Entries from July 2005 ↓

They’ve even coined a new word for it: Blogvertising.

This was the buzz at the ad:tech Chicago 2005 panel that discussed blogs as a new medium for marketers.

Shawn Gold, president of WebLogs Inc, said that blogs provide more “targeted eyeballs” than other forms of digital media. He said as well that ads below on the fold on blogs do better than ads above the fold, unlike traditional media like newspapers. He said than weblog ads perform as much as ten times better than banner ads.

BlogAds founder Henry Copeland said that blogs give power to the individiual instead of big media. (Don’t run for office without a multitude of blog writers on your side.)

David Lawrence of Online Tonight said that podcasting was even more involving than blogs because it was like stream of consciousness advertising. Mr. Lawrence is the host of two nationally sydicated radio shows. By the way, hios own podcast is heard by more than 40,000 people every week.

Wait! Remember George Orwell?

See more details at AdRants.

The New York Times reported today that the bombs used in the devastating attacks in London last week were advanced military-grade bombs.

The bombs contained only about ten pounds of explosives each, leading officials at first to guess they were crude homemade devices.

Further investigation has led investigators to believe they were either of military or commercial origin, such as the explosives used to demolish buildings.

London was rocked by a coordinated series of terrorist bombings this morning.

A group supposedly affiliated with Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility on its website for the attacks. Targeted at mass transit, the devices were detonated on four subway trains and a bus during Thursday morning’s rush hour.

The blasts began shortly before 9 a.m. and lasted about 45 minutes.

The attacks were claimed to be in retaliation for the UK participation in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Both subway and bus services were stopped as rescue workers tended to those injured.

People have compared these attacks to the horrific blitz attacks during World War II.

For more of this story, see the report in The New York Times.

A Dutch ad agency, 180, has created an arresting new spot for Adidas soccer gear. Called “The Impossible Game” it is reminiscent of The Matrix, fighting on high steel, and maybe a dash of Harry Potter’s Quidditch contests.

Steel girders are the lines of the “air field” in the soccer game. Slip off the girder and you’re toast.

If the visuals don’t hook you, the sound — like clashing sabers — will.

You can read about the spot and watch it at Adland.

There’s a terrific OpEd piece in The New York Times today, timed to coincide with 1) our celebration of our freedoms and 2) the impending replacement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court.

She argued in one of her last decisions that the concept of eminent domain as outlined in the constitution mut be taken too far.

Eminent domain is the idea that private property can sometimes be taken by the government if it creates a larger public good, for example, public roads.

But she decried extending this idea too far. D evelopers might take land willy nilly for the greater economic good of the area. This argument could be used to take anyone’s home whenever someone with deep pockets thinks they have a better use for the property.

Unfortunately, Justice O’Connor was on the losing side of the argument, so now eminent domain abuses “for the common good” can flourish.

The OpEd author, John Tierney, is a Pittsburg native. He has watched eminent domain’s abuses ruin a once vibrant downtown. Over five decades in the quest for the modern renewed city, the heart of Pittsburgh — with its homes, families, small businesses, even jazz clubs — has been replaced by cold corporate towers and empty plazas. The people living there and the life of the community have been drained away.

Voila, the Pittsburg Renaissance.

So, as we ponder a replacement for Justice O’Connor, let’s think about Pittsbugh, where its urban renewal policy has been turned into urban destruction.

The Brooke Shields / Tom Cruise battle is heating up. Brooke has posted an Op-Ed piece in The NewYork Times.

Apparently, Mr. Cruise had quite a run-in with Matt Lauer in an interview. He said Ms. Shields and her new memoir about her depression are way off base: postpartum depression is not a real problem. Moreover, said the star, psychiatry and anti-depressive drugs are worthless.

Instead, he suggested vitamins and exercise as cures.

It’s fine to have these opinions Tom, but keep them to yourself, not on national TV. And do not jump up and down on couches while talking like this, as you did the other day.

You know, you may need some meds yourself.

P.S. I believe Mr. Cruise — as some other celebrities (not Brooke Shields though) — is a Scientologist. Years ago, Scientologists actually picketed against anti-depressive drugs. So there is an unpleasant “party line” stink to Tom’s protest.

I’m afraid I have even less faith in Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard,* its sci-fi writing founder, than Tom has in modern psychiatry.

*True Story: Many years ago, Lyle Stuart, the book publisher and L. Ron Hubbard were in a creative writing class together.

As they pondered their future writing careers, L. Ron said that best way to make a lot of money, much more than writing, would be to start a religion. Of course, that’s just what he did, and it worked. He did become very rich.