Headline: “New York City fears return to 1970s”

Police on the look out for Abe Beam, outbreaks of disco & punk, good Martin Scorcese movies and New York magazine’s return to relevance.

Worst product ever? “A doll modeled after slain toddler”

A Jacksonville promotions company quickly halted sales of a doll modeled after slain toddler Caylee Anthony after a barrage of criticism. Showbiz Promotions had planned to sell its blonde Caylee Sunshine doll for $29.99. Not even February and competition for biggest marketing blunder of 2009 is already over.

15 sayings from the great Zen masters of Texas

Guides to life from Ken Weaver’s inexplicably out-of-print book Texas Crude: The How-To on Talkin’ Texan. “Might as well. Can’t dance and it’s too wet to plow.” “I’ve enjoyed just about all of this I can stand.” “Anything not a mystery is guesswork.” “Ugly as death backing out of an [out]house reading Mad magazine.” “If [...]

Marketers rush to rip-off Obama brand

How should  BlackBerry to thank the President for the amazing product endorsement without just mailing him a large check. How about endowing a scholarship (or 10) in his name? That’s a start. Whatever they do the following companies should really do the same. 1) Beanie Babies that lie: Doll-maker Ty must think they are a [...]

Best gratuitous Obama inauguration product tie-in

Proud smooth Dachshund in patriotic design for President-elect Barack Obama. Celebrate this historic inauguration! A mere $45 (shipping not included). Other breeds available.

A word of thanks to President Bush

I would like to take a moment to thank President Bush for the great service he has rendered me personally. I have been a fan of Ulysses S. Grant for much of my life. I have always admired Grant for his perseverence during devestating personal set backs as well as his sense of personal honor [...]

Chrysler discussing merger with Ronco

They are the only remaining partner for the car maker should recent talks with Fiat fall through. There is ABSOLUTELY no truth to the rumor that Chrysler’s owners turned to Fiat only after discovering Yugo is no longer in business. I am putting together a takeover offer involving one (but not all) of the following: [...]

Why you didn’t vote for me

Because I didn’t either. The truth-in-advertising thing really backfired:

Will nude Lara Croft save game company?

Eidos, maker of the Tomb Raider games, are staking the company’s existence on the idea that there are enough once- and future adolescent males who will pay to see Lara Croft naked. This would be a marginally better idea if the web weren’t already flooded with home grown versions of this. Oh well, at least [...]

It’s so bad some companies are actually telling the truth.

From my latest at BlownMortage: Société Générale expects the United States’ economy  to enter a depression and that China’s economy in in danger of  imploding. Albert Edwards, an analyst for the European financial services giant, wrote: While economic data in developed economies increasingly reflects depression rather than a deep recession, the real surprise in 2009 [...]

Nazi slogan leaves bitter coffee aftertaste

Two German companies have pulled an ad campaign featuring a slogan almost identical to one used at Buchenwald. The campaign, run jointly by coffee company Tchibo and Esso, used the expression “Jedem den Seinen”, which can be translated as “to each his own” or “to each what he deserves.” The slogan  “Jedem das Seine”  hung [...]

Retailer’s top flack “intrigued” that “cheap is chic”

“What’s so intriguing these days, whether you work on Wall Street or in Wal-Mart is that it has absolutely become chic to be cheap. It’s all about price. Factors like quality, selection, store location and customer service are taking a back seat. We believe this will continue for the foreseeable future.” — Tracy Mullin, president [...]

Obama takes “loaves and fishes” approach to the economy

Give the man a 2nd Blackberry, because The President-elect is already falling victim to the echo chamber. Mr. O has “raised the estimate of how many jobs would result from his economic recovery plan, saying it would create or save three million to four million.” Should he pull this off it will  be very close [...]

UK ad standards agency to rule on God’s existence

The UK’s Adertising Standards Authority has been asked to rule on a campaign by an atheist group featuring signs that read, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”  (Note: the action part of the message works just as well if you replace “no” with “a”.) The campaign from the British Humanist [...]

Microsoft reveals previously unknown gift for satire

This is from The Waffle Group blog — where it really is all about the syrup: It certainly seems that Microsoft are moving into the scathing humour industry when one looks at this press release entitled “Microsoft Brings Holiday Cheer on a Budget to Hispanic Families With Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007 Language [...]