Honor Roll

I don't have a blog roll. Something about them creeps me out (although if you have a blog roll with TAC on it, there is absolutely nothing creepy about that.)So every few months or so I like to acknowledge the brilliant and charming bloggers who have mentioned or linked to TAC in their blogs.The TAC Honor Roll for April and May:AdChick; AdClubReject; The Ad-Pit; AdPulp; Advance; Amarach Research

Advertising Science Fair Winners

A few weeks ago we announced "The First Ever Online Advertising Science Fair."We said: The Editorial Board of The Ad Contrarian is looking for a few good facts. Not opinions, not bullshit, facts about contemporary advertising and marketing that are either interesting, not widely known, or misunderstood.We invited our readers to submit entries and we have selected four winners:First is Matt Sadler

Blue Suede Shoes

Every now and then The Ad Contrarian reserves the right to abandon the horrors of advertising and write about whatever the hell he feels like. Today it's music.I was listening to some early rock music the other day.While I'm no musicologist, it seems pretty obvious to me that rock music was built on a three-legged stool:Blues: Southern rural black musicR & B: Northern urban black musicRockabilly

Why They Think We're Idiots

If you've been in business for a while, you've probably noticed that a lot of people in finance, operations, production, and engineering think that we in marketing and advertising are one small step above reptiles.They smile condescendingly when we talk. They give each other "the look" when we haul out our patter. They speak to us as if we're mildly retarded 8-year-olds.Unfortunately, they have

The Most Powerful Force In Marketing

Think of all the amazing new products that have been introduced in the past few years.In the digital realm alone, there have been thousands of them. Every day I stumble on new offerings on the web that I had no idea existed, and that amaze me with their utility and creativity.The startling fact, however, is how few of them become successful businesses.The reason so many new products and new ideas

The Power Of Social Media

According to the New York Times, Starbuck's has......"1.5 million fans on Facebook and 183,000 followers on Twitter. On the Saturday before the presidential election, Starbucks sponsored a single 60-second television commercial on “Saturday Night Live” advertising a coffee giveaway on Election Day. Starbucks then posted the video online. By Tuesday, it was the fourth-most-viewed video on YouTube,

A Rare Pleasure

It's a rare pleasure these days to find an expert on digital media who has perspective and is not a web maniac or a zealot. It's an even greater pleasure when he has nice things to say about this blog.If you have a chance, take a click over to Adam Cahill's post today at ClickZ.

8 Recent Observations About Twitter

I've been on Twitter for a little over a week now and I have some early observations.1. Twitter is a much more civilized place than the rest of the web. There is far less hostility and anger. Maybe we should restrict all human communication to 140 characters.2. Twitter needs a "hide" function. There are some people you may be following who are way too prolific or way too dull and it would be

Maybe I'm Not So Stupid

Here's a report that confirms everything I've been saying about social media.

Why Is Twitter Free?

I was once trying to sell my house, but decided to take it off the market. My neighbor, who was a real estate agent, asked me why. I told him there were no buyers.He laughed and called me an idiot.Then he asked about the price. I said $400,000. He said, if you were asking 5 bucks do you think you could sell it? I said, of course. Then the problem, he said, is not that there are no buyers, the

Advertising Today: A Parody Of Itself

A few days ago, college teacher and fellow blogger Christopher (Kit) Simpson sent me a satirical piece he had written about something he made up called "the brand footprint."The "brand footprint" was a concoction of marketing gibberish and double-talk Christopher invented to parody all the insufferable branding bullshit we have to contend with every day from phonies who can't think straight or

"Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Plagiarism"

Here at Ad Contrarian global headquarters, our editorial board is delighted when other bloggers quote us, link to us, or reference us.However, believe it or not, we work hard on this blog and don’t take kindly to it when people steal our stuff.In October of 2008, a post appeared here called “Top 10 Bullshit Professions”. It was a semi-hilarious romp through the world of dubious occupations. It

Looking For Volunteers

Advertising is a minor annoyance, at best.Traditional advertising causes forced exposure – if you’re going to watch Monday Night Football you have to see my beer spot whether you want to or not.Web advertisers have tried the forced exposure model (banners and display ads) with very limited success.Because forced exposure on the web has not been terribly successful, the advertising community is

Leveraging The Brand

Now that The Ad Contrarian is a huge brand (yes, we spent almost a full day on the AdAge Power 150 just last week. Unfortunately, since then we've been dropping like a dead rat who swallowed a bowling ball) the board of directors here at Ad Contrarian global headquarters is convinced we need to monetize our brand.We've got the TAC book and the TAC blog (together they have earned us a nifty little

They're Old. They're Dead. They're Back.

