I know guys settle down!  I know how you feel about the girls, the twins, the fun bags, jugs and boom-booms but that’s not how ABC & FOX execs feel.  Well at least they seem not to like the rack of lamb Lane Bryant is serving up.

Everyone is buzzing about Lane Bryant’s “too sexy for TV” ad.  Lane Bryant said ABC refused to show the commercial during “Dancing with the Stars” because it bared too much cleavage.  The Fox Network also put up a roadblock and demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final 10 minutes of “American Idol”.

So I don’t get it with this Lane Bryant ad.  I’ve seen the ad and nothing sticks out to me (pun intended).  If you ask me there is worse programming and commercials out there than a “full-figured” woman wearing a bra and panties.  ABC (Disney Company) airs Cougar Town – which had a memorable scene that implied Courtney Cox’s character administering oral sex to her date.  And Fox airs Glee (which is usually good clean fun) – which glamorized teenagers losing their virginities to Madonna’s Like a Virgin this week.   

I mean where do you draw the line?  In the 1950s, TV couldn’t show married couples sleeping in the same bed. In the ’60s, exposing the bellybutton of I Dream of Jeannie‘s Barbara Eden was risqué.  Braless jiggles on Charlie’s Angels were considered daring in the ’70s. But by the ’90s, the expanse of adult-themed content on premium channels such as HBO and sex-infused music videos on MTV made baring the derriere of a hefty NYPD Blue cop acceptable to the masses on ABC.

Granted most of these commercials and TV shows nowadays are meant to be extreme to start buzz about their products.  It’s all part of the show.  In today’s economy with budgets shrinking, advertisers often feel forced to come up with buzz-worthy campaigns to survive.  Whether or not the Lane Bryant incident is 100% true I don’t know.  But I would really hate to think that ABC & FOX wouldn’t air this spot because a “full-figured” model was used over a “skinny” model.

First Toyota – sorry to kick you when you’re down. Up to now I’ve always been a fan. In fact I’ve had a Toyota Sienna for a few years. Your recent ad campaign has made me question my selection. Apparently Sienna drivers are either self-deceived young moms who try to pass themselves off as “hot babysitters” and see how many times they’ll get hit on or fussy flaky Dads who take their trikes and run home when someone copies them and gets a Sienna.

OK OK I get that this is all about the humor. And no one loves humor more than I. But very honestly, I want to feel a little brand pride in what I own – especially if it cost a bundle. And honestly, I’m starting to feel as though I’ll have to hide my Sienna so no one knows it’s mine.

When the ads run my first reaction is to laugh at these foolish people but my next thought is “Oh %#&*@@, am I one of them?”

I recently had an exchange with a promising young copywriter who had no formal training or portfolio, but wanted to start picking up a paycheck for putting words to paper — something he currently does on a regular basis for free. I have this conversation at least twice a month. I would go into my advice on how to become a creative, but that advice could literally fill books. And does. That’s today’s topic.

After I scare the bejesus out of people with what it takes to become a copywriter or art director, I usually give them a recommended reading list. I did this for the hopeful copywriter last week. The process for detailing that list is always the same.

1. I dig through my old emails looking for the last reading list email I wrote.
2. I don’t find it.
3. I curse myself for being over-organized and delete-happy when it comes to email. (Thanks, Inbox Zero.)
4. I write another email.

Not anymore.

Now I’ll just send them this link. This is the actual email I sent (with a few four-letter edits) that covers the basics of what all aspiring agency creatives need to read for the  knowledge these books hold, as well as the interview fodder they provide.

Dear (Young/Career-Changing) (Copywriter/Art Director) & Current (Student/Barista/Truck Driver),

Sorry it took me so long to get this to you. It’s been a heckuva (week/month/decade). This is by no means a complete reading list, but it’s a really good start.

The most comprehensive look at the industry and how to put a portfolio together is Luke Sullivan’s book Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. It’s pretty much the best book out there. I only have the first edition, so I don’t know if his later editions get into digital/interactive media (the first edition doesn’t). But it should be pretty easy to interpret his general philosophies and how they’d play in the brave new world of 1s and 0s. If you buy nothing else, buy this one.

You’ll hear a lot about two pioneers of this industry: David Ogilvy and Bill Bernbach. For the most part, [expletive deleted] Ogilvy. (Only my opinion, and it’s pretty much heresy. But whatever.) You should probably read his book just so you can say you read it. Better than Ogilvy by far is Bill Bernbach. There’s a book on his campaigns that will set you back about as much as a Ferrari F50. Luckily, his old agency (DDB) is very proud of him and supplies a free downloadable PDF of his most famous quotes. He was a genius and his work still beats 99% of the stuff that’s out there.

