Caffeinated posts from an ACD/Copywriter. I write about advertising, design, astronomy, cooking, and pretty much anything else that strikes my fancy, including random bits of reference info for work purposes. You may also know me as 'that other gal' who helps run Adland.
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Saturday, January 29, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: What's wrong with the news & NYFestivals ]

+ Seems the media are jumping on the already stale tattoo advertising, eBay forehead & other body part advertising. Considering this was first real "news" back in 2001, perhaps the media might want to pay more attention.

Not only that, but, it seems the media is also having problems discerning fact from fiction. Seems like it all started with The Times writing a story, which they failed to get confirmed. And many others have picked up the "news" story from them, obviously without doing any fact checking either.

Why no fact checking? Who knows. It seems noone even bothered to really check out the site, because as Dabitch pointed out, on the site causing all the "news" there is a disclaimer: "MAAD fact #1 - Be alert: the internet is not always what it seems to be." Seems like the news media have forgotten that fact.

101-280 points out another clue to the clueless media:

And I think this is "another clue" here at the foot of the front page:
If you are currently in a MAAD state of outrage and would like to let us know, please bear in mind that there is a strong satirical element to this site.

Over at Ernie Schneck's blog (under his orignial post on the subject- he later apologizes for not fact checking - which none of the "news" outlets have yet done) - you'll find a comment by Painter Mo who states:

This is Painter Mo, paint-roller artist of Birmingham and founder of MAAD.

The site was an old joke from back in 2000, the Times ran a story about it without checking with me first. I would have thought it was fairly obvious the site wasn't serious, it had poetry about painting over Sophie Dahl, ridiculously detailed instructions on how to paint over a billboard, a statement that ASA are "pants", ludicrously melodramatic news stories about heroic and nimble poster improvers escaping capture from the police and "geniuses" attacking paritcularly inaccessible posters.

Not only have the media picked up on this story but so have bloggers- probably blindly believing what they read and what was being fed to them as "news."

So what's the lesson learned here? Check your sources! And don't believe everything you read on the 'net.

Find more here:
Old Forehead/eBay auctions/stunts:
@ advertising on forehead hype reaches fever pitch (posted 1/10/05)
@ Now THAT's using your noggin' (posted 8/23/01)
Pregnant Belly Ads:
@ advertisments or pregverts? (posted 9/10/03)

+ The winners of the New York Festivals 48th annual international TV, Cinema & Radio Advertising Awards were announced on Wednesday. Here are the Grand Award Winners:
Television Advertising for Best Commercial: J Walter Thompson of Capital Federal, Argentina - Aerolineas Argetinas, 'Shadow'
Best Campaign: TAXI of Toronto, Canada - Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival, 'Love Scene/Good Cop, Bad Cop/Establishing a Character'
Best Cinema Commercial: DDB Berlin, Germany - 'Volkswagen Golf DSG, 'Kids On Steps'
Best Public Service Advertising: Caravan Pictures in Rozelle, Australia - Australian Red Cross, 'We Gave Blood'
Best Creative or Production Achievement in Television Advertising: Gorgeous Enterprises in London, United Kingdom, Sony Playstation 2 spot, 'Mountain'.
Best Radio Advertising: McHale Barone, NY, National Thoroughbred Racing Association's campaign, 'Amusement Par/Golf/Road Trip'.

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