I’ve got an easy answer for that. Pick five Republican senators and five Democratic senators at random, wheel a kiddie pool into the Capitol Rotunda, strap them to a gurney, and have them try out the technique - no permanent physical harm, we promise! - for 60 seconds.
At the end of the 60 seconds for [...]

Popularity: 8% [?]

“I have been saying for about two years we’re looking at a 1929 kind of event. I think that we are really in trouble in this country. And what you have seen in the last four months is just the beginning of it.”
-Patrick Byrne, Chairman and CEO of Overstock.com, December 2007
“If home prices decline by [...]

Popularity: 10% [?]

Rogers Canada is modifying Web pages. Take a look at this Wired article.
Is this a marketing dream? A marketing nightmare? Bit of both.
If you searched for a student loan, I could buy a modification of the results you get from your ISP. Even if you wanted a loan from my competitor, if I paid enough, [...]

Popularity: 13% [?]

From HillaryClinton.com:
I will consider legislation that enables lenders to convert unworkable mortgages into stable, affordable loans without the permission of investors. Protection from lawsuits will remove the obstacle that keeps lenders, servicers and others from turning mortgages that were designed to fail into mortgages families can afford. Right now, servicers who process monthly loan payments [...]

Popularity: 8% [?]

The Contagion Spreads
If you want to talk viral, let’s talk about the disease of debt that’s spreading. What started out as a portfolio of subprime mortgages going bad is rapidly spreading to any financial sector that touches any form of credit or debt.
Last week, First Marblehead (ticker: FMD), one of my company’s partners, registered a [...]

Popularity: 8% [?]

A Ninja Perspective on Racism
I had an amusing experience on Friday as I was bringing my lunch - Chinese food from the place on the first floor - back up to my office. On the elevator ride up, the guy in the elevator commented, “Man, that smells good. Where ya delivering to?”
He had mistaken me [...]

Popularity: 11% [?]

I have to hand it to Symantec for perfectly cloning Japanese kids’ shows with this ad series for Norton Antivirus.
Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XLPZSHkFjA

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXWGDS3hoNM

More cheese than all of Paris. Hat tip to Erik Carlsson for these absolute gems.
Popularity: 11% [?]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “The funniest antivirus software ad you’ll see this year”, url: “http://www.christopherspenn.com/2007/12/07/the-funniest-antivirus-software-ad-youll-see-this-year/” });

Popularity: 11% [?]

Viral is not word of mouth
A bone to pick with my marketing colleagues. Viral marketing is distinct and separate from word of mouth marketing. Viral and word of mouth marketing are NOT interchangeable. Let me give you two examples of marketing.
I really like Matthew Ebel’s new album, Goodbye Planet Earth. I think it’s a fantastic [...]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Michelle Wolverton asked me how I organize myself in the mornings and manage to get a podcast out the door every day plus two on Wednesdays (the Financial Aid Podcast and Marketing Over Coffee, the best marketing podcast ever made at a doughnut shop).
The answer is that I use a Mac. I’m not being a [...]

Popularity: 10% [?]

Some silly fun for International Day of the Ninja.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPm3VQgZs4g

If you’re in the metro Boston area, come celebrate International Day of the Ninja at the Boston Martial Arts Center tonight at 6 PM (event on Facebook) with a free class! If you’re outside of Boston, check out Stephen K. Hayes’ web site, SKHQuest.com, for training opportunities [...]

Popularity: 10% [?]