A Tree Falling in the Forest

EA and Activision's back and forth banter is making a lot of press - and is certainly fun to watch - but it is sadly nothing new. Those of us enjoying our formative beer imprinting years during the rise of Corona may remember the workers are pissing in Corona rumors started by US Heineken distributors and there are many other similar stories over the years. While at a car show in Pebble Beach over the weekend I came across an old Cadillac ad providing the best way to address these campaigns. In those days they did not use the press, they did not use a whisper campaign, they just talked about themselves. In 1915, when Cadillac was establishing its reputation as the "Cadillac" of cars, it was the first to market with a V8 Engine. Packard, the major competitor, did not like this and responded by spreading rumors about reliability. The lead copywriter was frustrated by all of the misinformation in the market and tried to figure out the root of the problem. A...

After realizing my call for the destruction of Gamestop was for naught, I had to come to terms with the need to accept their business model as a fact of life - even though they are killing the geese who so lovingly innovate, fund, develop and so lovingly deliver golden eggs into their grubby, cold, clammy, unappreciative hands. I even moderated a panel with Gamestop's CEO, and kept my opinion to myself . . . mostly. But do I really have to accept their repeated efforts to persuade us their actions are good for the business. Does the crack dealer stand on the corner and say he is enhancing the junkie's lives, or does he just take their money? Gamestop senior executives do understand that if they have to keep repeating that their actions are good for the industry, they are probably not good and constant repetition will not make it so. In a recent interview in Edge, Mike Mauler, EVP of Gamestop International said: "I can understand the feelings," he ...

A while back ago I wrote a big, long rant about the lack of privacy on line. I was, and continue to be, frustrated by the non-consensual insertion of Google and Facebook’s appendages into the most personal crevices of our lives. The growth engine of Web 2.0 - are we on 3.0 yet? - is the aggregation, analysis and leverage of personal information. Web sites are able to passively collect the very same information people used to have request in person. While this collection is the most significant invasion of our privacy since the Spanish Inquisition, We are not able to use the word “privacy” to describe the action because the major benefactors of our ignorant largesse co opted the word. Kind of like when liberals rebranded “progressives.” The current rebranding campaign was launched a while back and continued in earnest at panel discussion on social media sponsored by Marie Claire magazine. Ms. Zuckerberg, sitting with Eric Schmidt and Erin Andrews, victim of cyber harassmen...