Breaking Bad easter egg

I was just reading about companies using easter eggs online. For instance, NBC got Tripadvisor.com to allow people to write reviews of Shrute Farms which is a reference to an Office episode a few seasons back (for those of you that live under a rock.) I also read that Kayak.com had an Oceanic Flight 815 listed from Sydney to L.A. at some point.

I just discovered another gem. Www.savewalterwhite.com offers a mock-up of the site that Walter Jr. made to raise money for his dad on Breaking Bad, the best show on television at the moment. Ok cool, somebody has too much time on their hands. However, when you click to donate you are directed to the National Cancer Coalition site. This was surprising and very clever. I'm not sure who is behind this but it's definitely a unique way of driving traffic to a good cause.

What are these ads really saying?

Let's just distill what companies are saying about themselves with their millions of dollars in paid media. If we just distilled these messages, what are brands really saying about themselves?

First up is insurance companies. They seems to have tons of loot to spend on advertising. I often wonder where they get all that money.

Traveler's Insurance
We get those crazy panic attacks too. Buy insurance from us and find something less important to freak out over.

Kaiser Permanente
Feel good about us because we believe in antioxidants and we want to see you grow old.

Geico
We make so much money that we can run ten different campaigns at once and not one them is even the slightest bit serious. You want cavemen? Check. Funny lizards? Check. That Rockwell song from 1983? We got that.

Progressive
Dude, we are easy to deal with and we are cheap. Have you heard of this thing called the internet? You can find us there.

Allstate
We are dead serious and we understand "small-town" values. Pardon us if we are kind of boring. We are an insurance company after all.

Pacific Life
Let's interrupt these boring advertising messages with a few awesome shots of whales doing their thing accompanied with some rock music. This is how you do it.

Aflac
Hey, check this out. We found the most annoying concept ever and we are going to annoy you all fall by playing these ads every Saturday all day long until you consider buying insurance from us.

Traveler's


Kaiser Permanente


Geico


Progressive


Allstate


Pacific Life


Aflac

Really good chocolate packaging

My sister recently bought me this bar of chocolate and wouldn't shut up about how much she loved the packaging. She was in the chocolate store and the store manager was ready to tell her all about how sustainable the product was and how the chocolate manufacturer really took care of the farmers. She didn't care though, she was just convinced that it was good by all the brown paper and the stamps. It wasn't a cheap bar of chocolate either.

It is cool packaging because it doest two things-

It makes you feel warm and fuzzy about the source of the product. It's got a photo of the head farmer and claims to be responsible in the treatment of the farmers themselves.

The combination of the brown paper and the type also make the chocolate appear to have been manufactured at the source. I'd rather eat chocolate made from a single cocoa source in West Africa than chocolate made from various cocoa sources and then shipped across the Atlantic to be manufactured.

This packaging gives me both those feelings and that is why is sells for $8 a bar.

I do think this brings up a good question. We, as progressive consumers in a wealthy society, have become aware of the huge income disparity between ourselves and the people that actually tend to the crops that produce the coffee and chocolate we enjoy. Labels like Fair Trade enhance our experience of eating the product and raise our willingness to pay. Why is it that we don't see similar packaging on other consumer goods such as apparel?

It's no secret that many consumers want to avoid buying clothing made in sweatshops. and many apparel companies have taken great strides to be more responsible in the regard. A few have even bought their own factories to ensure that working conditions are legit. Why doesn't the packaging of apparel reflect the steps that manufacturers have taken to ensure that no one was exploiting in the making of the product. I think there is a missed opportunity for companies that have taken the steps to treat the laborers in plants responsible to brag about it at the point of sale.

Consuming paper saves trees?

I recently saw this print ad at a bus stop in downtown D.C. The copy is very counterintuitive and kind of cryptic. I can't say that this ad is terribly informative. Is this a tongue-in-check message that we should just read periodicals on the internet to save trees? Is this an ad for the consumption of paper? The ad could be for just about anything and have some "green" argument. So what is the ad for??

As you may have guessed, it is not a sarcastic approach to decrease paper consumption. It is paid for by the Printing and Graphics Association of the Mid-Atlantic. The association's argument goes like this- if we stop consuming paper private landowners that would normally practice sustainable forestry will not replant trees after they are harvested. They will plant some other crop or graze animals instead. In order to maintain sustainable forestry as an industry, you have to make a market for paper by consuming it.

