advertising

Advertisers have always believed that sex is the best way to sell. But one ad campaign in London may have taken the scandal in scandalous a bit too far.

A British advertising watchdog is going after a saucy ad campaign for smoked sausages that asks listeners to reveal "where you like to stick yours." The ads for Mattesons Sausages received twenty one complaints from listeners who said they were offensive because of their sexual suggestions and shouldn’t be aired when children may be listening.

One commerical asks listeners to "think about all the things you can stick this tasty and extraordinarily large sausage in." It goes on to say "pizza, pasta or stir fry. You have ideas give me a call and tell me where you like to stick it."  read more »

Being closer to the end than the beginning of my own very rewarding media career, I can sympathize with the thousands of younger aspiring journalists who are faced with a rapidly deteriorating job market that may not give them the chance to get in on the ground floor of such an exciting industry.

And seasoned veterans are not being spared from the economic tsunami washing over the media business. Long time local TV and radio news anchors and reporters are being unceremoniously shown the door in cities all across the country. Magazines and newspapers are also in free fall, with huge layoffs in editorial, operational and marketing divisions at some of the country’s biggest publications.  read more »

Broadcast media is now getting hit with the same economic tidal wave that has been pushing newspapers and magazines under water. But it’s not just due to the internet turning consumers from couch potatoes into keyboard clickers. It’s also advertising dollars now disappearing from all forms of traditional media.

Here is a case in point.

The other day I played golf with a long-time friend of mine who is also in the media business. He anchors a very popular morning radio show in the San Francisco Bay Area. When I asked how things were going for him given the always tenuous nature of careers in broadcasting, he said, “Ratings for my show are through the roof. We have no problem getting listeners. The problem is we have no buyers.”  read more »