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AdJab

AdJab's retirementFebruary 1 2007

As regular readers know, AdJab is retiring. AdJab has been a wonderful blog for us. As somebody who records TV shows on his computer partly to capture the commercials (rather than skip over them), I have really enjoyed reading AdJab's daily exploration of the industry and its products.

It's important to point out that a blog retirement is not a blog failure. Here at Weblogs, Inc. we are continually honing our network to be the best content engine for readers and bloggers both. In part, that means figuring out how to divide our resources that, sadly, are not infinite. We have changed tremendously in the last three years, expanding wildly at the start into a sort of bulk publishing model, then refining and contracting somewhat into a leaner machine. We have more bloggers than ever before, and fewer blogs. That means a dazzling concentration of minds and voices in our chosen fields of publication.

Whenever we make a change, there is some disappointment among readers, and sadness for everyone -- including those of us involved in decision-making. We take it all seriously; nothing about this is capricious. AdJab has lived close to our hearts, too.

I speak for everyone on the Weblogs, Inc. team when I give the greatest appreciation to our amazing bloggers, who wake up every single day thinking, "What will I dig up today?" Professional blogging is unlike any other freelance writing gig, in

One Final JabJanuary 31 2007

As you might have heard by now, AdJab is shutting down effective today. This is, of course a sad day for all of us on the AJ team but all good things, I suppose, must come to an end. In order to give the site the send off it deserves I've asked the guys who are currently on that team to write out their thoughts below.

As for myself, I'd just like to say that writing for AdJab, something I started doing back in May of 2005, has been an absolutely great experience. It went from something that I did just for a lark to a project that I felt deeply passionate about and, to some extent, responsible for. I've gotten to know some great people and have hopefully created some content that has provoked thought, upset a couple of status quos and been entertaining and informative to read. Those have, at least, been my goals.

Not only have the men and women writing for AdJab been an asset, but the site would not have been half as strong as it was without it being part of a larger ad/marketing/PR online community. The folks behind sites like AdRants, Jaffe Juice, AdFreak, Beyond Madison Avenue,

Super Bowl Wrap-Up: 1/31/07January 31 2007

Filed under: Television, Super Bowl 2007

Honestly, this Wrap-Up is going to be so huge you might want to print it out and take it to the bathroom with you. Though that might make clicking the links a bit harder. You could take your lap-top with you, but that's not going to work if you're on a PC. You could take your PC with you, but that's going to need a long extension cord. Aww heck, just read it now. If you have time. Otherwise save it for later. I might be rambling.

First off, print out your Super Bowl advertising scorecard here at TV Week.

Over on my personal Movie Marketing Madness site I opine on why so few movie studios have opted out of advertising during this year's game.

All the talk about Kevin Federline's commercial for Nationwide Insurance, including the displeasure of the National Restaurant Association over the portrayal of fast-food jobs as undesirable, means the insurance company is

Why do the Pepto-Bismol people help the monsters?January 31 2007

Filed under: Gripes, Television, Op-ed

Wow, there's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

I'm talking about that commercial for Pepto-Bismol, the one where the advertising icons come to life and start attacking the city. They're crushing buildings with their feet and generally causing havoc everywhere. And then they get upset stomach and diarrhea. Maybe from all of the people they've been eating or something. Now, this seems like great news for the world. The giants will get sick and stop attacking the world, maybe even die, never hurting the world again. It would at least give the city some time to figure out what to do with the giants, blow them up or drug them or tie them up or something.

So why do they send in a helicopter with a giant bottle of Pepto? Why do they want to help the giants, make them feel better? The giants take the medicine, and the commercial ends with the monsters continuing to attack the city.

???

I guess the prospect of giants having diarrhea all over the city was worse than him stepping on people and crushing b

P&G claps politely but does not attend OscarsJanuary 31 2007

Filed under: Television

Procter & Gamble has made the decision to not buy any advertising time during this year's Academy Awards telecast. Commercial time for this year's telecast is running at about $1.7 for a 30-second spot, a far cry from the Super Bowl's $2.6 million. P&G had used last year's Oscar broadcast to promote its Olay Regenerist skin-care product. Procter & Gamble is still advertising on Oscar.com, the awards show website. The discrepency between TV and online attitudes is emblematic of a thought-shift at P&G that emphasizes interactive ads over the traditional model.

With P&G now out of the running for the Oscars, Unilever has stepped in and will advertise for the Dove brand. The Oscars are seen as sort of a Super Bowl for women since it, like the big football game, is one of the few mass-viewed TV shows still around. It attracts a much more female-weighted audience, though.

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