The BadAds Weblog

Ads on Your Doorstep

Ads inside the newspaper subsidize the cost of your favorite daily. But ads OUTSIDE the newspaper only clutter your life with more unwanted advertisements with no benefit to you.

"Ad bags" are the protective plastic bags that the papers are placed in for home delivery. Instead of being the usual clear plastic, ad bags are covered with–you guessed it–ads.

The companies that are engaging in this form of intrusive advertising include Disney's California Adventure, Jekyll & Hyde, The Broadway Musical, Circuit City, Toyota, Fox TV, Lord & Taylor, Clark Bar, Sears, Safeway, Kohl's, Marshall Fields, Costco, Sprint, Macy's and J.C. Penney.

If you'd like to write these advertisers a letter, you can find their contact information at Hoovers or Big Yellow. You can also try entering their names directly into a URL, such as http://www.sears.com or http://www.costco.com.

Below are the companies that are responsible for the ads that land on your doorstep every day.

AdBAGS: mail@continentalproducts.com

Sunflower Group: webrequest@SunflowerGroup.com

NewsAmerica: scagar@newsamerica.com

Valassis: Online Feedback Form

September 25, 2001

Tragedy = Profit for Spammers

Before the rubble even stopped smoking in the aftermath of Tuesday's tragic events, intrusive advertisers moved in to take advantage of the situation.

I (Linda) wrote an article for Wired News about the spam scams that seek to capitalize on this tragedy by selling "commemorative products" or by asking for donations for "victim's funds." You can read the article here.

September 13, 2001

Bad Ad Bugs

The following is from Deceptively Packaged:

UPN, the network that welcomed the WWF logo in a corner of the screen opposite its own logo-laden corner, may soon offer advertisers the chance to put their product symbols on-screen, too, throughout prime time. That is, brand logos could appear not during commercial breaks but while programming is in progress, hovering in those see-through but plainly visible blots in a corner of the screen where network labels have been squatting.

The industry calls them "bugs"; we call them clutter. They are the somewhat faint ad logos and network identifying symbols that have become common blights in prime time. Somebody pull out the insecticide.

What you can do: Write to UPN and ask them not to place advertising "bugs" during programming.

Dean Valentine, CEO
UPN
11800 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: 310-575-7000
Fax: 310-575-7220

September 10, 2001

Bulgari Not the Bad Guys

Last week we wrote to you about a corporate sponsored book, "The Bulgari Connection" (see below). Author Fay Weldon was paid by the jewelry company Bulgari to make them the centerpiece in her novel.

We wrote to Bulgari to voice our opinions on this form of intrusive advertising and received the reply below. It looks like Bulgari meant for the book to be distributed only to Bulgari customers, but then the publisher decided to release the book to the public.

However, Weldon's agent, Giles Gordon, thinks that it was such a great idea that he plans to encourage other authors to find corporate sponsors for novels meant for the general public. You can still write to him at:

Giles Gordon
Curtis Brown Group Ltd
e-mail: cb@curtisbrown.co.uk

Here's the reply from Bulgari:

"The Bvlgari Connection" by Fay Weldon was initially commissioned by Bvlgari to coincide with the grand opening of their new store on 177 Sloane Street, London.

The book was originally ordered as a limited edition and was to be the unique gift for the guests of the exclusive launch party at Claridge's, on 17th October, 2000.

Bvlgari had approached Fay Weldon for her reputation as one of Britain's best read, influential and above all, versatile writers.

The editor subsequently decided to extend its publication for general release to English speaking markets.

The novel, whose centrepiece is a Bvlgari necklace, will be published in the UK in October and in the USA in November. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

September 9, 2001

A Novel Idea?

Say you're reading a book and the main character is driving a Ford. Is this a literary decision by the author–or a paid advertisement? Now that books are hawking wares for corporate sponsors, you'll never be sure.

According to the New York Times, Bulgari, the Italian jewelry company, paid author Fay Weldon an undisclosed sum for a prominent place in her new book, fittingly entitled "The Bulgari Connection." It is scheduled for distribution by the small publisher Grove/ Atlantic in the United States in November.

Weldon's literary agent, Giles Gordon of Curtis Brown Group, thinks paid advertisements in novels is a great idea. "Does it matter if you are paid by a publisher or paid by an Italian jewelry firm?" he said in the New York Times. He added that he would recommend product placements to other clients, too. The current crop of "chick lit" novels and memoirs about the lives of young women offers potential for touting vodka, cigarettes, clothing and other brands, he said. "The sky is the limit."

Please write to Grove/Atlantic, literary agent Giles Gordon, and Bulgari, and let them know what you think about advertising in novels. If these people aren't stopped, in a few years every novel you read will be nothing but a thinly disguised advertisement.

Giles Gordon
Curtis Brown Group Ltd
37 Queensferry Street
Edinburgh, EH2 4QS
tel: 0131 225 1286/1288
fax: 0131 225 1290
e-mail: cb@curtisbrown.co.uk

Morgan Entrekin, CEO
Grove/Atlantic
Toll-free number: 1-800-521-0178

Francesco Trapani, CEO
Bulgari
Online Feedback Form
Note: When you fill out this form, a window pops up telling you that your e-mail address will be put on their mailing list and shared with associate companies. We suggest you use a decoy Web account such as a Hotmail or Yahoo address--and, for good measure, let Bulgari know in your message that you don't appreciate being forced to receive ads for the privilege of communicating with them.

September 4, 2001

The Ad Virus

The following is excerpted from ScumWare:

There is a new file sharing system launched in the wake of the MP3 sharing/stealing war, and the new system is called KaZaa. You download it, install it and get right back to sharing bootleg music files. KaZaa claims that almost 6 million people have downloaded and installed its system.

Unfortunately when you install KaZaa you also get at least one virus installed on your computer. I call it a virus because by most descriptions I've seen of the term, TopText qualifies as a virus. You don't ask for it. It takes control of your browser and makes changes to everything you read on the Internet.

TopText operates with a browser to highlight words on every web page, inserting a yellow background behind keywords that have been purchased through their media sales company eZula, Inc. If a web user clicks on one of those yellow highlighted words on a web page, the user is whisked away to the site of the company paying the most that day for each click-through. If a user whose browser is infected with TopText visits your web site, they will be offered links to competitor's web sites for every keyword they find on your site for which they have a buyer.

In other words, TopText installs itself on your computer without your permission and turns every Web page you visit into an advertising vehicle. This also means that surfers with TopText who view your Web site will see your site littered with advertising links that will lure them away from your page.

What you can do: Contact eZula and let them know what you think of hijacking webmasters' sites for advertising purposes.

eZula
555 Florida Street, Suite 407
San Francisco, CA 94110
Telephone: 415-558-7777
Fax: 415-558-7111
info@ezula.com

September 2, 2001

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