In October of 2008, in a post called "The Web: TV With Its Hat On Backwards" about making the web a more effective advertising medium, I said:"I'm starting to get the feeling that the web's killer app is television."Well, it's not that far-fetched.According to an article in MediaWeek, called "Web to Soon See :30s","David Payne wants to radically alter what online ads look like...And guess what

Bigger And Badder

As I've said here previously, the agency business is comprised of two primary elements: ads and bullshit.Pretty much everything we do that is not related to the creation or distribution of ads is bullshit.There are many reasons why the globalization of the agency business is a bad thing. But worst of all is that the bullshit component, which was always secondary, has now achieved primacy.Anyone

Even Online Brands Prefer TV

Could it be that the press and ad agencies and consultants are all besotted with online advertising, but people whose businesses live or die on the effectiveness of their advertising are putting their chips on a different number?And could it also be that even online marketers are losing confidence in online advertising?It seems that way. Apparently some online marketers have eschewed online

The Advertising-Swine Flu Connection

The idiocy of the past 10 days over swine flu is not an isolated episode.We are living in an era of hysteria -- health hysteria (swine flu, SARS, mad cow); political hysteria (terrorists, Wall Street); and, yes, advertising industry hysteria.The hysteria is fueled by frenzied media agitation, promiscuous experts, and a gullible audience.The common denominator is absence of perspective.The ad

Hey, It Could Happen

The World Health Organization said today that 2 billion people could get the swine flu.Here are some other things that could happen:Chickens could learn how to yodelCool Ranch Doritos could be dried-up aliens from another galaxyWolf Blitzer could dance the tango nakedAutomobiles could run on pretzelsThe World Health Organization could be clueless hysterical bureaucrats who don't know when to shut

Too Big For Our Own Good

Here at The Ad Contrarian global headquarters, we don't know what to make of this.Yesterday we were ranked #145 in the Ad Age Power 150 marketing blogs listings. We're used to hovering around #637 or something.Part of the fun of being a contrarian is being on the outside and throwing rocks through the window. But when you're in the "Power 150" do you lose your outsider status? Do you compromise

Announcing The First Ever Online Advertising Science Fair

Are you sick to death of bullshit masquerading as facts?Are you tired of smarmy-young-things and their bounty of hyperbolic new-age marketing jive?Then you, my friend, are ready for First Ever Online Advertising Science Fair.Here's the deal.The Editorial Board of The Ad Contrarian is looking for a few good facts. Not opinions, not bullshit, facts about contemporary advertising and marketing that

Didn't Take Long

Yesterday I wrote about 3 lines of nonsense we would hear this week from people trying to cover the asses over the imaginary swine flu "crisis." The first was this:"Now is not the time to get complacent." Sure enough, from the AP:"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters Monday that now is not the time to rest..."

You Just Don't Get It, Do You?

From TVWeek:"Although research shows viewers are spending more time watching TV and surfing the Web, many marketers are reluctant to integrate their traditional and online efforts. Clients often don't fully understand the digital world..."Let's clear something up here.Simply because a client is reluctant to do an online campaign doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't "fully understand the digital

Clueless And Cluelesser

Last week, 800 people worldwide caught a cold and you'd have thought the freaking bubonic plague was sweeping the planet.The brilliant and sensible readers of TAC, however, called bullshit on the lurid coverage of swine flu right at the beginning of all the hysteria.This week look for the media to start covering their asses. There will be three major lines of nonsense:1. "Now is not the time to

Hysteria Update

World Health Organization, yesterday: "All of humanity under threat."LA Times, yesterday: "In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus...may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare."Huh?:"Authorities in Mexico urged people to avoid hospitals unless they had a medical emergency, since hospitals are centers of infection." Huh?