The most disturbing thing about this argument is that it is somewhat logical at first glance. If there is no market for paper made from trees, no one will plant trees that can be harvested later.

Ok, back to reality. The campaign's website claims that landowners are constantly faced with a choice of how to utilize their land and derive income from it. The message makes it sound like forests and soy beans have the same life cycle. The fact is that when a landowner replants trees the income from those trees isn't typically realized for another generation. These landowners are planting trees while thinking about their children. Besides, are landowners considering getting into some completely different industry that may or may not be suited to their land and climate overnight because I buy recycled paper? Please.

Just to be clear. I am all for sustainable forestry. It's a great alternative to logging old-growth and I do see the point. However, I think it's irresponsible to make the claim that going paperless in your office is environmentally irresponsible.

What this really highlights is how important it is to actually think things through before you commit to some paid media campaign that is tugging on your green heartstrings.

Online gaming company sends soccer fans on a virtual scavenger hunt

Your scenario- You are an online gambling website. You have your social media set all set and an official sponsorship with a little soccer team from Madrid. This team is called Real Madrid is playing its biggest rival, Barcelona, in 18 days.

Your challenge- Create an online marketing campaign that utilizes your online presence, sponsorship and actively elicits new customers.

Your solution- Create an online game in which users are challenged to locate 4 Real Madrid players that have gone missing in time for the big game. They are all located online somewhere. Players are given clues as to their whereabouts and must search through social media sites in order to uncover the solution. They must register in order to play, giving up valuable personal data. As a reward, layers receive 10 euros in credit at your sports book per player they locate.

Any questions???

www.savetherealgame.com
bwin

Nike World Cup kits for 2010

Nike has made a lot of recent noise about greening its business practices. It has been outspoken in standing up to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the climate change issue and went so far as to resign from the Chamber's board of directors last fall. It's easy to be cynical in regard to Nike's stance on regulations on U.S. manufacturers given that Nike doesn't manufacture anything in the U.S. That is why I'm happy to Nike taking other measures to demonstrate it's commitment to green practices.

Nike is sponsoring nine teams in this summer's FIFI World Cup and all of them will be wearing jersey's made from recycled plastic bottles. Nike claims the manufacturing process using recycled bottles consumes 30% less energy. The movement also added up, recycling over 13 million plastic bottles when all is said and done.

Recycled materials don't mean that the quality of the product drops off either. Nike Dri-Fit fabric is central to the jerseys which are lightweight and keep players dry. They are also a slimmer fit than previous jerseys with more stretch, which certainly appears to be the trend for World Cup 2010.

You can get a view of the kits here.

Pele Sport set to launch this summer

Please keep an eye out for Pele's new line of sportswear Pele Sport. The iconic Brazilian is launching the brand with a group of Swiss investors. They have planned a group of viral videos to advertise the product that will feature a South African teenager playing other teenagers and compiling a dream soccer team. I believe they are due out this summer for the World Cup. Can't wait to see what the gear looks like.

Donny Miller Vans video

Donny Miller made this great, and silent, video for his upcoming Van's model the Donny Miller Slip Up. The shoes are due out in April in two colorways. I'd go ahead and describe the shoes but I think you better watch the video. It really fits the chief design element well. I'm not in love with the shoes but they could grow on me if I saw them in person.

Spike Jonze Absolute Vodka short film

Spike Jonze directed a 30 minute film for Absolute Vodka. The film, titled "I'm here," is free to view online. It's about a lonely robot living in a society of mixed robot and human denizens. You can view if at imheremovie I haven't had time to watch it yet but I hope it has something close to a happy ending complete with a party scene and Absolute Vodka.

Of course there is some funky social media element to it as well. Absolute has worked out a way for viewers to watch the movie with their facebook friends in a virtual theater. I think that should help with the loneliness that might accompany watching an online film about a lonely robot. All kidding aside, this is way to get your brand some real online exposure while adding value to viewers and consumers. I hope to see more of this kind of thing in the future.

Nike rolls out its own animated ad for the world cup

Nike shows that it can do animation as well in this spaced-out ad featuring the Brazilian kit.

Nike / Brasil National Team Jersey 2010 from Universal Everything on Vimeo.

Adidas Originals rolls out a summertime advert

Adidas Originals just launched a follow up to its winter 2008 celebrity studded television. this ad was made by the Canadian agnecy Sid Lee. This time it's all about- summer, fixed gears, block parties, rooftop parties, loft parties and David Beckham snapping photos. Not mad at the inspiration to prepare for a massive summer.

