Your Kids Are At Risk For Fang Like Bites

The latest fear was disclosed on the CBS Morning Show. Fang like bites inspired by the Twilight movie series. With a straight face the talking heads discussed the medical problems associated with teenagers biting each other.

Supported by their consulting doctor, they talked for minutes on the hygiene issues related to accepting a bite from your boy friend, girl friend or whomever. Now I know that filling time on news shows is tough on slow days but really. Do we need to be taught that when someone bites your kid's neck there is something medically wrong?
A discussion of bacteria, infection and the like seems a bit of a stretch but that was the fare on today's morning show. Who knows what new affliction will be addressed?

American Idol Voting Methodology Is Flawed

I have no doubt after seeing the results of last night's American Idol "vote" that the flawed methodology of one person/many votes ensured the selection of the performer with lesser talent. As I have written before, if the Idol method were applied to American Democracy we would have played "Hail to the Chief" to Presidents Ron Paul and George McGovern.

While this is not a serious topic nor worth a lot of mine or your time, I do find it annoying enough to conduct research to prove that the intuitive choice for American Idol doesn't to win. The one with the most talent seems to lose. Perceptions of talent are in the eye of the beholder but I stand by my hypothesis that if you measured the number of voters...rather than the number of voters the choice last night would have been different.
So, as AT&T and Freemantle Media count their revenues from last night's texting frenzy we have crowned another mediocre "talent" as American Idol.

Tiger Woods and Dad in New Nike Ad...Doesn't Help Nike or Tiger

The latest Nike commercial featuring Tiger Woods with his Dad's voice over falls flat with viewers. Sure, there is lots of interest in anything Tiger but did this ad advance either Nike's or Woods's cause? The numbers say no.

This morning I heard Donny Deutsh gush about the ad's brilliance on The Today Show. But as many "experts" usually do, he posited his preferences for risky ads on the consuming public. The bottom line is that the numbers in HCD's advertising test posted on Mediacurves on April 8 suggest that the ad didn't help either brand...Woods or Nike.

Linking a consumer brand to an ad chastising Woods, the face of the brand, is risky. If Nike sold responsibility that would be more acceptable but I don't believe that responsibility and footwear necessarily are connected in the mind of the consumer. The most frequently mentioned emotion by viewers of this ad was "confusion". Not a surprise when trying to link this ad to sneakers.

While maybe this was a creative triumph, it didn't work!

Hitler Mustache

Someone at my company just came back from lunch and reported seeing an anti Obama demonstration in our little New Jersey town of Flemington. She reported that there were posters displaying photos of Obama with a Hitler mustache painted on.

Symbolism is important and while I am all for freedom of expression, I have a problem with this expression of disdain for a President..

As a Jew and a student of history, I can't think of any reason why someone would equate Obama, George W. Bush or any other American President with Hitler. It isn't funny and makes no point other than the perpetrator of this "art" is stupid and ignorant of history.

Whatever this group of demonstrators believes has been perpetrated by the President, their point and objective is now lost on me. Obama is no more a Hitler than any politician to serve our country. To equate an American politician with the most maniacal and tyrannical villain of history is ridiculous and an insult to those who have to view it. Hitler perpetrated the murder of 1.6 million kids under 18 as well as the extermination of 20 million Russians, 6 million Jews and millions of Poles, Lithuanians and others.

This exhibition of free expression should be protected but the participants should be mortified by their simple, uneducated, shabby and embarrassing "art".

What Contributes To Effective And Ineffective Apologies

After having viewed Mediacurves online dial testing results for the last year or so, our Mediacurves researcher, Ben Katz came up with the following observations regarding what contributes to winning and losing apologies relative to perceptions of sincerity...the key ingrediant to an apology::

Decreasing perceptions of sincerity:

Using vague terms (ie: letterman calling his affairs "terrible things" and "creepy stuff")
-Discussing one's fame and fortune (ie: tiger says he didn't have to go far to find people to sleep with due to his fame)
-Discussing breaking one's morals and values (I think viewers feel apologizers don't have values)
- Admitting being inconsiderate/ Saying you didn't think about what the impact would be on people around you
-Speculating about future/ making long-term promises (ie: Mayer says he completely quits the "media game")
-Asking fans for forgiveness
-Mentioning aspects of one's personality (ie: Sanford says he's a "bottom-line kind of guy" and John Mayer describes himself as "clever")

Statements that increase perceptions of sincerity:

-Admitting faults/ wrongdoings/ problems
-Accepting blame/responsibility
-Speaking about people you let down/ protecting supporters (especially family)
-Using "feeling" or words that describe how you feel (ie: John Mayer says "it feels terrible" Grubbs says "miss you" Tiger says he felt "entitled" Chris Brown say "wishes")
-Stating facts/telling story (ie: Letterman gives factual story of events before apology)
-Stating that there is no excuse for what happened
-Saying you know it will be hard to gain back trust/recover

The apology is one that doesn't have be said!