Suburban Chicago restaurant The Beacon Tap is offering a free roll of toilet paper with each carryout or delivery order. Normally, restaurant providing toilet paper with their food would be an ominous promotion but in these times, it's boosted business! From NBC Chicago:

"[We were] trying to figure out ideas, and one of our other general managers over at Cafe Touché said 'Hey what about this?'" (General Manager Tommy) Riemer said. "I immediately made a phone call to Trimark (which supplies toilet paper to the Beacon Tap) ... and ordered as much as I could so we could offer it to customers as a little comic relief."

Riemer ordered 300 rolls. He said the response from customers has been "amazing" and he has already given out 80 rolls.

image: GorillaSushi (CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is changing the city's official slogan from "What happens here, stays here." As we all know, nothing that happens actually stays in Vegas anyway because it all ends up on Instagram with that slogan as the caption. In any case, the new slogan, several years in development but not yet officially announced, is: "What happens here, only happens here." From ABC News:

The new tourism slogan is expected to be officially unveiled in a 60-second ad during the broadcast of the Grammy Awards on Jan. 26, R&R Partners, the advertising agency behind the slogan told ABC News....

"It’s personal to me and the 75 other people at R&R Partners who work on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority account to get it right," Billy Vassiliadis, CEO R&R Partners said in a statement.

"Everything we do is driven by listening to our customers and what they want and need. We are confident this new campaign delivers that, and is the perfect evolution of 'What Happens Here, Stays Here,'" Vassiliadis explained.

.@LVCVA CEO @ShillforVegas announced at #PreviewLV that Vegas will be getting a new marketing slogan. It will be unveiled during the @GRAMMY Awards on January 26. Read more from @rickvelotta @reviewjournal https://t.co/MKpRvoXYGO

— Vegas Chamber (@lvchamber) January 17, 2020

image: Bill Debevc (CC BY 2.0) Read the rest

In San Diego, California, strip club chain Deja Vu Showgirls distributed 150 tents to homeless people. The tents are emblazoned with the Deja Vu logo, natch. From 10News:

A picture of one of the tents was posted onto the “Homeless News San Diego” Facebook page and it received both praise and criticism. Some believed it was a form of shameless advertising. Others applauded the company for stepping up to help.

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Creative agency Wieden+Kennedy NY developed this wide-mouth cup that enables NASCAR fans to take a sip without taking their eyes off the racetrack. I'd say that The Cup -- a 2009 promotional item for NASCAR and ESPN -- was quite an improvement over beer guzzler helmets worn by dedicated sports fans in prior decades.

(Jalopnik)

The Cup. In 2009 the creatives at @wknyc produced this wonderful at track giveaway for client @espn. Designed with the fans in mind, this drinking apparatus allowed you to enjoy any tasty beverage without missing the action on the track. #nascar pic.twitter.com/64sb2heoWp

— I Want to Believe Nascar (@IWTBNASCAR) December 29, 2019

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The pharma industry spends $2 on marketing for every $1 it spends on R&D: Shahram Ahari was a rep for Eli Lilly, so he knows how the money was spent: in a tell-all op-ed in the Washington Post, Ahari describes how he lavished spending over doctors, everything from dinners at "so many fancy Manhattan restaurants that the maitre d’s greeted me by name" to free ballgames and Broadway musical tickets to offering hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees to top prescribers. Read the rest

The queen of polka dots, the a-mazing Yayoi Kusama, is making her mark on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a three-story-tall balloon float. "Love Flies Up to the Sky" will be included as part of the Blue Sky Gallery, the parade's contemporary art series started in 2005. Previous artists have included Tim Burton, KAWS, and others. Kusama is the first woman to participate in the series.

ARTnet News:

“Her work lends itself to that playful whimsy that we like to see in the sky,” Susan Tercero, the parade’s executive producer... "What’s fantastic about her art, and why I think she’s so world-renowned, is that it is so accessible. Everyone can look at her art and appreciate it, understand it, and feel something from it, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

As wide as six taxi cabs, Kusama's balloon will require 40 handlers to march it through Manhattan on the morning of Thursday, November 28.

