There’s a big fuss across the pond about two men kissing. A recent Heinz ad was taken off the airwaves after the UK Advertising Standard Authority received over 200 complaints.

And I always thought they were supposed to be so much more open-minded than us Yanks! A Boston news outlet’s editorial claims, “As far as images of same-sex families go, it’s positively delicious.” I think that author missed the boat completely. What’s funny is that I don’t think the commercial has anything to do with being gay. We’ve discussed marketing to gays on this blog before, but this is an entirely different scenario. The idea behind the ad is that the deli mayo is so authentic tasting that the “mother figure” is replaced as a New York deli worker. Either that, or it’s normal for children of gay couples in London to call their one father “mum” and for that person to be dressed in the morning like they’re working at a diner.

Heinz used creativity in making a provocative, compelling and memorable ad. What more could a brand want?

What’s your take on the ad? Was Heinz wrong to make it? Were they wrong to pull it?

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor

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A while back, I wrote an article that discussed the viability of viral marketing for Electronic Retailer’s September 2007 issue. In the article, I mention different campaigns that have used viral marketing and succeeded, as well as a few that didn’t pan out (think “Snakes on a Plane” bombing at the box office).

According to Wikipedia, viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, akin to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.

Below are two current, successful viral campaigns:

The first video shows how a well-established brand like Bud Light uses viral marketing to keep itself hip, fresh and funny. This video was brought to my attention via word-of-mouth while out this weekend.

The second shows how a less established brand uses YouTube to drive to its website and keep potential customers engaged and entertained.

The fact that you viewed these videos means I just helped move the viral campaigns forward. Whether you share it with your family and friends, a true test of success is up to you.

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor

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It was supposed to be perfect. It was my birthday week and I had friends flying into D.C. so that we could go see Radiohead live at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. The concert was Sunday, May 11 and I had Monday off. Nothing could go wrong…until Mother Nature stepped in. Cell phone rings. “Are you guys even still going?” Claudia asks cautiously as I maneuver my way around the grocery store picking up last-minute tailgating items. “Of course we’re still going,” I say, somewhat irritated at the mere suggestion of skipping out. Sure, I had heard rumors of some rain, but I was fully prepared with my hooded sweatshirt—it was May!

Flash-forward two hours. We’re situated in lot B. Our other friends are over in lot A. No one in my car wants to get out. People in the cars around us are not getting out. “But Leikin flew here from Cleveland,” I plead, trying to motivate my peers. We finally manage to open the trunk door of Josh’s Toyota 4Runner. We’re happier once the beers start flowing, but it’s imperative to stay underneath the trunk door unless your drink of choice happens to be half Coors Light/half acid rain. It was at this point that things began to get delusional, yet laughable.

“Oh my God! It is seriously raining harder now,” Amber stammers as we watch the rain grow thicker and hear the pounding on the roof grow louder. Another concertgoer runs over to our car. “Can I make a quick call under here?” Yes, it was THAT bad. I begin to think about different products that would make the scenario easier. That’s the beauty of the direct response industry, solving a common problem that a consumer doesn’t typically think about. There was an extreme need for ponchos. What about an invention to protect your beer from the rain so you could still enjoy it? I couldn’t help but remember the umbrella hat I saw last September at ERA’s annual convention. I kind of mocked it then, but I would love having it right now! As we packed up our things to walk to lot A, we decide to leave all electronic items in Josh’s car. No cameras anymore, no cell phones, no iPods—only a credit card and license are deemed reasonable. Josh makes his last phone call, informing our friends that we’re on our way before closing and locking the doors.

During the walk, the sky only gets darker, the rain harder and the temperature colder. We’re literally soaked from head to toe. Amber’s umbrella breaks because of the wind’s severity. As we approach lot A, we realize we can’t keep walking straight because a river has begun to flow right in front of our walking path. We manage to work our way around the river. Walking in jeans becomes arduous as the denim plasters itself to our thighs and calves. Where are our friends? We couldn’t call or text. We just had to keep searching.

“What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here…” ~ Creep, Radiohead

“Why didn’t you guys buy ponchos?” our friends in lot A scream, alarmed that we’re so drenched. “They haven’t made it over our way yet,” Josh explains, sounding like a movie line straight from a disaster flick. Byron lights a cigarette under their car roof, which they too were all huddled under. As soon as he steps out to greet me, the rain pounds his cigarette off of its filter and onto the ground. Jokes about Vietnam begin to seem appropriate. We’re now shivering. My entire body begins to shake. Then, out of nowhere, I hear Claudia’s voice. She approaches the group, umbrella in hand, raincoat on. “I have plastic bags wrapped around my feet under my boots and I also have a change of clothes in the car for the ride home,” she says. We all stare at her with jealousy. Some of the girls express interest in just going home. No way. We paid a lot of money and we’ve come this far. The worst of it had to be over, right? Let’s just hear one song and decide.

