Referee Tomfoolery Damaging NFL Brand

Posted on September 27, 2012

***UPDATE*** 12:00am – After 3 long months, the NFL owners and referees have finally come to an agreement. The lockout will end just in time for Thursday Night Football, and we couldn’t be happier. Only time will tell if the damage from the lockout will be irreparable to the NFL brand, or if football fans are just thankful it’s over and will leave their ill will in the past.

Even if you’re not a sports fan, it’s hard to avoid the buzz surrounding the NFL Referee Lockout. In case you haven’t been tuning in to the train wreck that is the NFL 2012 season, we’re going to give you a quick recap: After failing to come to an agreement on contractual issues, the NFL owners locked out the referees. Thinking it wouldn’t last long, the NFL hired replacement refs to officiate the games until they came to an agreement with the real referees. What they did not realize was just how difficult it would be to hire replacement officials so close to game time. Now, America is stuck watching NFL games officiated by 3^rd rate refs who left their jobs at high schools and the Lingerie Football League to officiate the 2012 NFL season.

Since then, just about every football game played this season has been filled with fist fights and botched calls that are affecting the outcomes of games. Not only is the lockout ruining the integrity of the game, but the fans that keep this multi-billion dollar industry strong are up in arms. While everyone is asking when the officials are coming back, the real question should be how detrimental will this lockout be to the NFL brand?

Between last year’s lockout of the players, the recent research revealing the long-term effects of brain injuries caused on the field, and now the 2012 referee lockout, the NFL is seriously close to causing permanent brand damage. Monday night’s blown call during the Packers vs. Seahawks game was the final straw for even the biggest fans. People across the nation are staging protests of the 2012 season, refusing to watch any more football until the referees are back.

In addition to the boycotts, NFL players, coaches, fans, and even the President of the United States are taking to Twitter, calling for the end of the lockout. After Monday night’s game, President Obama tweeted “NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs’ lockout is settled soon.” The country has had enough, and hopefully the NFL owners will choose saving their brand over battling the refs.

The image below, taken from Monday night’s game, is the embodiment of the chaos and confusion that is the NFL.

The Golden Ticket

Posted on September 21, 2012

The life of Willy Wonka is every kid’s dream. Nestle UK is tapping into those dreams with an awesome promotion that combines the craving for chocolate with modern technology – giving people a chance to win £10.000 ($14,422 USD)

This hilarious commercial was promoting the campaign:

Six candy bars, including Kit-Kat, Aero, and the very british Yorkie, have been equipped with GPS tracking devices that alert Nestle when a winning candy bar has been opened. The winners will be located by a “special Nestle’s forces team”  and rewarded with £10.000. That’s a lot of candy money!

People can play along using their smart phones by scanning the special QR codes on posters that track the number of remaining lucky candy bars.

How many candy bars would you buy for a chance at £10.000?

Souper Cool Cans

Posted on September 17, 2012

The Campbell’s soup can with its distinctive colors and lettering is currently celebrating the artist that made their tomato soup can a piece of American pop-culture 50 years ago.

Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans

The four tomato soup cans feature very vibrant, pop art looking labels in typical Warhol colors, as well as some of his famous quotes on the back, including, “Pop art is for everyone.” The cans have been designed in close partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation and are sold at Target.

The tomato soup can featuring Andy Warhol inspired designs

Getting a second 15 seconds of fame – The iconic soup brand that has been around for the past 143 years is also in the process of reinventing itself, by rolling out new soups with flavors far beyond tomato and chicken noodle. The company is looking to capture the younger market, that might have grown up with Campbell’s products, but who’s tastes have evolved. Stay tuned – once the new products are on the market we will post an update.

