TresSugar

Cellular Phone Providers Bugging You to Switch to Them: The Movie

GiggleSugar — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0700

You know how all the mobile service providers trip all over themselves to get you to switch to AT&T, MCI, Sprint, etc., etc.? Well, this hilarious video spins that into a mini-movie of epic proportions, complete with mobile home offers, mail-order brides, and thugs. Oh, the dramz!

Meatloaf + Tiffany = Freaking Weird

GiggleSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:15:00 -0700

AT&T doth protest too much in this GoPhone ad featuring has-beens Meatloaf and Tiffany. I remember absolutely nothing about this product except that I now forever associate it with an ill-conceived duet that takes place in a garage.

WTF?!

GiggleSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:00:00 -0800

It's like MySpace: AT&T wants to look popular, so they maintain a long email list of "friends," whom they never correspond with. It's so tenth grade.

Source

Busted! What's That Repairman Doing?

GiggleSugar — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 01:00:00 -0800

You can't get away with anything these days! Everyone has a video camera.

Colbert On The New AT&T

GiggleSugar — Thu, 24 May 2007 03:00:00 -0700

Stephen Colbert can make even the dry topic of Cingular changing its name to AT&T funny. Love him! (Although John Stewart's still cuter.)

Front Page: Gay Marriage Supporters Plan Next Move

TresSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:00:48 -0700

Supporters of gay marriage took to the streets in California to protest yesterday's ruling on Prop. 8. Many also are looking forward, planning the next battle in the fight. - SF Chronicle
The makers of Slumdog Millionaire met with the film's two impoverished child actors in Mumbai today. - AP
President Obama is spending the day in Las Vegas on a fund-raising trip. - USA Today
AT&T may have swayed American Idol voting by giving phones for free text-message services and lessons in casting blocks of votes at parties supporting Kris Allen. - New York Times
Pundit Tucker Carlson has plans to start a conservative website similar to the Huffington Post. - The Hill
If you're curious, here are some pictures from inside George W. Bush's new home. - The Daily News

Source

Headline of the Day

GiggleSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:00:00 -0800

This Kid's a Text Maniac

I bet Greg Hardesty was glad he had AT&T's unlimited text messaging plan when he counted how many text messages his teen daughter sent in a month. His eyes almost popped out of his head when his 440 page AT&T online statement revealed that his 13-year-old daughter Reina had sent 14,528 text messages in one month! Hardesty calculated that Reina had to have sent 484 text messages a day, or about one text message every two minutes she was awake that month. Holy crap. That's a lot of WTFs, OMGs, LOLs and ROTFLs! Click here to read more about this text-crazy teen.

Morning News Anchors Drink McDonald's Coffee (For Cash)

LibertySugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:15:00 -0700

Each morning news anchors on Fox's Las Vegas affiliate sit in front of very visible McDonald's iced coffee cups, part of a product-placement deal. The fast-food chain sponsors the two-hour morning news-and-lifestyle segment, but instead of commercial breaks, the advertisement happens during the news.

Since advertisement dollars already influence networks, I think the product-placement deal raises some old conflict of interest concerns. The producers say they would pull the cups if they had to report a negative story about McDonald's, just as they would pull a regular commercial. Still, the covertness of the promotion could deceive some viewers not aware that McDonald's paid for the cups' placement.

To find out how political parties are incorporating product placement, and how the industry sees it, read more.

Product integration happens a ton in scripted television, so much so that the Writers Guild of America wants it blatantly disclosed. The WGA says: "the hope is that consumers, not expecting to find a commercial within their program, will fail to realize they are actually being advertised to. This practice exploits the emotional connection viewers have with shows." Perhaps this expectation of neutrality increases significantly when dealing with news, as opposed to entertainment.

Going the overt-sponsorship road, the Democrats will be handing out AT&T logo-plastered bags at the Democratic National Convention. It's almost impossible not to see a conflict of interest here (telecom cough cough immunity) but, the Democrats assure that sponsorship does not equal access to politicians.

How should news stations and political parties reconcile high costs with integrity?