Wal-Mart Sells $197 8GB iPhone

Yahoo is reporting that Wal-Mart is now selling the 8GB iPhone 3G for $197, $98 more than the $99 we were hoping last week let alone the $99 refurb price at AT&T. Not much else to report on this one but it is interesting to see the iPhone visit the hinterlands where AT&T and Apple stores are scarce.

Festivus Losing It's Integrity Says FriendFeed

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times....

Has Festivus become too much for the rest of us?
Fans of the faux holiday, which became famous on an episode of 'Seinfeld' 11 years ago, worry that it's becoming too commercial.
By Jessica Guynn

Reporting from San Francisco -- The merry band of entrepreneurs behind FriendFeed transformed the online service into "FestivusFeed" last year to celebrate the faux Christmastime holiday that became famous on an episode of "Seinfeld."

Instead of posting comments, FriendFeed users were invited to air grievances. So, in the spirit of the season, FriendFeed founder Paul Buchheit griped: "Festivus is being co-opted by profit-seeking corporations, and we're losing the true spirit of the holiday."

With FriendFeed exploiting Festivus to promote itself, "the comment was, of course, meant to be ironic," Buchheit said Wednesday.

But are corporate grinches really out to steal Festivus? The anti-holiday is starting to look a bit like, well, Christmas.

In the seminal Seinfeld show 11 years ago, George Costanza's father, Frank, tells Kramer he invented the holiday when he found himself battling for a doll with another Christmas shopper and coined the slogan "A Festivus for the rest of us."

It's marked each year on Dec. 23 with an aluminum pole instead of a tree, and celebrants air grievances and compete in feats of strength instead of exchanging gifts. The holiday ends when the head of the household is wrestled to the floor and pinned.

The "Seinfeld" writer who introduced Festivus to the masses was Dan O'Keefe, whose father came up with the holiday in the mid-1960s. The story line had the staying power of "yada yada yada," "not that there is anything wrong with that" and other uniquely Seinfeldian observances. It gained a loyal following on YouTube and in ritual celebrations in businesses and homes across the country because it's Spartan, secular and just plain silly.

But it also picked up a new sidekick: corporate America.

The television gag has turned into the marketing gimmick that keeps on giving for Milwaukee's Wagner Cos., which sells six-foot Festivus poles for $39 plus shipping. Journalist Allen Salkin cashed in with his book, "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us," while O'Keefe contributed "The Real Festivus."

The Grape Ranch vineyard in Oklahoma makes Festivus wine. Other kitschy merchandise includes greeting cards, T-shirts, recipes ("Ham with Junior Mint and Snapple glaze") and songs ("Gather 'Round the Pole" and "Oh Festivus").

At least Ben & Jerry's produced only a limited edition of its "Festivus" flavor: brown sugar cinnamon ice cream loaded with gingerbread cookies and a ginger caramel swirl.

All that merchandising has some folks complaining that the true meaning of the holiest day on the Seinfeld calendar is being lost.

"When I air my grievances this year, they're all about how commercial Festivus has become," said Wil Wheaton, the actor who portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

"And don't even get me started on the new 'designer' aluminum poles," he added.

Shannon Hurst Lane, 35, who hails from Zachary, outside Baton Rouge, La., agreed.

"You would think that Festivus would be anticommercial," she said.

Lane and her fellow bloggers behind TravelingMamas.com celebrated in their own way. They threw a "13 Days of Festivus Giveaway" to give readers the chance to air their grievances about the travel industry and win products that companies had sent to the bloggers in hopes of favorable reviews.

In fielding questions from Washington Post readers, O'Keefe scoffed at the notion that Festivus has become too commercial.

"I don't know you can commercialize something so ridiculous," he said.

Merry Christmas!!

Digicrest And Paris, On The Case

Paris Hilton was robbed last week after she left her home unlocked and then went out to the clubs.  She's supposedly lost $2 million worth of jewels.  Despite all the sleep I've lost this week worried about how Paris will recover from this disaster, I'm comforted by the fact that she seems confident they will fine the perpetrators.

