Hasta La Creative!

In a move to help address the health hazards that mobile phones bring, France is cracking the whip on mobile phone advertising, particularly to the kids. It is no secret that mobile phones emit radiation which can be a cause for cancer in kids. While this has been known for years now, France has taken the lead to address the issue to safeguard their youth from potential health risks.

Who knows if we may see the same trend followed by most companies from there?

French advertisements by contrast take a different view. Some put up in large cities including Lyon this week read: “Let’s keep them healthy, away from mobile phones!” Some Swedish research indicates that children are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobiles, but other research efforts have found results inconclusive.

(Source) Telegraph

For continuously supporting the gay organizations, a call by the American Family Association to boycott goods and products by Pepsi and Campbell has been announced. It is quite obvious that the homosexuality issue has been far from settled despite being set legal in some states.

Worst, this move by Pepsi on not supporting any pro-family organization that is opposed to homosexuality further got the ire of AFA and for sure, the world. Has Pepsi gone nuts?

Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda. Additionally, PepsiCo is forcing it’s employees to attend sexual orientation classes. Both of the gay organizations mentioned here donated large sums of money (perhaps some PepsiCo money) to defeat Proposition 8 in California. That didn’t work as the proposition to protect marriage in California was passed overwhelmingly by the people of California.

(Source) Examiner

In a familiar move that most businesses are doing now, advertising premiums have shifted towards the growing popularity of online advertising. Century 21, known for making effective advertising programs to carve its niche has made such a move with the hopes of retaining its market position in the real estate sales industry and hopefully tapping a new market that they never had before.

“With 84 percent of consumers shopping for a home online, according to the National Association of REALTORS®, we are confident that increased online advertising will benefit our brokers, agents and most importantly, the consumer.”

Such is a good tactic if traditional advertising has been failing to deliver. Perhaps other companies may want to study that niche as well.

(Source) RIS Media

Ads in transition is what the new slogan that Advil has embarked on in connecting its previous ad campaign, “Yes Advil” is concerned. In an age where companies are holding back on advertising costs, some companies are doing the opposite and in fact simply continuing where they left off.

This strategy helps them go towards a better direction, especially since familiarization has already been set. For Advil, the slogan may be timely considering many people today want some relief although not in the same definition of classifying pain.

the “most current slogan, ‘The Every Pain Reliever,’ bridges the previous campaign to the current ‘Yes, Advil’ campaign. It speaks to the functional benefits of Advil, which remain the same across both campaigns.”

(Source) Media Post

As if the current economic state in most parts of the world are not enough, this ad by Benylin, “Take a Benylin Day“, is surely not helping. With most workers now on the crossroads since they would never know if they would be included in the recession bug, giving them excuses and ideas on how to call in sick is certainly not any business owner would want to see advertised.

Benylin’s website says the product is there to “take the guilt out of calling in sick when you need time off to rest and recover”.

“We urge employers and employees alike to take a stand against cold and flu by staying at home, rather than going into work,” it continues.

A word to the employees though. If they are found to be fibbing, their job is theirs to lose. At the rate the people are being laid off these days, the last thing you would want is to slack off.

You can watch the video here.

(Source) BBC

Tesco Supermarket is in hot water for reportedly advertising bargain drink offers which it did not have. According to the reports, Tesco had announced a “cut-price” alcohol offering only to be found that the promotional gimmick was no more than a hoax to lure in customers to its fold.

And the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is understood to be pursuing a separate probe into reports Britain’s largest supermarket chain broke advertising by refusing to remove promotional banners in shop windows as supplies of the drinks ran dry.

The supermarket wars are reaching a boiling point and from the looks of it, Tesco may have gone in a wrong approach to up their standing.

(Source) Mail Online

Michael Phelps continues to be the apple of the eye of advertisers these days. The latest company to enlist him as their endorser is DMG Entertainment, choosing the Olympic gold winner to be the new face of Mazda in China.

It looks like things can get only sweeter for Michael Phelps after his historic triumph at the last Beijing games. Add another company to his endorsement profile.

Phelps, the world’s greatest Olympian and 14-times Gold Medal winner, will exclusively endorse the new Mazda 6 model in a series of advertising campaigns that include TV commercials, newspaper and magazine adverts, as well as outdoor poster advertising and personal appearances.

(Source) MSNBC

There is no law that prohibits any consumer to buy a flat screen TV. Hence, if controlling the energy consumption problem is the real issue, then state regulators are best left going after the manufacturers and setting down laws that require a certain degree of energy consumption to help curb energy hogging due to the vast purchase of electronic items.

By 2011, such regulations will be set. The gadgets will still be around but hopefully improved. Retailers have to make the necessary adjustments as early as now or else risk the chance of manufacturing their product line that will be shelved permanently.

Mike McMaster, president of Wilshire Entertainment Inc., worries that a rush to impose TV efficiency standards “would be basically the end of our business.” His locations in Thousand Oaks and Valencia employ 54 people and specialize in sales and installation of custom home theater systems centered on extremely large TVs.

(Source) LA Times

There is another familiar name that has filed for bankruptcy. Hard Rock Park announced that it is closing down as well after failing a proper buyer to carry on its business. But rather than file for Chapter 11, Hard Rock Park has requested their situation to be classified as Chapter 7 where a trustee is appointed and the property and assets are sold to pay creditors.

“Because the bid and sale process has been unsuccessful thus far, there exists no reasonable prospect of success in the immediate future,” the filing stated. “Regrettably, conversion of [the park’s] Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases to cases under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code thus appears to be the only remaining means of allowing the debtors’ assets to be liquidated and potential causes of action to be pursued and monetized for the benefit of creditors.”

The businesses that were really in trouble are surfacing one by one. It looks like this trend will continue and more companies are bound to file for Chapter 11 soon although Chapter 7 seems to be a more sane declaration to really clean out their debts.

(Source) The Sun News

When you unveil weight supplements in the market, bear in mind that any form of medication or pills need to be backed up by clinical proof. There is a new weight loss supplement being promoted in the market, Lipozene but the only problem is, they lack the clinical proof that can support its safety and aid towards people who are now focusing on losing weight after the holidays.

Despite the claims made by the Obesity Research Institute (ORI) – the company name that’s branded on the packaging – that Lipozene is “clinically proven to reduce body fat,” no research is provided on the web site. Although there is plenty of information about how to buy the product, the ORI provides scant reason to buy their product.

Be careful of what you intake. There is no telling what they have in store for you.

(Source) InterSportsWire