Bias Against People Over 50 Is the Work of Feeble-Minded Novices

Divisiveness is a fact of life in America today. Sadly, too many brands and their agency partners see an opportunity in it. When you make fun of one group, it excites another group and moves them to action. That’s the idea and it’s not wrong. What’s wrong is using fear, judgment, and other wedge issues […]

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The Ad Business Has A Problem with Boys Clubs, a.k.a. Creep Rings

The ad business is a Boys Club of the highest order. Zoe Scaman, a strategist, recently reaffirmed this fact and set the Interwebs on fire with her front-line reporting of the abuse she endured while working in agencies not her own. Her narrative is both raw and ugly as can be. Painful though it is, […]

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No “Country” for Holocaust Deniers or Other Factless Conspirators

Haters are having a hard time pumping the socials full of hate, right now. No, their venomous fangs have not gone dry. Social media platforms are starting to enforce their own codes of conduct. Accountability—it’s not just for breakfast anymore. F to the B Finally Tells Holocaust Deniers to Shove Off Monika Bickert, VP of […]

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Mozilla Is Gettin’ After It

Mozilla, the not-for-profit behind Firefox, was purpose-built to make the internet what it can be: an open tool for everyone — the powerful and the weak, the right and the left, everyone. Right now, Mozilla is on a mission to unfck the internet. “On an unfcked internet, platforms will create incentives to stop fomenting conflict […]

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Ad Chatter, The Podcast: Change Isn’t Coming, It’s Here

Seattle-based copywriter, author, and educator, Dan Goldgeier, and I recorded a pilot episode of Adpulp’s new podcast today. We’ve previously recorded and shared video segments. This is pure audio. We discuss four timely topics on this pilot episode: Hill Holliday’s newly stated commitment to diversity and inclusion The NBA is out on strike 300 Pizza […]

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Brighter Futures for the Ad Industry Are Possible, Following Massive Reform

Someone moved the ad industry’s cheese. The various reactions from industry leaders have been slow and haphazard at best, but that’s starting to change. The World Federation of Advertisers has formed the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media. “In the ancient story of the Tower of Babel, the city collapsed because its inhabitants lost the ability […]

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Who Will Rescue The U.S. Postal Service, And How?

This week, the U.S. Postal Service admitted that in 46 states and the District of Columbia it could not guarantee mail-in ballots would arrive in time to be counted for the 2020 election. Though Trump casts his own ballots by mail, he’s vigorously criticized efforts to allow more people to do so, which he argues […]

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Adland Podcast Number 9: From Ad Industry Woes To New and Improved Pathways

Two advertising professionals and OG ad bloggers enter a podcast recording booth… Tune in now to find out what was said. This ep of the adland podcast I chat with @davidburn of @adpulp about trademarks (like adland) paying people for their work, digital debris and much more. Namechecked the @adcontrarian more than once. ? https://t.co/h06dmkJLPN […]

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Chemistry Rules the Relationship, Inside and Outside the Agency

What’s the most difficult part of working in the ad agency business? Nine out of 10 people say that working well with clients is the most difficult part of working in the ad agency business. Actually, I just made that up. Nevertheless, clients can and do ruin a good thing. Here’s a related question…who is […]

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There’s A New School In Ad City, It Is Free To Attend and “Unapologetically Black”

Access—you can’t get there without it. In the advertising agency business, access has been afforded to the few. The industry is elite by design. The people on the inside ask those on the outside to “break-in,” if they can. The entire set up is adversarial from the get-go. Yes, there’s talk of a meritocracy for […]

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Business Journalists Have Harder Truths To Tell, And Now Is the Time

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” -George Bernard Shaw I have covered the marketing, media, and advertising industries on this website for 15.5 years now. What began as a place to have digital “watercooler discussions” about ads, quickly grew into something bigger and better. Adpulp.com has […]

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Coca-Cola, Ford, Starbucks et al Halt Ad Spending on ‘All’ Social Media Platforms

In 2018, Coca-Cola launched #RefreshtheFeed giving its social media accounts a complete factory reset. Coca-Cola’s new social strategy was “rooted in optimism, uplift, and connection.” Now the beverage icon is going to pause paid and organic posts on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days, effective July 1. Chairman and CEO, James Quincey, […]

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More than 100 Companies Stop Advertising on Facebook (Sort Of)

Hit pause on hate. That’s the call-to-action issued on June 17, by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL. Their new Stop Hate for Profit campaign asks businesses to suspend advertising on Facebook’s services during July. The campaign’s partners, including Color of Change, Common Sense, Free Press, and Sleeping […]

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Reflections In the American Mirror: Baseball, Race, and Pancake Mix

Major League Baseball will be back soon. A second spring training will begin next week, with opening day in late July. Is this an encouraging sign or a desperate plea to return to a normal that just isn’t there? Time will tell. Meanwhile, here in Texas, we’re experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases, and the […]

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IBM Thinks Bigger; It’s In The Company’s DNA To Do So

Technology that ushers in sweeping societal changes ought to come with a warning, but that’s fanciful thinking in unregulated America. On these brave shores, we believe in self-reliance and self-regulation, prolonged fantasies both. I often wonder, did Steve Jobs know what he was unleashing with the iPhone because the impact has not been all good. […]

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Laura Desmond Meets with Advertising Students at UT, Learns Why They Block Ads

Stan Talks is a library of short videos produced by the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. This new talk, released last month, features Laura Desmond, founder and CEO of Eagle Vista Partners in Chicago. Desmond is intent on building […]

Facebook’s Rogue Founder, Chris Hughes, Funds Anti-Monopoly Efforts

Do you know Mark? Mark knows you. Do you know who does know, Mark? Chris Hughes knows Mark. Hughes was there along with fellow Harvard undergrads Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, and Dustin Moskovitz when Facebook was founded in 2004. Incidentally, Adpulp was founded a few months later that same year. Because Hughes knows Mark, Hushes […]

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Facebook Blows Technicolor Chunks

Facebook blows technicolor chunks. Let’s count off a few of the leading reasons for the giant suck. Facebook lies about its traffic, inflating their numbers by 900% in some cases. Facebook allows politicians (and Russian agents) to run paid lies on its platform. Facebook is the world’s largest excuses factory. The San Jose Mercury News […]

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In the Hospitality Business, The Personal Is Increasingly Political

A chain of high-end boutique hotels with locations in Portland, Seattle, Palm Springs, New Orleans, Boston, and other American cities is facing increased consumer scrutiny for one reason and one reason only. “Anyone who cares about America should not do any business or stay at any of Gordon Sondland’s hotels,” U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer said. […]

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Dick’s Sporting Goods Destroyed Its Inventory of AR-15s

Assault weapons are for soldiers. This is not another decision being handed down by a hapless and corrupt government. And it’s not a debate. It’s action being taken by conscious CEOs like Ed Stack of Dick’s Sporting Goods. According to the local CBS station in Pittsburgh, it was just after the Sandy Hook attack that […]

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