The most expensive movie ever made, is getting its first reviews ... and so far the thumbs are mostly up. [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Dec 12, 2009 - 318 comments

Where the wild marketing is ... [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Oct 17, 2009 - 32 comments

Kill or cure: making sense of the Daily Mail’s ongoing effort to classify every inanimate object into those that cause cancer and those that prevent it. Paul Battley uses automation and crowd-sourcing in the war against bad science reporting.
posted by fatllama on Aug 31, 2009 - 27 comments

Meanwhile in Hollywoodland, the trailer for James Cameron's much anticipated AVATAR debuted online yesterday and ... ooops! [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Aug 21, 2009 - 190 comments

And you thought Pepsi's redesign was just crappy. Well no. According to this ridiculous internal document (6MB, PDF), apparently leaked from their ad agency, the sugar-water's rebranding was 5,000 years in the making, and molded by the same elemental forces that shape the very cosmos.
Warning: Hilariously meaningless corporate drivel inside. [via]
posted by Silky Slim on Feb 9, 2009 - 179 comments

"Bitter" harvest The week started off in classic campaign form: a report of remarks made by Obama percolated through the media and came to dominate the news cycle. In typically circular fashion, the exhaustive coverage came to provide its own justification, as journalists covered the controversy that they had largely created... [more inside]
posted by psmealey on Apr 16, 2008 - 282 comments

The Internet Hype Machine Bubble. Idolator has an introspective on the boom and bust cycle of the online indie music scene, focusing on the band Black Kids, who with only one EP under their belt, are already being hyped to an extreme extent. With the conversation taking prominence over the music itself, are we seeing the dark side of the Cluetrain? [more inside]
posted by zabuni on Oct 26, 2007 - 29 comments

It's Not Just Standing Up: Patterns of Daily Stand-up Meetings. A look at an alternative to the daily sit-down team meeting.
posted by Burhanistan on Apr 12, 2007 - 23 comments

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are a band that, less than a year ago, were making music without the help of a record label, pressing CDs themselves and selling them at concerts and on the Internet. Then the following happened: June 9: Dan Bierne writes about the band on his MP3 blog, June 14: Pitchfork Media posts a review of the song "In This Home On Ice", June 15: Blogger Gothamist posts an interview with the band, June 20: Blogger Stereogum announces the band's show at the Knitting Factory, June 21: Gothamist reports that David Bowie was in the audience at the Knitting Factory show, and June 22: Pitchfork posts one of a slew of reviews of Clap's first album. Now, they've been named to dozens of critics 'best of' lists, they're playing Conan and Letterman, and are about to embark on a new tour. Why choose today to post an article about a band blowing up written in November you ask? Because their tour kicks off tonight at the 9:30 club in DC, and you can listen to it live.
posted by ND¢ on Mar 8, 2006 - 140 comments

"I bet you look good on the dancefloor" is the new single by a hitherto unknown Sheffield band called the Arctic Monkeys. [warning direct QT link] Media hype has meant demand for their London gig is so high they have moved from playing a pub to playing the London Astoria. Their observations on northern culture have drawn comparisons with Oasis and Kaiser Chiefs - or will they go the way of other bands picked up then dumped by the media? (anyone remember Gay Dad?) Whether or not they last, you will probably be hearing them quite a lot in the next few months.
posted by greycap on Oct 1, 2005 - 46 comments

“What I remember of him is he used to make the coffee and do the photocopying.” A flattering portrait of 'Bin Laden general' Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the 4th Al-Qaida #3 man captured so far.
posted by greatgefilte on May 8, 2005 - 42 comments

With girya or kettlebell training you can hack the fat off without the dishonor of diet and aerobics.
posted by the cuban on Mar 31, 2005 - 19 comments

Black widow pop. "With tATu, Ivan Shapovalov took the media's obsession with paedophilia, and spun it into a chart-topping lesbo-schoolgirl pop act. Now he's trying to do the same with Islamic terrorism. On Sept 11 in Moscow, he launched nATo, a 16-year-old girl who dresses in a Burqua, much like the Black Widow suicide bombers who are currently terrorising Russia. With the Beslan massacre only a week old, Nato's launch - complete with invitations designed like plane tickets - was not a huge success... Mindful of the dire consequences of being a dissenting voice in Putin's Russia these days, Shapovalov is planning to launch nATo properly in London later this year, and get a recording contract here." stolen from popbitch
posted by mr.marx on Sep 24, 2004 - 19 comments

