Jay Leno returns to the Tonight Show this week, thus ending a celebrity drama that had its share of communications lessons. Promos have been running throughout the Olympics, but one enterprising YouTube user decided to add an alternate soundtrack:
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Back on the Matt Lewis Show
My second appearance on the fledgling Matt Lewis Show is online. It was recorded on President’s Day, but luckily we don’t talk about anything that gives away the date. You can also subscribe to Matt’s almost daily podcast on iTunes.
Other car makers are making a mistake, too
Toyota is grovelling to Congress, and other car manufacturers are missing out on a big opportunity.
Google and Google News searches for Toyota predictably bring up plenty of ads. On my screen, I see ads for Toyota itself, plus a few places where I can buy a Toyota, like CarMax. The only other auto maker with an ad is Mazda.
Toyota has been in the news for weeks, which has led to a spike in search traffic. Among these searchers are, likely, consumers curious about buying a new car, parents worried about their current, and other groups ripe to hear why they should look to trade in their Toyota for a Honda, Chevy, or Ford. The nature of search ads would allow these competitors to send internet users directly to a page about safety, or to a Turn-in-your-Toyota program page.
As a part owner of GM by way of my American citizenship, I’d like someone to look into why we aren’t trying to sell more cars this way.
Disturbing news from New Orleans…
No, it has nothing to do with the incident in Mary Landrieu’s office – more on that later. Tech President today highlights a political ad in the race for Orleans Parish Coroner that’s sure to be a viral sensation.
Candidates call each other lots on names during a campaign, but Frankenstein is a new one. Can’t wait to see the direct mail from this race…
The Obama Triangle?
Our President is establishing a bad track record.
Much has been written and said on his drop in the polls over the last year, but his track record in trying to lend a helping hand has been particularly disturbing:
- In 2009, President Obama campaigned in New Jersey for incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine and in Virginia for Democrat Creigh Deeds. Both tied their campaigns to the successful 2008 Obama campaign in varying degrees; both lost.
- In 2010, the President entered the Bay State to give Democrat Martha Coakley a boost in what was, according to the polls at the time, a dead heat. We know how that turned out.
- Yesterday, President Obama called to thank the University of Kentucky basketball team for their efforts supporting Haiti relief. The Wildcats subsequently lost to 12-8 South Carolina.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday Funnies: Merry Christmas Week
I had expected to post a funny, original, self-produced video here, but…
…I lost mine.
Say goodnight, Herb.
Congratulations, Sen. Byrd!
Tonight at midnight, Senator Robert Byrd will set the record for the longest tenure in the U.S. Congress. His time in the House and the Senate adds up to over 56 years.
Byrd, of course, began his career as a “community organizer” – founding his own local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. It was here that Byrd’s leadership skills were first on display, as he recruited the first 150 members to the chapter. Klan officials urged him to go into politics. Byrd has, of course, been exalted as a leader among Democrats in the Senate. And when the opposing Republicans took control of the chamber from 1981-1987 and 1995-2007, finally found a minority group he could agree with.
Still, who knew that the founder of the local chapter of an organization dedicated to the harassment of racial, ethnic, and religious groups could one day be crowned as the longest-tenured Member of Congress in history?
App shoot
Upon reflecting more about recent, high-profile rejections from Apple’s App Store, one thing is becoming apparent: with the iPhone/iPod platform is gaining popularity, more developers are investing time and resources writing software for it only to see their creations rejected.
The closed-door approach makes sense for Apple – since their platform is the first of its kind, any questionable use would reflect back on their highly-recognizable brand rather than an anonymous developer. If Saturday Night Live legend Garrett Morris developed a game for the iPhone called “Gonna Get Me a Shotgun and Kill all the Whities I See,” Apple would bear the brunt of the protests for allowing it rather than Morris. (When Morris famously – and hilariously – sang that line on the air in 1976, the NBC switchboard probably got more calls than Morris’s home phone. By citing the actual sketch, do I avoid somehow being called a racist for quoting it?)
But the closed door has implications for potentially revolutionary uses of mobile technology. In 2008 a developer created an excellent application for the Obama Campaign, allowing volunteers to prioritize their contacts for get out the vote calls. If the time and effort invested in creating an app is possibly wasted, how will small, volunteer-driven campaigns for local or Congressional offices – the types of campaigns who could really use the technology – justify exploring the possibilities of the platform?
Is there a “settle out of court” app?
According to Althouse, Apple rejected an iPhone application called “BobbleRep.” BobbleRep was a directory of Members of Congress illustrated by bobbleheaded caricatures – or, as Apple called then, “content that ridicules public figures.”
The app itself sounds pretty useful – you can find out who your representatives are based on your GPS coordinates. It provides contact information so you can call their offices. The caricatures make it fun to look at, but the actual operation is potentially very useful.
For Apple, though, these are dangerous waters.
Aside from the silliness of rejecting an app because of political cartoons, it adds another high-profile app rejection. The countdown to the inevitable anti-trust lawsuit has already started. And Google just reported that it spent $1 million on lobbying in the third quarter of 2009 alone.
Not to mention that when it comes Members of Congress being ridiculed and embarrassed, caricatures are the least of their problems.
Jim Eltringham 