Arianna Huffington Goes for the Gold Medal in Conflicts of Interest
Arianna Huffington, a famous liberal pundit who is also the editor-in-chief of one of America’s biggest online news sites, is now a board member of Uber. How does that...work?
The Labor Movement Fucked Up By Supporting Hillary Clinton
In a campaign that is increasingly being defined by the public’s weariness with inequality and aspects of free trade, the labor movement has settled on Hillary Clinton as its presumptive presidential preference. The labor movement is fucking up.
Republicans Will Fall in Line
Right now, the “Republican establishment” is busy wringing its hands over what can be done to stop Donald Trump. Do not be deceived. When the time comes, they will all fall in line with Donald Trump.
Union Endorses Candidate That Agrees With It the Least
Yesterday, the SEIU, one of America’s strongest and most politically active labor unions, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Hmm.
Organized labor leaders in Los Angeles are now arguing that unionized companies should have the freedom to pay less than the city’s new $15 per hour minimum wage. [*Turns to face labor leaders*] You are the shittiest labor leaders I ever heard of!
Vice and Bank of America Are Making Overdraft Fees Cool as Hell
Vice is a company that would like you to think it is cool all of the time. In fact, Vice is only cool when it does stories about Ebola and stuff. It is not so cool when it tries to be the cool face of Bank of America, which would like to rip you off.
Cheez Is Healthy, For the Right Price
Though I enjoy a good slice of American Cheez Food Product as much as the next unsophisticated child, I would not be so bold as to declare that product to be "healthy." Prestigious nutritionists bound to differ!
Ads, Editorial, It's All #Content
Even in the deep dark depths of the Great Magazine Die-Off a half-decade ago, struggling print magazines did not get so desperate as to breezily stick ads on the cover of their struggling print editions. Hey, times have changed.
Music and Advertising Formally Announce Their Merger
If you are the sort of person who believes that it would be nice if musical artists would not always become paid shills for various brands—and you're probably not, judging by the world we live in today—you will not want to hear this.
"Indie" Bands Sell Out Just to Sleep in Corporate-Run Crash Pad
The music industry has shifted from a business model of "selling albums" to a business model of " sell out hard as hell and hope to get your song in an ad campaign." Now, bands can directly pimp themselves out to the Sour Patch Kids™ brand in exchange for room and board.
For Advertising Week 2014, join Mo Rocca and a bunch of ad executives for "Leveraging the Laugh"—because "Increasingly, brands are breaking through the fray to deliver serious messages, even matters of life and death, with humor." Mo Rocca is not funny and strikes me as evil.
Clinton-era Secretary of State Madeline Albright is now working to help billionaire hedge fund mogul Paul Singer legally extort money from the people of Argentina, because ultimately even "respectable leaders" are for sale, and never forget that.
Vice Is Very Touchy About Its Wonderful Work on Behalf of Brands
Shane Smith, the burly head of the VICE empire, is now worth several hundred million dollars, thanks to his company's peerless ability to sell counterculture cool to mainstream corporations. Don't mention that to Shane, though. It's a sensitive topic.
What "Sellouts" Were
Once upon a time not so long ago, there was an idea: that some things in this world should be able to exist free from the influence of money—that these things should be done because of their own intrinsic value. You would be forgiven for scoffing at the notion that this idea was ever taken seriously at all.
"Millennial males are rebelling against the mass culture they grew up in," marketers say. Also: "One in three say they are 'sneaker obsessed.' And nearly 80% said American brands are cool again."
The fact that Macklemore is doing ads for Cracker Jacks that target "the ironic sensibility of millennial consumers" could inspire some long-winded and ultimately tedious rants on several topics, but instead why not just listen to some Brand Nubian?
The Revolution Will Not Be Vice
Vice was once a humble magazine about doing heroin and having sex (on heroin). Now, Vice is a global multimedia company, partly owned by Fox, valued at $1.4 billion. Vice is so successful that it no longer needs to exist.
The Washington Post Is a Bitter, Jealous Little Newspaper
The Washington Post, the pre-Politico newsletter of choice for The Political Establishment, has the worst opinion section in America. Today, they once again prove why: the paper, which helped to break the NSA Prism spying story, editorializes that the U.S. government must stop Edward Snowden from leaking any more of…
Millennials (The Sellout Generation) Love Advertising
The up-and-coming young "Millennial" generation, comprised of a bunch of soup-slurping microbloggers who mistakenly believe that they are creating rather than following trends, is ready to accept it distinction as the biggest bunch of sellouts coolest generation that history has yet produced. They have an inherent…
