Apple’s newest ad for their ipod games was a little different, in a good way. Their agency, TBWA/Media Arts Lab, created an ad on Yahoo where the actions of the Iphone impacts all the different elements on the Yahoo page.

A teen from Florida, committed suicide on Wednesday while broadcasting himself live on a video site called Justin.tv. Justin.tv is an open network of thousands of live streaming channels. 185 people were viewing the feed. From reports, he was egged on by fellow forum users on a bodybuilding website. Biggs ended up overdosing on pills live. He seemed to be breathing and alive for hours but soon some watchers became worried and contacted the police. The police broke into the complex and took him to the hospital.
Much of the videos …

As always, Clean Cut Media is always looking to bring the latest news, reviews and insightful articles in media influence on our culture. Clean Cut Media will also periodically post excellent pieces of advertising, well made videos and overall creative pieces of work. Considering so much of advertising these days resort to cheap emotional grabs, vulgar non-relevant references to sex, as well as send subtle messages that is detrimental to the way we view the world, the only true requirement to show on this site is that it is Clean …

Impact of Media on Children
Every single day millions of children are constantly bombarded by media. Television, Internet, Movies, Video Games, Music, Videos are some of the many forms of media that continues to feed particular messages and ideas into our children and ultimately into our culture.
Dr. Douglas A. Gentile, a developmental psychologist and assistant professor in Iowa State University’s Department of Psychology, offered an explanation.
With the 21st century offering a greater number of media than any other period in history, younger generations can view or listen to almost any sort …

Today was election day! Hope everyone has gone out to vote! Not just for the presidential candidates but for all the propositions and local positions.
To be honest I don’t like writing about politics, but in the spirit of voting day here is another!
Media Spend by Candidates Breaks Reocrds
So as everyone knows a candidate’s spend on media will have a direct influence on how we view the candidates and ultimately who we vote for. So how much has been spent on this election?
The country will have spent $5.3 billion on …

“Thanks to Facebook, I never lose touch with anyone. And that, my Friend, is a problem.”

“A perusal of my Facebook Friend roster reveals that I, a medium-social individual of only middling lifetime popularity, have never lost a friend. They’re all there: elementary school friends, high school friends, college friends, work friends, friends of friends, friends of ex-girlfriends—the constellation of familiar faces crowds my Friendbox like medals on Mussolini’s chest. I’m Friend-rich—at least onscreen. I’ve never lost touch with anyone, it seems. What I’ve lost is the right to lose touch.” – Wired Magazine

By now most of the public has seen at least one of the many creative Mac vs PC commercials. If you are like me I find them hilarious and very memorable. Already thousands of spoofs have been generated using a similar type of message delivery. The Mac vs PC campaign is so unique and memorable it will most likely go down in history as one of the best.
Microsoft however was not amused. After Vista failed to meet expectations and criticized across the board, Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft blamed …

I am sure by now you’ve seen one of the Saturday Night Live (SNL) spoofs of Sarah Palin. If you haven’t, it’s definitely worth a good laugh. (And you can find some of the videos below on this post). Tina Fey’s impersonation is excellent and by all means looks just like Sarah Palin. SNL has been part of the political landscape imitating politicians since 1975. This year has been no different as millions of people have tuned in to watch Tina Fey impersonate Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate. …

Brilliant voting campaign aimed to push the public to go vote. This marketing campaign was created by Borders Perrin Norrander and Pollinate Media. They provide the files so people can print out posters as well as banners for the public to put on their blogs and websites. The tag line is “Don’t Vote. Things are fine just the way they are.” Just simple and brilliant.
See more examples below the jump!
Website to the creatives also available below the jump!
(for those not familiar with the blog term “jump” – it means click …

After posting the entry about Surveillance of Skype Messages in China, I was immediately informed that the issues highlighted in the Citizen Lab report affect only the TOM-Skype software distributed by TOM in China and that standard versions of Skype remain unaffected. [thanks Peter]. This is indeed an important piece of information as to appease the fears of the Skype user base.
It looks like Skype has been active in addressing the public in regards to this matter. Here are some excerpts from their President Josh Silverman.

The New York Times reported that a group of Canadian human right activist and a computer security researcher has discovered a surveillance system that monitors and archives web text messages and conversations. It is triggered when the conversation includes politically charged words. Researchers in Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto uncovered hundreds of message records after they decrypted the messages. Example words are “communist”, “quit the party”, “democracy”, “Tibet”, “Tiananmen” “SARS”, “Taiwan Independence”, and “milk powder”.
Media Monitoring Controvery
This new discovery again highlights the controversy of media monitoring by the …

Just Inappropriate for Kids or Just Inappropriate
Many people talk about how the media affects our children, how it may lead to violence or how it may encourage promiscuous lifestyles. There is a lot of merit there, but one thing that is increasingly noticeable but overlooked is the fact that the parents themselves are underestimating the influences of media in their own lives and indirectly how it affects their children.
Take a look at movie review sites where users list their ages, you’ll see adults saying the movie is inappropriate for the …