Then there’s Howard Gossage. He’s my advertising hero. Half of the “revolutionary” stuff that’s out there today is a direct result of Gossage, even if the people who created the work have never heard of him. And a lot of people haven’t. For a large part, he’s an underground, cult figure to this day. The Book of Gossage is never cheap. It was out of print for years, and it looks like it might have gone out of print again (if I were to guess by the price). But it’s the Master’s Degree to Luke Sullivan’s Bachelors. If I’m remembered for anything in this industry, it’ll probably be for spreading the word on Howard. Call me Johnny Gossageseed.

Lastly, there’s How to Succeed in Advertising When All You Have is Talent. Honestly, I’ve never read it. I was too busy working and stumbling into success to ever get around to it. But a lot of people I trust and admire say it’s a great book. I’d definitely go for a used copy. Looks like it’s out of print.

Those are the How-Tos. To figure out things on your own once you have a foundation, start shopping around eBay or other places for three books published annually that showcase any particular year’s greatest work. First, there’s The One Show. Then there’s D+AD. Finally, there’s Communication Arts Advertising Annual, which is one issue out of eight that the publisher puts out annually. Good mag in general. The Ad Annual is usually pretty great (as are the Design and Interactive annuals). You should be able to find back copies on eBay, or maybe even on their site.

I hope some of this helps. I know it will help me the next time someone calls who’s “always been creative” and wants to get out of emu farming/taxi driving/hamburger flipping and into what they will unfortunately and inevitably refer to as “The Biz.” (Please don’t do this. There is only one Biz.)

We were all pretty excited with the recent release of Adobe’s CS5 software suite. The prospect of a software upgrade is always kind of fun, and there are some pretty cool new features in the mix. The most interesting aspect of the launch, however has nothing to do with their software. According to ClickZ, Adobe ran an all-digital campaign to announce, promote and launch CS5.

That’s right. No billboards. No print. No TV. No radio. They used their website, their team of product evangelists, Twitter, Facebook, and plenty of other social media outlets. It also surely helps that, well… they’re Adobe. Not quite Apple in the buzz department, but they are up there. Knowing that they have made the decision to go all-digital in their software marketing and promotions is indeed interesting. Perhaps a good indicator of where things are headed? I think so.

Here’s another interesting tidbit: They did this with CS4 as well. So the last two releases of their flagship software suite have been all-digital campaigns. And they have been very successful.

The newsworthiness of this is that Adobe is a big company. They could spend the money on a fully integrated campaign to promote their newest software launch if they wanted to. Instead, they go digital. They’re likely focusing on hitting their core customer in the most direct and efficient manner possible. The designer, publisher, programmer, editor, and general creative user base that buys their product and uses it every day. Heck – I just cropped the above image out of a screenshot using Photoshop. It’s my go-to tool for image editing. So why try to hit up creatives on any other channel?

How soon will other companies fully embrace this strategy? How many have the guts to make the jump to all-digital marketing? More and more businesses are moving budgets to digital methods over traditional methods every day. The ability to target and track your core customers and measure your ROI makes it an increasingly smart move.

Is Adobe risking anything by going all-digital, or are they just showing us what the future is going to be like?

A couple of months ago, Dunkin Donuts launched a social campaign to engage with their core fans. They asked for customers to submit their own concepts for the company’s newest donut. Over the past two months they have received a staggering 90,000 entries.

This week the company announced exclusively through Mashable, the 12 finalists for the competition. They are now asking customers to vote on the new creations in order to determine the champion and therefore the latest delicious product in the Dunkin arsenal.

The number of entries into the contest is truly amazing. Along with the company’s  decision to announce the finalists using a Social Media News website, it shows their understanding of the new media and it’s power to relay brand and promotional messages.

Apple announced last Thursday that 450,000 iPads had been sold since arriving in stores the prior Saturday. So who are these early adopters?  Not surprisingly, they look a lot like iPhone owners. In fact, 43% already have iPhones and nearly half (48.7%) own iPod touch devices, according to a new iPad user survey from iPhone- and iPad-centric mobile ad network AdColony.

Among other findings, the firm found that 44.3% have a household income level of $100,000 or more and 58% have bachelor’s or graduate or other professional degrees. More than two-thirds (65.5%) are male, and 34.5% are female.

In terms of age, people 35 to 44 made up the biggest single segment of iPad owners. Those 25 to 34, 45 to 54, and 55 and over each represented about 20% of the iPad user base. The college-age crowd was 7.5%, and teens were just 3.5%. Like iPhone owners, iPad users skew older, male and more affluent than the general population. As more iPads are sold, the typical user may come to reflect a broader cross-section of consumers.

While the iPad has been described as a big iPod, its minimum $500 price means that most kids will have to rely on a parent buying one to get their hands on the tablet. So the iPad will definitely skew older than the iPod touch audience.  At least for now.  I only personally know of one person who has purchased this new device and by all accounts the stats above are right on except she does not own an iPhone but has multiple iPods.

iPad Creative Implications for Advertisers

*This device was built on mobile functionality so think mobile.  Normal “Web” advertising standards may not apply.   

