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Tuesday • May 27, 2008 | READ ALL NEWS AT ADAGE.COM

American Takes Flak Over Bag Fee, Despite PR Strategy

Airline Says Fuel Crisis Leaves Few Palatable Options

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- American Airlines is reducing capacity as much as 12% and laying off thousands -- moves The Wall Street Journal characterized as "drastic steps" that "many view as a greater threat to U.S. airlines than the industry crisis triggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." Yet those shifts were all but lost in the media coverage and PR backlash generated by a third move it's making: instituting a first-checked-bag fee of $15 each way. FULL ARTICLE

Behind Starbucks' Cup Cleanup

Coffee Chain's Throwback Logo Riles Critics in Spite of Effort to Preserve Siren's Modesty

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Starbucks wasn't unaware its cup might runneth over with controversy when it brought back the old logo to introduce its Pike Place blend. FULL ARTICLE

TV Ads 'a Waste of Money' for the Back-in-Black Gap

40% Jump in Profits Indicates Merchandising Initiatives Are Paying Off

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The brand once known for its peppy, elaborate commercials has struggled in recent years to attract consumers in an increasingly competitive retail environment. But now that it's shelved TV advertising -- the brand has been off the airwaves for several quarters -- and is focusing on merchandising initiatives, Gap seems to be on the right financial track. FULL ARTICLE

Top Advertisers Add Meaning to Marketing

P&G, Others Aim to Aid, Not Invade, by Crafting Purposeful Campaigns

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- As Bridge Worldwide CEO Jay Woffington and Chief Marketing Strategist Bob Gilbreath see it, the idea is to make marketing the cause, with intrinsic value to consumers so it pulls them in rather than be thrust upon them where they can least avoid it. FULL ARTICLE

Make Your Marketing Useful, Like Samsung and Charmin

Take a Small Chunck Out of Those Billion-Dollar Budgets and Help Provide a Free, Helpful Service

Commentary by Jonah Bloom
Do I think Samsung's airport charging stations sell phones? Unlikely. But they're way more likely to leave me feeling affection for the brand than some mind-numbing airport billboard that has nothing to do with the frustration and boredom I'm experiencing. They're classic examples of marketing as service, a concept worthy of more attention and dollars than it's getting. FULL ARTICLE

Inside Outdoor Advertising: Interactive Billboards

A 3 Minute Ad Age Video Report

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In its latest project pioneering new marketing uses for digital billboards, Thomson Reuters hooked its Times Square sign back to the web for a Mother's Day special. Consumers were urged to upload their photos and greetings for free. These were displayed on the Thomson Reuters sign for five seconds apiece on Mother's Day. Then the advertiser sold photos of that Times Square moment back to the individual card creators for $69, generating a different kind of sign revenue stream. FULL ARTICLE

Cheetos Ads That Promote 'Random Acts' Are Irresponsible

What Should We Think When a Top Advertiser Borrows a Marketing Strategy From the Drug Trade?

Garfield's Ad Review
RAoC stands for "Random Acts of Cheetos," and the idea is to recruit users to perpetrate Cheetos-centric pranks against those who deserve comeuppance -- like tossing a handful in somebody's dryer load of whites at the Laundromat. Ha ha! FULL ARTICLE

Shilling for 'The Man,' for Your Art

Anne Elizabeth Moore's 'Unmarketable' Explores the Controversy Behind Underground Artists Who Become Brand Ambassadors

Bookstore
Anne Elizabeth Moore sheds light on the artist as marketing medium in "Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity." It's a cri de couer against the varied tactics of modern marketing -- word of mouth, guerrilla street campaigns, underground collaboration -- and the complicity of alternative culture in the whole endeavor. FULL ARTICLE