The ninety-year-old Japanese artist also has a new NYC gallery show. Every Day I Pray For Love includes one of her popular Infinity Rooms and will be exhibited at David Zwirner in Chelsea from November 9 to December 14, 2019.

(ARTnews)

images via ARTnet News and Macy's Read the rest

For this funny advertisement, CleanMyMac dressed up a fellow as a public pile of trash and when people dropped their litter on his back, he sprung up to surprise them.

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The Decoy Effect is a simple but powerful trick that marketers use to influence you to buy something that is bigger or more expensive than you need or want. I fall for this every time I go to the movies and think I'm going to buy the medium popcorn but end up getting the large because it costs just a few cents more. The medium popcorn is the decoy that nudges you to buy the large. But social psychologists have also studied the Decoy Effect outside retail environments. From the BBC News:

The decoy effect might also influence our voting in elections, and recruitment decisions. In these kinds of situations, the “decoy” may appear by accident rather than having been deliberately placed in the selection, but if you do come across two candidates who are similar, but one is slightly superior to the other, it will heighten your regard for them compared to the other competitors...

On a more positive note, scientists in the UK have also started to consider whether the decoy effect might be used to encourage people to make healthier life choices. Christian Von Wagner, a reader in behavioural science and health at University College London, for instance, recently explored people’s intentions to undergo a vital – but unpleasant – screening for colorectal cancer. He found that given the choice between arranging an appointment for the screening or not having the procedure at all, many people chose not to go. But if he also presented them with a third option – an appointment at a less convenient hospital with a longer waiting time, ie, the decoy – the uptake was greater.

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There's a new wine-and-cheese pairing in town. But it's not real cheese, it's one with Cheez-It snack crackers. Yep, for a limited time, Cheez-It and red-blended House Wine are being sold together in the same packaging, a box.

PRNewswire:

Summer is full of moments to grab a glass of wine and your favorite cheesy snack. Beginning July 25, you can purchase a limited-edition House Wine & Cheez-It box at OriginalHouseWine.com for $25, while supplies last. If you miss the chance to purchase a box, you can still enjoy mixing and matching Cheez-It and House Wine pairings on your own all summer long.

(AdWeek) Read the rest

This is quite a sight! At Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington, a bunch of folks in inflatable T-Rex costumes struggled to make their way down the horse-racing track this past weekend. Triguard Pest Control puts on this annual race, which serves as a terrific promotion of the racetrack. This video was placed on Facebook late Friday night and has already garnered over 195K shares.

Here's a video of the dinos racing back in 2017:

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Every now and again, a company will come up with a product "innovation" that seems to deprive people of their free will, driving great masses of internet users to look for Pokemon, or tend virtual farms, or buy now with one-click, or flock to Upworthy-style "You won't believe what happened next" stories, or be stampeded into buying something because there are "only two left" and "14 people have bought this item in the past 24 hours." Read the rest

Kraft has launched "Salad Frosting" as part of a jokey marketing campaign about the lies that parents tell their kids. Because, y'know, deceit is funny and those kids who already like ranch dressing will be too dumb to recognize that this is the same thing while those who can't stand the stuff will suddenly develop a taste for it because of the "fun" packaging. From the press release:

“Innocent lies parents tell their kids help alleviate the pressures of everyday parenting, and if it gets kids to eat their greens, so be it,” says Sergio Eleuterio Head of Marketing for Kraft, “Simple innocent lies are not only part of parenthood, but a true tactic used by parents everywhere. Kraft Salad 'Frosting' is one lie you won’t feel bad telling your kids.”

According to a recent study, Ranch dressing is the most popular dressing in the United States*** and kids will eat anything with frosting, right? It’s a match made for dinnertime bliss. Now, convincing children to eat salad, broccoli and carrots may be a whole lot easier. Just add Kraft Salad “Frosting.”