5 Things To Know About the iPhone 5

Posted on September 14, 2012

It is finally here, the announcement that millions have been waiting for across the world. Wednesday, Apple unveiled the latest edition of their best-selling smartphone, the iPhone 5. Rumored to be in the works since the iPhone 4’s debut in 2010, Apple’s top executives delivered an almost two-hour long keynote conference to discuss their latest product and its new features. Here are 5 things you need to know about the iPhone 5, which will be available in stores nationwide on Friday, September 21st:

1. The iPhone 5 will be thinner and lighter than the 4S: it is 7.6 mm thick, 20% lighter and features a 4 in screen that allows a 5th row of icons for apps.
2. The iPhone 5’s battery can last up to 8 hours during 3G talk time and browsing; 10 hours for Wi-Fi browsing and/or video watching; 40 hours playing music and 225 hours on standby.
3. It features a new processor, the Apple A6, which is twice as fast as its predecessor, 22% smaller and more power efficient. This helps increase the device’s performance while using less battery life.
4. Apple has introduced it’s own map app that handles turn-by-turn navigation, which will replace Google Maps on the devices.
5. The iPhone 5 will be available in black or white colors, and will also have a smaller connector and adapter accessories, which means anyone upgrading from previous iPhones should be aware of this added expense to replace their charger and other accessories.

Apple also announced changes to the iPod touch (now featuring 5 color options), and new earbuds. What are you looking forward to the most about the new iPhone 5?

New Line of BIC Pens Draw Criticism

Posted on August 31, 2012

There are many things that can be marketed specifically towards men or women. When you see an ad for after-shave or make-up, you generally know who the target audience is supposed to be. But of course, just because the newest vacuum cleaner is marketed towards women, doesn’t mean that a man can’t be interested in it. And likewise, there are plenty of women who would be very excited for the newest grill out there.

But what about basic items? Like, say a pen? Pen maker BIC recently released a line of Cristal Ballpoint Pens for Her that feature an “elegant design – just for her!” and a “thin barrel to fit a women’s hand.”

Not surprisingly, the product has been met with customer backlash (from both men and women) in the form of snarky reviews on Amazon. One user said “So glad that there is finally a writing implement that I can use! Before all of the pens were not specifically marked as suitable for my soft disposition and I am so glad that I can now write in my diary between my housework and cooking.” While another user commenting under the name “Concerned Husband” said “Wow – now I know why my wife’s handwriting has been so awful – she was using pens for men! Now with this BIC for women pen, she will write like the “lady” that she was designed to be. Thanks BIC and thank Amazon for helping my wife to be a woman and a lady!”

What do you think of this new product? Let us know in the comments below.

And on a related note, check out these images drawn entirely with eight different colored BIC ballpoint pens. Perhaps BIC’s next target audience?

Battle of the Presidential Logos

Posted on August 21, 2012

With the 2012 presidential election just around the corner, TMG will be interested to see how candidates present their personal brands to the American people. According to Ty Fujimura, a graphic design blogger who specializes in political art, “Logos are that first handshake with a voter.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! While a candidate can only be in one place at a time, their logo can be everywhere. A successful political logo may be the key to making a positive impression with the American people.

President Obama’s 2008 “O” logo was seen as revolutionary. It is easily one of the most recognizable political logos in history, successfully conveying the President’s message of hope. In fact, President Obama’s logo was so effective, he’s reusing it for the 2012 election. The true challenge when choosing a political logo is determining which design will stand out from the endless sea of others. Almost always, political logos stick to the standard color pallet of America, the red, white & the blue. They must be bold enough to make a statement, yet simple enough to fit on a campaign button. Walking this fine line can be tough, which is why many political logos fall flat.

Check out the 2012 Republican and Democrat candidates’ logos below. All political affiliation aside, which candidate’s logo do you prefer? Leave us your thoughts in the comments!

President Barack Obama

Mitt Romney

The London Olympics Will Go Out With a Bang

Posted on August 10, 2012

According to the official London 2012 Olympics website, an estimated 4 billion-that’s right, 4 BILLION! – people will be tuning in for the closing ceremonies of the Olympics this Sunday. With literally half the world tuning in, the London Olympic Committee is trying its best to keep the details of the event, including who is performing, top secret.

