MySpace and Facebook. And of course owns a Tivo.

So not true. Not everyone is an pioneer or an early adapter. Right on, Toad.

But what gets me is what he says later…

“most people aren’t living in a city they weren’t brought up in, thousands of miles from their closest friends. They’re living with spouses and children who actually get offended if they spend a few hours online, which is a solitary activity, rather than joining the rest of the family watching “American Idol.” Which mindless though it may be, is still a group activity.”

Hmmm…seems to me that Toad is making the same mistake as he accuses the Web 2.0 gurus. Making the assumption that everyone is like them. Which is exactly what the decision makers dedicated to the upfront are doing.

Comes full circle, don’t you think?

Check out the commercial, it is worth it