The Gardenburger Mess — How Not to Handle a Crisis

It started last weekend, when small signs at Burgerville outlets notified customers that the chain was temporarily taking Gardenburgers off the menu. The story picked up steam when Burgerville placed a huge order with a small local meatless-patty manufacturer. Now, it’s exploded into public view as grocery giant Fred Meyer announces that it has pulled […]

Not Even Cocktail Napkins Are Safe

It used to be you could escape the outside world by going to the bar. Then somebody put a neon “Budweiser” sign in the window, and another enterprising chap realized that the bathroom walls could be an advertising medium. And now, “Welcome to Napkin Advertising.” So says Nap Ads. The bar owner gets free napkins, […]

An Interesting Place to Put Your Cigarettes

“I’m sitting on the porch of a bungalow on the Yucatan Peninsula with lit cigarettes sticking out of both my ears.” That’s the opening line of Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston. The narrator has consulted a doctor because his ears were clogged, and the cigarettes were the prescription: “When my ears become clogged, I […]

Free Advertising Podcast Now Available

A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by Michael Thompson of Marketing Accelerators for his podcast series. The subject was advertising mistakes and how to fix them. You can download the podcast for free, listen to it on your computer, or put it on your Ipod. Download the full interview here. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Click this […]

Is Ford’s New Campaign on the Right Track?

When selling, remember: If you don’t admit the downside, they won’t believe the upside. — Roy Williams Lively discussion in progress on AdRants (see the comments) regarding Ford’s new ad campaign, “Drive One”. I admit to a rooting interest here, since I have two Ford dealers as clients. The author of the post is hard […]