"You know, it's just an invasion of privacy, and it's happened to me before. It's really scary but they're doing a huge investigation on this, and we're going to catch this person.  Obviously it's devastating and disturbing that someone was in my home," Hilton said. "[But] we have three security guards there and a 24-hour guard who is always on my property. We have the alarm on, [we have] the dogs, the guards with the gun, so no one is going to be coming into my house."  Having viewed her home surveillance tapes, Paris Hilton doesn't think a stranger is responsible for burglarizing her Sherman Oaks, Calif., abode.  "I think whoever did this, definitely has been there before," the ripped-off heiress told E! News Monday while perusing the racks at the L.A. boutique Intuition. "We have some suspects that I'm thinking of.

While I'd like to make fun of Paris endlessly on this, WWTDD has already done a great job...

Oh yikes. Paris is on the case, and crime has a powerful new enemy. The same girl who left the front door open and her jewelry just lying around has a few ideas on how to crack this thing wide open. Number 1, trap the thief by putting more jewels on the center of the floor on a big red X underneath a piano held up with ropes. Another good idea is to paint a fake tunnel on the side of a cliff wall so that when the burglar tires to escape he bonks into it and curls up like an accordion. She said she saw these ideas implemented successfully on TV once. She thinks it might have been Law and Order.

Action Movies Are My Favorite

I'm watching "Armageddon" right now for a little pre- Christmas disaster fun.  And I came to the scene when the government is going to remote detonate the nuclear warhead from down on earth.  Of course Harry Stamper (bruce Willis) is having none of it and you got Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) down on earth trying to screw with team setting off the bomb.  And that's when the greatest line in the movie gets delivered.... sidekick to General Kimsey (Keith David) sees that they've lost signal and proceeds to drop this baby on us, "General. The override.  It's been overridden."

Maybe the best Christmas gift of all right there.

VC Money Is Dry, Excluding Funny Or Die

The American economy is in a recession.  Companies are struggling for cash, and venture capital dollars have almost completely dried up.  Right? Well, Will Ferrell's online video site, Funny or Die, just received a $3 million cash infusion from "a single, undisclosed investor." While a part of me is saying screw those guys for continually making funny, entertaining content and leaving the rest of us out to dry, the other part of me is remembering that innovation wins out.  So long as Pearl is getting her money on time, I suppose it doesn't really matter. 

Because I Love Hulu...

They deserve any coverage possible in my mind. Good news bad news, whatever. I haven't slept a wink in the last two months without dozing off to an old Family Guy episode or some hilarious bonus clips from The Office.

Either way, turns out Hulu took a hit in unique viewers in November compared to October according to comScore. If it's any consolation to them, I still think they are fantastic. That should tide them over while they build their traffic back up.

Nokia Really Joins The Smart Phone Race

Courtesy of CrunchGear...

The Nokia E63 has surfaced on Amazon.com for a pre-order price of $499, unlocked. You’ll remember the E63 as the tie-loosened, top-button-unbuttoned little brother to the more polished, business-oriented Nokia E71.

The E63 on Amazon is listed as the “International Version with No U.S. Warranty" while there’s an E71 being sold unlocked for $375.99 that’s listed as the “U.S. Version with Warranty.” There’s an international version of the E71 going for $454.99, which leads me to believe that if there were to be a US-specific version of the E63 offered, it’d likely cost less than the international version AND it’d have a warranty.

No word on an actual release date, but you can pre-order it if you’re interested.

Omniture Brings Real-Time Analytics To iPhone Applications

Courtesy of TechCrunch...

Omniture is extending its SiteCatalyst measurement tool to native iPhone applications, enabling developers and marketers to gain insight on how users are interacting with their iPhone apps, based on real-time information. This should allow them not only to improve the user experience based on analytics, but also make adjustement necessary to generate more revenue by enhancing ad clicks, purchasing and increasing page views.

The new offer, which is basically an extension of its existing SiteCatalyst solution, is called App Measurement for iPhone and will be generally available as from January 2009. To our knowledge this is the first analytics program specifically designed for native iPhone applications, but it’s safe to say other providers will soon follow suit with similar offerings.

In related news, Tel Aviv-based Kenshoo is taking its Search Engine Marketing campaign management solution mobile, enabling users to consult campaign statistics and reports from their iPhone browser. More information about their solution is available here, and a video demo can be viewed here.

