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Doctors On YouTube May Be Shadier Than They Appear
If you ever selected a plastic surgeon or LASIK doctor based on a random YouTube video, it's probably apt that that video only happened as a result of an under-the-table payment and the doctor was really incompetent and now you walk around blind and ugly. But what about the victims of the future? Plenty of doctors have gone right ahead and offered patients rebates or huge discounts in exchange for posting glowing videos about their procedures online, although something like that would be patently unethical in the "regular" media. Docs are like, "Huh, rules, really? I just thought it would be nice!" Patients are like, "Sweet, cheap surgery!" The loser is you, the affluent, narcissistic consumer. A couple of typical videos are after the jump; just because "a famous celebrity (name undisclosed for privacy)" gets LASIK from Dr. Feinerman doesn't mean you have to, too: More »
uniqlo
The Future Of Advertising: 'Brand Presence,' Robot Dancing
Let's say up front that the super-prestigious Cannes advertising awards are, like most awards, a bit of a scam. They're a for-profit operation that charges ad agencies a lot of money to enter, and in return bestows something that the agencies can use in their own marketing materials. Plus they gave an award to those crazy sexist beer ads this year, so their judgment is obviously fallible. Still, the ad industry considers them a big deal, and they're a good guide to what's considered important in the field. So it was extremely groundbreaking when an online campaign (rather than a TV campaign) won the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes this year. On the other hand, maybe it was just because people love Japanese dancers? More »
trends
Horny A-Gays Under Attack
Every summer, the gays of the culural elite (like John Waters, Atlantic Monthly's Andrew Sullivan, musician Rufus Wainwright) gather on the car-free Fire Island and Provincetown, Mass., to party and play. And yes, sometimes have sex outside, they way all creatures were meant to! Only in recent weeks, they've been getting arrested for that. (Awkward!) As Cherry Grove resident Choire Sicha writes for Radar, "[The Fire Island arrests] are the first known arrests for public sex on the federal land." (Some people think a "circle jerk for freedom" might help matters.) Meanwhile, in Provincetown, an effort to keep public sex under control via citations for "lewd acts" have shot way up, says the Cape Cod Times. More »
trends
Film's Venerable Actors Shuffling On Over to Television
All the olds are moving to TV. Jon Voight, 69, announced today that he'll be appearing on the next season of 24, Fox's jingo-jango rah-rah Republican hour. This comes on the heels of the news that William Hurt, 58, will be joining Damages, FX's slick show about wicked lawyers, and that crazy old Dennis Hopper, 72, is set to star in the new Crash series, based on the stupid movie. Hopper has done series before, but these Oscar-nominated (and winning) actors still represent an increasingly popular trend. Movie stars, especially those of a certain age, are making the leap to television. More »
trends
Nerdy Girls Are Socially Acceptable, OK?
How could the Observer have missed this trend piece? Newsweek introduces us to Nerd Girls. It's a nerd trend: the Observer already covered hot male nerds "of steel," and Benjamin Nugent just published American Nerd: Story of My People. But girls have been overlooked thus far. (Well, sort of: there are at least two nerd-themed girl pinup sites.) If you haven't heard, some girls can do math and are smart and cute and totally worth a trend piece! More »
the internets
Political Violence: Congressman Shoves Camera Guy
Bloggers and politicians continue to not be good friends. So sad! First there was a big uproar over the Huffington Post's Mayhill Fowler publishing quotes from Bill Clinton without even warning him. Now there's this: Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski got so mad at a guy doing a YouTube interview with him that he pushed his camera (almost) onto the ground! Stop the violence! Politicians: bloggers really just want to be loved. [via Times-Tribune]
how things work
The Future Of The Music Industry Is 15 Pop Bands
Because the music industry is an even worse place to invest your money than the newspaper industry at the moment, everyone is looking for the next big thing. The closest they've come is "360 deals," where artists get a huge check in return for a big cut of all their different revenue streams. First, Madonna signed a contract like this with Live Nation for $120 million. Then Jay-Z signed a contract with Live Nation for $150 million. Live Nation wants to sign 15 more artists to contracts like this. Then everybody else in music can quietly retire. Hope you like the Jonas Brothers a lot! More »
branded entertainment
New Advertising Paradigm: 'Meow Meow Meow Meow'
