Long before Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show, modern pop culture satire had its roots in the strange mind of the original madman, Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993). His early '50s creation, MAD Magazine, taught buttoned-down America how to detect the inanities and silly idealizations of post-wwii mass media, as it also introduced phrases like "potrzebie" and "fershlugginer" into the national lexicon.

Corporate altruism has always blended with PR, especially when the company doing the giving has a less-than-angelic reputation. Now, British researchers have found that international firms may also use philanthropy to offset their presence in notoriously oppressive nations.

Bill Bernbach was, of course, one of the founders of Doyle Dane Bernbach, and, as architect of the copywriter-art director team and modern media planning, one of the creative minds largely credited with fueling the revolution on Madison Ave. of the late '60s and early '70s. Bernbach passed away in 1982, but media once again faces upheaval similar to that brought on by the mass adoption of television, and we could sure use his guidance again. Here, Paul Parton of Brooklyn Brothers, wonders what Bernbach might have to say about media today. The responses are verbatim quotes, though the interaction …

Video games have taken quite a beating from social science researchers: Past studies have linked excessive game playing among kids and teens to bad grades, aggression and even "permissive attitudes" toward drug use and unsafe sex, according to a number of papers published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

"America's favorite potato chip" is celebrating. But it's not its anniversary. Frito-Lay "decided it was time to celebrate the people who have made the brand a success," says director of public relations Chris Kuechenmeister. Who are "the people?" The marketers? The executives? No. It's the farmers, of course. In May, Frito-Lay launched "Lay's Local."

Blogs, message boards, facebook, myspace, linkedin, youtube, twitter ... Look at all these customers discussing products and passing along branded content! Online social networks attract audiences that are the envy of both traditional channels and main Internet portals, but lets catch our breath for a minute and take a look.

As social networks like Facebook and MySpace take on prominent roles for people in mourning, so too does the Web's leading obituary site find itself getting into social networking.

John Billett, transatlantic media consultant, once quipped to me a telling observation that is probably the root of all the over-extended discussion that has dogged that much-abused word, engagement. Essentially, he posited that any reasonably intelligent intern could join a media agency and hopefully, after a couple months, he or she would fully appreciate basic media planning concepts such as reach and frequency.

Kevin Apuzzio's funeral was a sight to behold, both online and off. The young firefighter - just 21 years old, barely out of Rutgers University - died in April 2006 while trying to pull a 75-year-old woman from her burning home when the floor collapsed. Apuzzio died a hero, and seemingly every fire truck, ambulance and police chopper in New Jersey hovered outside the church on the morning friends and family gathered to say goodbye. Even then-Governor Jon Corzine showed up to pay his respects.

The primary cause of the current recession is psychological, not economic. And regardless of what happens economically, we're going to stay in this recession until we reverse our recession mentality.