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Gilbert Gottfried with the Aflac duck. (AP)
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried apologized Tuesday for a series of jokes made on Twitter about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, comments which got him fired as the voice of insurer Aflac.
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried apologized Tuesday for a series of jokes made on Twitter about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, comments which got him fired as the voice of insurer Aflac. Get the full story »
Ryan Gavin, senior director of Internet Explorer for Microsoft, shows IE9 last month in in San Francisco. (Reuters)
A new version of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer to be released Tuesday will be the first major Web browser to include a do-not-track tool that helps people keep their online habits from being monitored. Get the full story »
One of Allstate’s “mayhem” ads.
Allstate’s “mayhem” ad campaign won “Best of Show” at the Chicago ADDY awards Thursday night, the first such awards given out here in about a decade.
In the mayhem campaign, actor Dean Winters portrays all of the obstacles that unlikely events that can lead to a major insurance claim, like a team pennant tearing loose from a pick-up truck, a distracted teen mowing the lawn or a Christmas tree falling on your car’s roof during a rainstorm. Get the full story »
Freedom Communications Inc. was expected to receive bids for its 100 newspapers and eight TV stations from a number of suitors before a Thursday deadline set by the company. Among firms considered likely to make bids for parts of Freedom were Tribune Co. and MediaNews Group Inc., as well as two Los Angeles-based private equity firms. Get the full story>>
British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc has agreed to pay $68.5 million to resolve allegations by U.S. state regulators that its marketing of the multibillion-dollar antipsychotic drug Seroquel was deceptive.
The accord with 37 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., is the largest multistate, consumer protection-based pharmaceutical settlement on record, said Paula Dow, attorney general of New Jersey, which is among the settling states. Get the full story »
Apple Inc. will kick off online sales of its new iPad in the early hours Friday before its evening store launch of the tablet computer.
Consumers can start buying the iPad 2 on Apple’s website at 3 a.m. Central time Friday while customers who want to purchase it in a store will have to wait until 4 p.m., Apple said. Get the full story »
Blink and you’ll miss it — Groupon Inc. is wrapping up a short television ad campaign this week that features a stripped-down spot touting the Chicago-based company’s variety of daily deals.
The short ad shows pages of a calendar being ripped off as the voiceover describes the kinds of deals Groupon offers, such as restaurants, spa, lessons and museums. Keeping with the company’s cheeky sense of humor, the days of the week on the calendar are nonsense words such as “Grund” and “Slomberday.” Get the full story »
A screenshot of Groupon's "American Idol" ad. (CNET)
Chicago-based daily deal site Groupon is going after buyers willing to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on travel and luxury goods, Bloomberg News reports. Groupon’s rival, Washington, D.C.-based LivingSocial, has already moved into the upscale offer arena — last month, it offered a $10,000 coupon for a penthouse-suite package at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco.
By moving into pricier deals, the sites are trying to reach a broader demographic, Bloomberg writes. Groupon alone has more than 60 million subscribers in 42 countries, with ages ranging from 25 to 50, and many living in the suburbs. Get the full story »
Data-gathering firms and technology companies are aggressively matching people’s TV-viewing behavior with other personal data — in some cases, prescription-drug records obtained from insurers — and using it to help advertisers buy ads targeted to shows watched by certain kinds of people.
At the same time, cable and satellite companies are testing and deploying new systems designed to show households highly targeted ads. The goal: Emulate the sophisticated tracking widely used on people’s personal computers with new technology that reaches the living room. Get the full story »
Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces iPad 2. (Getty Images)
Steve Jobs, Apple’s founder and CEO, unveiled the second generation iPad tablet computer Wednesday in San Francisco.
Saying that the legion of tablet competitors that has sprung up have not even matched Gen I, Jobs, whose latest medical leave has raised speculation about the future of the company, said the new tablet is a total redesign. Get the full story »
From Fast Company | Daily discount service Groupon spent millions of dollars on a couple controversial Super Bowl spots and what did it get them? During the week following the Super Bowl compared to the week prior, Groupon increased traffic by a paltry 3 percent — a negligible boost given the hundred million-plus consumers who viewed it live.
By comparison, GoDaddy.com’s ad boosted traffic 41 percent in terms of unique visits, the biggest lift for any sponsor. Volkswagen and HomeAway traffic jumped 27 percent and HomeAway.com. Even Mercedes-Benz saw a 9 percent boost. Get the full story >>
Ronald McDonald waves to the crowd during the 2010 St. Patrick's Day Parade on Columbus Drive. (William DeShazer/Tribune)
From Bloomberg News | As McDonald’s Corp. morphs into a more upscale chain, there’s one person you won’t see munching salads, sipping a cappuccino and surfing the Web: Ronald McDonald, age 48.
While Ronald still plays an ambassador role, he isn’t tied to the menu, says spokeswoman Danya Proud. Even as mascots like Burger King’s King shill on TV and the Web, Ronald has ceded the limelight to budding singers and dancers who sell mochas and frappes — not Happy Meals. | Get the full story>>
From USA Today | Northfield-based Kraft Foods has drawn attention — and some criticism — to a new ad campaign introduced yesterday promoting its Athenos hummus. In a television ad that started running Monday, a young woman talks to her grandmother as she prepares to serve Athenos hummus to her friends, only to be insulted and called a “prostitute.” Her grandmother is referred to as “Yiayia,” the Greek word for grandmother.
The ad was created by the agency Droga5, which said in a statement that it is “thrilled to be working with a company so willing to push creative boundaries.” Get the full story: USA Today »
Poll: Do you think Kraft’s ad is offensive?
To see the other Kraft Athenos ads, click here.
