Owen Wilson has denied any connection between his new movie, "You, Me and Dupree," and '70s supergroup Steely Dan, a spokesman for the actor said Friday. The band recently posted a letter on their Web site claiming that Wilson's Dupree character was based on their Grammy-winning song, "Cousin Dupree," about a couch-hopping houseguest. In a statement released by his spokeswoman, Ina Treciokas, Wilson said: "I have never heard the song `Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, `HEY 19.'"
posted by wfc123 on Jul 29, 2006 - 62 comments

This commercial for Nutrigrain is disturbing & hilarious. Link eggregiously lifted from blort.
posted by jonson on Feb 23, 2004 - 54 comments

Oh fuck! Are you interested? Let me guess: you're 18 to 34 years old, right? Oh it's a dandy little word, for sure. But is it enough? Here's yet another brilliant marketing idea dreamt up by the 35-50 thoroughly fucked-up Texan reader-research crowd! [Via Arts and Letters Daily.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 22, 2003 - 23 comments

Spammers strike back? Well then call this return of the Webmaster Jedi. As a blogger and domain owner, I am sick of waking up to fifty new comments, all of which are spam for something of dubious legality. The fine folks at Kalsey are angry too. And they declared war. Lots of people stood up and took notice. What can you do to help stop this infestation? Blacklists and Bayesian filtering come to mind... (Via Smart Mobs)
posted by swerdloff on Nov 11, 2003 - 22 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

"Yo, homeboy, are you hungry for some mad hip hop flava? Sink your grill-piece into Master P's Platinum Bar-B-Que. Want somethin' sweeter? Lil' Romeo's Bar-B-Quein' with Honey! If cheese is the flava you need, try Warren G's Cheezie Nacho!"
The most bizarre niche snack marketing since Arafat's cheese puffs.
posted by mikrophon on Nov 26, 2002 - 30 comments

Microsoft counters Mac's 'Switch' campaign using the testimony of an unnamed 'freelance writer' who seems to be all sorts of things, including a stock photography model.
posted by Hall on Oct 14, 2002 - 51 comments

McDonalds will be a franchise in The Sims Online computer game. Will my Sim character get fat if he eats at a Sim McDonalds? I guess we'll need Sim lawyers to help us out on that one.
posted by Beholder on Sep 17, 2002 - 27 comments

Mission Mini. Thieves have stolen 6 valuable paintings, and a Mini Cooper S. Read the mysterious novella by Scottish author, Val McDermid, and then fly to Barcelona to take part in this mystery. Mini has arranged plane tickets and hotel for you. Are you up for some sleuthing? Get briefed.
This could be one of the coolest interactive marketing campaigns I've seen in a long while. [some links contain flash]
posted by mad on Sep 13, 2002 - 14 comments

The solemn, the dignified, the high-profile marketing. On September 11th, the national anthem will be sung on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. By the recent winner of Fox's American Idol. Days before the release of her new album. Two weeks before the winner's next, though obviously equally significant, "American Idol in Las Vegas" show. You will also note that this was reported before last night's finale. Meaning, this important symbolic event was arranged without even knowing who the winner was. In other words, Kelly Clarkson is not signing the National Anthem on September 11. "The Winner of Fox's American Idol" is.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Sep 5, 2002 - 36 comments

Strap on your Zyklon B's. Could help shed the pounds from eating all those Temptations.
posted by robself on Aug 28, 2002 - 55 comments

Corporate Anthems. Oh boy! I strongly recommend McKinsey and Ericsson ("Network Intelligence - You And Me!").
posted by heimkonsole on Mar 27, 2002 - 13 comments

Ever wonder why junk mail comes to your mailbox? Enter your zip code (US only) to see where your neighborhood fits in marketing categories.
posted by MidasMulligan on Mar 18, 2002 - 17 comments

Sign of the Apocalypse: MTV Announces Line of PCs "Equipped With All the College Props" Uh, ...a beer funnel and a Dave Matthews cd? What else can we add to it? Is VH-1 going to do this?
posted by BarneyFifesBullet on Jan 9, 2002 - 17 comments

A pyramid scheme for web traffic? ExitBlaze apparently sends traffic from one member's site to another's (or, no doubt, to other sites they must sell hits to): Bob doesn't know it but a pop-underwindow displaying an ExitBlaze member's site has just shown up underneath the main browser window. And Bob owes it all to you!
posted by mattpfeff on Dec 11, 2001 - 5 comments

IBM gets the bill for less-than-standard advertising methods supporting Linux. The city of San Francisco yesterday quashed some of the warm, fuzzy feelings associated with the Linux operating system when it reached a settlement with IBM that calls for the vendor to pay $120,000 to compensate the city for damages caused by a "guerrilla" marketing campaign centered on Linux.
posted by trioperative on Nov 29, 2001 - 15 comments

