BrettBorders.com

     In the back of everyone’s microwave-bombarded brains, we’re all at least a little concerned about the possible long-term effects of chatting it up too much on our cell phones.
     Enter this month-old viral YouTube post by Bluetooth accessory manufacturer Cardo Systems.
     It’s actually kind of a funny idea that had a lot of people going. Why, even Good Morning America performed their own highly scientific test (not a shining moment in morning television).
     Granted the whole thing plays on people’s fears and is no way rooted in actual physics, but I’m willing to excuse that in the spirit of a cool marketing metaphor. Where the company really dropped the ball was in the second part of the equation – the reveal video: “no popcorn… …more sound… sounds like you” say the title cards.
     What the?!
     That’s the best job the copywriter could do to convey the “use a Bluetooth device so you don’t grow a tumor” idea back to popcorn? Sounds like somebody’s been frying their creative brain cells by talking on their phone too much.

     While the sting of the new airline surcharges have everyone’s wallets still smarting, Philadelphia-area readers opened their Friday morning papers to read about a “new” airline, Derrie-Air, that capitalizes on the heated subject by charging customers based on how much they weigh (which, presumably, is directly related to the size of their buttocks).
     Turns out the ads were a bogus, one-day campaign created by Philadelphia Media Holdings (owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News) and their ad agency, Gyro, to “demonstrate the power of our brands in generating awareness and generating traffic for our advertisers, and put a smile on people’s faces.”
     Not surprisingly, the campaign is drawing comments all over the place. Which no doubt was the intention. However, “Editor & Publisher” whose tagline is “America’s Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry” says many in the ivory halls of journalism are apparently not amused.
     Me? I just think it’s hilarious. And not a half-bad idea for an actual airline, either.

     Nearly 20 years ago, when I saw Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy, the first thing I thought was, “hey, that’s the dude from The Electric Company.” Now just last week, PBS’ Sesame Workshop (formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop) began filming a new version of the show and has announced it plans to launch 26 new episodes in January of next year.
     Admittedly, my third grader has a lot more viewing options to choose from today than I did at her age, so it remains to be seen if PBS will be successful. But I say “h…” “…ats,” (together now) “hats” off to them.

     If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the ad biz has one swollen head. At least judging from today’s new list of The 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of All Time from Nerve.
     Deservedly, the majority are from Saturday Night Live. But they’ve also managed to amass some from other sources as well – including SCTV, MADtv, In Living Color and Chappelle’s Show.
     My personal favorite is this one from SNL (circa 1988) for “First CityWide Change Bank.” Reminds me how much I miss Phil Hartman.

     Usually I like to vary the subject matter here, but Tuesday night’s concession speech by Barack Obama after losing the Pennsylvania Primary to Hillary Clinton took the whole concept of product placement (also discussed in my previous entry below) to new heights.
     Or should I say “alleged product placement.”
     Somehow, three frat boy-esque white guys in Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts managed to position themselves perfectly behind Obama to give A&F more than 10 minutes of free airtime on just about every news station in the Western world.
     Amazing.
     According to They New York Post, a spokesman from A&F denied that it was a deliberate product placement or that they had anything at all to do with it. Though, he added, they wished they’d thought of it.
     MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann handled it with aplomb when, upon returning from live coverage of the speech stated: “If you have the sudden desire to go out and buy a fleece it's probably because of the product placement.”