Omnicom Set to Cut Up to 3,500 Jobs

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The industry's largest holding company, Omnicom Group, is preparing a massive layoff of nearly 5% of its global work force of 70,000, according to executives close to the situation.

The executives would not confirm which divisions or agencies would be affected by the estimated 3,500 job loss, but it is believed that BBDO, the agency for ailing Chrysler, which lost its flagship U.S. brand Pepsi business this year, would particularly feel the ax. Earlier today, Ad Age reported that Omnicom media agency PHD was laying off 30 people and closing its Atlanta office.

An Omnicom spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Not all units affected...
The executives said not all Omnicom units will be touched. "Wherever adjustments had to be made, agencies that needed to make the adjustments made them," said an executive with knowledge of the situation. "That does not mean all companies made adjustments." And the current layoffs, to be concluded by year's end, may not be the end of it: Additional cuts could come in January across the holding company, executives said.

The depth of the layoffs is striking considering Omnicom already took measures to reduce its head count earlier this year. Just last month BBDO slashed 22% of its staff in Detroit as the office's embattled Chrysler client indicated it plans to reduce its marketing activity. Earlier this month, Ad Age reported that Chrysler, now in the midst of trying to win a government bridge loan to stay alive, is believed to owe the holding company some $80 million.

Omnicom, the parent company of agency brands such as DDB Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, employed roughly 70,000 people worldwide by the end of 2007, up 6.1% from the end of 2006.

Omnicom Group in October posted $213 million in net income for the third quarter of 2008, up slightly from $202 million in the same period last year. But signs of trouble for the holding company were beginning to show in its third-quarter earnings statement: Its public-relations practice, which is made up of Fleishman Hillard, Ketchum and Porter Novelli, among others, showed negative growth for the quarter.

~ ~ ~
Contributing: Rupal Parekh, Bradley Johnson

Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid? I Think I'm Having Deja Vu

I hope I'm not the only futbol fan who wanted to shoot himself today when the Real Madrid Ronaldo drama picked up again today.  Needless to say they are talking about the summer transfer window and today is December 17, and that drives me insane.  Both teams in the title race in their respective leagues and we are talking about a summer transfer.  I hate sports media with nothing but time to fill.

I love the internet.  It is the home to my career in advertising, and it provides us unbelievable communication tools. But the amount of media outlets has created nothing but space to fill, which leads to excessive dramatization in sports, entertainment, business, and so on.  It's stories like this today that really get me going.

From Soccernet...

Madrid leak claims Ronaldo deal already done
Cristiano Ronaldo will sign for Real Madrid in the summer according to a director of the Spanish giants.

All eyes will be on Cristiano Ronaldo, currently in Tokyo - yet again.
Newspaper El Mundo is quoting director Pedro Trapote as saying Real already have a deal in place but cannot announce it officially.

President Ramon Calderon had stated after last summer's protracted transfer saga that Real would end their long quest to pinch the player from Manchester United so as not to make an enemy of the European champions.

Sir Alex Ferguson did little to hide his disgust at Real's conduct and is bound to be more than agitated by a resurfacing of the Ronaldo rumour-mongering.

El Mundo report that after Madrid's loss at Barcelona Trapote mentioned the news in a recorded conversation, though it is not known whether it was meant to become public knowledge.

"If you are asking me what we are going to do now then I would tell you that we have already signed the best player for the summer," Trapote is quoted as saying.

"Are you talking about Cristiano?" was the reply.

"The best of the best. It is Cristiano, there is no other. It is better that we do not say anything at the moment though.

"Why can you not say anything. It is the best time because things are going badly and people need something to excite them in the middle of all this.

Trapote replied: "No, it is best to not say anything because there are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it now."

Just Another Reason Why Second- Life Is Ridiculous

I like to think I live life in the moment, generally not considering the consequences of my actions and for the most part having a pretty damn good time.  Yet a majority of our society seems to think this life isn't fulfilling enough, so they create another life in a virtual world... these people are dorks, to use the biggest insult the third- grade ever provided.

Enjoy some drama caused by Second- Life, and lets just say the parties involved are definitely Jerry Springer candidates. Oh, and the drama's movie rights have been optioned by Gore Verbinski.

