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journalismism
Anecdotal Evidence Proves:
Newspapers are using the midsummer doldrums as an excuse to run more bogus trend stories than ever. It's a growing—and troubling—phenomenon. [Slate]
Newspapers are using the midsummer doldrums as an excuse to run more bogus trend stories than ever. It's a growing—and troubling—phenomenon. [Slate]
trendwatch
Jellllyyyyyfisshhh!!
The multi-tentacled jellyfish menace is loose in New York waters and nothing you can do will stop it! Quickly, swim, swim for shore, damn you! The floating blobs of fury are breeding as we speak. A swimmer died during the New York triathlon last weekend, and while doctors say there's no evidence a jellyfish sting was involved, the media is doing its part to keep you safe; no fewer than four newspapers today run stories about jellyfish, and how you definitely should not PANIC about their invertebrate invasion. They're replacing sharks as the media darlings of the sea! More »
The workplace
Ad People: Drunks
The ad industry is home to even more barely-functioning alcoholics than related fields like media or pest control. While the average reporter at least waits until his last story is filed to hit the bar, ad agencies are installing bars right there in-house, so shaky, sweating employees can get some sips of their sweet, sweet medicine to help them focus on the task of thinking up jingles. Ha, no really it's all a very glamorous, Mad Men type of swinging party thing. At least that's what they want you to think. More »
magazines
Famous Photographers Woo Stars Into Lewdness
A-list stars are extremely selective about how they're portrayed in pictures. They routinely have specific language in their contracts for movies and photo shoots dictating just how much flesh can be shown, and in what way. But magazines have figured out a way around this: get one of the world's most prominent photographers to do the shoot, and hey, the stars let it all hang out! New York got Lindsay Lohan to strip for Bert Stern, the photographer who once shot Marilyn Monroe in the same poses. And Vanity Fair used Annie Leibovitz's cachet to goad the young Miley Cyrus into a creepy come-hither pose. And now, sadly, supermodel and man-curse Gisele Bundchen has fallen victim to the same trend. Oh no! More »
trendwatch
Media, Fashion Elites Introduce Us To "Shorts"
When the winter snows retreat and the spring gives way to the warming rays of the summer sun, urban gentlemen customarily carry an extra handkerchief to dab the sweat that accumulates within their long trousers. But in this modern age, it seems, some fashion-forward men are turning to an odd form of above-the-knee abbreviated breeches, casually referred to as "shorts." The New York Observer kindly explores the world of the daring striders who are unafraid to expose their lower legs on the streets of our metropolis: More »
trendwatch
US Media Companies Bring Their Quality Products To Grateful Outside World
Fox Television has noticed that there is a wide, wide world out there that hasn't yet been the recipient of Fox's unique brand of entertaining and educational TV programming. So they're going to bring it to them, and if they make a little money in the process, all the better! In the meantime, Conde Nast is launching a version of Wired magazine in the UK, and they've already launched some of their premium titles in India (Vogue India! GQ India!). What's going on here? The world is flat. And it's a great place to set a television, magazine, and big pile of money. More »
trendwatch
Newspaper Outsourcing Comes To The OC
Further cause for existential despair in journalism: the (Pulitzer-Prize winning!) OC Register is going to outsource some of its copy editing and layout work to a company in India. But uh, don't worry staffers, it's only a test! A test which will inevitably lead to foreigners taking good old American journalism jobs. Don't be fooled by management doublespeak. It's time to panic! More »
advertising
Let Us Mourn The Death Of Euphemism
$100 million. That's how much Cottonelle is currently spending on an ad campaign to sell its toilet paper. And for that kind of cash, they're not talking out the side of their mouths about "freshness" and "toilet tissue." They're telling you straight out: our product will be used on your "bottom." In fact, now that ads for erectile dysfunction and period problems have become commonplace, ads for poop-related products are also stepping up with the strong, clear language of truth. Not just "bottom," but also "behind." Actually, it would be better if everyone just shut up: More »
magazines
Page Six Mag: African Suffering Is Trendy. Hey Look, Diamonds!
