Stupefied

Read My Lips: Tax The Rich

2011-10-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

Sign the petition from The Other 98%Read My Lips: Tax The RichSee the letter from the Vermont Senator and petition:Petition - Shared Sacrifice: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont

Naked Art or Naked Self Promotion?

2008-05-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

Tunick is at it again, exploiting volunteers to expose themselves enmasse in what he attempts to pass off as art. Watching the early morning boob tube news, one wonders where all the censors have gone. I didn't know whether to belch or laugh when this display assaulted my senses during my morning coffee.Here's an insightful come on from the artiste, as to the True Meaning of the Expression."

The Mark Penn Principle

2008-04-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Stupefied Fans:Please forgive the long delay since my last entry. I've been in a "state of shock" (a phrase coined by my sister who lives in a Staten Island Assisted Living facility). And it has pretty much followed the course of the Iraq war.Now we know why Hillary's campaign is such a shambles: Mark Penn, CFO, Burson Marsteller. It seems that the Peter Principle is truer than ever. The

A Delay-ed Jingle

2005-09-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

Feeling rather depressed today, since I am a writer, and writers by nature get depressed.Anyway, to cheer myself I wrote two songs...one is for people who are following the majority-leader scandal,and might remember the Roger Miller (early '60's) hit, "King of the Road":For Tom Delay..."Old cronies I have foundshort and not too big aroundI'm a man of means, by no means,King of the Hill."I don't

How is copywriting like writing and not

2005-09-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

I just read this wonderful article on writing by one of our modern masters of the short story, Raymond Carver. Carver takes the most mundane subjects and makes them mysterious, using an economy of words. I wonder if Carver was a copywriter. The real difference, if you ask me, is that his words aren't selling a product. The words are selling, if you will, themselves. Carver goes on to say

Please, Read

2005-09-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to the many fine journalists who recently lost their jobs. It is sad evidence of the stupefaction of society when two of the best newspapers in the country, if not the world, are cutting staff due to poor circulation. What will happen to the Fourth Estate, the watch dog of democracy, as newspapers lose their individual voices? The Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times

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2005-09-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

<"Martha Stewart's Apprentice">On this morning's "Today Show" Martha Stewart's apprentice "Howie" shows up with his shirt hanging out from below his suit coat, which I guess is the new sartorial elegance; A style influenced by bands like "Wheezer". I wonder what Katie Couric is actually thinking, as she stands there in those ridiculous shoes with her calves bulging.The day just started, but

Hey, Marketers, Leave our Kids Alone!

2005-08-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

b/Gaming/bI keep on telling my son to get off of StarCraft. He'll play all day if I let him. Now I have some validationof my concerns: A 29 year-old Korean man died after playing for several days. At least I haven't let "Grand Theft Auto" into the house. A jury didn't buy it as the defense from a 20-year-old who shot three cops (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165259,00.html). Grand

Right out of the box

2005-08-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

IS IT "OUTSIDE THE BOX"or "OUT OF THE BOX" thinking that corporations crave?Fortune writer Anne Fisher has this one at the top of her list of "Business Buzzwords that make you Cringe""Readers wrote in with their nominees for this column's first-ever Most Annoying Lingo awards (the Mallies). Find out which phrases they would like purged from our professional conversations." (Hate to admit to using

Disenfranchising Women with Sexist Advertising

2005-06-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

How does "in your face" sexuality in advertising aimed at the 18-34 year old affect women, particularly Boomer Women (the group with the bucks)? My contention is that if you objectify women in your advertising, you will dissaffect women (and the men) who came of age during the feminist revolution. According to the Advertising Research Center website; http://www.trial.warc.com/WARCAdvice/

Getting Noticed

2005-06-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

I've been wondering just how much sex sells and to whom. Sex. You just can't avoid it. And there's no time to have it(especially when you've got two kids and you're not in the leisure calls). So, everybody appears to be watching it.Catching this morning news, bleary eyed, I and my son watch as Matt Lauer talks about male enhancement. I do not want to know about it, and my son is only 10.

Can we leave Las Vegas?

2005-05-04T08:02:00.001-07:00

Talk about Viral Marketing. Whether coincidental or planned, there seems to be a lot of buzz about Las Vegas. I admit, I don't read much and watch TV even less. Usually I'm busy going from one crisis to the next. But Las Vegas broke through the fog. Drive-thru chapels and kitshy motels appear as background in a VW ad in in Business 2.0. I don't recall the car, which was boxy and

Trashy Advertising

2005-05-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have long debated, internally, the worth of trashy advertising. On the one hand, trashy ads do create buzz.On the other hand, at what cost? Do they work? For whom? Recently I heard the local talk radio station ranting about a casino billboard assaulting the commuters stuck on the Ben Franklin Bridge. I was rushing to get myself and the children off to their day, so I may be fuzzy in