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With the help of her mom, a Girl Scout in Colorado has turned Samoas into "Momoas." Cookie sales have skyrocketed for fifth-grader (and "Top Cookie CEO") Charlotte Holmberg of Highlands Ranch since she and her mom started gluing a shirtless photo of beefcake Aquaman star Jason Momoa on Samoa boxes. Charlotte's mom, a marketing professional, was inspired by a meme photo she saw on the internet of Momoa and started designing new box art.

This one's for the ladies. (and the fellas) #elfontheshelf2018 #nottheelf pic.twitter.com/Tk2egiE15S

— Matt Hayduke (@mightybajah) December 13, 2018

KUSA:

...so her and Charlotte got to work printing out the pictures and gluing them on dozens of boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

They put it on Facebook, and you can guess what happened next.

"The moms are getting really excited and they're saying that they need them," Charlotte said.

Even other Girl Scouts are hitting up Charlotte, asking to buy some. Now you know why they call her the Top Cookie CEO.

They say Thin Mints are the most popular Girl Scout cookie. That might now be a thing of the past.

A statement has not been issued from Momoa.

images via Girl Scouts of Colorado

(Vice) Read the rest

Someone over at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen's marketing department has a sick sense of humor. For Philly fliers, the fast food chain is offering "Emotional Support Chicken" which are specially-marked, chicken-shaped carrier boxes filled with, yep, fried chicken.

The box reads:

This chicken provides comfort and nourishment during stressful air travel. Unlike other chicken, it is marinated in real Louisiana spices for 12 hours and must be permitted to fly without restriction. Do not leave unattended, as Popeyes' is not responsible for lost or stolen chicken.

From its press release:

Emotional support animals provide comfort and companionship, especially during a highly stressful time like air travel. However, according to recent headlines, some travelers are pushing the envelope with the types of animals they try to bring on flights and classify as "emotional support animals," including the likes of peacocks, squirrels and tarantulas. Knowing this, Popeyes decided to launch its new "Emotional Support Chicken" to bring holiday travelers some humor to what is one of the most stressful places to be during the holidays – the airport.

"Emotional Support Chicken" is ONLY available at the Gate C31 Popeyes in the Philadelphia airport.

image via Popeyes

(Cosmo) Read the rest

The medical world is no stranger to shilling (see, for example, the kickbacks that Purdue Pharma paid doctors who helped hook people on Oxycontin, generating billions in blood-money for the "philanthropist" Sackler family), and doctors are cashing in on the social media influencer market, selling everything from Quaker oats to deodorant. Read the rest

Sausage brand Jimmy Dean is offering wrapping paper that smells like their product line as part of a promotional "recipe gift exchange." To get some of this sausage-scented wrapping paper, you just have to cook up a recipe using their sausage and submit it to their exchange. You can then pick the wrapping paper, or one of the other branded things they offer, as your gift. Then you can enjoy the magic of huffing the meaty-smelling presents under the tree. Or not.

(Brandflakes) Read the rest

Instagram influencers are easy marks for phishers: they are unlikely to be security-savvy, are easily taken-in by marketing patter, have huge easily-grifted audiences, and Instagram won't even give them their accounts back afterward. Taylor Lorenz:

For young influencers with no direct contacts at Instagram or Facebook, it can be nearly impossible to retrieve a stolen account. Hackers will change the contact email address and phone number and reset the username so the account is impossible to find. Then, they’ll run ads on it until they can sell the whole page off for a large price, sometimes more than a hundred thousand dollars.

Faisal Shafique, a college student who Instagrams under the handle @Fact, said that he earns roughly $300,000 a year from posting sponsored content for brands like TikTok and Fashion Nova. When Brooks seized control of his account several weeks ago, it put those brand deals in jeopardy, potentially costing him his livelihood. Shafique was able to retrieve his account back before it was sold off, but he estimates he would have lost a half-a-million-dollar property if he hadn’t.

See also The Rise of the Nanoinfluencer -- people with smaller but still exploitable social media followings who get paid in care packages of the (sometimes expensive) stuff they post about. Read the rest