I Am Not The Only One Who Noticed This...

I had a post on this little funny not too long ago. And I am not the only one who noticed.

Consumerist has now picked up on it. And I've seen it since on more ads for "Obama Wants You To Go To School" and LowerMyBills" type ads.

So what are they thinking using this guy's picture??

Olbermann The Patron Saint Of Bad Mothers

Actually, this is pretty funny.

The ad is for a product called FloTV. It's a little portable TV that you can take anywhere. In the ad, the mother and her kids are calmly eating dinner when the mother notices the time is shortly before 6PM. She suddenly pours flour on the table, splashes milk into the kids' face, and dump the kids' things all over the place. When the husband comes home, she sighs and says to him, "I just need an hour." Then she goes off and watches her FloTV.

At NewsBusters, they point out that the show that she's watching when the ad is aired on MSNBC is Keith Olbermann. (When I originally saw the ad, she was watching football.) I'm guessing it's a deal they made with the company in regards to the advertising, but I think it's funny that they would use Bathtub Boy in the ad.

Cash4Gold and Consumerist

I'm sure everyone on the internet has heard about this story already, but for those who don't know about it, here it is.

Cash4Gold, who advertises that they pay "top dollar" for gold you send them, is suing two former employees and consumer site The Consumerist over claims that the "top dollar" figure is false advertising. The two employees had posted on a blog and a forum about the practices of Cash4Gold.

Consumerist, now being part of Consumer Reports, employed a different technique to test the employees claims by buying some relatively cheap gold, getting them appraised at pawn shops, then sending them in to Cash4Gold to see what they paid (along with two similar companies). The verdict -- Cash4Gold and the other companies didn't pay top dollar.

Now, to try to counter the bad PR, the Cash4Gold PR person's job has been going into overdrive to try to counter the claims and erase the damage of the story.

Too late. Story's out there all pink and naked.

Moral of the story: don't piss of The Consumerist.

Burger King in Missouri Forced to Apologize

After kicking a mother and her 6 month old baby out because the baby was not wearing shoes.

KTVI says the manager was standing next to the cashier as she ordered, and warned her that she could take her order "to go" or she could find some shoes for her baby. The woman says the baby is too young to even have shoes, but she put some socks on her in an effort to be diplomatic. This did not win over the manager, who threatened to call the police if she didn't take her shoeless baby out of the restaurant. He claimed the baby's lack of footwear was a violation of "health code."

Considering I'm a mother if an infant, myself, I can attest that BABIES DON'T NEED SHOES! In the winter, I would put shoes on him just to keep his feet from getting cold. But if he's in the house, Christopher does not wear shoes. Any pediatrician will tell you that because it could hinder foot development. Once he starts walking or once winter hits, he'll be wearing shoes more often.

But for now, he's barefoot. And so should this baby.

In fairness, though, the franchisee is going to retrain his employees on when people should be wearing shoes in the store or not. Hopefully the first thing they train them on is BABIES DON'T NEED SHOES!

The Evolution of the Pepsi and Coke Logos

(h/t Consumerist)

If you're interested in a real similarity of Coke Logos over the years, you can go here.

What We'd All Like To Do To Prius Owners

Disclaimer: No, I don't really advocate doing this to anyone who owns a Prius.

But the commercial's pretty funny.

And This Year's 2009 ThinkGeek April Fool's Real Product is...

The Tauntaun Sleeping Bag!

For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, every year on their site on April Fools' Day ThinkGeek -- a site that caters to computer and science fiction geeks -- will feature fake products as a joke. In a lot of cases it ends up being their market research because some of these products get made into real stuff that gets sold on the site if there is enough real demand, such as the 8-Bit Tie.

Well, this past year they featured as one of their fake products the Tauntaun sleeping bag. If you don't know what a Tauntaun is, it's the creature in "Empire Strikes Back" that the characters were riding on that had to get sliced open on Hoth in order for Han Solo to stuff Luke Skywalker in to keep him warm.