The best part is that Adidas bought up a whole ad break during a new Skins episode to really reach the youth demographic that is going to into this ad. I just wish we could get new Skins episodes stateside.

Produce bar coding design

I stole this from the Yanko Design blog and it's a pretty cool idea. Instead of just a normal bar code. This special bar code goes on produce and slowly fades as the product sits on the shelf and ages. It's very similar to Oral B toothbrushes or even the born on date on the bottom of Budweiser. The whole point is to give consumers an idea of how long it has been sitting around on the shelf and if it's still good or not.

I love the spirit of the idea and innovation is always cool. However, I see a couple of small problems. First off, most produce doesn't have a bar code. It has a 4 digit number that the cashier enters in by hand. I think I'd be turned off if my produce suddenly had a bar code, let along some high-tech bar code. The other thing is that it's pretty easy to tell if cabbage is still good or not. I, for one, enjoy shopping for produce because you actually get to use your senses when selecting products. This bar code wouldn't do anything to enhance that experience.

Still though. I'm not mad at innovation and new ideas. Please check out the Yanko Design blog to read the full story.

Nestle vs. Greenpeace on palm oil

Greenpeace recently launched a viral video aimed at exposing Nestle's use of rainforest destroying palm oil in candy products. There has been a lot of buzz around the video. It's kind of gross and it's embedded below. Greenpeace backers are all about it and think it's incredibly effective. Treehugger is reporting that Nestle has backed down as a result of the ad and is not longer using palm oil. The Nestle corporate site tells another story. It claims that palm oil is not a major ingredient in its dairy and confectionery products that the company is already committed to using only sustainable palm oil by 2015. Either way, we can commend Greenpeace for getting attention and Nestle for taking corporate responsibility seriously.

Heineken's champions league stunt

We've picked on Heineken on this blog before. I stand by my earlier assertion that it's not a great beer but has a good brand in the states. They do, however, pull some cool marketing stunts having to do with soccer in Europe. I remember hearing about them handing out big Heineken hats outside of a Eurocup match that was sponsored by Carlsberg in 2008. Well they pulled something pretty cool for a AC Milan vs. Real Madric match. Not too much commentary except that I kind of question how real this is. If they tried this in states with a Husker game, my family wouldn't have begun to consider going some classical music mixed with poetry.

Adidas Japan World Cup Kit

Wow. We posted about the Adidas World Cup kits last week. We were missing the Japanese kit and I wasn't sure why. Ads of the World just hipped me to this amazing anime style ad to get the Japanese fans hyped for this summer. As a US fan, I can relate to finding World Cup hope in the Adidas slogan, "impossible is nothing."



A little bit of internet sleuthing uncovered the Japanese Techfit jerseys. Thanks to footballfashion.wordpress. Please check our post from last week about Techfit. I'm feeling the jerseys but the ad gets me more psyched than anything.

"They don't make things like they used to"

There aren't many brands out there that are icons of American culture in the way that Levi's is. Sure, Marlboro, Coke and McDonald's are brands that feel very American. However, Levi's is American in the good sense- cowboys, railways and card games. McDonald's, on the other hand, is American in the bad sense- nation-wide obesity.

It's no secret that Levi's has had to actively tow the line between being an American icon and being hip in an era of stiff competition and high profits in the jeans market. For the most part, the company has recognized the challenge and handled it quite well. Weiden + Kennedy did an amazing television campaign for Levi's called "Go Forth" in 2009. These ads featured readings from Walt Whitman poems that stressed the pioneer spirit and the "restlessness of youth." Beautifully shot in and around Portland, OR these ads were striking and effective.



Thinking back on who wore jeans in the past, we tend to think of workmen- cowboys and people who made things by hand. A lot of people lament the loss of craftsmen from our society by saying things like, "they don't make things like they used to."

Levi's has recently unveiled its new plans to incorporate the concept of modern craftsmen and craftswomen into its European branding strategy. In a new campaign developed by Exposure, Levi's has enlisted 18 modern craftsman and craftswomen to represent the brand during a relaunch of the Levi's store on Regent Street in London. Craftsmen and craftswomen come from diverse occupations like set design and catering. There is more at Brand Republic.

I love this idea and I think it would work really well in states as well. A US based craftsman campaign would provide Levi's with an opportunity to link the heritage of cowboys and lumberjacks with consumers that live a more urban and modern lifestyle but still are craftsmen in their own way.

