Markets

The 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of the Month

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: May 31, 2011 / 10:35 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Italy's war against bimbos ... Kool-Aid abandons caucasians ... an ad on YouTube that lasts just one second ... It all happened in May 2011:

Italy wages war against bimbos in ads
Sex sells, but does it have to sell absolutely everything? "We just go endlessly for the pretty, big-bosomed girls," sighed Massimo Guastini, head of the Italian Art Directors Club (ADCI) behind the initiative, which has gathered 200 industry backers since being launched earlier this year.
Kool-Aid now only for Hispanics
Drink up, whitey. Kraft now devotes the majority of its Kool-Aid ad budget to Latinos.
The dismal economics of the New York Times
A print reader is worth 228 times as much as an online reader, in subscription and advertising revenue, according to Henry Blodget. Online, before its new paywall, the company collected $3.85 per year per user, all from advertising.
Knife, penis and ad agency exec add up to worst date ever
Just when you thought you'd seen it all.
Ad agency fires IT guy on his first day at work because he has a blog
Another case of someone's online life catching up to their real life.
A gallery of Apple ads past and present
Wow. Some of those early efforts were absolutely horrible.
1-second YouTube ad is unbelievably irritating ...
... because it's a PSA for the OCD Foundation
Is Saatchi CEO really the 26th most influential person in the history of rugby?
Someone at The Sunday Times thinks he is. Note that Roberts doesn't specifically deny the honor. So modest!
Summer movie posters remade with Lego
Should be a required part of studios' marketing mix, IMHO.
Allure says, If you take free samples you can only write nice things
What blogger payola looks like: "You are under no obligation to cover the brands or products in your blog; however, if you do, we ask that you follow our mother's philosophy that 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.'"

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