From ThinkGeek PR Rep Shane Peterman:

We are definitely trying to make it in to an actual item to be sold 
on our site. As of right now, it's still an "if," but it's turning in
to more of a "when." Things are looking pretty good, we just don't want 
to get too far ahead of ourselves. There's certainly been enough of a
demand, both from customers and from those of us that work here. Right now, we're aiming to have it available 
for the holidays, or at the latest, the 30th anniversary of The Empire 
Strikes Back next spring.

When it comes out, Christopher is getting one.

Update: I had to correct my description of what happened in the movie. I haven't seen it in a LONG time, so my memory was a little hazy.

A Fitting Tribute

Funeral services for pitchman Billy Mays were held yesterday in McKees Rocks, PA. All the pallbearers wore blue OxiClean shirts in tribute. (via TMZ)

RIP Pitchman...

Billy Mays, arguably one of the most recognizable pitchmen working, died today at the age of 50.

Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday.

Mays, 50, was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry to Mays' residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times," Mays wife, Deborah, said in a statement on Sunday.

An autopsy is being done on Monday, but speculation right now is that it might be related to an incident that happened on a US Air flight going into Tampa, FL, where a tire had blown out. He had told a local television station that he got hit on the head by something on the flight.

This is video from his last television interview this past week on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, where he appeared with Anthony Sullivan, with whom he was on the show "Pitchmen."

Two Sponsors Pull Ads From Letterman

Embassy Suites is not the only sponsor to Late Show With David Letterman pulling their ads from the show.

Olive Garden, in a letter being sent out to protestors, is telling customers that there will be no more Olive Garden ads scheduled on the show.

Dear [customer]:

Thank you for expressing your concerns about Olive Garden and allowing us an opportunity to respond.

We understand your concern about Mr. Letterman’s inappropriate comments. Olive Garden screens network television programs whenever possible. Telecasts, such as The Late Show with David Letterman, are taped on a daily basis, preventing advertisers from reviewing the content prior to airing. We apologize that Mr. Letterman’s mistake, which was not consistent with our standards and values, left you with a bad impression of Olive Garden. There will be no more Olive Garden ads scheduled for The Late Show with David Letterman in this year’s broadcast schedule.

We have not yet finalized next year’s advertising plan but will consider our valued guests’ opinions when doing so.

Again, thank you for contacting us with your comments, and we hope you will continue to think of Olive Garden as a place to visit with your family and friends.

There's been come confusion over this because of a Politico story that said that they were pulling their ads from the show. From the looks of the letter, it looks like they aren't renewing the rest of their ad time on the show.

The other sponsor to pull? Unilever, known for Hellman's Mayonnaise, is pulling their online ads.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us regarding your disappointment with the program content which contained a commercial for a Unilever product. We never wish to offend anyone and your opinions are appreciated regarding this subject matter. Advertising for Hellmann’s or media buys are done months in advance and unfortunately we can’t foresee issues in the media before they come up. We appreciate the feedback from our consumers and we’ve decided to pull our online ads from the Letterman show from our advertising schedule moving forward.

We hope that this information has given you a better understanding of our advertising practices. Thank you again for taking the time to share your views with us. You can be assured that your comments will be considered as we continue to challenge our perceptions about what is appropriate for us in today’s environment.

Kind regards,

Your friends at Hellmann’s/Best Foods

At this point, Letterman is only going to have ShamWow as a sponsor.

Conan O'Brien is funnier, anyway.

Parody GM Ad

If we only had this kind of truth in advertising...

(h/t Ace)

AOL Data Scandal Turned Into A Play

I don't know how many remember this, but back in 2006 AOL got into some trouble over a research project they were doing regarding keywords that people use in their search engines. The problem was that while they were doing their research the data file containing this information was released to the general public. The users were identified by numbers, but some could be identified by name if they tried searching for their own name.