Onward towards will-call we go. We try to walk faster, but our legs are like liquorice in our soaked jeans. Toby tries to take his ticket out, only to realize his printed ticket is ruined—unrecognizable. Only those in sealed plastic bags will work. Our group unintentionally splits up. We can’t see anything in front of us. “Bruce?! Claudia?!” They’re nowhere to be found, but Bruce has my ticket! Even if someone around me does have their BlackBerry or iPhone, it is no help; no one else has their phones. Byron luckily has an extra ticket, so I make it inside the gates. Off to the lawn we go. People are falling down the lawn’s sloped hill left and right. Radiohead begins playing. The large screens are turned off for electrical reasons, obviously. Shiver, dance, shiver, dance, shiver, dance…

Back at the car everyone strips to their underwear, turning the heat up full blast in an effort to thaw out. What the hell just happened for the past six hours? Was this the worst concert experience ever? Was it the best? It was memorable none-the-less. I began to think of the concert in terms of being a product we bought. It was marketed to us as a rain or shine event, after all. The band had to be fully aware of the conditions outside. As they played one hit after the next, it seemed to me like they were simply using an age-old direct response format: But wait, there’s more!

It’s ironic that the same band that broke technology and industry barriers last year by allowing its new album “In Rainbows” to be downloaded for free on the Internet held a concert that reduced us back to the 1980s technology-wise. Without Byron’s extra ticket, I would have been wandering back to the car before hearing one song. We were all thrown for a loop without the gadgets we’ve become so dependent on. However, for as much as my generation is sometimes too reliant on technology, elements of our parent’s generation were clearly evident as we continued the simple pursuit of live music, much to the detriment of our comfort and health.

“For a minute there, I lost myself…” ~ Karma Police, Radiohead

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor

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During my senior year of college, I was part of an intensive journalism program where I had to show up Monday-Friday from 9-5 to further develop my skills before entering the scary real world. It was almost like a forced internship, if you will. My concentration within the school of journalism was print, rather than broadcast, multimedia, advertising or public relations.

It was a rather sunny day in South Carolina, as I raced across campus for the first day of my new program. Hung-over, disheveled, and now awkwardly sweaty, I made it through the classroom door with just a few seconds to spare.

“I don’t know why you’re even here,” professor Fisher said to the class. “You’ve spent four years learning about a dying industry.” Wow. Not what you want to hear while calculating your looming student loans in your head. I thought I was just going to receive the syllabus and call it a day! He went on to explain dwindling advertising revenues and circulation rates for newspapers as the reason for his dark humor.

Things have changed even more dramatically since that spring day a few years ago. Newspapers have continued to fade, and TV has begun to fade as well, as the Internet continues to gain steam as our society’s main platform for entertainment and news. The ad spend budget for the Internet is now poised to surpass TV in the UK. As with popular music trends, it’s only a matter of time before that’s the scenario in the U.S., as well.

That same South Carolina professor once read a quote from Molly Ivans that I still have trouble shaking. “I don’t so much mind newspapers dying—it’s watching them commit suicide that pisses me off.” As a magazine focused on educating multichannel marketers, we urge those in traditional media spaces not to be the next medium to meet their demise. With the research, webinars, seminars and conferences that ERA and Electronic Retailer put on throughout the year, you can be sure to remain relevant and viable in this ever-changing media landscape.

If you think a world without newspapers seems likely down the road, check out this hilarious clip from South Park that highlights a world without Internet, and what effect it has on our behavior and media consumption.

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer Magazine’s eMedia Editor

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In the past few days, Comedy Central has taken a brazen approach to some of the issues we deal with day in and day out. The virtual world Second Life is one of those buzzwords often thrown around conferences by people trying to sound like they know what they’re talking about. Many well-known companies have spent lots of money jumping into Second Life to have a virtual world presence, but I think they were simply jumping the shark.

Second Life, like many other platforms on the Internet, has not taken off quite as expected. “The Daily Show” had quite the time making fun of Second Life. Enjoy the clip below:

A recent “South Park” episode was no stranger to speaking on the Internet’s monetization problems. The boys create a hit YouTube video thinking they’ll rake in some fast cash, only to find themselves waiting in line for “theoretical dollars” at the Department of Internet Money, along with other Internet celebrities. A full list of the episode’s clips can be found here. However, enjoy below Kyle’s closing insights on Internet revenue:

What are your thoughts on monetizing the Internet?

Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

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I recently heard a statistic that 76 percent of consumers don’t trust advertising. Ouch, that’s gotta hurt. This means that your industry’s credibility is only slightly more viable than Hillary’s sinking odds at snagging the Democratic nomination.

Just when you think the direct response industry, or the advertising industry at large, have finally gained some street cred, we get sacked with more FTC complaints against Kevin Trudeau or revelations that Lipitor ads featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik are misleading.

There’s a reason why “Saturday Night Live” has consistently come up with relevant material to ridicule the ad industry…we practically spoon-feed it to them.

All jokes aside, enough is enough! Join ERA and Electronic Retailer at our upcoming events, where you have the power to learn about and change the course of your industry.