Director Gore Verbinski and Universal have bought the rights to a 2007 Wall Street Journal article about a man whose real-life wife is jealous of the woman he married in Second-Life. The interesting part isn’t so much the planned movie as the article itself:

“It’s really devastating,” says Sue Hoogestraat, 58, an export agent for a shipping company, who has been married to Ric Hoogestraat for seven months. “You try to talk to someone or bring them a drink, and they’ll be having sex with a cartoon.”

Seriously, what does he think this is, Japan? His virtual wife, by the way, goes by “Tenaj Jackalope”.

Since February, he’s been spending six hours a night and often 14 hours at a stretch on weekends as Dutch Hoorenbeek, his six-foot-nine, muscular, motorcycle-riding cyber-self.

In the virtual world, he’s a successful entrepreneur with a net worth of about $1.5 million in the site’s currency, the linden, which can be earned or purchased through Second Life’s Web site at a rate of about 250 lindens per U.S. dollar. He owns a mall, a private beach club, a dance club and a strip club. He has 25 employees, online persons operated by other players, including a security guard, a mall concierge, a manager and assistant manager, and the “exotic dancers” at his club. He designs bikinis and lingerie, and sells them through his chain store, Red Headed Lovers.

Sounds like a cool guy. But oh shit, here comes the inevitable real-world comparison. Trust me, this is good.

Before discovering Second Life, Mr. Hoogestraat had bounced between places and jobs, working as an elementary schoolteacher and a ski instructor, teaching computer graphics and spending two years on the road selling herbs and essential oils at Renaissance fairs.

Wait a second… Essential oils? Hey, you know who’d be perfect for this role? Steven Seagal! Oh, and dudes? I’m pretty sure it’s spelled “Faire”.

Will Wal-Mart Sell A $99 iPhone?

A fantastic article about how the rumors have been built around the Wal-Mart- iPhone relationship popped up last week in Fortune's CNNMoney Apple blog.

Check it out by clicking on the picture....

Creativity Online Names Crispin Porter & Bogusky Agency Of The Year

CP&B beat out the likes of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners as well as Wieden + Kennedy to secure this years top spot.

Many conversations about Crispin Porter & Bogusky in 2008 began and ended with one big mouthful of a word starting with an "M" and ending with a "soft." But other words were perhaps more significant in summing up the agency's contribution to the advertising world over the past year. Among them: Design. Utility. Freakout.

The agency was as prodigious as ever in 2008, and as innovative. It produced a few of the most important bits of brand creativity of the year, and, equally important, it continued to evolve the idea of what an ad agency can be.

In the modern age of advertising, CPB, love it or hate it (and the agency is unrivaled in the amount and intensity of antipathy it arouses) came to represent the New Ad Agency, the idea-centric, media-inclusive, integrated creative factory whose brand campaigns feed from and create popular culture. The shop has long been recognized for incorporating media into its creative thinking and solutions and for embracing digital (Crispin has twice been named digital agency of the year at Cannes, and with the acquisition of Texture Media this year becomes a more all-round-digital player, producing more of its interactive work in house). Now, as more brands are realizing the benefits of a holistic creative approach, where design and communications are as one, the agency is once again doing the work to continue to evolve as a brand creativity partner -- a full service agency in the truest sense.

Check out the full story HERE, and click below to see my favorite piece of their work, the Whopper Freakout.

Newspaper Ad Spend Continues To Sputter...Enter Digital

From the Newspaper Association of America

The Best Viral Videos Of 2008: A Retrospective

Anyone who was able to catch some of The Gummy Awards last week from VideoGum may have seen this already, but the coverage of the year's best viral vids is definitely worth a few laughs.

Bush Gets The Shoe Slap Treatment From Angry Iraqi

In the end, the Iraqi people did not bid farewell to U.S. President George W. Bush with gratitude or wreaths of victory. Instead an individual, unarmed Iraqi threw shoes at him, a traditional demonstration of anger and contempt.

Needless to say, Bush's reaction after is unbelievably funny. He compares it to getting flipped off in your car at one point.

Here's some advice for the shoe thrower from the most dazzling secret agent of all time...

Any Of These Business Sayings On Your List?

Two Minutes Of Inspiration To Change Your Day

Thanks to the creator, Matthew Belinke, and the finder, DasGriffer for this amazing video. All it takes is two minutes to change your day.

Smaller Advertisers Causing The Ad Market To Drop

Joe Mandese wrote an interesting piece for Media Post today, highlighting a new study that has shown smaller advertisers, normally spendng in the long tail, are the ones who have put the brakes on spending recently.

"If you go back one or two years, when we were seeing modest growth of 2% or 3% in ad spending, the grow was coming from the bottom of the market. Those smaller, long-tail advertisers were in the forefront of the advance. Now they are leading the retreat," explains Jon Swallen, senior vice president-research and the de facto chief economist at TNS Media Intelligence.

Mandese also provides some interesting insights into the spending habits of the big three automakers, which makes you raise an eye to the current bailout happenings.

While some big advertisers have also hit the breaks, especially two of the Big 3 domestic auto marketers - Chrysler and Ford, both down 33% year-to-date - one has actually been boosting its advertising budget in defiance of an economic downturn: General Motors.

Through the first nine months of 2008, GM boosted its advertising budget nearly 16%, more than any other top 10 marketer, a move that could raise some interesting questions on both Main Street and Capital Hill as the Big 3 automakers have called on Congress fro a multibillion bailout to stay in business.

Here's a look at the modest cutbacks that have been made by some of the biggest advertisers:

Nike Is Just Good

I'm Caught On Camera Again

Air Jordan Countdown Pack 11/12

The Air Jordan Countdown is continuing as Nike keeps chalking off the list in their last run of production on the famed line of sneakers.  The 11/12 pack was originally set to release on December 26 but it looks like Sneaker Files is now saying that Nike has changed the release to December 20.  Either way, the Jordan 11 and Jordan 12 are some of the most coveted sneaks in the collection so I'm sure the holiday market will be splashed.

Nike Production Or Not?

I love not knowing when Nike is behind a viral video or not. Historically, Nike loves putting futbol stars in their boots and has tem do off the wall tricks and whatnot, but roaming the streets of France is whole other story for these street players.

Wow, 'The Onion' Is Still Hilarious

How Can We Make The Iraq War More Handicap Accessible?

Mercurial Rosa "You Better Be Quick"

On the 22nd of November some of Europe’s most exciting players tore up the pitch in the Nike Mercurial Vapor RosaNike Mercurial Vapor Rosa – the new color for speed.

The Mercurial Vapor is all about turf-burning pace. For 10 years it’s been helping the world’s fastest players squeeze every last drop of acceleration from their game. And for the last 7 years, the Premier League’s top scorer has worn the Nike Mercurial Vapor.

Featuring a patented Vapor Traction System, the Mercurial Vapor Rosa delivers low-profile acceleration and multi-directional grip for match-winning changes of pace and direction.

Keep your eyes on this site to see all the Rosa magic as it unfolds.

Google Tells All to The World...Finally

All about Google

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: google strategy)

Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak

Since everyone is talking about Kanye's new album, I figured I'd throw my two cents into the conversation...

I like it a lot.  I think in true Kanye style, the melodies and basslines are solid.  But don't they all sound real similar?  Props to Kanye for attempting to sing and throwing an auto tuner over his voice to cover his lack of true voice talent, but the album could have used a bit of a mix-up somewhere along the way.

My main feelings about the album are this; because Kanye won't shut up recently about how he is changing the way music is made, and comparing himself to the Beatles, I question the integrity of the album.  Is Kanye taking his creativity and artistic ability to a new level, or is this album different just for the sake of being different?

Whatever the answer, check out my favorite song, "See You In My Nightmares" featuring Lil' Wayne.

CFOs Think The Governement Was Right

CFOs Give Thumbs Up to Bailouts

72% of 219 CFOs representing a diverse group of large and small, public and private companies believe that the government did the right thing by bailing out financial institutions Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and AIG, but that the decision not to rescue Lehman Brothers was reasonable, according to a survey conducted by Financial Executives International and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business.

SOURCE: Q3 CFO Outlook Study, October 30, 2008, Harvard Business Publishing.

The Simpson's Get An Apple, I Mean Mapple Store

Welcome Back To The Office