Do Not Be Fooled By The Army Band

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:45:06 EDT

Do a high school kid a favor: make it clear that they will not be playing in the Army Band. The Army Band is one of those trite PR tools that Army recruiters trot out to prove that life in the military is more than just getting scared out of your wits by the possibility of improvised explosive devices around every corner. "You like music? Yea, did you know the Army has 34 different bands? Something for everybody!" The Army has lots of neat little jobs that are immaterial to you, potential recruits, because you will be toting an M-16 in Iraq. But that doesn't stop local TV stations that seemingly have no defenses against being used as military recruiting tools from cranking out news-free "reports" on how cool the Army Band is, like the one in the clip from Allentown, PA's WFMZ, below. "Giving new meaning to the phrase 'Guitar Hero,'" really? This band sucks.

Audience Seeks Sex, Gets Book Instead

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:31:46 EDT

In this competitive publishing environment, you need book promotions that are really HOT. So to hype up Charles Bock's heralded new novel about the underbelly of Las Vegas, "Beautiful Children," his PR team is using fake, barely legal porn! They set up a site with a video (SFW) of a teenage girl auditioning for her first porn shoot—then, just before she gets naked, it redirects to a site for the book! This is truly forward-thinking strategic marketing. Either that, or Charles Bock is just a big perv. [SlinkyFoxVideo.com via AgencySpy]

Gawker: Bait and Switch

Do Not Be Fooled By The Army Band

Audience Seeks Sex, Gets Book Instead