Game PR Catchphrases: What They Really Mean

Quote: “Downloadable content available through our website!"
Indicates: There's going to be new levels, new maps, new everything after the game is out, making the purchase fully worth your $50.
True Meaning: We'll fix the game breaking bug about 3 weeks after the game's out, hope you guys aren't on 56K because it'll be a 186 MB patch. Also, hopefully this game will have some devoted mod/map makers, because the publisher isn't going to release shit. But there are some cool wallpapers to download!
by Corin Tuckers Stalker and Ryan "OMGWTFBBQ" Adams, from Something awful
posted by bob sarabia on Jun 26, 2004 - 13 comments

Apple announces 'iPod mini'.... and it's not all that Available in five metallic colours, smaller in size and in capacity (4gb), but not as small in price as many had hoped ($249) - is the new iPod enough of a progression from the first generation?
posted by skylar on Jan 6, 2004 - 73 comments

Metallica's St. Anger is receiving rave reviews and there seems to be a great deal of hype, but none of it from a very well known source except the MTV review.

Oddly, the only english website with a review that isn't a blog is MTV's. A google search does reveal a few alleged foreign reviews, though.

Given Metallica's record of rampant pursuit of paranoid lawsuits, should one be skeptical that all of this hype is real? Given rock and radio's sordid past and present - I don't think I'm alone in my doubt.
posted by twiggy on Apr 16, 2003 - 45 comments

Pink Bunny’s LiveJournal Pink Bunny is a character in a film beginning principal photography this month, Crypto-Candida. If she isn’t real, how can her LiveJournal be?
posted by joeclark on Mar 4, 2003 - 2 comments

Viral Marketing Wants You! Do you want to hype the new season of your tv show? Recruit fans to post what you want them to post in the places you tell them to. Courtesy of the Hype Council. Sure to hit Metafilter soon!
posted by danhon on Sep 12, 2002 - 18 comments

Oh no...not again... In the latest twist to the long-running Ginger saga, it's now being rumored that the two-wheeled device unveiled by inventor Dean Kamen last December isn't in fact the real deal.
posted by mathis23 on Aug 19, 2002 - 39 comments

Figures show shark attacks down in 2001. Before September 11, it was the "Season of the Shark." Perhaps we can forgive the newscasters their excess in this matter. Or may be it's another reason to make sure you get your news from multiple sources and different media--now, more than ever.
posted by piskycritters on Feb 22, 2002 - 10 comments

black hawk down easy to glamourise a war isn't it, however the story behind the media hype/historical distortions is also in need of highlighting
posted by johnnyboy on Jan 17, 2002 - 10 comments

'It', or 'Ginger' is finally here. While official announcements will be made tomorrow morning, there are a few first looks around the web. Officially named Segway, and overhyped for a really long time, it probably be as huge as everyone has said, but looks like it definately could make things interesting.
posted by christian on Dec 2, 2001 - 226 comments

Although there is no mention on Good Mornins America's website, according to this Wired.com article, Diane Sawyer announced that they would reveal Dean Kamen's intensely hyped invention on Monday, December 3rd. Perhaps it will actually deserve to have been listed as one of the best inventions of 2001 by Time Magazine.
posted by UrbanFigaro on Nov 29, 2001 - 22 comments

We live in a sad, sad world. Teacher now get homicide insureance. This speaks for itself.
posted by aj100 on Jul 26, 2001 - 17 comments

"IT," also known as "Ginger," has not yet been released by its inventor, but we'll be glad to notify you by e-mail when we actually know what IT is and if IT will be available for purchase from Amazon.com.
posted by endquote on Jan 24, 2001 - 6 comments

A wearable car? is this really 'IT'?
posted by tiaka on Jan 12, 2001 - 40 comments

I am making a list of failed and over-hyped Internet business jargon. Here is part of it: Java applets, Push, Web TV, ad-supported sites, B2C, B2B, proprietary music formats, WAP, 100% Flash sites, broadband. Do you agree? What is missing?
posted by tranquileye on Jan 6, 2001 - 32 comments