It's hard to believe that the backstory surrounding "The Interview," the dimwitted bro-mance road movie that Sony Pictures ended up pulling from theaters Wednesday, could have achieved such levels of worldwide crisis and stupidity. Yet it did.

I know they're supposed to be stodgy; nothing quite out-stiffs the British Royals on state occasions. But for some naive reason (maybe only having to do with her terrific fashion sense), I thought that Kate and Prince William were the young and modernized versions. So I was surprised to see that during their recent trip to New York City, much was made of Kate's visit to a child development center in Harlem, where she -- get ready -- sat down and wrapped a Christmas gift.

It's hard to write about advertising and marketing when the most potent thing to happen overnight, after the jury decision not to prosecute the Eric Garner case was made known, was a spontaneous citizen "die-in" in Grand Central Station.