Cheaters get Cheated
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American
Life is Short ... Have an Affair?
The Monday following Mother's Day, Ashley Madison, a "dating" site for promiscuous married people, claimed over 31,000 women disappointed with their men "signed up to cheat." That's over 10 times the normal number for a Monday on a service that has almost 6 million members. (There's so much morally wrong in that last sentence that I'm surprised my keyboard didn't catch on fire while typing it.)
That announcement got the Toronto based company a boatload of free PR, including an interview on Sean Hannity's Fox News program. Hannity took CEO Noel Biderman to task for being morally bereft and "pimping" his service. But a tweet from @ashleymadison later thanked Hannity for the service's biggest signup day ever ... 42,000 people, after the show. (My keyboard is definitely getting warm.)
Although the vast majority of the media attention toward Biderman and the site is negative, business is booming. In fact, the company offered Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport $10 million to rename it Ashley Madison Airport. The city rejected the offer.
Biderman, a former lawyer and sports agent, a married man with two children who says he doesn't cheat, has clearly found himself a successful market niche. As he puts it, Ashley Madison is just a "platform." He didn't invent infidelity and his site doesn't cause people to cheat any more than divorce lawyers cause couples to split up. (Good line.)
But here may be the real problem. Is Ashley Madison a scam? People get to sign up for free, create a profile, and interact with each other by sending free "winks." But before they can actually communicate with each other in a robust way so they can actually chat and get together, they've got to sign up for a paid membership.
As it turns out, at least some of the "winks" that guys get, prompting them to sign up for a paid membership to communicate with the winking hotty, are never returned because, well, they're fake. They come from Ashley Madison. And the company states as much in its "legal" and "terms" section which, I'm guessing, most people never read:
"From time to time this service may include, offer, or initiate winks, collect messages or instant chat from Market Researchers (Online Hosts) simulating attached or single men or women. These efforts are conducted for market research and/or customer experience and/or quality control and/or compliance purposes. Market research information is used to provide analysis, feedback, trends, patterns, social commentary and information in the aggregate and aides in the process of monitoring our system for compliance of our operating standards and code of conduct. Accordingly, Market Researchers (Online Hosts) will NOT be conspicuously identified."
So in the end, many potential cheaters may be "cheated," in a manner of speaking. Seems fair to me.
Still Walking
I featured this six-minute film for Johnnie Walker about a year ago when it was first introduced. Now it has almost a half a million views on YouTube and it recently won best in show at the 35th annual One Show Awards ... following the receipt of a plethora of other awards.
The film was shot in a single take with no cuts and no camera tricks. It's impressive enough that I thought I'd post it so you can watch it again.
Guess how many takes were required to get the entire film done in one shot? Twenty? Thirty? Forty? Fifty five? The answer is below the cartoon at the bottom of today's post.
They'll Protect Yours Better Than They Protected His
So confident is Lifelock in its $10-$15/month "identity theft protection service" that its CEO Todd Davis posts his social security number in its ads. Unfortunately, his identity has been stolen 13 times since doing so, reports the Phoenix Times. The FTC fined Lifelock $12 million in March for deceptive advertising.
Speaking of "Protection." Knock. Knock.
Oh, no! It's a tramp at the door. Let's shoot him!
This vintage ad claims women can go to the door "with confidence" with Iver Johnson Revolvers in their hands. I can't argue with that ... especially if she's holding a revolver.
Ads That Caught My Glass Eye
This Honda ad, encouraging Honda owners to "Use Original Parts" is attention-getting ... but that's about all.
From Adland: What's that under your nails? Eeeeeeew. Gross.
Playing on the idea "The Things You Touch Stay With You," Protex Antibacterial Soap, uses closeup images to show the stuff that's left on your skin until you wash your hands.
How can you ignore an ad that includes two "Hefs"? On the left is Hef the Magazine Magnet, and on the right is Hef the Chick Magnet. There's ever a 30 second TV commercial featuring the two Hefs. Click here to see it. Way to go Stoli.
From the Johnnie Walker post above: The first successful take was "take forty".