Page Six Magazine's Kelly Killoren Bensimon, your source for both trendsetting woman-about-town news and the latest dispatches from poverty-ravaged Africa, unspins the saga of her almost-trip to the Third World in her column this past weekend: "Last week I was supposed to go to South Africa with the group CC Africa, which has arranged safaris for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the past. I was very excited to go—I was going to help open a school there—but I missed my flight by 10 minutes!" OMG OMG what happens next? The answer will sadden you, shock you, and make you despair for the future of Africa and New York high society alike: More »
trendwatch
Russian Billionaires Are Buying All The Pop Stars
Russian billionaires: they're powerful, they're flush with profits from semi-monopolized industrial concerns, and they're ready to party. So they think nothing of paying outrageous sums to international pop stars to come play private parties for them and their closest friends. The most recent example is poor drug-addled soul singer Amy Winehouse, who will be pocketing a cool $2 million to play a show for the girlfriend of billionaire politician and businessman Roman Abramovich. All $2 million of which will surely be spent to further Winehouse's ongoing demise. The point is, she's not the only superstar who's been seduced by a gig like this. Soon you won't be able to see anyone from Madonna to Rihanna without a plane ticket to Moscow and tight connections to the vestiges of the Kremlin's power structure. It's a trend! More »
trendwatch
The Cute Epidemic
Kittens: they just won't go away. You must look at them! They and their assorted cute friends—puppies, monkeys, duckies, hippopotami—have taken over the internet, and have already become a leading addiction among men and women alike. Cute cravings must be fed, productivity be damned. A baby bear licking a swan! A parakeet wearing a tutu! A kitten roller skating on the back of a pink stingray! The Observer predicts a "cuteness surge." This will be our downfall. Our supposedly sophisticated elites have allowed their cutie wootie nom nom nuzzle muzzle urges to become their drug, their porn, their shame: More »
shut up, brooklyn
Williamsburg Activity Guide Leaves Off 'Hating Everyone'
At least three staff members of the New York Observer live in Williamsburg, the Brooklyn neighborhood where every description was already a cliché like, ten years ago, dude. And they're determined to parlay their job at a somewhat relevant media outlet into some easy hipster sex this summer. So today they put together a long and infuriating package about living the post-college high life in "Williamsburg College." The two theses of the story are "Williamsburg does not blow!" and "it's not that different from college anyway." Only one of which is true. More »
media darlings
Middle America Embraces Kimbo Slice
Well, ultimate fighting is now officially an acceptable sport for mainstream America. Tomorrow night, CBS is showing a live fight featuring none other than the Miami headcracker, Kimbo Slice. He's an ex-bouncer who's risen to fame, fortune, and respectability solely through brutal, bare-knuckle fight videos of him on YouTube. A true American success story for our modern age. Half of you are saying, "Who?" The other half are saying, "My favorite was when that guy in the backyard kept trying to pause the fight, but Kimbo knocked the hell out of him anyways." Though there will be some halfhearted controversy over CBS' decision, we're calling it right now: ultimate fighting is no longer a trend, or an oddity; it's a part of the sporting establishment that families can watch together. Two of Kimbo's YouTube classics are after the jump. America will have its blood: More »
drugs
Everybody Hopped Up On Wacky Fruit
Wild urban youngsters these days are all eating magic fruit and guzzling Tabasco sauce, and there's really nothing you or the authorities can do about it. Internet-savvy hipsters flock to Long Island City rooftop parties where a dealer/ guru named "Supreme Commander" hands them crazy berries to chew on, sending them into blissful fits of uncontrolled food-sampling. If it spreads, this "flavor tripping" phenomenon threatens to destroy the traditional notion of exotic seasonings that hip chefs in hip restaurants in hip neighborhoods have worked so hard to achieve. Because, let's face it: these magic berries sound awesome: More »
trendwatch
Crazy Websites Work!
What does it take to get a job in this tough economy? A crazy website demonstrating that you are an insane person! Back in March we reported on Josh Millrod, a maniacal young man with a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance and Certificate in Journalism from Indiana University who built a seizure-inducing site full of consciously exaggerated braggadocio about his entry-level marketing skills. And it worked! Josh writes in today to report that he has in fact landed a job in marketing, and we wish him the best of luck. This tactic also worked for ad copywriter Yutaka Tsujino, whose website proclaiming how much he sucks got him a prime job earlier this month. Professionalism was always overrated. [Earlier]
marketing
Virals For The Upper Crust
Viral marketing: an ostentatious and mysterious way to grab buzz, but ultimately futile when it comes to measurable results that benefit you in the real world. Which makes it exactly the same as luxury clothing. Which may be why luxury brands from Cartier to Prada are now trying to make cute little viral YouTube videos, just like every other company in the world. Do rich, exclusive consumers, who are the prime targets of these brands, really spend their time clicking on YouTube links of amusing commercials? We think not. Which makes this entire trend a mystifying waste of time and resources, just like luxury clothing. Full circle and all that. After the jump, a Sergio Rossi viral video of shoes from different social classes making sweet, sweet love. Luxuriously! More »
trendwatch
