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publicity stunts
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Controversy
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publicity stunts
videuhoh
MSNBC Reporter Calls Spike Lee "Uppity"
On MSNBC's Morning Joe show today, Courtney Hazlett reported on the current racial tiff between Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood. She reminded us that this isn't the first time the two have had issues: "Spike Lee got really uppity" about Eastwood's WWII movies before! I wonder what Spike Lee has to say about that. Click to watch the lady say the racist thing. [via PlanetGordon. Hazlett is the same reporter who said "we've almost had a dress rehearsal for this with Owen Wilson" when actor Heath Ledger died in January.]
censorship
Secret Service Provides Free Publicity For Controversy-Seeking Artist
The NYPD and the Secret Service shut down an art exhibition across the street from the New York Times building earlier this morning. The show's title was "The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama." This is today's "Thing most assured of getting in the tabloids tomorrow." The artist, Yazmany Arboleda, says his project is really about the media—he's definitely good at getting media attention, at least. He's even set up a website for each candidate's assassination (uh, in the media). Photos of his illegal work after the jump: More »
controversy
Sex and the City Turned 14-Year-Old Into Old Trollop
"Samantha looked at hooking up with random people as not a big deal, so that's what I did too." So says "Lisa" in an ABC News story today. A fan of Sex and the City, Lisa took after the hyperbolized New York City ladies when she was just an impressionable 14-year-old living on Long Island. She puffed cigarettes and swilled icky sticky Cosmopolitans (having sneaked into bars) like Carrie and she bed hopped and said things like "you have funky spunk," just like Samantha. (She did not, unfortunately, become a lawyer like Miranda; or, thankfully, become a shrill nuisance like Charlotte). "It wasn't 'Sex and the City's' fault. I love the show, but I think it made it a little easier to justify my behavior," she elaborates. Eventually, Lisa wised up and went and married a Mormon and moved to the blasted wastelands of Utah. More »
conventional wisdom
'Slate' Continues to Out-Slate Self
Gas... is cheap! An economist on how expensive cigarettes make smokers happy! Ugly people: are they actually pretty? Plus: Chris Hitchens on how George W. Bush was a better president than Lincoln! Tomorrow: Are you hungry? No you're not! [Slate]
controversy
Dove Denies New Yorker Hypocrisy Allegations
Beauty product purveyor Dove has finally responded to allegations, first reported in a New Yorker story, that the company retouched photos of the "Real" women in its "Campaign for Real Beauty" ads. Which would make them big hypocrites. But according to a statement from Dove this morning (via its PR agency, Edelman), the New Yorker was wrong. The company even got a quotable refutation from controversy-courting celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz! Their full denial is after the jump. More »
blog wars
Matt Sanchez In His Own Strange Words
We didn't want to just let conservative blogger and gay porn veteran Matt Sanchez's unprovoked gay-cusations against all of Gawkerdom sit out in the blogosphere with no explanation. So we emailed him to get some clarity on his position. His first response to us: "The gawking subtleties of propaganda. The beleaguered gay activist is so sensitive and marginalized, that the only way to feel normal is to call everyone else defective. Can there be any wonder why a social subset with a life expectancy 20 years less than the majority of Americans is so bitterly suicidal?" Ha, WHAT? We didn't give up on understanding his subtle philosophy, though; we pressed him for the basis of his gay obsession. And he sent us not only a new picture of himself (pictured!) but these deeper thoughts on "gay jihadis" like YOU: More »
blog wars
Manly Blogger Calls Us Gay!
A certain right-wing blogger has a question for us, via email: "Are all of the contributors to Gawker homosexuals, because there's a level of superciliousness that must be directly tied to sexual frustration and the inability to bond with other human beings." Whoa! We'll have him know that Gawker employs a veritable handful of heterosexuals. This guy was ostensibly upset that our coverage of Absolut's pro-Mexico ad (which the company has now apologized for) was not quite xenophobic enough. But what led this Republican internet soldier to target us in our vulnerable gay spot? It's probably his own past as a gay porn star—that does have a tendency to color one's perceptions. More »
scandals
Did This Hooker Sleep With Eliot Spitzer Or Not?
The story of Kristin Davis, who the Post fingered yesterday as not only a high-priced madam, but also another hooker visited by Eliot Spitzer, is actually getting more interesting. Why? Because every new story that comes out makes it less clear if Davis actually has any connection to Spitzer. The Post says she does! The Daily News says she doesn't! And the Times doesn't really say anything! Verrrrrrrrrrryyy interesting. Somebody has screwed up on this story, big time. After the jump, we speculate—plus, we have some insight into the Daily News' big "Madam's Black Book" cover story today. More »
paul tilley
There was a ton of debate about the death of Paul Tilley, the ad agency exec who committed suicide last month. Some people charged mean bloggers with helping to push him over the edge—charges that seemed increasingly ridiculous, as people took time to consider the full situation. But Liberty Mutual, the huge insurance company, had another thought about Tilley's death: what a great way to promote our company! And that's exactly what they did, the sickos.
