Advertising

On March 23, my colleague Mark Finkelstein noted how MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry considers the unborn child a "thing" which takes a "lot of money" to "turn into a human," costing thousands of dollars to care for each year of his/her life. Now it appears that Harris-Perry thinks that, after they're born, children fundamentally belong to the state.

Narrating a new MSNBC "Lean Forward" spot, the Tulane professor laments that we in America  "haven't had a very collective notion that these are our children." "[W]e have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to their communities," Harris-Perry argued.

“Large sugary drinks” got a reprieve this week after a judge struck down New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on drinks above a certain size and in only some dining establishments. But sugar is still under attack according to Advertising Age magazine.

The cover story of the magazine’s March 11, 2013, issue was headlined “Public Enemy No. 1,” and warned marketers to “beware” because “sugar may be the next regulatory target.”

Sexy underwear might be on your 13-year-old daughter’s wish list this Spring. Popular lingerie chain Victoria’s Secret recently launched a spring line aimed for pre-teens and young teenagers. The risqué brand is no stranger to using sex to sell, but this new move is causing many parents to question whether this is appropriate for young girls.  

The company currently has a line called “Pink” aimed for the college market, but this new campaign called “Bright, Young Things” would be aimed at a much younger crowd. SF Gate reports that the collection includes, “lace back cheeksters with the word “Wild” on the back, to a lace trim thong with “Call Me” on the front, to green-and-white polka-dot hipsters reading “Feeling Lucky?”

The Media Research Center, parent organization of NewsBusters, rented five large billboards in Times Square over the weekend as part of our new“Stop Censoring the News” campaign to educate the public about how certain media outlets apparently are spinning their coverage or simply censoring news critical of the Obama administration to protect and promote a liberal agenda.

The five billboards are clustered together in Times Square and face in different directions, covering 3,800 square feet. Two of the signs read, “It’s Time the Liberal Media Stop Censoring the News!” and two others read, “Start Telling the Truth!” above an image of three monkeys, labeled ABC, CBS, and NBC, who are depicted as the  three mystic apes that see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil.

Nowadays, our nation's capital is in such ill-repute that if George Washington were around, he might sue to have his name taken off it. But never fear: restoring Washington's good name is just a few trillion dollars away!

So Chris Matthews assures us in an MSNBC "Lean Forward" promo that is currently airing.  After ticking off a number of big-government programs initated under past presidents, Matthews continues: "we got to get back to that, and then Washington will have a good name again." View the promo after the jump.

Angus T. Jones told the truth. In a religious video posted on YouTube, the former child actor who’s the “half” man of the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” shocked the celebrity press by saying “I don’t want to be on it. Please stop watching it. Please stop filling your head with filth.”

Calling this show “filth” is like calling your Christmas tree an evergreen. Yet about 14 million Americans still love filling their head with this filthy show, and they don’t want to be told what they’re doing.

I watch some commercials on television and am amazed that the corporate sponsor really signed off on the product.  Think about the expressions on the faces of the dark suits in the executive boardroom when they were presented with some of the commercials running on TV right now. 

Take Jack In The Box. “Jack Box,” the fast-food chain’s mascot – a man wearing what looks like a ping-pong-ball head or a snowman getup with a clown hat – is sitting playing a game much like Scrabble with a beautiful blonde. He lays out the non-word “swavory,” selling a waffle breakfast sandwich for having savory sausage and sweet maple waffles. The blonde then lays on the board letters reading “No Nookie.” Jack says, “What’s that supposed to....? Oh.” Is sexual slang really necessary to sell breakfast sandwiches during prime time? 

 

Some liberals would have you believe that just because you can't see it on the surface, Mitt Romney's campaign ads are brimming with racism. What's funny about this analysis, if you could call it one, is that it seeks to combat racism by being racist.  It's like the Voter ID narrative the left is pushing in the media.  Liberals feel that blacks and minorities are incapable to obtaining a non-driving government issued ID, yet conservatives are the racist ones.

Witness a July 23 column published at the Christian Science Monitor website by Charlton McIlwain and Stephen M, Caliendo in which our helpful liberal guides explain that, "in the presidential election, it’s not a matter of whether racism will appear in campaign messaging, but when":

The Jurassic Press is missing much in their reporting on the $50 billion bailout of General Motors (GM).  The Press is open channeling for President Barack Obama - allowing him to frame the bailout exactly as he wishes in the 2012 Presidential election. 

The President is running in large part on the bailout’s $30+ billion loss, uber-failed “success.”  And the Press is acting as his stenographers.  An epitome of this bailout nightmare mess is the electric absurdity that is the Chevrolet Volt.  The Press is at every turn covering up - rather than covering - the serial failures of President Obama’s signature vehicle.

On the heels of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest stupid regulations commanding a shrinkage in the size of sugary drinks in restaurants, movie theaters, and stadiums, the Walt Disney Company has announced it will ban ads for products on its broadcast and online platforms that it has scientifically determined are “junk food” that do not meet the company’s nutrition standards.

