Max Headroom: an anarchic and irreverent cybernetic protagonist
"Max Headroom was one of the most innovative science fiction series ever produced for American television, an ambitious attempt to build upon the cyberpunk movement in science fiction literature. The character of Max Headroom, the series's unlikely cybernetic protagonist, was originally introduced in a 1984 British television movie, produced by Peter Wagg, and starring Canadian actor Matt Frewer. ABC brought the series to American television in March 1987, refilming the original movie as a pilot but recasting most of the secondary roles. The ABC series attracted critical acclaim and a cult following, but only lasted for fourteen episodes. The anarchic and irreverent Max went on to become an advertising spokesman for Coca-Cola and to host his own talk show on the Cinemax cable network."
(The Museum of Broadcast Communications)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Small business marketing: tweeting globally, accessed locally
"SAN FRANCISCO - Three weeks after Curtis Kimball opened his crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, he noticed a stranger among the friends in line for his desserts. How had the man discovered the cart? He had read about it on Twitter.
For Mr. Kimball, who conceded that he 'hadn't really understood the purpose of Twitter,' the beauty of digital word-of-mouth marketing was immediately clear. He signed up for an account and has more than 5,400 followers who wait for him to post the current location of his itinerant cart and list the flavors of the day, like lavender and orange creamsicle.
'I would love to say that I just had a really good idea and strategy, but Twitter has been pretty essential to my success,' he said. He has quit his day job as a carpenter to keep up with the demand.
Much has been made of how big companies like Dell, Starbucks and Comcast use Twitter to promote their products and answer customers' questions. But today, small businesses outnumber the big ones on the free microblogging service, and in many ways, Twitter is an even more useful tool for them."
(Claire Cain Miller, 22 July 2009, New York Times)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
How Unilever, Coke and the Mini car got it so wrong
"Even the biggest businesses can make big mistakes - and when they do, the result can be a commercial calamity. Companies are constantly striving to improve their products and turn a profit. But changing an existing product can go horribly wrong, leaving customers in revolt and companies in crisis. Mishandled marketing and bungling public relations can make the slickest of businesses look incompetent. And the costs both financially and to reputation can be enormous. Persil, Coca-Cola and the British Motor Corporation have provided some of the most extreme examples as Evan Davis has been finding out for a new BBC Two series."
(BBC News, 8 May 2011)
Business Nightmares with Evan Davis - Doomed Designs will be on BBC Two at 20:00 BST on Monday 9 May 2011
Fig.1 '2009 Mini Cooper Turns Fifty and is Younger than Ever', picture 09ELG550925430AC
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Product placement: personal video recorders degrading impact of conventional advertising
"Advertising has undergone many changes over the last century, moving from printed messages extolling the virtues of a product, to radio broadcasts that took the consumer's point of view into account, and on toward mass media appeals based on the television's ability to deliver a multidimensional message in a mere 30 seconds. The advent of the 'TiVo-style' personal video recorder (PVR) has degraded the impact of conventional advertising, as these PVR's allow viewers to 'zap' commercials. This has made advertisers look for other methods of putting their message before the eyes of the consumers of video media."
(Michael Bovard & Jeffrey Murray, 2005)
RIT Digital Media Library: Item 1850/5333
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