One user in particular, User 927, was highlighted by The Consumerist website. If you go to the log, you notice that it starts out innocent enough, with the guy searching for the healing time for a broken leg, then as you get further in to it his interest in porn gets more and more depraved.

Well, someone decided to turn that person's weblog into a play, appropriately titled "User 927."

User 927, "a thriller about cyberstalking, search engines, and the way information is obtained, manipulated, and released in our wired world," is getting a staged reading this Wednesday at LAByrinth Theater Co. in New York...

"Leah and her 14-year-old daughter Deena have fled the big city for rural Indiana to make a new, safer life for themselves. Then Deena disappears, and technophobe mom must plug back in to seek the culprit. Will the person she's hunting be found online, or a bike ride away? A work of fiction based on one very real and disturbing search log."

The company producing the play also produced the hit Off-Off Broadway and Off-Broadway show, "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant."

Introducing The Wearable Towel!

Or as it's known by its other name, "the towel with holes!"

Consumerist called this "Summer's answer to the Snuggie." I would call this clever, except that I could probably make one very easily at home and save the money since I have a sewing machine that does buttonholes.

We Certainly Love Free Chicken

Not too long ago, Popeye's was running a promotion for free chicken. The response? Overwhelming. Store in NYC ran out of chicken. In this economy, anything "free" is a blessing.

Well, KFC ran a similar promotion recently with their new grilled chicken. The offer was two pieces, with two sides. Again, the response was so overwhelming that some stores ran out of chicken.

The promotion, which was promoted on Oprah Winfrey's website, was supposed to go on until next week (Wasn't valid on Mother's Day. Because what cheap bastard gets their mother free chicken on Mother's Day?). KFC has decided to end the promotion early and issue staggered rainchecks.

Now, this promotion was a huge mess from the get-go. Especially since not all the stores were participating in the promotion. Most franchise stores opted out of the promotion because corporate said they weren't going to reimburse them for the free chicken, so they would have been stuck with the ensuing bill. Which is what happened with a Quiznos promotion not too long ago, which forced franchises to opt out so they wouldn't lose their shirts, either.

In response, competitor El Pollo Loco has said they would honor the coupon, even on Mother's Day. There aren't many El Pollo Locos around, so good luck redeeming the coupon there.

Update To Circuit City Having No Sense Of Humor

Well, they've apologized.

A PR person with Circuit City wrote the following letter to The Consumerist apologizing for the "thin skin" of one of their corporate people, and have since ordered the magazine back on the shelf.

Hi, Ben,

I spotted the article about Circuit City and MAD Magazine on your
site.

fyi, I became aware of this "situation" only this morning, and I have sent
a note today to the Editors of MAD Magazine.

Speaking as "an embarrassed corporate PR Guy," I apologized for the
fact that some overly-sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters ordered the
removal of the August issue of MAD Magazine from our stores. Please keep in mind
that only 40 of our 700 stores sell magazines at all.

The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most
of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony...but there are
occasional temporary lapses.

We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction
order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on
sale.

As a gesture of our apology and deep respect for the folks at MAD
Magazine, we are creating a cross-departmental task force to study the
importance of humor in the corporate workplace and expect the resulting
Powerpoint presentation to top out at least 300 pages, chock full of charts,
graphs and company action plans.

In addition I have offered to send the MAD Magazine Editor a $20.00
Circuit City Gift Card, toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii....if he can find
one!

All the best,

Jim Babb

Corporate Communications

Circuit City Stores, Inc.

Richmond, VA

I would have put this as an update in the original post, but from where I am typing this it's not letting me go in to do that. But it's great that their PR person got in touch with The Consumerist and let them know that they were going to correct the issue.

You Would Think They Would Be Flattered

MAD Magazine has been skewering everyone since it's inception. So you would think that Circuit City bosses would have a good sense of humor about themselves.

Think again.

According to Consumerist, Circuit City highers-up have ordered every issue of MAD Magazine sold in their stores destroyed because of a parody of one of their flyers that appears in this month's issue.