L.L. Bean wakes up a bit

L.L Bean's long-awaited Signature line is here. The outfitter from Freeport, Maine has always had a strong brand. It represents quality and function at reasonable price points. The problem is that L.L Bean's clothes have been lacking for younger folks that like the brand but also want to look a bit stylish. It's refreshing to see L.L. Bean recognize opportunities and respond to them. The brand enlisted Alex Carleton from Rogues Gallery to develop the new line and the result is a strong offering that will bring the brand into the 21st century without diluting it's foundation.

Head over to the site to have a look at L.L. Bean Signature.

Revisiting Kool Keith and the Dodge Charger Commercial

I'm going to be quite honest- I'm a nerdy white dude and Kool Keith is my favorite rapper. I have a great memory of watching a Seattle Seahawks playoff game in a big movie theater in Portland when a Dodge Charger ad came on the big screen and Keith was rapping. For the first time in history, I got excited about a Dodge product.



The ad is great and Dodge has got to be commended for getting Kool Keith on it for a couple of reasons. First off, he's a good rapper. He has a strong following of people just like me. He also likes to rap about scientific sounding things so his lyrics fit well with a car ad. Second, he did the vocals on The Prodigy's Diesel Power. This song was huge and is probably the most popular song he's worked on. The verse on this ad is really not far from what he did on Diesel Power so it's a bit of a proven formula though the Dodge care probably takes unleaded gas. Finally, just as many people are unaware that it is Kool Keith rapping on the Diesel Power, he has a voice that is recognizable without taking any attention from the product.

Meet the Adidas Techfit

As we've mentioned before, Adidas is all over the World Cup. Being a Germen company, soccer has always been close to it's heart and this a big event for the company. All the large sports apparel brands take the World cup seriously, but Adidas is especially into international soccer competition.

They are official sponsors, they make the balls and they have superstars like Lionel Messi wearing their cleats. Perhaps most importantly, they have an amazing roster of teams wearing their gear. Adidas takes a real win based approach to team sponsorship and back some teams with exceptional international resumes.

Four of the most notable teams have been with Adidas for some time now. Germany, Argentina, Spain and France fall into this category. In 2006 Adidas signed Mexico away from Nike but the deal didn't take effect until 2007. Adidas poached Russia from Nike after the Russian team's excellent showing in the EuroCup in 2008. Of course they also picked up the valuable hosts, South Africa.

Additional teams include- Greece, Nigeria, Denmark, Japan, Paraguay, Slovakia,

TechFit Powerweb Short Sleeve Tee


I wanted to take a quick look at the gear and describe the new technology behind it. Adidas has been very pro-active in the past few years to employ the use of compression and POWERWEB bands to turn the energy created through athlete's movement into increased speed and power. They also increase control and provide support. The result is a collection of soccer jerseys that increase players' power by 5.3%, vertical leap by 4%, sprint speed by 1.1% and endurance by .8%. Also, due to the nature of Techfit technology, the jerseys fit tight. Check Adidas.com for more info.

Here's a look at the Techfit national jerseys as provided by Adidas. They are all pretty cool and Adidas does a good job of maintaining some continuity across the line while still giving each team it's own look. The Russian jersey is a little intense with the gold horizontal strips and the big eagle on the chest. I think I probably like the Spanish and the Argentine jerseys the best. Of course the South Africa jersey has got to sell really well and it looks great too.

Argentina


France


Germany


Mexico


Russia


South Africa


Spain

Warm fuzzy feeling

This is an great ad for natural gas that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling and then tells you what the ad is for. It was directed Oliver Babinet and gets so much accomplished with a very simple idea and virtually no copy. It doesn't close the circle on why natural gas should give you a warm feeling but by the time the ad is over it doesn't seem to matter. After all, natural gas is the product that brought those 30 amazing seconds to our day.



Thanks to ads of the world for the heads up.

93 days. Our first FIFA World Cup post.