Curiously, Disney announced that it would begin this new effort immediately – wait, no, at some time in 2015. So why announce this now? It would seem so Disney could be praised and honored by First Lady Michelle Obama – or the other way around. It just smells. It carries a distinct aroma of Campaign 2012.

Did you happen to see a shirtless man masturbating an ax in front of thousands of people June 2? If so, you probably also saw President Obama’s first campaign ad of the season. Both were featured during the 2012 MTV Movie Awards.

Once again, the MTV Movie Awards strewn with crass sex jokes and innuendo. Host Russell Brand began the program talking about having an orgasm to Justin Bieber, his desire for a sex tape between Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and the size of Michael Fassbender’s genitalia or, as he referred to it his “pink pipe of acting wonder.”  Rarely did he make an appearance on stage where he refrained from alluding to some sort of sexual act. 

This is a really scary thought.

On this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman actually said the most powerful and "unifying" media figures in the country today are "the daytime women talk show hosts. It's Oprah, Ellen and The View" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

If you haven't seen the hilariously effective ad by Karl Rove's American Crossroads group that portrays Barack Obama as a celebrity president with a failed economic record, check it out in the video clip.

Mika Brzezinksi was clearly peeved at how well the ad was playing even with her liberal-dominated panel.  After Obama fan Donny Deutsch, and no-conservative-he John Heilemann praised the ad, a Mika at wit's end sought to recruit HuffPo's Sam Stein to help her out.  "Can you debunk some of the things in the ad?", she entreated.  Stumbled Stein: "ah-h-h-h-h, sure, I guess."  After offering a paltry defense that Joe Scarborough demolished, Stein was reduced to saying that Mika had invited him to try to debunk the ad, and that "I'm trying my best!"  View the amusing video after the break.

Count comedian Chris Rock as yet another liberal who can't bear to take not just criticism but even an innocent question about his beliefs.

Under light questioning from conservative author Jason Mattera, Rock turned what was a regular friendly interaction with a fellow Brooklynite into a physical assault on a female camera operator when Mattera tried to get him to briefly explain remarks that he had made that the Tea Party movement was "insanely racist." Video below the break.

During the weekly left-wing panel discussion on Tuesday's NBC Today, advertising executive Donny Deutsch announced: "The advertisers that are still on [sponsoring Limbaugh's radio show] are basically voting, 'Yes, we're okay with it.' They have no choice – I'm an ad guy, obviously – they have no choice but to go away." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Deutsch predicted: "Advertisers will speak and they will speak loud, and you're just seeing the beginning of it." Near the end of the segment, he berated Limbaugh's other advertisers: "I'm actually imploring advertisers to make – maybe we can use this to make a change in the voice out there, forget even Rush. Advertisers, take a stand right now. Every single one of you."

Until now, MSNBC's "Lean Forward" ad campaign had largely avoided wearing the network's leftward slant as a badge of pride. Sure, there were hints here and there that "Lean Forward" really means "left-leaning," but the older ads were subtle compared to the latest batch which beat you over the head with their liberal take on major political issues.

For example, you can expect to see MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell in this spot lamenting that ObamaCare didn't go far enough to the Left:

 

On Tuesday's CBS Early Show, contributor Taryn Winter Brill touted a new University of Pennsylvania study on the influence of breakfast cereal cartoon characters on children: "Previous research has shown how these images influence children's selections, but now a new study reveals they also influence how the kids think the cereal actually tastes."

In the report that followed, Brill described how marketing campaigns "target" kids to sell unhealthy sugary cereals: "Breakfast cereal is a $10 billion a year business and competition is fierce...especially among children's cereal....They target kids with cartoon characters, in commercials and on boxes, that practically reach from store shelves to grab your kid's attention." The headline on screen during the segment read: "Cereal Offenders; Cartoon Images Affect Kids' Taste Perception."

What's with the New York Times and its inability to practice what it preaches when it comes to avoiding gun-filled images and rhetoric?  A few days ago I noted how the Times had placed a bullet-riddled ad for a violent video game right on its online op-ed page.

Now comes this Times headline: "Republicans’ Budget Man Draws Fire".  That is of course a metaphorical invocation of someone who by his actions invites an enemy to shoot at him.  The article's subject was Republican congressman Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman and budget hawk who will be giving the GOP response to Pres. Obama's SOTU.  To complete the martial metaphor, the article, by Jennifer Steinhauer and David Herszenhorn, also describes Ryan as "the Republican point man" on budget cuts.  A point man is of course the soldier at the lead of a patrol, hence most likely to be shot.

Oliver Stone is discovering one of the many joys of capitalism: without it, he would never be able to make such flashy, well-produced films bashing capitalism!

Stone's latest film, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", may have replaced Charlie Sheen, star of the original, with a younger Shia LaBeouf, but it's still as hypocritically anti-capitalist as the original.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "Money Never Sleeps" would not have been able to muster a sufficient budget without massive product placement campaigns. The film benefitted "enormously" from the advertising technique, Stone admitted (h/t Big Hollywood headlines).