Distance Ed Ideas -

• Is This Media Bias? Dept. Part I - Car Dealers Push 'Click & Clack" out of Virginian-Pilot
  Looking for a real example of media bias? Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot recently dropped the syndicated car advice column by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, otherwise known as 'Click & Clack Talk Cars.' According to Editor & Publisher, the decision to drop the column was made by the paper's publisher following complaints by local car dealers. (Thanks to Romenesko for this item.)
• Bristol-Myers to Wait Year With Advertising New Drugs
  Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced that it will wait until new drugs have been on the market for at least a year before they start advertising them to consumers. This is in response to heavy criticism of drug manufacturers going overboard in consumer marketing of drugs that do everything from lower your cholesterol to help you in bed. (USA Today)
• Advertisements Find Their Way Into Textbooks
  In general, we don't often see advertisements for anything other than other books in books, But according to the Toronto Star, McGraw-Hill Ryerson is trying to sell advertising space in textbooks. Actually, what the company is selling is inserts that would be tipped into the books rather than ads printed on the pages. It's interesting that the Sun's article should be so negative. Torstar, which owns the Star, also owns Harlequin, the romance publisher; and it has experimented with putting ads in its books for many years. (Though most of them that I've seen have been for other Harlequin products.) Full disclosure here - I write for McGraw-Hill, Ryerson's parent company; and my wife has written a number of books for Harlequin. (Thanks to Librarian.net for the link.)
• s The Era of the Advertising Waif Over?
  As we noted earlier this month, the question is being asked, "Does the fact that fashion and cosmetic ads are occasionally featuring women who are not Kate Moss-sized mean that "real women" are the next big fashion trend?" Maybe. Or maybe not. As evidence, you can look at the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty ads that features attractive non-model women who vary from a size 6 to a size 14. And now Nike is running ads portraying "big butts" and "thunder thighs." But, as the Associated Press's Rukmini Callimachi writes in the Chicago Tribune , these ads are simply showing what hard-working athletes look like rather than models. So if we aren't seeing "real" women, we are at least seeing "different" women in ads.
  
• Body Image, Magazines, Advertising & Dove
  You've all heard the charges that super skinny models in ads and magazine features lead to body image and self esteem issues and eating disorders in young women. While I sometimes question how direct the effects are, we are clearly being bombarded with unrealistic images of female beauty. There have been a couple of women's magazines out that have tried to feature "realistically sized" models, but they've both died for lack of advertising support. But the idea that women and girls come in all shapes and sizes has started gaining more mainstream media attention lately with a number of teen and women's magazines starting to show models with a wider range of body types. And Dove has started running a major ad campaign featuring women standing around in their underwear who are definitely not overly thin. (They are, however, all fairly conventionally attractive.) The campaign, which is selling skin firming products, has attracted some criticism because it is still pushing the idea that women need products to look better.
  
• Shake Your Big Mac Like a Polaroid Dept. - McDonalds Working on Rap Product Placement
  No, I'm not making this up. McDonalds is working on opportunities to pay rappers to mention the Big Mac and the Golden Arches in hip-hop recordings. What next? Happy Meal bling?
  
• I'm Shocked, Shocked, to See There is Gambling Going on Here Dept. - Kate Moss Got Her Junkie Look By Being a Junkie
  For years model Kate Moss has been famous for her heroin chic look, and her employers apparently loved her for it. Now come news reports (with photos) in the London tabloid, The Daily Mirror, that Moss actually uses cocaine, and the folks she models for drop her because she uses drugs. Hello.... Was it OK that she was a junkie as long as she kept quiet about it? "We wanted you to look like you used drugs, but we didn't want you to actually use them."
  
• Product Placement Becomes Plot Placement
  It used to be enough for brand name products to be sitting around in the background of television shows. In a practice known as product placement, sponsors pay to have their products featured in movies, television shows, magazines (and more magazines), rap songs, and even video games.
  
  But in an era where consumers are avoiding commercials through channel surfing, VCRs and DVRs, advertisers are looking for stronger ways to get their messages across during programs.
  
  And this 'something stronger' is plot placement - where the product becomes central to the plot, not just incidental. (This can also be referred to as branded entertainment or brand integration.) As an example of traditional product placement, check out how someone in House generally will use an iPod sometime during an episode. But NBC's The Office goes much further, with a character raving about how his butt looks in a new pair of Levi jeans.
  
  According to this great in-depth look at the topic from the NY Times, Mark Burnett financed most of the start-up costs of Survivor through product placement. And during the 2004-2005 television season, there were more than 100,000 product placements on the six English-language broadcast network. Advertisers generally pay a fee for placing the product in the show, as well as buying traditional ads to go with the program. Though in some cases, the product is truly needed by the story line, and no money changes hand.
• • Video Games Are Hot New Media For Reaching Young Men
    The AP reports that ads in video games have a strong positive effect in getting people to buy and recommend the featured products, especially when the ad is well integrated into the game. Why does this matter? Because research shows that 18-to-34-year-old males spend more time with video games than television. (USA Today)
    • An Interview with Nielsen's Michael Dowling on Advertising Opportunities in Video Games (Inside Branded Entertainment)
      Must read stuff if you are going to be advertising to young men....
• Movie Theater Advertising Expected To Grow
  Do you think you're seeing more ads before movies? You're probably not imagining it. ZenithOptimedia reports that in-theater advertising grew by 18 percent this year, and it forecasts it to grow by 15 percent next year. And the movie industry claims it can't understand why more people don't go to the movies....
• So Flaming Farts Weren't The Best Way To Make Beer Seem Classy...
  NPR's On The Media interviews Bob Lachky of Anheuser-Busch on how beer advertisers may have damaged their product's image by focusing on crude messages targeted at young males. All kidding aside, this is a great look at why ethics matter in the advertising business. One of the consequences of ads that are in bad taste (or are more filling...) is that they can damage your core asset - your brand's reputation. Read or listen to.
  
• Ford Responds (Maybe) To Criticism For Advertising In Gay Press
  Advertisers covet upscale gay consumers, and yet courting them can lead them into trouble. Ford Motor has recently said they will stop advertising their Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications. Although Ford officials say the pullout from the gay publications was done for "business reasons," it's hard not to see this as a response to criticism from conservative religious groups. Of course, pulling the ads also has the possibility of alienating the gay consumers Ford was after in the first place.... (Washington Post)
  
• Speaking of the Christmas/Holiday/Winter Solstice Season...
  What a dilemma for merchants. What do you call the time between Thanksgiving and New Years? Let's face it. It is the Christmas season. It is a religious holiday, but it is also a secular event. (You doubt this? Try checking out what the local stores sell in the name of Christmas sometime!)
  
  So merchants want to draw in as many customers as possible without offending anyone. (Unless they are deliberately being as offensive as possible). If they talk about the Christmas season, they might offend some non-Christians; if they don't talk about the Christmas season, they might offend some Christians.
  
  But folks, get over it; either way most of these merchants don't care what you believe -- just what you spend. Do note that Chick-fil-a is a clear exception to this rule; the company wears its religious heart on its sleeve and always has. (USA Today)