April 30, NYC – ERA Legal Series: Practical Knowledge for the New Technology Landscape

The seminar will shed light on the most recent FTC developments and offer practical insights and in-depth legal solutions in the area of emerging technologies, notably behavioral advertising.

April 31, NYC – Electronic Retailer LiveEdit Lab

Discover the fate of paid programming at our Executive Media Summit, followed by a day of relevant sessions geared to keep your business ahead of the game and afloat in times of economic uncertainty.

May 20, Washington, D.C. – ERA Government Affairs Fly-In

Finally, if you truly want to be involved and have your voice heard on behalf of the industry, join with your colleagues as we teach you the legislative issues facing your business. You’ll then be paired into groups with a seasoned lobbyist to meet with your elected representatives in Congress on Capitol Hill to voice your concerns.

It’s your industry; perhaps it’s time to take some ownership.

Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

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As far as reality TV goes, Bravo’s “Project Runway” is top notch, or ‘fierce’ as some would say. While watching season four’s recent finale, one advertisement stuck out to me. It was a Levi’s ad directly targeting gay men.

American Airlines recently launched a major multimedia ad campaign targeting the gay travel demographic. I could go on and on about how inspiring it is to see these companies stepping outside of the box and making bold political statements, but I won’t. Frankly, these were smart business decisions. Sure, you may run into trouble from the likes of the American Family Association, which recently ended its two-year boycott of Ford for advertising to gays, but this is unlikely and trivial. The real lesson is in the numbers.

A report from eMarketer research found the following:

—The buying power of U.S. gay and lesbian consumers was $660 billion in 2006 and is expected to reach $835 billion by 2011.

—According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the median annual household income in the U.S. in 2006 was $46,326. For single gay men, that number was $62,000 and for single lesbians, it was $52,000. That number rises to $130,00 for gay male couples and $96,000 for lesbian females.

—About 89 percent of U.S. gay male respondents and 91 percent of lesbian respondents thought a brand’s sponsorship or support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) events favorably influenced their buying decisions.

—A significant percentage of the GLBT community checks whether a company is gay-friendly before buying its products.

—About one in four GLBT Internet users said they have switched products or service providers because they found a competing company that supports causes that benefit the GLBT community.

—Like a privacy policy or Better Business Bureau seal of approval, companies genuinely connecting with the GLBT community display the trademarks of relevant organizations prominently on their sites. With strong evidence that the GLBT community will support those companies that respect them, this is a best practice for online marketers.

Wells Fargo, Orbitz, Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, Saab, Citi, IBM, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Prudential Financial, XM Satellite Radio, BP, Absolut Vodka, GM, AT&T, Chase, Harrah’s, Merrill Lynch, Showtime, Volvo, Dell, Hotels.com, Motorola, Nike, Shell and UPS all actively support the gay community.

If you’re not already including gays in your marketing, then why not? What are you so afraid of?

Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

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It was the summer of 2003. I had just finished my first year of college down South, returned home to Pittsburgh and landed an internship in the Steelers’ marketing department. Walking into Heinz Field’s corporate offices was like something out of a movie for someone who was born and raised in ‘Steelers Country.’

I remember like it was yesterday sitting down in the boardroom as a manager sat across the long, brown, intimidating table ready to grill me. Forget a suit, I was dressed in old Catholic school gear I had dug out of my closet and forcefully asked my mother to dry clean! That table was all that stood between us. I was expecting the usual litany of dress code rules, vacation allowances, etc., when he caught me off guard and said, “What does marketing mean to you?” It would be two more years before I would even take my first marketing class, and so a stab in the dark was all I had going for me. Throughout the next four months, I learned an insurmountable amount of information about promoting the Steelers brand to better the community and serve the fans.

These early lessons have carried over into my current career, as I watch many of our members and readers engage consumers—rather than fans—to buy and interact with their companies. Fortune recently released a list of the top 20 most admired companies:

1) Apple, 2) Berkshire Hathaway, 3) General Electric, 4) Google, 5) Toyota Motor, 6) Starbucks, 7) FedEx, 8 ) Proctor & Gamble, 9) Johnson & Johnson, 10) Goldman Sachs Group, 11) Target, 12) Southwest Airlines, 13) American Express, 14) BMW tied with Costco Wholesale, 16) Microsoft, 17) United Parcel Service, 18) Cisco Systems, 19) 3M and 20) Nordstrom

These companies obviously all benefit from extraordinary marketing and/or advertising departments. For me, good marketing means taking creative risks. Taking the big chances is sometimes worth it, but sometimes it doesn’t pan out quite as you’d like. Take Cartoon Network’s gaffe last year, for example, when large, electronic light boards featuring characters from its popular “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” giving the middle finger led to bomb scares and the closing of multiple bridges in Boston. How is one supposed to know when a marketing gimmick or promotion has gone too far? How should CEOs react when marketing departments propose such big ideas?

Enjoy the following hilarious clip from CollegeHumor.com that pokes fun at the Cartoon Network scenario.

What does marketing mean to you?

Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor,