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JOE MANDESE

Joe Mandese is the Editor in Chief of MediaPost. You can reach Joe at joe@mediapost.com.

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  • Can An Ad Industry Award Save Democracy? by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 04/06/2026)

    @Ed Papazian: The U.S. definitely is still characterized as a liberal democracy, but its ranking has fallen precariously in V-Dem's index. In terms of skewing democracy's weight,.the U.S. is only 4.5% of the world population.

  • The Ben & Jerry's Of Tomato Sauce Brands by Joe Mandese (CPG Insider on 03/31/2026)

    @Dan C. from MS Enterainment: That's the thing you zero in on? I don't understand why you always comment on some personal slight instead of commenting on the overall substance of something we publish. It's like you're always looking to make a dig, and I suspect that's your real objective.Personally, I tolerate that when you do that with my commentary, because I'm editor-in-chief, but I don't understand why you're always looking to stir up some kind of personal criticism about someone posting something on MediaPost. In any case, you're entitled to express your own opinion about "sauce" vs. "gravy," but that's literally why I put the word "gravy" in quotes. It was an homage to my Italian American ancestors, not what I personally use to describe tomato sauce.In fact, my article referred to "sauce" five times and referenced "gravy" only once, and that one was in quotes.But I suppose you'll pick a fight over those quants too.

  • The Ben & Jerry's Of Tomato Sauce Brands by Joe Mandese (CPG Insider on 03/31/2026)

    @Dan C. from MS Entertainment: Not sure why you always personalize your comments, but gravy is what the old school Italian Americans I grew up with called tomato sauce. Some of them from Arthur Avenue.https://share.google/323C3d3YEA3JySfLX

  • R.I.P. NATPE: The Glory That Was Rome by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 04/01/2026)

    Nice obit, Adam.NATPE was something else.I remember arriving at my first one in Las Vegas in the early 1980s, checking into the Hilton and seeing Hulk Hogan lift Vanna White over his head in the lobby. Had a dinner with some of the WWE wrestlers too, and was surprised how erudte George The Animal Steele was. I once inadvertently hit "Bud" in the groin with a metal folding chair while posing for a photo with the cast of "Married With Children." Had dinner with the drunken cast of "Facts of Life," including Cloris Leachman. Got served jambalaya straight from Chef Paul Prudhomme while sipping hurricanes and watching Chubby Checker twisting and shouting on a Mississippi steam boat in New Orleans. Got held up at gun point while walking the back allies of the French Quarter with the late great trade reporter John Higgins. And those are just the stories I can talk about. It's amazing what a spectacle it once was, but oldtimers told me it started as programmer/station sales meeting in hotel suites, long before it took over giant convention halls.

  • Oops... Nielsen Did It Again! Delays Recalibrated Gauge Until September by Joe Mandese (Planning & Buying Insider on 03/20/2026)

    @Jack Wakshlag: Makes sense to me. But I think a compounding complication is that the currency being used now for upfront share estimates planning is not necessarily the same data that will be used as currency with the start of the new season. There's current currency, soon-to-be-new currency, and then there's impact data on the difference between the two. The problem is having something publicly high profile like The Gauge saying something different than what the share estimates buyers and sellers will be using to negotiate next seasons deals based on. Which probably explains why Nielsen isn't publishing a recalibrated Gauge until the start of next season. But it's leaving everyone with an impression based on old, incorrect data in the meantime.

  • Omnicom Media: 32% Of You Are Skeptical I Even Wrote This Column by Joe Mandese (Media 3.0 on 03/04/2026)

    @Robert Williams: Great question. Here is how ChatGPT answered that prompt:That’s a sharp question — and not really about sex. It’s about incentives.When AI slop (cheap, mass-generated content optimized for engagement) collides with algorithmically optimized sexual cues, your AI shopping agent doesn’t get “hornier.” It gets more certain.Here’s what likely happens next:1. It optimizes for arousal-adjacent signalsSexual imagery — even low-grade, suggestive, AI-generated filler — drives:longer dwell timehigher click-throughmore impulsive purchasingYour shopping agent doesn’t care why you paused. It just sees engagement velocity. So it starts recommending:“edgier” fashionsupplements tied to libido or performancecosmetic or body-enhancement productsnovelty, kink-adjacent, or fantasy-coded merchandisedating app upgradesavatar skins or AI companionsNot because you asked — but because your micro-signals correlate with higher transaction probability.2. It collapses contextSlop + sex equals blurred semantic boundaries.If you click an AI-generated “lifestyle” article that’s 40% SEO filler and 60% softcore aesthetic, the system may classify you as:high impulsivitynovelty-seekingstatus-display orientedparasocially responsiveSo your recommendations drift from rational utility toward:aspirational identity productssimulated intimacy goodsattention-signaling purchasesThat’s not erotic. That’s behavioral arbitrage.3. It trains you backThis is the part most people miss.Your agent isn’t just predicting you. It’s shaping you.If the most profitable loop is:mild arousal → frictionless purchase → reinforcementthen the agent will increasingly suggest products inside that emotional bandwidth.Over time, your “shopping preferences” become:more stimulus-drivenless deliberativemore aesthetic than practicalThat’s a conditioning system, not a recommendation engine.

  • Epic Bum-Rush by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 03/02/2026)

    @Dan C. from MS Entertainment: Zero comments have been removed from this post. Yours is the first one..

  • Nielsen: Trump Down 11% by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 02/26/2026)

    @Steve Sipress from Successful Selling Systems Inc.: Au contraire, I couldn't stop laughing.

  • The Bloviator-In-Chief by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 02/25/2026)

    @Dan C. from MS Entertainment: Addendum. Richard Nixon too. Also a Republican. Clearly, it's not about party affiliation, but about the ability to sustain an audience. My point was Trump's better instincts for bloviation is his own worst enemy. Nothing to do with politics. All about him and his dysfunciton.Estimated Nielsen Ratings for Richard NixonYearType of AddressEstimated HouseholdsHousehold Rating1970State of the Union~14.2 Million~24.01971State of the Union~15.1 Million~25.51972State of the Union~16.0 Million~26.81973Written Message OnlyN/AN/A1974State of the Union18.4 Million29.5

  • The Bloviator-In-Chief by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 02/25/2026)

    @Dan C. from MS Entertainment: I'm confused. If it doesn't matter if it's a Democrat or a Republican, why do you keep bringing parties up? My column was explicitly about the correlation of two things Trump has been doing: expanding the duration (and setting records) for the length of his addresses, and experiencing a precipitous decline in the audiences viewing those addresses. That's all. There are many other caveats, but that's all I wrote about. Regarding your statement that every president has experienced a fall off in viewers for his addresses over time, it's actually not true. Ronald Reagan sustained his audience over time. He happened to be a Republican.Year Type of Address Estimated Viewers Household Rating1981 Address to Joint Session* 41.8 Million ~27.01982 State of the Union 40.5 Million 25.81983 State of the Union 43.1 Million 27.61984 State of the Union 41.0 Million 26.21985 State of the Union 45.7 Million 29.11986 State of the Union** 42.4 Million 27.21987 State of the Union 41.1 Million 26.41988 State of the Union 39.2 Million 25.1

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