More »
Liberty Mutual Uses Ad Exec's Suicide To Promote Itself
There was a ton of debate about the death of Paul Tilley, the ad agency exec who committed suicide last month. Some people charged mean bloggers with helping to push him over the edge—charges that seemed increasingly ridiculous, as people took time to consider the full situation. But Liberty Mutual, the huge insurance company, had another thought about Tilley's death: what a great way to promote our company! And that's exactly what they did, the sickos.
More »
osama bin laden
Enough With The Goddamn Cartoons
Evil terrorist and fashion icon Osama Bin Laden is just like some slow, cranky old man: sitting around the cave, reading the newspaper, complaining about the funny pages. The world's most wanted criminal released another audio tape yesterday, specifically to condemn those stupid fucking Danish Muhammad cartoons, and threaten Europe with a "severe reckoning." The main cartoon (which is for sale, and pictured) was reprinted last month in a show of solidarity with the cartoonist, who lives in safe houses because his life is in danger [WP]. Still! For the stupid half-funny cartoon! Enough already, Muslim extremists! "I have always been an atheist, and I dare say these events have only intensified my atheism," the cartoonist tells the New York Times. Smooth move, extremists: you're making him like god even less. Nice spiritual persuasion there. Below, the full page of mediocre cartoons, once again. Gosh. More »
slate
Slate's obsession with constantly upending the conventional wisdom now has it blatantly debunking itself. [Slate]
Online Mag Needs Intervention For Controversial Opinion Addiction
Slate's obsession with constantly upending the conventional wisdom now has it blatantly debunking itself. [Slate]
controversy
Somebody Buy This Stupid Cartoon Already
Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is trying to sell his very popular cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as a turban, which helped to ignite all that hysteria among fundamentalist Muslims a couple years back. They're still trying to kill Westergaard, and he's getting pretty tired of it. Now he's trying to unload the infamous cartoon, so he can at least get some cash to buy a Playstation 3 to entertain himself while in hiding. Of course, no auction house wants to touch it and no collector wants to hang it up, so he's having a hard time [WSJ]. Somebody please just buy it—display it, burn it, use it as toilet paper, who cares—this controversy is one of the more exasperating and stupid of the 21st century. Raffle time! Below, a reprint of the full page of mediocre cartoons that cause the pointless fuss. More »
paul tilley
Ad Agency Boss Calls Bloggers Hateful Bitter Losers Over Tilley Suicide
The controversy over what role (if any) ad bloggers played in ad exec Paul Tilley's suicide is rising up the ranks pretty fast. Earlier today Nina Disesa, the chairman of the New York flagship office of huge ad agency McCann Erickson, left a comment on the Agency Spy blog that calls bloggers hateful failures, and their commenters "losers." This prompted AdScam's George Parker, an actual ad industry guy who takes a backseat to no one in cussing out said industry, to scoff at her, and add that "I happen to think the vast majority of the work that comes out of McCann is shit." The most incredible aspects of this controversy are, 1. The fact that nobody knows why Tilley committed suicide has not prevented a major agency executive from speculating on the cause, and 2. A major agency executive could be so tone-deaf when it comes to the blogosphere. The whole thing is getting nastier by the minute, without any real new information. Disesa's full angry comment is copied below. More »
paul tilley
Did Agency Spy Blog Drive Ad Exec To Suicide?
Paul Tilley, executive creative director of the major ad agency DDB in Chicago, jumped to his death from a hotel window on Friday. He played a key role in many familiar ad campaigns, including "Dude, you're getting a Dell" and the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign for McDonald's. But Tilley was often criticized on industry blogs, and in the wake of his suicide, some people are calling those harsh criticisms a factor in his death. Others are arguing just as hard against that interpretation. Below, a selection of the negative comments on Agency Spy, a blog that had criticized Tilley's management skills recently (and offered "heartfelt condolences" on his death): More »
advertising
Rocawear Walks Fine Line Between Death And T-Shirts
Nicole Paultre-Bell, the widow of Sean Bell—who was shot to death by the NYPD on his wedding night in 2006 while unarmed—is now starring in an ad campaign for Rocawear. With her two young children. On the eve of the trial of the cops who shot Sean Bell [NY Post]. Tacky, or uplifting? This one is almost too close to call. Photos of the full ads, below. More »
controversy
