Monthly Archives: March 2012
A few weeks ago, Kony 2012, the campaign against a murderous African, set a new bar in virality. Turns out there may have been less to that story than we thought (or more, depending on your point of view). Now there is the tragedy of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American whose death was foretold the…
Long before the character Peggy Olson stepped out on the sound stage of “Mad Men,” there were real-life women copywriters, account executives and market researchers, making a name for themselves and changing the world of work as they—and their male bosses—knew it. Advertising copywriter, creative director and ad agency principal, Jane Maas, brings them to…
Rush Limbaugh is a bully and a boor, so my cup of schadenfreude runneth over in the knowledge that he is losing advertisers left and right. According to a piece appearing in the Huffington Post, an additional 31 marketers have left the show, bringing the total to well over a hundred. (Depending on the source,…
I weigh myself every day. First, I strip down to my underwear, then I make sure the scale rests on the most favorable part of the floor and then I hold my breath and step up to my fate. Often, I have to adjust my glasses to make sure I’m reading the numbers right. How…
What are we to make of Kony 2012, the campaign for Uganda’s Invisible Children, that has spread like a contagion through cyberspace, inciting all manner of conversation and controversy. Is it a really clever piece of agit-prop, putting all the elements in the social media toolbox to work for a greater good? Or is it…
His winning streak may be over, but Jeremy Lin still inspires. To celebrate his spectacular performance, The New York Times held a contest seeking the best graphic design that captured the “tasteful and revolutionary” quality of the basketball phenom. At left, one of the winning entries (most votes), which design director, Arem (Rem) Duplessis described…
Cartier’s iconic panther stalks the globe in a surreal and beautiful spot that weaves the jeweler’s signature pieces into exotic realms. Unusually long for a commercial (over three minutes) and seen on last night’s episode of “The Good Wife.”
The Guardian, which bills itself as the “world’s leading liberal voice,” has created a new TV advert that tells the Three Little Pigs story in a fresh new way. Bouncing from banner print headlines to the latest outraged Twitter feed, we see how the publication’s energetic, investigative reporting gets “the whole picture” and, in this…