New Walmart “Working Man” ad: what’s wrong with this picture?
Walmart advertising execs need a lesson in geography. And maybe irony. Have you seen the new Walmart commercial? Pay attention at around the 50 second mark.
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#WTF moment of the year? Seriously, what was “racist PR director” Justine Sacco thinking? [UPDATED]
I don’t have any deep insight here. Really, this post is mostly about pointing to a story, throwing up my hands in disbelief and wondering what the fuck?
Read moreThe first machine to pass the Turing Test is going to be … wait for it … a telemarketing robot
No, this clever program isn’t 100% there yet, but listen to the audio and think about it for a second.
Read moreThanksgiving is now Black Thursday and Black Friday is upon us: what should America not be thankful for?
The nation gives thanks … for what? I was never a William Burroughs fan, but I nonetheless find myself thinking about his 1986 “Thanksgiving Prayer,” surely one of the most caustic (and insightful) takes on our great American holiday. I’m in this sort of mood for a reason. Or two, or three. First off, you may have noticed all the
Read moreSEO: Google’s Hummingbird algorithm from a content strategist’s perspective
Marketing and Search aren’t different things anymore, if they ever were. Google recently implemented their new “Hummingbird” organic search algorithm, perhaps the company’s most significant overhaul in more than a decade. Thomas Claburn at Information Week explains that Hummingbird is an expansion of Google’s Knowledge Graph, which was “introduced last year as a way to help its search engine understand
Read morePowerPoint is making us dumber and damaging our businesses
Yes, PowerPoint sucks. Here’s why, plus some suggestions about how to fix the problem. Imagine a widely used and expensive prescription drug that promised to make us beautiful but didn’t. Instead the drug had frequent, serious side effects: It induced stupidity, turned everyone into bores, wasted time, and degraded the quality and credibility of communication. These side effects would rightly
Read moreLet’s stop “making the complex simple”
For years my career has revolved around solving communication problems. One of my specific charges has been to “make the complex simple.” I’ve played along because many of the companies I’ve dealt with (not all, but a majority) think this way. When they do, boat rocking and cage rattling is rarely a winning strategy for advancement. But the truth is
Read moreThe Friday Facepalm: business news for Nov. 15, 2013
WTF is wrong with these people? (I’m looking at you Kellogg’s, JP Morgan and especially Yahoo!) Do you ever wonder what goes through the minds of those charged with making important decisions for big companies? Other than a stiff breeze, I mean. Let’s start with a fun one.
Read moreInfographic: why infographics can’t be trusted
This is hysterical.
Read moreHere it is: the killer app for wearable technology
I have a great idea for a wearable technology app. What if you had a little mobile device you could wear around your wrist, kind of like a bracelet. And it had an app that would tell you what time it was? You could maybe have advanced functionality that would give you the date.
Read moreInfographic: Commuting can be hazardous to your health. Fatal, even.
One in six Americans commutes an hour and a half a day. It makes us more angry, less happy, increases back pain and triples our risk of heart attack. I hate commuting. Hate. It. Not only is it simply no fun sitting in a rush hour parking lot, I’m stingy about my time. Even if I’m wasting it sitting on
Read moreIt’s WTF Friday: Home Depot, Lululemon and Guns & Ammo swallow their tongues
Nothing is more essential to crisis communications than an idiot to create the crisis… Rev. Dickie had that item yesterday about the Lululemon co-founder who observed, on national TV, that yoga pants don’t work for all women. Ask your doctor if spandex is right for you, huh? I guess we now know why he’s the former CEO. He’s not the
Read moreSome chicks shouldn’t wear yoga pants, says guy who sells yoga pants
It is absolutely true that all of us look better in some kinds of clothes than others. Some clothing flatters, other clothing emphasizes our weaker features, and so on. And we all want to look good. It is also true that we all think things in our heads that we shouldn’t say out loud. Especially if we run businesses that
Read moreCyberspace, cognitive mapping and design: some stray thoughts
I apologize in advance because this is going to ramble. And be wonky. If it helps, please know that it all makes sense in my head. Our professional development program at work – yeah, my new job has an actual interest in professional development – has us doing some reading each week and informally discussing the insights. This week we
Read moreOur psychopath Congress
Government shutdown, debt crisis reveal how much GOP has in common with other sociopaths… Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris? I believe Philip K. Dick had it right in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Technology had, in that not-so-distant future, created androids that were
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lullaby pit 