How to set up wordpress

Posts Tagged ‘Commercials’

President Obama reported this week that BP has initiated $50 million dollars in advertising. The Whitehouse and the President have been all over this move, rightly criticizing the company for spending money on attorneys and commercials rather than putting the money elsewhere.

While the media has jumped on the bandwagon, they’ve been mocking BP’s Tony Hayward for being a part of every commercial, interview and public relations event on television, in print and online. BP has even launched a YouTube channel specific to the crisis, starring none other than Tony Hayward.

Tony Hayward has already made some huge gaffs – including stating that he just wanted to get his life back – wording that pierced the very hearts of those 11 rig workers that were lost in original fire. Some people are calling for Tony Hayward to get fired, some are even calling for the government to take over the company.

Why would Tony Hayward continue to be the face of BP?

It’s quite simple from a public relations perspective. BP is gambling on Tony Hayward to be the fall guy for the brand and the company. For the next year or more, we’re going to see a lot of Tony Hayward. He’s not going anywhere (unless this ploy makes the headlines). BP will surely rebrand after the crisis – but between now and then, every commercial with Hayward with it, every interview with Hayward, every ludicrous sound bit with Hayward and every advertisement with Hayward puts distance between the stockholders, the company, and its current CEO.

At the end of the day, Tony Hayward will be paid handsomely for being the BP martyr. Mark my words that the platinum parachute that’s being developed right now will make the corporate hall of shame. Stockholders will gladly pay it, though, since Hayward’s martyrdom could insulate some of the losses when this crisis is over. The new CEO will come in, badmouth the old, reposition the company, and begin sucking billions out of the ground again.

The problem is that there’s a long line of culture and management in BP that has led to this disaster. Witnesses have already stated that BP management on the oil rig were not only aware of the safety issues, they argued with Transocean (owners of the Deepwater Horizon) prior to the explosion. The goal was to get the oil out as quickly as possible to get those dollars flowing… regardless of safety. Tony Hayward may be at the top of that chain, but there’s many more within the organization that are responsible.

If it weren’t so disgusting, it would be a brilliant public relations move. BP will return to profitability (or be bought by another oil company), Hayward will retire wealthier than he ever imagined, the President will not get re-elected, and the people of the gulf which are dependent on its natural resources will never recover in their lifetime.

BP Logo is an entry from the BP Logo Design contest from Logo My Way.

This post was written by Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search engine optimization. Their clients include Webtrends, ChaCha and many more.

Did you know Douglas Karr's book is coming out in August? You can pre-order Corporate Blogging for Dummies now on Amazon. Check out our new site, Corporate Blogging Tips, to find out what events that we'll be speaking at.

Got an event? Let us know that as well - we're looking forward to going on tour later this year.

Don't forget to follow @corpblogging on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook!

You might also find these posts interesting:

• The Secret of Getting Interviewed by Reporters (1)
• The Problem With “No Comment” (1)
• Public Relations Firms are Poised to Leverage Social Media (10)
• Brody PR: When to FIRE your Public Relations Firm (32)
• The Impact of Social Media on Marketing and Public Relations (0)

Not only was it a tough year for the Colts, it was a tough year for Super Bowl advertising. I was watching Twitter during the Super Bowl and there was a ton of criticism on ‘pantless’ juvenile commercials. AdAge’s Bob Garfield does a great wrap up of Super Bowl advertising this year (click through if you don’t see the video):

The winners that Bob lists:

This post was written by Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search engine optimization. Their clients include Webtrends, ChaCha and many more.

Thanks for subscribing! download Doug's eBook on Blogging for SEO on us!

Most Commented Posts

• WordPress Contact Form with Spam Protection (276)
• WordPress Contact Form with Spam Protection (176)
• I Canceled My Basecamp Account Today (83)
• The $1,000 Cash Giveaway – Running today until November 25th! (81)
• WordPress Plugin: PostPost (77)

Some levity today…my good friend Jenni Edwards sent me a video via Kristian Andersen and it got me motivated to find and post my 5 favorite commercials celebrating manhood. If you don’t see the mancommercials via feed or email, click through to the post.

Manhood is about lots of metal, blowing things up… and beer.

Manhood is about whiskey and doing stupid, epic stunts… and living to tell about it.

Manhood is about sports, expeditions, sophistication, beautiful women… and more beer.

Manhood is about not being afraid to show our feminine side… with beer.

And finally, the commercial that Jenni sent me. Manhood is about working hard, fighting, chainsaws and selling stuff… or not. I don’t care.

If there’s a lesson to today’s post it’s that humor and video still have their place in advertising! And with the web, the viral nature of video is one worth taking advantage of!

This post was written by Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search engine optimization.

You might also find these posts interesting:

• Great Brands Evolve Over Time (3)
• Newspapers Still Misjudge Their Value (3)
• Beware the Internet Famous (2)
• Fishing in a Million Lakes (0)
• I am shopping for an eBag thanks to Magpie! (2)