Marketing and all things related

Marketing Blurb does not want to talk about Burger King marketing. Unlike other pundits, we think their online Subservient Chicken promotion was ridiculous. (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, consider yourself lucky.) Sure this was ground-breaking. Did it sell any chicken sandwiches? And we think the Burger King character was the big plastic head is scary as hell. So, to be honest, we are indifferent that Burger King has decided return to NASCAR sponsorship after a nine year absence. Burger King will sponsor five races in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Bill Elliott will drive Burger King wheels bearing the number 00 which makes perfect sense to us. On the plus side, those who watch NASCAR also eat burgers. Photo Credit: Promo Magazine

Now you might think that distributing samples of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to teachers via a promotion called Clean Up the Classroom is a good idea, and you would be wrong, naturally. A box of requested samples arrived at Coal Creek... Continue Reading

Back in January, we explained that size matters in entertainment marketing. Of course the same is true for fast food, so Papa John’s has decided to enlist the mother of all primates, King Kong, to hawk pizza. Okay, so the... Continue Reading

Since our children are grown, Marketing Blurb has not shopped Toys R Us for ages. We remember the stores as over-merchandised to the point of appearing junky. Perhaps that has changed. But countless children and their parents are shopping the... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb will never drink Pepsi to earn points for a free movie ticket. If we did, we would discover we did not have the teeth necessary for the popcorn. But forgetting our bias, Pepsi is running this nifty promotion... Continue Reading

While taking out the trash yesterday, I noticed free coupons for McDonald’s new Premium Coffee atop the recycling bin. Even though Marketing Blurb missed the free Starbucks coffee offer earlier this week, we decided to pass on a premium brew... Continue Reading

When the alarm went off this morning, Marketing Blurb awakened to the news that Starbucks was offering free coffee at more than 7,500 Starbucks around the country between 10 AM and noon in a promotion dubbed the National Coffee Break.... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb has stayed at the finest hotels all across the country (always on someone else’s dime.) But even when we expense the tab, we still shutter at room rates which seem more like a mortgage payment. Sure the fresh... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb loves rock and roll more than the next pundit. And umpteen years ago when we still attended rock concerts, they were held in small auditoriums where you could actually see the performers without aid of a monster video screen... Continue Reading

Get ready for Spring Break. This year, as in years past, students will die from alcohol poisoning or drunken driving, girls will be raped, and advertisers will seek to build long-term brand relationships with adolescents. And we’re not talking about... Continue Reading

Real men and women drive trucks. And just like the rest of us, these road warriors are due for a vacation. Fortunately, Volvo Trucks North America is offering all truckers a change to enter the Discover the Treasure sweepstakes. (The... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb has already explained why we do not go to the movies. Here is another reason. Six Flags has just announced the release of “brand entertainment,” a two-and-a-half minute commercial previewing a new park ride. The commercial will be... Continue Reading

We are sure that office managers everywhere are thrilled by advertisers creating webisodes and online games targeting and tempting workers to goof off at their computers. Some promotions pretend they are lunch-hour diversions, others just assume, hey—you need a break.... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb already told you about the KFC Slow Motion Gambit, a commercial viewers watch slowly frame-by-frame to reveal a secret code for a discount coupon. Well, it seems that ABC decided the technique was a violation of the FCC... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb must not get around much anymore. We discovered from Promo Magazine, that Smirnoff is seeking to hire a cocktail consultant for a one year contract. The person in this position will travel the country to report back to... Continue Reading

Coca-cola is launching a new rewards program. You drink Coke every day for a year, drop dead, and they cover your funeral expenses—just kidding. Instead, Coke is offering a loyalty a multi-year loyalty program, whereby drinkers collect and redeem points... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb cannot find much programming on television worth watching, so the idea that we might actually record something is ludicrous. However, when teaching marketing to adult learners, we discovered that many folks would rather sell their spouse into slavery... Continue Reading

Geez, Marketing Blurb really feels humiliated, because we didn’t even know about the iTunes Music Store Billion Songs Countdown. Okay, so we don’t own an iPod—but can't we just pretend, anyway? Well, if we had been paying attention (and if... Continue Reading

Now you might think that some people ignore television commercials, or certainly zap them if they record television programming. You would be right, naturally. So if Kentucky Fried Chicken wants you to actually watch the new commercial for their new... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb did not compete in the Olympic snowboarding competition this year. But if we had executed one of those monster 570s in the Half Pipe, we would have been listening to the Black-eyed Peas from the iPod sewn right... Continue Reading