Ads, of course, are everywhere. But at least back in the good old days (last week), they would only creep into the borders of our TV shows, rather than becoming the entire show itself. Well, those days are gone, friend. Give up your outdated ideas about what programming should be, and settle in with a bowl of wet food and your hungry cat for a fine evening receiving the subtle marketing messages of the "Meow Mix Game Show"! More »
media
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Dumps CEO
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the domestic queen's massive publishing and television conglomerate, has just announced that its CEO, Susan Lyne, has (ahem) "stepped down." Replacing Lyne will be two co-CEOs—an equivocation that often signals that a company was not well prepared for an executive transition. Lyne came on as head of the company when Martha Stewart went to jail in 2004, and has presided over a big drop in MSLO's stock price. But while her departure may have been inevitable, it's not necessarily a productive move. The magazine industry is in an irreversible decline, and no number of firings will change that fact. Sorry! More »
publicity stunts
Best Promo Ever: Punching Employees In The Face
There's a new list of the top 40 publicity stunts of all time out, and we've found what is—without a doubt—the most worthwhile of them all, from just two weeks ago: a production company called Action Figure produced a techno-scored, super slow-mo, two-minute video of all their employees getting punched in the face. Really. This should be a mandatory stunt for many of America's top corporations. Its power can hardly be described; just watch it, after the jump. More »
trends
Jesus Gyms: Helping To Ease Christians Out Of The Mainstream
You love working out. You love Jesus. But gyms are such meat markets: sweaty, sculpted, sexy bodies everywhere, driving your brain crazy thinking about... not the church bake sale, if you know what we mean. (Sex). So what to do? Where can you go? Is this all a setup leading into a trend story about the astounding success of a Christian-themed gym located, predictably, in Florida? God yes! And furthermore, we think it's great: More »
things we actually like
Ad Decapitator Stalks London
Call it what you will—street art, culture jamming, or protest. I'll call it some guy who's been going around London and graphically hacking the heads off of models in all types of ads. With fantastic attention to detail. Pictured: Carrie Bradshaw, improved. You know all the cool kid brands are just dying of impatience waiting for him to hack up one of their ads. Lovely. Two more pics of the mystery chopper's graphic, allegorical work, after the jump. More »
public relations
The Wal-Mart PR Machine Plays Well With Others
Back in 2005, two activist groups—Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch—launched campaigns to kick Wal-Mart's ass in the media. Which they did quite successfully for a while. The soulless retailer spent untold millions on a huge, political-style PR campaign from our friends at Edelman to fight back against the criticisms of them for everything from poor health care to union busting. But the Times reports today that Edelman's Wal-Mart war room shut down months ago, and the torrent of news stories about the company's flaws has died down. Why? Because Wal-Mart has adopted a philosophy of working with critics, and made their enemies their friends. This is either evidence of progress, or cause for despair. Since the company is still a horrible union buster, we'll go with "despair." More »
Taxidermy Trend Report
"I was in [hip Taavo Somer-designed taxidermy-themed bar] Freeman's last night when one of the taxidermy-ed heads (of a deer I think) feel from the wall and crashed onto a table, hitting a plaid-shirt wearing customer on the way down. It seemed very heavy. Maybe the vogue for heads on walls is coming to an end..."
trends
Is It Okay To Live With The 'Rents?
Living at home with your parents well into your 20s and even 30s: it's not so bad! A full third of 18-34-year-olds currently do it, a figure that's been rising for 25 years. And studies indicate that the politely-named "open nest" trend will keep going strong, which the WSJ says will mean that "the stigma traditionally linked to young adults' living at home will fade." We say: not bloody likely. More »
gossip girl
What is Gossip Girl's Big Secret?
The Times' Alessandra Stanley weighs in on the frightening phenomenon: “'Gossip Girl' goes further than most shows in depicting the excesses of the rich and under-age (in this fantasy teenagers are never carded), but most of all it represents the next evolutionary stage of girl power television after 'Sex and the City.' That pioneering HBO series, and the movie version that comes out later this month, celebrates girlish women who joined forces — 'Us against the world'— in the pursuit of success and happiness." More »
trends
