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Circuit City: What, me no laugh at parody?

MAD Magazine is getting the last laugh now that Circuit City has issued a mea culpa for telling employees to destroy issues of MAD that contain a parody of the retailer's advertising.

The Consumerist pointed us to a copy of a letter of it received from a Circuit City corporate communicator after the site wrote about the alleged search-and-destroy mission. In the letter, Circuit City apologizes for its "knee-jerk reaction," and says its has issued a retraction order and directed affected stores to put the magazines back on sale.

The magazine's August issue contains a (pretty darn amusing) four-page "Sucker City" circular with announcements like: "Believe it or not, $3,599.99 is the sale price," and "Wii Gaming System Guaranteed In Stock...if you're friends with an employee who hid it in the back for you. Otherwise, oh, sorry, all sold out." Sucker City also sells products including a self-editing Web cam that "stops embarrassing YouTube videos before they're made."

The good news is that at least one member of Circuit City's PR team appears to appreciate the value of a good ribbing--or at least appreciate the value of pretending to have a sense of humor. This is the letter: … Read more

Google wants to destroy the advertising industry. (At last someone says it.)

In a post last week, I mentioned that the world's advertising agencies and their clients were all congregating (religious reference intended) in Cannes for the annual Advertising Festival.

Finally, one of the advertising executives, perhaps enjoying the fresh sea air that thankfully accompanies the hot air coming out of some people's mouths, could take it no more.

Google "clearly wants to replace the advertising industry in its totality," said Cindy Gallop, former CEO of the extremely well-respected agency BBH.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Ms. Gallop went on to declare that Google would be "… Read more

The Digital Home 9: MAD about plasmas

In this week's episode, MAD's Maddest Writer Dick DeBartolo stops by to discuss some neat gadgets and the history of MAD Magazine. After that, Don talks with Bob Perry of Panasonic about the state of the HDTV industry and what we can expect for the future. And is Circuit City dead? Don thinks so. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 9 … Read more

Enough with 'boss buttons,' let them watch basketball in the office

Friday morning, I walked past a colleague's desk and--I swear--saw a basketball game on her computer screen. When I got closer, however, all I could see were a bunch of very official-looking bars and charts.

She was working hard. Real hard. Then she laughed, hit a key, and flipped back to the basketball game in a clear indication that I'm either a boss people can be honest with or a boss who doesn't exactly strike fear into the rank and file. Or both.

The "boss button" and silly office decorum strike again. For those of … Read more

Joost soon to offer live TV, starting with sports

If you're a college basketball fan, March clearly holds a special place in your heart. It brings the NCAA tournament (also known as March Madness), along with the occasional bit of that annoying thing called work or school. If you're somehow in a position of being unable to make it to your giant, high-definition television, Joost's got you covered. The software-based video content network is streaming all of the games (with limited commercial interruption) live, as they happen.

The resolutions for the live streams is expected to fall in line with the rest of Joost's programming. … Read more

Oakley's Medusa headbanging thing

Great balls of subversion! This is just too weird not to mention. If there's anyone brave enough to strut around in this bizarre headgear, we salute you. However, we'd suggest adding another $250 for the snap-on leather goggles to make this a full-faced mask--that way, your neighbors and employers can't make out that it's you under all the leather dreads and rivets.

Oakley's Medusa Hat sans eyewear costs $500 apiece, according to Uncrate, and doesn't even feature any MP3 options, unlike the Thumps. So whatever it is, its demand is probably limited to the … Read more

Mad Catz consumes Saitek

You know when you're playing video games at a friend's house and you have to use the "bad" controller while he uses the one that came with the system? Mad Catz is probably the company that made that "bad" controller, and it just got bigger.

According to Kotaku, Mad Catz just acquired PC accessory maker Saitek in a $30 million dollar deal. Saitek produces PC gamepads, joysticks, keyboards, and audio devices, and the company's purchase could indicate that Mad Catz is looking to expand its meager line of PC products. News of this … Read more

$24 million yacht or floating prison?

Judging by its photos, the "118 WallyPower" doesn't look like a luxury yacht. If anything, it has a post-apocalyptic design that gives it the appearance of a maximum-security prison on the high seas, kind of like a water-borne "Badonkadonk" tank we featured recently. But for those who have the means to purchase one--for $23,903,925 (be sure you have exact change)--we suppose it can look like anything they want.

And if its fortress-like exterior doesn't provide enough security, the vessel can outrun any potential perpetrators with three gas-turbine engines that pack 16,… Read more