social media isn't just for kids anymore

A recent study by the Pew Foundation finds that while Millennials remain the most web-social generation, their elders are (slowly) catching up in networking activity. Social use of the web has quadrupled for 74+ since 2008, up from 4% to 16%. The percentage of adults on the web who watch videos has jumped to 66%. The group who most likes to rate things online is the "Silent Generation", ages 65-73. Perhaps they're most comfortable with hierarchy?

This ought to get the attention of pharmas and their agencies: searching for health info is now the third most popular online activity not just for older web surfers, but for all internet users 18 and up.

Read full report here.




tip o the hat to Ben Kunz

hitting gold in las vegas

Congrats to those who took home the gold last night. Against all odds: Grand Prize was for Pharma. In spite of this (or maybe inspired by it) CLIO announced it will be launching a new award for Healthcare. In recognition of the difficulty of competing in a category which requires half an ad to be written by lawyers. Submission process opens in July and winners to be honored at a ceremony in New York in October. (Sort of like an industry Special Olympics?)

2009 Grand CLIO Award for Print:
• CLM BBDO, Boulogne-Billancourt, Pharmaceuticals, Dissolve Your Problems “Bear, Paparazzi, Magician, Prison” for Alka-Seltzer (Grand CLIO Winner in Print)

Gold CLIO Awards for Print:
• Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner Child” for Museum of Childhood
• AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Automotive, Volkswagen Customized Trucks “Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Beer Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Fruit Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Milk Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Egg Box” for Volkswagen Trucks
• BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman & Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
• Clemenger BBDO, Wellington, Public Service, Crashed Beds “Bridge, Tree, Creek” for Driver Fatigue
• Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services, “Children – Tree” for Hospital Alemán - Kinder Plan
• Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide Thailand, Bangkok, Home Furnishings/Appliances, “Chicken, Fish, Lobster” for WMF
• McCann Erickson, Madrid, Public Service, “Woman Shoe” for Greenpeace
• Miami Ad School Europe (Student - Sandra Nicolas), Hamburg, Student, Inspired By Life “Porridge, Brother, Aunt” for IKEA
• Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Petaling Jaya, Public Service, “Stop” for Guinness
• TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Black “Mir Black - Spider, Mir Black – Arms” for Henkel
• TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Laine “Mir Laine 1, Mir Laine 2, Mir Laine 3, Mir Laine 4” for Henkel

Gold CLIO Awards for Direct Mail:
• Lowe Limited, Bangkok, Dimensional, “Torture Test” for Breeze Excel Washing Detergent
• Philipp und Keuntje GmbH, Hamburg, Collateral, “Balloon” for Chubb Nord-Alarm Security Systems Company

Gold CLIO Awards for Radio:
• DDB Chicago, Chicago, Beverages/Alcoholic, Real Men of Genius “Mr. Rain Delay Tarp Roller Outer, Mr. Golf Quiet Sign Holder, Mr. Football End Zone Painter, Mr. Football First Down Marker” for Anheuser-Busch
• Grey, Melbourne, Public Service, Pictures of You “Anne, George, Martin” for Anti-Speed Message
• Grey South Africa, Sandton, Public Service, “Shark Attack” for Shark Life
• Grupo Gallegos, Long Beach, Media, Subtitles “Epic, Robinson, Horror” for Comcast CableLatino
• Network BBDO, Johannesburg, Travel/Tourism, Plain Insanity “Ferret, Dancer, Dog” for Virgin Atlantic Airlines - Upper Class Suites
• Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, Business Equipment/Services, Compression Radio “Soap Opera Romance, Eating Candy, Calling Tech Support” for StuffIt Deluxe

Gold CLIO Awards for Poster:
• Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner Child” for Museum of Childhood
• BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman & Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
• Big Ant International, New York, Public Service, “What Goes Around Comes Around” for Global Coalition for Peace
• Contract Advertising India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Public Service, “Family Name” for Aadhar Association
• Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services, Children “Tree, Cookie, Stairs” for Hospital Alemán - Kinder Plan
• KNARF (Students - Annie Chiu, Anna Echiverri), New York, Student, “Subway Bench” for Victoria’s Secret

Gold CLIO Awards for Billboard:
• DDB London, London, Media, “Global Downturn” for Financial Times
• Leo Burnett Canada, Toronto, Beverages/Alcoholic, “Share Our Billboard Campaign” for James Ready

Gold CLIO Awards for Strategic Communications/Public Relations (new category this year for "innovative use of any form of unpaid publicity and messaging that drives credibility, awareness, reputation, and relationships between a company or organization and its consumers or constituents"):

• Edelman, Chicago, Consumer, “FilterForGood: Better Water, Less Waste” for Brita
• Ketchum, San Francisco, Consumer, “Haagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees: Let's Lick This Problem” for Haagen-Dazs

taxi crashes on motrin

No doubt Daniel Ravinowicz, president of Taxi NYC is waking up with a Motrin headache today. His agency was responsible for launch of a video on Motrin's website that caused such an uproar in the twitterverse this weekend, the site had to be taken down and apologies zapped to protesters pronto. (Yea, that job must have made somebody's Sunday.)

Taxi's intentions were admirable: create a site-promo to target a niche audience, timed to coincide with inauguration of International Babywearing Week. (Babywearing? When I wore snuglis it was called…wearing snuglis.) Babywearing causes back pain + Motrin relieves backpain = Easy Sell. Or should have been. Problem was, team who created the video had obviously never had to wear a snugli or sling or whatever trendier contraption babywearers wear these days. That they weren't babybearers themselves and never consulted with people who were, seemed painfully obvious from copy intimating that wearing your baby is akin to accessorizing and one does it to "totally look like an official mom." (Um. Hello. It's 2008. Huge percentage of babywearers are dads.)



Spot went viral, but not in the way that they'd hoped.

Jessica Gottlieb, a blogger/mom who writes for National Lampoon, saw it and posted her outrage on the microblogging site Twitter. A few hours (and thousands of anti-Motrin tweets) later, #MotrinMoms was the #1 search on the site, eclipsing SNL for first time since Obama was elected.

Then it went youtube. Katja Presnal, PR and Social Media Consultant/Mom tweeted Holy Cow. I just can't believe the motrin ad. Speechless. But not for long. Her next post was, I'm making a video to boycot motrin-pls send your baby wearing pics if I can use them! A few hours later, she posted a protest video to youtube. As of this writing, it's received over 4000 hits.



Katja's video went live at 3 AM Sunday morning. By 8 PM the same day, the Motrin site hosting the offending ad had come down and apologies sent to commenters who'd posted objections to it.

Big Pharma: welcome to the world of social media, where it takes sore consumers less than 24 hours to make corporate bumblers responsible for it, feel their pain.

friday flashback-ayds before aids

Before Atkins or pilates, how did women stay looking good in their shirtwaists and twin sets? They got Ayds! Little candies, invidually wrapped (like Viactivs) were introduced in the 40s with the claim that users could "lose up to 10 pounds in 5 days, without dieting or exercising." After the FTC objected, the product promise had to be modified, but did not deter growing success of The Ayds Reducing Plan with Candy Cubes which became wildly popular until the early 80s, when a miscalculating acquisitions company purchased rights to the name.

the man cold

Pharma's got remedies for severe colds, colds with cough, colds and flu, colds with sore throat. But still no relief from the miseries of the man cold, that common condition which afflicts women, too. Demo clip from BBC3's comedy series Man Stroke Woman.
[via valley girl jane]