• Giving It Up
    If you white-knuckle it between smoke breaks, longing for your daily rendezvous with Joe Camel, the Marlboro Man or those perpetually smiling yuppie folks enjoying "Newport Pleasure!" then you're a prime candidate for "The Cigarette Is Dead" movement.
  • Croon Pleasers
    Since the moment artists first put lyrics to music, brand names have found their way into songs. Back then it just happened. Now, it's called song lyric product placement.
  • The Deadliest Menu
    It doesn't exactly sound appetizing, but diners at upscale seafood restaurant McCormick & Schmick's are currently enjoying wild Alaskan King Crab legs from the Early Dawn, the boat featured on the Discovery Channel's highly rated Deadliest Catch.
  • That's Not a Budget; This Is a Budget
    They're talking Oscar for Australia, the Baz Luhrmann film starring Nicole Kidman as an uptight city woman who takes over an Outback cattle ranch and Hugh Jackman as the roughshod cattle driver who guides her into the wilderness. If that plot sounds hackneyed, there's nothing old-hat about the deal Luhrmann landed with Tourism Australia, the national agency charged with marketing the continent to the other six.
  • Dawn of the Dead
    The undertaker has had a busy month. After being bludgeoned by Scientologists, Mort Zuckerman, Jeffrey Epstein and Ron Burkle, Radar went down for the third time. Men's Vogue sputtered and fell back into the silk-gloved arms of Vogue; then Condé also toe-tagged its Fashion Rocks supplements, prompting wild Anna Wintour retirement rumors.
  • RIP Radar
    Radar is dead and buried. But it died with its sunglasses on and the radio playing. Services were held at the new NYC club, Citrine - the magazine went out in one final Southern Comfort-soaked blast.
  • Obama's a Mac; Mac's a PC
    The Obama presidential victory not only ushers in the next chapter in American history, but almost certainly brings with it a new era of consumer-branded politicians. What's unique and sure to be copied by future political hopefuls is the understanding and emphasis the Obama campaign architects placed on creating an "Obama brand," a brand that's more reminiscent of a youth-targeted consumer product than a politician. You might even say that in this year's campaign, Obama was Mac and McCain was PC, Political Candidate.
  • Idiots, Boxes
    Finally, after more than a decade of dickering, analog television will finally go dark in February. But marketers finding their way in the new digital TV landscape will find it remains far from fully lit.
  • Print is Booming (In India)
    In India, the world's largest democracy, media might be expected to have a big voice - and it does. This already boisterous voice is growing louder as the economy rises, a middle-class population emerges, literacy rates improve, and more urban dwellers discover and enjoy Internet and mobile communications - in addition to magazines, newspapers and television.
  • ANGE(RED)...(RED)ACTED?
    A letter from Susan Smith, CEO, (RED) In the November issue, Celia Farber wrote about the color red and shared an opinion about (PRODUCT) RED that is far from reality. First, she stated that (PRODUCT) RED emanated from Bono and the Bush White House. While Bono is one of our founders, the Bush White House was not involved with the creation of (RED).
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