*Specific iPad creative units are required (can’t stretch units to fit larger screen)

*Your site’s landing page can not rely on any Web browser plug-ins like flash or Java to render content. 

*Marketers must use a specific video tag to ensure embedded video can be seen.

*The iPad can not currently support Flash

Apple has banned the use of any non-native tools to create iPhone and iPad apps, which would shut out Adobe’s cross-platform compiler that effectively ports Flash applications to the iPhone.  Apple’s stance on Flash not coming to the iPhone has been pretty clear over the last few years and is really heating up again with the release of the iPad.  Adobe is not happy about this as you can image and rumors of a potential lawsuit are flying. 

These implications listed above are only a few that advertisers will have to face in order to capture this iPad growing audience. 

It’s All About The Apps

There are currently over 3,500 iPad apps in the app store and over 3.5 million iPad apps have been downloaded to date.  Many iPhone apps are currently tweaking their apps for the iPad like Google. The big iPad optimization takes place with Web apps like Gmail, Google Reader, Maps, and Buzz.

The Facebook iPad app, from what I hear could really use some work.  Users claim it’s great for notifications but then you have to check your messages at your desktop or on your iPad browser.  You would think that Facebook with its massive reach (400 million+ users & 100 million+ US users) would build a more enhanced app for this new platform.  

In conclusion, Apple once again has quickly gained dominance over the rapidly evolving media landscape because they have developed a platform that represents a winning proposition for consumers, publishers and broadcasters and advertisers.

I bought an iPad last weekend and have used it about 30 hours without any complaints. I justified it to myself as a eBook because I needed one anyway. But have found it to be much more useful than I anticipated. It’s become my meeting companion for notes, email and more. I love the recording app I downloaded. It makes meeting notes a breeze. So I am a fan.

In fact this post is being written on my iPad. The only weird thing I’ve experienced thus far actually had nothing to do with the iPad, but rather an app. And it made me laugh after I figured out what they meant. After winning at spider solitaire I got this message.

I presume they meant booya. Just a little creative spelling from the developer. Then again, occasionally I’ve done a little creative spelling myself.

I had the fortune of attending the Omaha Business Hall of Fame Gala tonight at Omaha’s Qwest Center. Much like many after-hours work functions, my initial anticipation was that we’d be saying hi to familiar faces and then sitting through the standard presentation of boring Old Guy Stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to leave the event with a different feeling altogether.

What I feel now is a sense of pride and gratification in being from Omaha. We’ve got a good thing going here. Some of the honorees tonight have had (or still do have) a direct impact on my everyday life. I’ve lived in Mr. Seldin’s properties and done work for his company. I’ve done work for Mr. Moglia’s company. I’ve eaten at Mr. Mercer’s restaurants and enjoyed his family’s legacy in Omaha as one of my favorite aspects of the city. I grew up in Mr. Benson’s neighborhood and gone to the schools there.

Every one of the honorees tonight was exceptionally deserving. They have had a definitive positive impact on what makes our City great.

Omaha may not be New York City or San Francisco. And that’s not something we should compare. It’s Omaha. And it’s a good place to be. I’m proud to be from here and to have what I feel is a personal connection to tonight’s honorees. Thank you for making Omaha a better place to be. All I can do is hope to make any sort of contribution that could leave the city a better place as well.

I’m so not a morning person. And typically on a Saturday I sleep in, but this morning my husband and I  were up, dressed, and out the door at 8:30am to go pick up the iPads we had reserved. Read More

Not by taking anything sold over the counter, or even anything behind the pharmacy counter requiring a signature (damn you crack dealers!)!

This is a topic very much on my mind right now since I appear to have been afflicted with the “Welcome Spring I feel like Crap” influenza.  And every time I’m afflicted I go through the same buying cycle.  I run to the store and stock up on everything that promises to be “maximum strength”.  I get liquids and gel caps and powders to mix and none of it works.  I spend a small fortune and load my system up with toxins that may plague my internal systems for the rest of my life – and still no relief.

The odd thing is when asked about the efficacy of these products I can answer with certainty – they don’t work.  And yet, I run to them at the first sign of heavy-duty sniffles.

I think we do this because having a cold makes us feel as though some foreign influence has control over our bodies and we’re looking for a way to regain that control.  What better way of gaining control that to throw money at the problem.

Sometimes I make it to Day 3 of my cold valiantly fighting the urge to stock up on all of this worthless crap – but then I break – I can’t take it anymore – I need something!!!  And off to the pharmacy I run.

If I’ve learned one thing from this fruitless and expensive habit it’s this: I need to come up with a product that doesn’t cure an annoying problem for which a worthless product does not already exist.  Then you’ll all flock to the store to buy my product and make me rich.  Hmmm let’s see – I’m thinking I’ll manufacture a pill for those days when you feel unmotivated and vague.  If I start now I should have my house in Antigua by this time next year.  And you’ll still feel unmotivated and vague – but a little more in control!