What it means to bring home the bacon and schtupp the schoolteacher
Copywriting can lead you down some strange rabbit holes. While hacking together some draft web copy this morning, I typed out “bring home the bacon” as a reference to earning…
Marketing
Mental Health and The Hypocrisy of #BellLetsTalk
Bell didn’t actually start any conversation about mental health, despite their PR. So now that Bell has enjoyed PR-pimping mental health as a self-aggrandizing excuse to give money to Canadian…
A True Gateway Drug
For those who believe in the virtues of unfettered capitalism, you might want to read up on how teens and pre-teens are now ingesting nicotine, many for the first time,…
Stop Applying Marketing-Think To Government, It’s Disgusting.
CBC, with some analysis on Harper’s expected cabinet shuffle provides this quote from former Mulroney Chief of Staff David McLaughlin: “There’s a staleness about some of the ministry and some…
The New Rockstar Philosophy:a marketing bible for DIY musicians
Every musician and their dog knows that the music industry ain’t what is used to be. Heck, it’s not even what it was ten years ago when I was still…
The danger of contextual advertising
Clipped from CBC.ca last year, this unfortunate little gem illustrates how contextual advertising may not always showcase your brand in a flattering environment. As they say, buyer beware. (Click the…
The $700 plate of noodles
When I moved to Vancouver last year, I found this tiny Thai restaurant in my neighbourhood. As a lunch special, they offered a tasty plate of pad thai for $7…
Email marketing is not a membership perk
Your email newsletter can be one of your most powerful marketing tools. Why a few arts organizations still think newsletters are an exclusive benefit requiring paid access completely stumps me.…
Discipline and ‘stuff’
Good ideas come and go. Some of us have difficulty with the ‘coming’ of ideas – we work hard at having good ones and thinking them through – however everyone…
An Olympic lesson on how to botch a mobile marketing campaign
I’m no fan of Coca-Cola. That said, their television ad running throughout the Olympics is quite clever. It features British DJ, producer and musician Mark Ronson, who sampled sounds produced…
A Fine Example of Culture Jamming
The Yes Men are at it again and this time with Greenpeace to show how efficient Shell is….at killing all of us. They created a website called Arctic Ready that…
Understanding the Current Canadian Political Situation
So much is going on in the Canadian political landscape, I really didn’t know where to start. That said, this article tries to cover a lot of the problems that…
Sleepin’ Forzanis
Sportchek – a business going sideways, fast. A close friend was talking about getting some new shoes lately, and that made me think back on Sportchek, a business that used…
Shake things up with snail mail
Disclaimer: I’m not talking about direct mail campaigns here. I figure you can come up with much more interesting ways to waste money on your own. I was listening to…
Vancouver Reduces Sexual Assaults by 10% Using Male-Targeted Ads
It’s unfortunate that we still need ad campaigns to remind women to be safe from sexual assault, it’s even more unfortunate that we target these campaigns at women when men…
Epic Fail Snail Mail
If you wanted to promote something that was better than ever, especially high definition television, you certainly wouldn’t like to use a piece of snail mail that wound up in…
Can’t Get a Decent Sandwich? Blame Subway’s Advertising Budget
Man am I getting sick of saturation Subway advertising. There is no nook or cranny they can’t squeeze themselves into. Canadian radio, American radio, TV, shows on my computer, you…
Why is CBC running sexist Volkswagen ads?
A sexist Volkswagen ad speaks to the dangers of North America’s corporate car culture. (Illustration by Coco Riot.) Over recent weeks, viewing news updates at CBC online has become increasingly…
Rogers, Nissan Lead in Christmas Crassness Sweepstakes
Oh, I like Christmas. I’m lucky to live in a place where there’s often snow at Christmas, and I like the lights, the crowds, and so on. Sure, the commercialism…