Bankrupt!: National Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits

National Debt Clock has run out of digits.


via AdLab

Social Web Amplifies AIG Advertising Ironies

AIG's ad message irony: a theme of 'Strength to Be There' sparks a campaign pullout. But the social web never forgets as links and WOM spreads virally.




And this blogger received a direct mailer (and topped Digg ranks yesterday) from AIG asking: "If Disaster Strikes, Will You Have The Protection You Need?".

Perhaps marketers will need to audit their brands' vulnerability in a worst case scenario where the product/company can't deliver on the ad message - in a big public way. This, of course, is the eternal bane of advertiser's existence - the nagging worry that "what if my client can't deliver on our big brand idea?"


via AdAge and IPoopDaily.com

Panic Button: Water

Good Magazine explores the stats and realities of our planet's most abundant (and scarce) resource, water.

Panic Button: Made in China

An activist group is pushing for the resignation of a top Consumer Product Safety Commission official for failing to take a stronger stance on toy safety and has created a YouTube video to get its message across.


The Campaign for America’s Future is calling on Nancy Nord to step down as the CPSC’s acting director, largely for her opposition to legislation to strengthen the commission’s oversight on toy safety.

Millions of Chinese-made toys containing excessive levels of lead have been recalled in recent months from a number of toy manufacturers, including Mattel.

The group, which challenges “the big money corporate agenda” by encouraging people to speak up, says the commission is failing to protect children from dangerous toys.

To garner support, the organization created an online video that shows a “toxic” encounter between Mattel-made dolls Barbie and Ken.

“We’re trying to call attention to this,” says Eric Lotke, research director for Campaign for America’s Future. “The message is these toys are unsafe and the government authority, which is duty bound to keep us safe, is failing.”

In the video, Barbie and Ken run into each other at a bar. Their post break-up reunion ends the next morning at the Barbie Dream House. A week later, Barbie begins to complain to Ken that she is “having some symptoms.” When Ken asks what’s wrong, Barbie answers, “It’s…it’s lead poisoning.” It also reminds people that accessories for Barbie dolls were among the millions of imported toys recalled this year because of toxic levels of lead paint or other safety problems.

The group is relying on people to spread word of the video virally. Since its launch last week, the video has been viewed more than 60,000 times. And so far, about 7,000 people have signed the petition.

Reps from the organization plan to deliver the petition to Nord at the end of the week, Lotke said.

via Promo

Panic Button: Bridges Falling

Life in an age of transparency...

Other Twin Cities bridges to watch out for - via email chains and webposts, such as this from Eric Hare:

Bridges are scored on a 0-100 rating system. Bridges that are 50 or less are considered "deficient". The bridge that fell yesterday was rated 50.0 according to the list of all deficient bridges in the 7-County area

Note that there are 72 total bridges on this list.

Cross-checked that with the St Paul Bridge index and found that, aside from a few smaller bridges over ravines and so on, we have four major bridges in Saint Paul that qualify as "deficient" - shown here ranked by their rating in 2005:

26.7 Summit Ave over CP Rail Systems and Ayd Mill Rd
40.8 Interstate 35E over BNSF RR, CP Rail Systems & Cayuga St
43.4 Warner Rd EB (Reserve) over BNSF RR, CP Rail Systems, Union Pacific RR
49.5 Hwy 52 (Lafayette Rd) over Mississippi River

The Summit Ave bridge rates so low because at the time it had just been whacked by an empty container train, which ripped out a significant portion of its structure. This has been mostly fixed by now. The remaining 3 should be considered as likely to fail as the I-35W bridge.

Note: I-35E at Cayuga St is the long bridge just North of Pennsylvania. Lafayette is the only one across water (the Mississippi). Some work has been done on this, and its rating may have improved.

Pollution Penance: "Column B"

glumbert.com - The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

Crisis response

Trolling through the latest on the wheat gluten story, I came across a smart ad buy on the CBS website. Next to the headline "Pet Food Toxin Said To Be Common In China" - an issue that has shaken corporate, national, and international trust - is an ad for Tylenol's "Promise" campaign:

The online iteration of the campaign features employees sharing their promise to you, the consumer. The promises - and more importantly, the people behind them - are "another reason why you can trust the pure pain relief of Tylenol." It's an especially interesting placement given Tylenol's history with trust. [For those who don't remember, Tylenol's public image and safety reputation suffered in the 1980s due to product tampering. While the perpetrator was never caught, the scare prompted increased product saftey - including gelcaps and triple-sealed bottles.]

Other lines from the campaign:
I make Tylenol and I promise:
- If I wouldn't give it to my kids, it won't get to yours.
- I'll never forget that what we make goes into someone's body.
- That I'll never let down my family here at work or at home.

Interesting messaging given current food safety fears and increased questions for the FDA.

Dog Owners Looking For An Authority

Dog owners are looking for some answers. They're looking for an authority. And popular pooch site, Dogster has stepped up to the plate...by in paul's words "becoming a resource."

Dogster Launches RSS Feed for Pet Food Recall
To keep you updated on the latest developments in the ever-changing Menu Foods saga, Dogster has launched two RSS feeds designed to keep you and your pup in the know. The Pet Food Recall Alerts RSS feed focuses on breaking news on the pet food recalls and The Pet Food Recall News RSS feed will provide information and commentary on the pet food recall that is less time-sensitive in nature. Users can subscribe to one or both RSS feeds from Dogster's Pet Food Recall Resource Page. Here, they will also be able to view Dogster's DogBlog written by intrepid blogger Joy Ward, and find links to other organizations, including government-related agencies, that have pertinent information or are taking action related to the pet food recall.

As the story continues to unfold and multiply (China, human food, etc.) with more product recalls and a menu foods petition, it'd be nice to have a trusted source of unbiased info. (See aki's Meshly on RevolutionHealth.) Also of interest is how online has been critical to the story's development, the spread and organization of info, galvanizing of passionate communities.

"Don't Panic": Global Warming is "Unequivocal"

According to the NY Times...Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international network of climate scientists, has concluded for the first time that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity is the main driver, “very likely” causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.

They said the world was in for centuries of climbing temperatures, rising seas and shifting weather patterns — unavoidable results of the buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.

On the bright side, their report says warming and its harmful consequences could be substantially blunted by prompt action. But I guess that is all up to us, huh?



Download the smoking gun


via NYTimes

"Don't Panic": Doomsday Clock Advances

'Doomsday Clock' closes in on midnight

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists decided to move the minute hand of its "Doomsday Clock" forward two minutes, from seven minutes to midnight to five minutes to midnight.

In a press conference held simultaneously in London and New York City, renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking recalled the founding of the periodical by scientists who contributed to the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, including Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and Hans Bethe.

"As we stand on the brink of a second nuclear age," Hawking said, "scientists have a special responsibility once again to inform society of the peril humanity faces."

In making the decision to advance the minute hand, the magazine's board called the current situation, the "most perilous since Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Kennette Bennedict, executive director of the Bulletin said the doomsday clock, unveiled in 1945 and first changed in 1947 has come to symbolize trends in the world's vulnerability to catastrophe.

Current nuclear worries touched on by the speakers included the ambitions of North Korea and Iran, the nuclear rivalry between Pakistan and India, new initiatives to expand nuclear power plants around the world and the lack of progress toward realizing the goals of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The board also added climate change to their list of doomsday concerns, because "it could cause irremediable harm to the habitat humanity needs for survival."


via LA Monitor