Watch Marketing In Action Read this wire article about the "new" flat-iron steak and you can almost hear the gears spinning in the heads of Beef Council marketing flacks as they imagine how to take a junk cut of meat and turn it into the "latest taste sensation". Does the world really need another kind of steak? (link to news article via FARK.....don't hate me)
posted by briank on Nov 7, 2001 - 23 comments

A cultural shift reflected in ads: How to make patriotism cool ... and profitable For example, General Motors commercials tell consumers that its zero-interest financing is helping to “Keep America Rolling.” In Ford Motor Co.’s “Ford drives America” ads for interest-free financing, the car company insists the “spirit is alive.” I've been very skeptical to all of the 'a portion of the profits will be donated...' come-ons of late. This addresses similar issues. What do y'all think?
posted by tippiedog on Oct 9, 2001 - 24 comments

Fill-in-the-blank press release Who is Customer TBD? “ ‘This is a must-have upgrade,’ said Customer TBD. ‘Adobe After Effects 5.0 has several new features that will allow me to quickly produce the kind of effects that I need to keep my videos fresh and interesting. I'm also looking forward to taking advantage of the new plug-ins.’ [Suggested quote for approval/attribution]”
posted by joeclark on Sep 8, 2001 - 3 comments

Best. Auction. Ever. Check out the details here. Basically, the Scottish whisky makers Chivas Regal is auctioning off 450 "lots" of some of the coolest and most unobtainable things ever: like an audience with the Pope, and performing with the Moscow State Circus. Which would you choose?(via fark)
posted by thewittyname on Sep 7, 2001 - 16 comments

Serendipitous convergence of current events and "underground" marketing efforts — coincidence? Or maybe this is a better question: which will still be around in six months, the worm or the sickeningly-sweet, caffeine-laden beverage?
posted by barkingmoose on Aug 3, 2001 - 8 comments

Critics call Abercrombie & Fitch catalog soft porn. I can't comment on the catalog itself, since I haven't seen it; I just had to laugh out loud though when I read this sentence: "Boycott organizers contend the company... is wooing younger customers and using sex to popularize its image." Oh, the horror! Also striking was A&F's spin on it, calling it " the Norman Rockwell of 2001." Clearly, a divide in perceptions. Can anyone who has seen the offensive/inoffensive material in question explain why it is/isn't any different from the marketing practices of, oh, say, everyone else?
posted by topolino on Jun 22, 2001 - 23 comments

As noted earlier this month, there are slew of websites connected to Spielberg’s AI. As it turns out, they are all part of an intricate game that stands to last long after the movie comes out. That game is called “movie marketing,” albiet terribly engrossing marketing.
posted by capt.crackpipe on Apr 30, 2001 - 7 comments

Survivor is filled with crap for sale - so why can't I find that groovy Panama hat Colby wears for sale, anywhere?
posted by subpixel on Apr 29, 2001 - 3 comments

Mini-riots break out over gray Nike shoes while people here discuss marketing items to teenagers. "I'm mad," said one girl "I want my shoes."
posted by gluechunk on Mar 4, 2001 - 9 comments

How you say Duking it out with Accenture for the title of most disagreeable computer-generated faux-English corporate nomenclature de la semaine, a company with the perfectly good name Productivity Works has gone and screwed it up by renaming itself isSound. "Because the future is listening," the homepage tells us. What it's listening to is all of us stammering to pronounce an unnatural string of letters. In related news, despite admitting it still works, isSound isShitcanning itsScreenReader, pwWebSpeak.
posted by joeclark on Jan 3, 2001 - 5 comments

It'll never work.
posted by honkzilla on Jul 7, 2000 - 13 comments

Adventures in Consumer Stalking: Interactive TV "Broadcasters and advertisers, meanwhile, have long been eager to fire up interactive services, because they can know more about who is watching (and doing) what, and what consumers are buying. Targeted advertising with better response rates has long been a goal in the television industry."
posted by jenett on Feb 13, 2000 - 1 comment

Carl wrote a great Industry Standard article lampooning online marketing, and I couldn't help but laugh at seeing a "B to B Convention" banner ad running at the end of it (screenshot).
posted by mathowie on Jan 19, 2000 - 0 comments

Nike this weekend will unveil a new 50-second commercial. The first 30 seconds will appear in a TV commercial before Saturday's Dolphins-Jaguars game. The second 20 seconds will be available at the Web site. The ad was created by Wieden & Kennedy of Portland.
posted by luke on Jan 12, 2000 - 4 comments

This cool tool grabs Wired News headlines and randomly assembles them into phrases of marketing-ese. Here's a good example: 'Savvy middleware is wiring the planetwide medium of the hyper village.'
posted by mathowie on Sep 29, 1999 - 0 comments

In the 'Automakers that don't get it' file comes this. Saab USA is spamming people to tell them about their new cars. Great, thanks to Saab USA's inept marketing department, I'll never buy a Saab in my entire life.
posted by mathowie on Aug 28, 1999 - 2 comments