Advertising

Why would Apple launch its iPad campaign March 15, as was rumored by some, when it could launch during the Oscars? This is Apple, not Snapple.

It seemed so necessary the iPad would receive its official TV push as other glamorous objects of adoration displayed their wares.

What is remarkable about the ad is that there is nothing remarkable about it at all. It is very neat, but very standard communication from Apple.

Yes, there is the music: "There Goes My Love" by Danish band The Blue Van, a tune that will soon be downloaded quite often on … Read more

I want to believe this story--if only because customer service is such a lamentable part of commercial life these days.

Admittedly, this is a tough story to confirm or refute. But the Apple chasers at 9to5Mac, who seem more like 24-7Mac to me, write that no less a customer satisfaction expert than Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been answering iPad customer queries.

Oh, alright, apparently he did it once.

The story goes that a Swedish man called Jezper wrote to Apple and asked a very important question: "I'll keep it short. I'm Jezper from Sweden, a long … Read more

The smoke has risen from the chimney of the one-bedroom cave in which Conan O'Brien now lives.

For what seemed like an ungodly eternity, the former host of "The Tonight Show" was following no one on his Twitter account. While untold hordes hung on his every spare word, not one human or cat was offered the merest gaze of the ginger one's interest.

With one tweet, all has changed. For O'Brien tweeted Friday that he has decided to follow one random human and change that person's life.

The fortunate recipient of O'Brien's … Read more

Imagine you are somewhat advanced in years. You still get your news from a physical newspaper. You still get your pleasure from a physical person.

Then along comes your wacky nephew, or just some distantly removed acquaintance, who decides that you have to work a little to get to their wedding. This may well be the dilemma facing the invitees to the wedding of a couple of German geeks, Darina and Niko.

According to Offbeat Bride, a place where couples share their propensity to waft away from "beaten aisle," Darina explained in an entirely harmonious way: "We … Read more

Many products launch themselves very much like an investment banker launching himself at a party. They strut in, chin up, determined to tell everyone how great they are in as loud a voice as possible. Somehow, they feel, everyone will hear, whether they like it or not.

Apple tends not to follow that principle. It doesn't create noise. It creates intrigue. It makes people feel positive--even, sometimes, against their better judgment. Since the very earliest days of its advertising, it has worked very hard at the art of being charming. It knows how to turn up at the party and say hello. It offers a bon mot here and a smile there, until by the end of the evening, it has won over many.

If Apple were a politician, it would win quite a few elections (it wouldn't get involved in extramarital affairs in Buenos Aires, either).

Rumors are suggesting that Apple's latest attempt to influence our behavior and tickle us with the lightest of hands, the iPad, will be available at the end of this month.

Which means advertising, and probably quite of lot of it. Some say the ads will launch March 15. What might they look like? Well, yet another rumor has suggested that Apple shot one of its new iPad spots in a California diner called Jax on the Tracks.

This, if true, is interesting in itself, as it suggests that this campaign might actually involve people. More than just their hands, I mean. … Read more

A man is caught red-handed by his blue-bodied wife.

He is in bed with another woman. His wife is not happy. His wife, in fact, begins to assault him. She slaps him, as he and his other woman try to escape.

Is this a scene from "Fatal Attraction"? Is this, perhaps, a cinematic homage to two Oscar-nominated movies, "It's Complicated" and "Avatar"?

No, it is merely a commercial for AshleyMadison.com, the site that helps married people hook up with, well, other married people. AshleyMadison claims to have 4.5 million members and … Read more

I have to fly to the hallowed depths of Texas in a couple of days in order to be at the marriage of the noted musician and Web designing guru Parker Todd Brooks to someone far smarter.

So I have immediate knowledge of how seriously people still take these wedding things. These are the occasions where hope triumphs over experience, if only for a day.

My neural ecosystem is, therefore, filled with a searing anguish on hearing about the Boston 411 Bridal & Home Show 2010. It's not that brides will be forced to mud-wrestle each other for a … Read more

We are in a recession. Perhaps it's even a depression. But it's really not that bad. You see, someone, somewhere just spent $41,300 on a Nintendo game.

Is Stadium Events a great Nintendo game? I suspect not many people really know. Because not many people have ever played it. Not many copies were ever produced. Just after it was launched, Nintendo ordered a recall.

It could be that there are only around 200 copies floating around the world. It could be that there are only 20.

Which undoubtedly moved someone to pay such a substantial amount of … Read more

Well, he's got nothing better to do, has he?

Conan O'Brien, he who was treated almost as badly by NBC as the Winter Olympics, seems to have become one of the microbloggerati.

Not only has someone called Conan O'Brien joined Twitter at twitter.com/ConanOBrien, but the legendarily slow site has already given his feed the hallowed status of Verified Account.

With just one tweet, O'Brien has, at the time of writing, amassed more than 180,000 followers. (Naturally, being a star, he is following no one.)

You will be wondering what words decorated the bouffant … Read more