With the Winter Olympics safely behind us and spring on its way, we can finally focus our attention on the world's largest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. From a sports marketing perspective, it doesn’t get any bigger than this. Adidas, Nike and Puma are the companies with the most at stake here and all three are in the process of hyping up new uniforms and gear. Nike and Adidas put a lot of effort into the technical side soccer equipment which is, for some reason, a little controversial. I’m not too concerned with controversy but will go over some of the new gear in the next couple of weeks. Let’s start with the ball…



Adidas is the official sponsor of the World Cup, as usual, and that means they make the balls that are used. This year they are using a ball called Jabulani which means “to celebrate” in the Zulu language. It is the 11th ball that Adidas has created especially for the World Cup. What is unique about this ball is that it has reduced the number of and size of the seams which are thermally bonded so that there is more striking space. Basically, the ball is perfectly round, more aerodynamic and increases overall player ball control.

They say that Adidas engineers have been working on the technology behind the ball since the day after world cup 2006. I’m doubtful that this ball is all that better than the ball from 2006 which was already super-duper fancy. However, there is no doubt that this is an important part of Adidas overall marketing mix. Being the official purveyor of equipment to the world’s largest sporting event is crucial for a global company that positions itself as the brand that cares about sports performance first and image second. This is the best ball on the planet and Adidas will receive a ridiculous number of impressions this summer as the world is transfixed on it.

Full story at the FIFA World Cup 2010 site

Rock is so over

Ads of the world put me onto this ad for a French electro magazine called Trax. This girl is sick of her boyfriend playing rock music and is reacting in quite a fashion. It's kind of a gross ad but the ad's art direction is stunning it's and probably intended for a teenage demographic anyways.

I'm not mad at the ad but I need to comment on the irony of the message. Electro is a really trendy music movement. It is also not exactly easy on the ears with really low subs and lots of ravish synths. This is coming from an electro fan. My wife, however, is not an electro fan at all. This ad could easily have been shot at our house only it would be electro driving the girl insane. I'm sure my wife's not alone in thinking that listening to electro music is the opposite of being fussy.

Hyundai drops a great ad during the Oscars

Don't look now but Hyundai is continuing to develop a much stronger brand here in the states. They, more than anyone perhaps, could benefit from Toyota's recent slips. This ad here that debuted during the Oscars really cuts through.

Don't let them fool you

Just as I was happy to see another large car manufacturer get into the green scene with an electric car offering, I read on Treehugger that Mitsubishi is stockpiling blue-fin tuna that are rapidly declining. The company is deep freezing much of its stock in order to corner the market as the fish population dwindles. I understand it might be a shrewd move but from a marketing perspective, its going to hurt Mitsubishi if it tries to position its brand as green because of its electric car. Check out the complete story here at Treehugger.

BBC runs sci-fi ish ad for the internet

Am I the only one that is scratching his head every time he sees this creepy ad for the internet that the BBC is running? I guess this is actually advertising a show that is about the power of the internet. But I'm not sure. Either way, the ad gets my attention I just wish it didn't.

Your dad's a nerd and he's dancing all over the internet

Marketing through viral videos is a harder than it sounds because ultimately when videos “go viral” they are usually made by individuals and have some quirky element to them. It’s hard for marketers to harness the power of the boy that likes turtles.

However, if marketers can use viral videos to engage consumers and elicit their interaction with in a way that fits their brand, viral videos can be powerful. This is exactly what the Jamaican Tourist Board is doing in a campaign created by DraftFCB and located at totallydaddancing.com. The idea is to get families to send in video footage of the geeky dads doing geeky dad dances as part of a competition for one family to win a trip to Jamaica for some kind of dance rehab. This is cool because it's great way to get the whole family involved in supporting a viral marketing campaign while having fun.

More eco-packaging

I recently came across Ecologic Brands which makes eco-friendly consumer packaging. On display here is an ingenious milk package that is partially made of recycled materials, partially compostable, partially recyclable and uses much less material than the average milk container.


Adoption of the product appears to be limited at the moment but I expect that to change with the quickness. It's my understanding that supply for organic milk will catch up with the boom in demand as dairies adjust. At this point organic milk distributors will be seeking an additional point of differentiation because just being organic won't be enough.

That is why this packaging is the future. It is a great fit with the organic milk market. It gives consumers an opportunity to be less wasteful, which is what most people really want. Hopefully, it can achieve good economies of scale.

Please check out Ecologic Brands website and Twitter feed.

Oglivy rolls out some animation for Tostitos

This is another "fun" food commercial for Tostitos salsa made by Oglivy. I'm a bit conflicted on how effective I think it is. The creativity is great and the ad is fun to watch. It's supposed to be sexy but it isn't, and I'm glad. At the end the day, it doesn't make me hungry for salsa. Unlike pet food ads, ads for fresh food need to be grounded in reality. Animated onions and tomatoes just don't look as fresh as the real thing.