What I find funny is that when you go to Consumerist (where they have a much better image of the preview posted there), they also have a copy of the notice that was sent out by the company telling stores to destroy the magazines and to let them know that it will not count as "shrink." Which is pretty much ain invitation to let employees know that if you want a copy of the magazine, you can pretty much take it for free.

This kind of reminds me of the episode of "The Simpsons" where Bart finds himself part of a boy band that finds itself actually being a recruiting tool for the Navy, and their manager's plan to blow up the MAD building because they were about to skewer the band.

Baltimore Seniors Denied Scholarships Because of Hissy Fit

(h/t The Consumerist)

Four students at Patterson High School were promised up to $8,400 total in scholarships from a local car dealership. But after a beloved teacher died of a heart attack, the school decided that a good majority of the scholarship ceremony would be dedicated to a memorial for this teacher, and they felt that a media presence would not be appropriate.

The owner of the dealership, Castle Toyota/Scion in East Baltimore, decided that he was going to pull the scholarships.

The money was to come from Castle's advertising and marketing budget, and the owner wanted news media present at the school's senior farewell awards ceremony to document his gesture of goodwill.

Then, the week of the ceremony, Patterson's longtime JROTC instructor collapsed in the school parking lot and died of a heart attack, and the principal decided the ceremony should assume the tone of a memorial service. Since students and staff were grieving, she decided that no media would be allowed.

And Castle reneged on the scholarships.

Now the school is trying to raise funds to give the students what they were promised. Principal Laura D'Anna said yesterday that she's raised about three-quarters of the money, some of it from staff members who heeded her call for donations.

The president and CEO of Castle Automotive Group, Howard Castleman, said it didn't have to be this way. "We opted not to give it to them because of, quite frankly, attitude," he said in a phone interview. He said school officials accused him of wanting to bring in a "media circus" and would not allow him to hang his company's banner.

Castleman said that having press at the event would have paid public tribute to the teacher who died, it would have encouraged more people to donate to the school, and "we would've gotten some PR."

Instead of giving the $8,400 to Patterson, Castleman said, he will donate the money to the Community College of Baltimore County, for scholarships for students from city neighborhoods surrounding the dealership.

Castleman's business also co-sponsored a Christmas party every year for the poor kids. But no longer.

For the past few years, he's teamed up with the Steve McNair Foundation to throw an annual Christmas party for impoverished Baltimore children and provide them with presents. "These people aren't going to buy cars from me," he said. "We get a little PR out of it."

But no more. After what happened at Patterson, Castleman said, "I'll never, ever, ever give money again. This is it. I'll never have another Christmas party for these kids. It doesn't pay."

In Castleman's defense, he said that he was having issues with donating the money even before the death of the teacher, saying that the school was making him go through "bureaucratic hoops" in order to make the donation.

Castle officials provided The Sun with e-mails from people who said the school should have done more to accommodate them. "It's a shame that your efforts couldn't have worked out as intended," said one from the school system's former chief operating officer, Carlton Epps. "Creative adult minds should have made it a priority to accomplish all goals (scholarships for the kids; tribute to the deceased ROTC instructor; and positive publicity for your business). Unfortunately people who have no business sense view business and marketing negatively as a reflex."

I honestly think something got seriously screwed up in the communication between the school and Castleman. I honestly think that the school was adverse to the idea of the car dealership donating money for scholarships because of fears that it was a publicity stunt, so in a sense they were partially in the wrong for making it difficult for him to donate the money, if true. On the other hand, Castleman doesn't sound as understanding about the idea of the school grieving over the death of the teacher, and he did seem to be more interested in the public relations aspect of it than the community service.

I'll let you folks decide.

Boeing/Northrup From The Perspective Of An Armed Hiker

Full disclosure -- The Armed Hiker is my brother. But he has an interesting take on the recent Northrup/Boeing dustup in regards to government contracts that Northrup won.