Airlines are going to get regulations shortly from the CTA for advertising online (Facebook, Twitter) based on the “free” flights offer and also for airlines to be 100% transparent about hidden taxes, surcharges for flights using loyalty reward programs. This is good news - we need more transparency – regardless of what medium an ad appears.

All the craziness swirling around the internet in the past few months – notably the clear indication that most politicians and governments are completely out of touch… I am not going there in this post today – read a GREAT article in Wired UK about The Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde, and how the entertainment industry is not accepting change. Instead, they are trying to punish the agents of change. Worth a read

LOVE this parody…. Ace Ventura saves a goo-ee-na pig

Proctor & Gamble is laying off 1,600 staff- a big reason for this being the increase of

This campaign wasn't free.

online ad spend over the last 2 years has been approximately 24% yet sales has only gone up 6%. This is a really good example of how online ad spend can run off the rails – it needs to be closely monitored, and have a good mix of  SEO and more of the Old Spice Guy (viral). That being said, brand impressions on social media is certainly not free. The cost of maintaining SM channels by staff, strategy, production costs AND a balanced mix of online ad spend to help put the word out is certainly not free. This is a challenge that all online marketers deal with. You can’t just throw money at online ads and expect instant results and you can’t just post something on your Facebook company page and expect it to spread like wildfire. There needs to be a balanced mix happening… and monitoring to see what is working for the campaign.

Whitney Houston passed away yesterday, she had a long hard struggle (publicly) with her addictions. Its sad to see such a great talent struggle in the public eye – I can’t imagine what it would be like. The media sensationalized and spotlighted her struggles and now crowns her as a queen now that she is dead. So sad – here is a great interview put out by Rolling Stone with Whitney in 1986

This is the BEST illustration of news reporting on TV. Beautifully done.

Love this list: The top 50 modern-day low budget movies…. Lots of GREAT movies on here. If you haven’t seen Another Earth ($150,000) yet, please do… Number 29 is Catfish – excellent one about a Facebook meeting gone astray… and only cost $30,000 to make…. Animal Kingdom ($5 million) is another good

Highly recommended movie.

one.

Super Bowl 2012 ads – which one is your favourite?

screenshot from YouTube video of Star Wars Uncut

Star Wars crowd-sourced video by fans… wow. This video is amazing and is a group effort of contributions. EXTREMELY creative and fun to watch. What a crazy effort – each group contributed 15 seconds of different scenes of Star Wars and the result is this awesome feature-length film.

I love ketchup but maybe not as much as how its loaded on here  The video looks like a high school engineering project gone astray. Extremely funny.

GREAT blog alert: Sometimes Interesting – check it out – the author writes extremely interesting, well-researched blog posts about different things, mostly geographic locations and interesting facts around them. The one I love the most is their post on Kowloon City - the now defunct makeshift settlement in Hong Kong that at its highest point, in 1987, its population numbered 33,000 within its 6.5-acre borders. Possibly a record for population density?

Ok, that is it for this week. Back to bed, battling pneumonia and bored… so leave a comment!

With all this talk about SOPA, good ol’ Rupert Murdoch censoring the internet, some hackers are trying to launch their own sattelite into space to build an uncensored internet:

Uncensored Internet anyone?

The always annoying, ever-present Kardashians clogging up North American culture. Here is one attempt to stop it – worth a peek. Apparently the ringleader is trying to sue this site:

Boycott Kim Kardashian

There has been talk of bacteria eating oil in the gulf coast, here is some more food for thought:

Can Bacteria Solve the Mysteries of the Universe?

Google+ is integrating with Google search results. Why do I still hear crickets whenever I go onto Google+? When will it gain momentum?

Google+ integration with Google search

And lastly, the newest way to make a buck (funny)

The Mitchell and Webb Situation – Farming

>> Great case study on how Dell uses Social Media to the fullest

>> Marketing tips for small companies

>> Zucky has a stalker… on Facebook

>> Superbowl ads – which one was your favourite?

>> Oven Lovin’ – need I say more?

>> An inside look at North Korea a la VICE magazine style

>> Hello Toronto – help save CKLN!

>> The social media backlash – small but steady movement

>> Bus drivers who text – another PR disaster for Toronto’s public transit

Have any interesting links to share? – please post!

>> This hike is beautiful in Spain – you may want to check your life insurance policy before you do it…

>> Eloqua has some great whitepapers on Slideshare for all you marketing folks out there…

>> Can’t get enough of this environmentally safe clothes hanger – such a great idea

>> Egypt cuts off internet service

>> Enter to win a lovely, relaxing pillow courtesy of Marni Wasserman from Fully Nourished (been meaning to sign up for one of her amazing healthy food courses) – Check it out!

Have a nice weekend everyone!