With all that said, the ad is engaging and will probably score well in promoting brand recognition and engaging a large marker segment. The creativity cuts through and Tostitos can't really expect to land the salsa consumers that are obsessed with freshness anyways.

“And Then There Was Salsa” from Frito Lay Dips on Vimeo.

How to differentiate your club's brand in 2010

The internet pointed me towards this poster that a Club Republic in NoLa put up in order to promote its new dress code. The fine print in black lists some corny designers that are banned and then states there are no exceptions.

I loved The Jersey Shore mostly because I got to witness it from my couch and not up close. I think this decision on the part of Club Republic is winning from a branding perspective for two reasons- it's standing up against some fly by night trend by drawing a line in the sand and it's creating a pretty compelling point of differentiation that is easily accessible.

Iced tea for kids

Some cool packaging caught my eye yesterday in the grocery store. I saw these colorful little plastic bottles with soccer balls and baseballs built into the top of them and thought, “Wow this is a good way to bond with kids.” then I noticed that the product was Arizona Iced Tea. Iced Tea for kids? I guess so. The label indicated that it was made with real black tea.

I have mixed feelings about Arizona selling iced tea to kids. It is a little too reminiscent of the way RJ Reynolds created a cartoon camel to reach kids and build lifetime customers. On the other hand, iced tea is not tobacco by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not even as bad for you as soda is and plenty of people give that to kids all the time. However, it still begs the question of if kids really do need caffeine in the first place. I will leave that for the experts. Either way, I’m willing to bet the packaging is successful at reaching kids and perhaps even developing long-term relationships with them.



I was also feeling this other little bit of similar packaging that is just for juice. Who knew that Clifford was still popular with kids?

Olympic Odds and Ends

Aussie snowboarder Torah Bright


NHL wins gold

Well, it’s over. Sidney Crosby closed out the Olympics with an overtime goal between Ryan Miller’s pads. It was a great game and the US can be proud of a silver medal but I still felt pretty empty last night. With some more time we can move on and put the game in a larger perspective.

One thing that’s clear is that the NHL won gold with the way men’s hockey played out in Vancouver. All along the NHL had been looking for a US vs. Canada final to ramp up interest amongst US fans. They got that and more after the US upset Canada earlier in the tournament. The final game ended up being “a game for the ages.” Despite losing two weeks worth of revenue, this final has to be good news for a league operating in a very competitive market with in a country with only marginal interest in hockey. I think a US gold medal would have been even better but an overtime silver with an earlier victory against Canada is a close second.

And so does Nike

Likewise, men’s hockey made good on Nike’s decision to become the official sponsor of the winter Olympic games for the first time. All the hockey teams in the tournament were wearing Nike so it had exposure throughout the tournament. However, this final had to provide a big payoff in Nike’s mind. I hate to take anything away from a team like Finland or Slovakia, but those markets are so small compared with the US and Canada combined.

AT&T's bet falls a little short

I loved the AT&T ad with the Lou Reed song and Gretchen Bleiler wearing all white and flying out of the half pipe and into outer-space.The song is great and Gretchen Bleiler's looks and style are inspiring. It's a pretty strong ad though and clearly portrays Gretchen Bleiler as a superstar snowboarder.

The only problem is that Gretchen didn't win the gold. In fact, she put in an uninspired performance and came in dead last in the final heat. Australia's Torah Bright won the gold.

No big deal, we all have bad days and I hate to call out an “amateur” athlete. I'd be bummed, though, if I were AT&T because NBC ran a special story about the US women’s half pipe team right before the final round. Instead of talking about snowboarding and her dedication, Gretchen Bleiler was talking about hanging out and Japan and starting a clothing line. She didn’t mention that she’d been training or was stressed out about winning at all. She kind of reminded me of Lindsay Lohan. Not a good look for right before you come in last.

NBC's female sports audiences

Finally, a little gripe about Olympic coverage. I’ve read that 56% of the Olympics television audience was female. You can tell by the media placements.- the P&G and Wal-Mart campaigns directed at moms. My only gripe is the sport coverage. NBC is really light on sports and heavy on human interest stories. I heard numerous women tell me, I love the Olympics because you get to hear all the stories about everyone. It’d be appreciated if MSNBC or CNBC could just run sports coverage on the weekends instead of the paid programming they tend to run. kthanksbye