Rumored acts include British sensations Muse, Elton John, George Michael, The Who, The Spice Girls, One Direction, Adele and so many more. While it’s likely that not all these artists will be making their Olympic debut this Sunday, the committee must have something grandiose in mind to close out the London games.  Although they won’t all be mega stars, it’s estimated that 4,100 performers will partake in the show.

Closing events include the march of the athletes, flags & speeches, extinguishing the Olympic flame, and ending with this epic performance.  So far, the U.S. is on track to earn the most medals of any nation, with 90 total medals, 39 of them being Gold. Closing ceremonies will take place this Sunday, August 12^th. Be sure to check it out, as this will not be a performance you want to miss.

Which Brits would you like to see perform at the London closing ceremonies? Team basement is rooting for the Spice Girls!

And the Twitter Gold Medal Goes to…
The USA!

Posted on August 8, 2012

Check out the 5 Olympic nations with the most Twitter followers (via Tweetsport):

1. America - 19+ Million Followers

Runner-Ups

2. SPAIN - 4.5 Million Followers

3. Great Britain - 3.9 Million Followers

4. Argentina - 1.2 Million Followers

5. Serbia - 1.1 Million Followers

The Top 10 Most Popular Olympic Sports
on Twitter (Via Tweetsport)

Posted on August 6, 2012

Basketball- 5 .3 Million Followers Tennis – 2.8 Million Followers Football (soccer) – 1.1 Million Followers Athletics – 5.6 Million Followers Cycling (road) – 3.5 Million Followers Diving - 2.5 Million Followers Swimming – 2.4 Million Followers Heptathlon – 1.8 Million Followers Cycling (track) – 86K Followers Marathon – 56K Followers

London 2012 Summer Games Deemed
“The Twitter Olympics”

Posted on August 2, 2012

In the four years since we last watched the Summer Games in Beijing, Twitter has taken on a much more prominent role at the Olympics.  While experiencing an impressive growth in their user base, Twitter has found more celebrities and athletes have turned to the social media site to keep in touch with their fans.   This means that viewers have unprecedented access to Olympic athletes from their countries, allowing them to tweet in support of their favorite athletes.

Deemed “The Twitter Olympics,” this year’s summer games have seen some unique situations thanks to Twitter.  Check out the top 5 Twitter-related Olympic stories from the past week below, and let us know if we’ve missed any:

1. London out-tweets Beijing.  The first day of the 2012 Games saw more tweets than the entire 2008 Beijing Games.   Despite the large growth in Twitter’s user base in the past four years, it is certainly impressive that one day of tweets topped that of a two-week period in 2008.
2. Athletes punished for offensive tweets.  Before the first week of the Games had closed out, the world already saw two Olympic athletes kicked off their respective teams for insulting remarks posted on their personal Twitter accounts.  Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella and Greek track star Voula Papachristou were both expelled from the Olympics for tweets that were considered racist.
3. US Women’s Soccer win gets overshadowed by Twitter feud.  The US Women’s soccer team defeated Columbia 3-0 in group play on Saturday, but their victory was overshadowed by US goalie Hope Solo calling out former USWNT defender (and World Cup winning penalty kick scorer) Brandi Chastain for her critique of teammate Rachel Buehler during Saturday’s game commentary for NBC.  Solo’s tweets, and Chastain’s public response, has taken the attention off of the team’s success and put it on the Twitter feud.
4. Twitter comes under fire for suspending British journalist’s account.  Twitter found itself in hot water early this week after banning an independent news journalist, Guy Adams, from their site who was critical of NBC’s decision to not air the Olympic events live (NBC instead favored a six-hour time delay in the US in order to show events in primetime).  When Adams tweeted out an NBC employee’s email address for viewers to lodge complaints, Twitter followed up on NBC’s request to ban Adams from the social media site for tweeting out personal information.  Less than a day later, Adams account was reactivated due to the social media backlash it caused.
5. Jamaica is well represented on Twitter.  According to Adweek, despite being ranked 141^st in population among world nations, Jamaica was ranked #3 in the number of tweets supporting their Olympic hopefuls over the weekend.  They were only behind the United States and Great Britain in their Twitter activity.