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RIM Shows Employees That Celebrities Use BlackBerrys

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 16th 2008 at 12:39PM


Oh yeah, we know a certain dutiful crew in the R&D labs at RIM are toiling away on the BlackBerrys that we'll be swooning over in the years to come, but what winner took the time (and what champion instructed him / her?) to conjure up this PowerPoint slide?

Reportedly, this here slide was used within the company to show just how awesome its handsets are, because clearly, if six rich people accept free phones well before the street date from you, that equates to stellar quality and usability. Oh, and just remember RIM -- we'll bet Motorola used to brag about all the superstars with RAZRs, too. See how far that got 'em?

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Microsoft's New 'I'm a PC' Ad Gently Alights Upon the Airwaves

by Paul Miller, posted Sep 19th 2008 at 9:48AMBreaking News


Microsoft started airing its new "I'm a PC" advertisements on TV last night, giving Mr. Seinfeld a bit of a rest while it faces Apple's campaign head-on. It's very touching "we are the world" kind of stuff: smug-free, heart-string-tugging and so forth, but basically it boils down to 100 points for zero Justin Long, minus 100 points for zero John Hodgman. The ad is embedded after the break.

Update: YouTube version added for the Silverlight-averse. Also, is it just us, or does Microsoft's Hodgman-clone kind of look like Paul Dano? Just something to think about.

Continue reading Microsoft's New 'I'm a PC' Ad Gently Alights Upon the Airwaves

Engadget

Seinfeld and Gates Pair Up for New Microsoft Ads

by Paul Miller, posted Sep 5th 2008 at 8:56AMBreaking News


As promised, Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld made their television pair-up debut last night, in an advertisement for something or other. We were sad to see Seinfeld sans-bee suit, and Gates is lacking in Costanza-isms, but we might just be looking at a beautiful friendship here. Video is after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Seinfeld and Gates Pair Up for New Microsoft Ads

Engadget

Microsoft Enlists Seinfeld, Gates to Battle Apple Ads

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 21st 2008 at 11:28AM

Those Apple "Get a Mac" ads have long been an annoyance to Microsoft and to Bill Gates in particular. No surprise as an emboldened Apple with rising market share has continued to ratchet up the venom with quips like, "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs," found in its latest TV ad. Now Microsoft is fighting back.

Microsoft's new $300 million campaign (one of Redmond's largest ever) is set to launch with a $10 million assist from "key celebrity pitchman" Jerry Seinfeld. Yes, Bill Gates will appear as well -- the once maligned, rich corporate nerd turned adorable, rich humanitarian nerd. The campaign is said to be based on the idea of "Windows, Not Walls," stressing the need to "break down barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting." Something we think open-sourcers might have a laugh at. Anywho, the immediate goal of the campaign is to reverse the negative public perception of Vista and thus incorporates elements of the Mojave Experiment. While we have doubts about the latter, the combination of Seinfeld's pithy observations with a bit of that Bill Gates, self deprecating humor seen in "Bill's Last Day" could be a winning combination. Whether that turns the slow moving boat of public opinion remains to be seen.

Airlines Adding Advertisements to Boarding Passes

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 5:45PMBreaking News



Is nothing sacred? Pretty soon, we will literally run out of space free of advertising. Ads have already begun sneaking their way onto our cell phones, and they get attached to the tail end of our e-mail, so where else can they possibly be squeezed in an attempt to sell us something we don't need? Why on our boarding passes, of course!

No we're not kidding. Delta, Northwest, US Airways, United, and Continental have all signed contracts with Sojern, an advertising startup, to place targeted adds on the boarding passes customers print at home. The ads will be targeted based on length of stay and destination city, and eventually based on customers' stated interests.

Passengers can opt not to print the lists of events, coupons, and restaurant recommendations, but we're sure that option will be conveniently inconspicuous. [Source: USA Today]

Apple Pulls "You Can't Be Too Thin" Ads

by Tom Conlon, posted Aug 24th 2007 at 1:24PM



Clearly, none of the marketing brains over at Apple reads 'US Weekly' (if there's any actual reading to be done of that magazine at all). With every other cover faking concern over the Skeletor-like build of another malnourished female celebrity, there's no way Apple would have dreamed up the "You can't be too thin" online campaign for the new iMac -- a rather weak tag line if you ask us, anyway.

But, that's what Apple went with, and soon after the company was called out by the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, which posted a rather nasty press release wondering what kind of message Apple was sending to our youth.

Now, in a move that's so very uncharacteristically Apple, the company has actually changed the campaign to read, simply, "The all-new, all-in-one iMac." Yawn. (Thanks GeekSugar!)

Hey, but Apple isn't the only one in trouble lately for not really thinking an ad campaign through before hitting the 'Go' button. Here are few recent ones you might remember:

Racist Sony Ad
What was Sony thinking? An ad for the white PSP showed a white woman violently grabbing the face of a black woman and ran with the slogan, "White is coming." The ads were pulled after accusations of racism, and Sony apologized. (Spotted at GameDaily)

Captivity Torture Ad
These graphic images of actress Elisha Cuthbert being tortured and killed in the movie 'Captivity' began showing up on cabs and billboards in Los Angeles and New York. The public freaked and the ads were pulled. But, the movie's producer, After Dark, never fessed up to any wrongdoing. The company claimed that the wrong files were accidentally sent to the billboard company. (Spotted at 5 Blogs Before Lunch)


This past March following protests in Spain and Italy, Dolce & Gabbana pulled this print advertising campaign, which protesters called a 'rape fantasy' and which the National Organization for Women said promotes violence against women. Though the ad was pulled, Domenico Dolce claimed the ad was simply intended to "recall an erotic dream, a sexual game." (Spotted at MSNBC)

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