• by September 16, 2003

You've got to admire Billboard magazine's offer to get behind the industry it covers with a free ad campaign targeting the piracy of recorded music, but we're wondering if the media strategy wouldn't be more effective if it were using billboards with a lower case b. It's not that the 109-year-old music industry weekly doesn't have a great B-to-B reach. Everyone knows it is read by top recording artists, producers, agents, lawyers and journalists involved in the music biz, but those folks are already all too aware of the issues surrounding commercial piracy and illegal peer-to-peer file sharing of recorded music. After all, the publication itself points out such practices already are "decimating the industry to the tune of $4 billion a year in lost sales." If the goal is, as publisher John Kilcullen suggests, reaching the folks on Capitol Hill, parents and "thousands of otherwise law abiding people who illegally download music," we think the effort would be better suited to a consumer media campaign. Perhaps, Billboard could strike a barter deal with billboard operators Clear Channel Communications or Viacom. Or better yet, maybe it could trade ad space with consumer titles such as Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Spin, Vibe and The Source.

Hold the fries, please. First the Golden Arches introduces McVeggie patties and now it has signed Oprah Winfrey fitness guru Bob Greene to promote a new Go Active Meal. The new healthy line extension and an extensive consumer promotional campaign is being built not so much around the meal itself, but on the notion that consumers can burn it off. The pre-package meal, which contains a salad and the choice of bottled water (recommended) or a fountain drink (not recommended) also includes a clip-on pedometer. The assumption is that Go Active Meal eaters will spring from their tables or drive-through windows and power walk those empty calories to a place where they will do some good. The Riff thinks this is a good start, but we believe the promotion should be expanded to other more artery-clogging menu choices like Big Macs, supersized Value Meals and, the Riff's favorite (when they're available) McRibs. Along with the pedometer, McDonald's could include estimates on the distance a diner would have to walk to burn off the calories associated with those meals. Next, we'd like to put all those McDonald's patrons on a supersized treadmill attached to the Northeast power grid.

All things considered, we'd rather be in Margaritaville. The pseudo population of a tequila-inspired pseudo nation apparently is pretty good at spotting pseudo relationships. As far back as July 4th, the populace of CuervoNation were laying odds that the next big celebrity couple to call it quits would be Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. In fact, two out of every five islanders contacted by market researcher Ipsos on behalf of CuervoNation said BenLo would be a bust. But hope springs eternal on the eight-acre Caribbean island, which has invited the Hollywood couple on an all expenses paid trip to CuervoNation in hopes of rekindling their relationship.