Best Dressed: Remember this dress that Best Actress front-runner Sandra Bullock wore to the Golden Globes? Well, it’s a Bottega Veneta gown made with a Japanese chiffon so heavenly it can only be cut out using the tip of an angel wing (okay, it’s cut by lasers, which is cooler). The fabric is actually so light that it is impossible to wrinkle it, no matter how hard you try…so if Sandy ever finds herself on a bus that will explode if it goes less than 50 MPH, she should wear this so she has one less thing to worry about.
Best Picture: Designer Tavis Coburn created retro re-imaginations of the five films nominated for the BAFTA – the UK equivalent of the Academy Awards. Check out his throw-back work that actually looks quite modern. (via Shelly Silver)
Best Actor / Worst Spokesperson: Great news, a few years ago Hyundai signed down-on-his-luck Jeff Bridges to do the voice over work in their commercials. Now, he’s a lock to win an Oscar. So Hyundai bought advertising space during the show to run their spot with Bridges! The Dude, that’s awesome for Hyundai! Oh, except that The Academy rejected the commercials because it doesn’t allow nominees or presenters to participate in commercials that air during the ceremony. Getting around that, Hyundai is replacing Bridges’ voice for the evening with a rotating cast including: Kim Basinger, David Duchovny and Catherine Keener.
Click here to let us know that you’d like to be added to the mailing list for the monthly edition of “word.”
Last weekend, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade opened up his life off the courts in an unprecedented way. No, it is not another reality show. Wade went live with his life via his Ustream account for the first installment of “3 Under the Tree,” a series of charity events hosted by the Wade’s World Foundation.
Fans could follow Dwyane live for a day on Saturday as he attended a charity event, went go-karting and interacted with followers in realtime, through both Twitter and Ustream. ESPN gave the event a bit of flak for being a PR stunt, but they did note that Wade did reveal a few genuine moments that made him seem a bit more human.
I think this is a brilliant idea, despite what some may say. PR initiative for Wade and his charity? Of course! Effective way of generating buzz for his cause while at the same time making him more accessible to his masses of fans? Definitely! It will be interesting to see if more athletes open up their lives in this manner. Judging by the number of athletes already on Twitter, I have no doubt others will follow suit.
When I don’t Twitter for a while (“a while” meaning, like, 12 hours), I usually just get a worried text message from my mom. But can you imagine being arrested for not Twittering? Well, that’s what happened to a VP from Island Def Jam Records this weekend.
Let’s start at the beginning — apparently, there’s a hot new 15-year-old singer called Justin Bieber who’s giving the Jonas Brothers a run for their money. When Justin (who kind of looks like Miley Cyrus with a haircut) was scheduled to appear at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island this weekend, over 3,000 tweens and their moms showed up. People started getting rowdy two hours before Justin was even supposed to arrive, and some fans and moms got trampled and had to go to the hospital.
In an effort to break up the crowd, local police ordered Island Def Jam VP James Roppo to Twitter that the event had been canceled, but he refused. They subsequently arrested him for endangering the welfare of children and obstructing governmental administration, and even threatened to throw little Justin in the slammer too, if he came near the mall. The moral of the story? If the cops tell you to Twitter, you should probably just do it.
Virgin Atlantic has released a “Flying Without Fear” iPhone app for travelers wary of flying high in the sky. The “course” is loaded with commentary from Richard Branson - who apparently states the facts over the fictions associated with flying - and offers exercises for relaxing while on the plane.
Not sure what is more shocking…the 98 percent success rate of the program or the fact that Whoopi Goldberg hasn’t flown in 13 years!
Honestly, they didn’t have to develop an iPhone app for this…they could just upgrade panicky fliers to business class, and I guarantee their fears would evaporate by 100 percent.
Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen recently partnered with our client JCPenney to launch Olsenboye, their new line of junior apparel debuting on November 6. To build buzz among young, fashionable shoppers, they’re using innovative social mediatactics like Facebook, Twitter, and viral videos.
Falcon Heene, a.k.a. “Balloon Boy,” has a mock Twitter account set up in his honor: @boyintheballoon. I’ve decided to follow it for the weekend and be totally obsessed with it until 5:30 on Sunday. That’s about the time that I expect everybody to be totally over this story.
Florence Henderson (a.k.a. Carol Brady), just launched a tech support service. Actually, this isn’t that surprising. Before Ol’ Flo got her cheekbone implants, she was pretty well known for handing out advice (for instance: “Don’t play ball in the house,” and “Face facts, you’re never going to be as popular as Marcia”).
The service — which is aimed at “mature” computer users — is called FloH Club (which sounds like the name of a terrible discotheque in suburban Milwaukee). La Henderson describes the experience in a quick video on the site (check it out, they must have had a serious budget for floral), where she says FloH Club is “like roadside assistance…but for your computer.” Just call up her team (who, she mentions several times, are based in America — she does everything but stare into the camera and wink to emphasize this point) and they’ll coach you on how to use Facebook, print out a document or take a picture. She then holds up a camera, as if to say, “This here is an automatic daguerreotype machine. Press this button on top and it will trap your likeness.”
In fairness, the concept is a good one. I know a lady, let’s call her “Carol Rossi,” and from time to time she has difficulty with techie stuff, like streaming videos of the Barefoot Contessa on FoodNetwork.com. If she joined FloH Club, she could get telephone support from a woman who once rocked a serious mullet, rather than call her son — who we’ll call “Fandrew Rossi” — at work.
It all started yesterday, when rumors circulated via Twitter and Facebook that Braff was dead, based on a fake webpage put up by prankster Chris Laganella in 2007.
Braff took charge by posting a video on YouTube to let everyone know that he is very much alive.
This is the kind of “viral” that every company dreams of.
Remember last Thursday? How happy you were when Tracy Morgan joined Twitter? Well, as Fraulein Maria said, “When God closes a door, he opens a window.” I’m here to tell you, the reverse is true too. Rather than explaining this tenuous metaphor, I’ll just give it to you straight: tween megastar Miley Cyrus (formerly @MileyCyrus) has quit Twitter.
Why would Miley introduce humanity to the worst suffering it has ever known? She says wants to live a more private life. And to PROVE that she wants to live a quieter, more introspective, Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond-esque life, Miley created a rap video explaining her decision-making processes. Now, this isn’t some two-bit, impromptu Miley + webcam joint. There is editing, backup dancers and text treatments that will remind you of your middle school television station. She means business!
Sensing the gravitas of the situation. Miley’s superstar dad, Billy Ray (@BillyRayCyrus), stepped in to try to tweet some sense into his daughter. (Take note, Nobel committee!):
“Miley. You are a light in a world of darkness. You were born ‘Destiny Hope Cyrus’ for a reason. You can’t leave everyone now. We r countin on u.”
Unfortunately, because of the 140-character limit, he was unable to incorporate the words “achy breaky” into his tweet. Currently, no domestic or international government agencies have issued any statements of warning or instruction. Until they do, we here at FWD Thinking recommend that you stay calm. This is probably just a stunt and she’ll be back in three weeks, y’all.
Corazza’s piece does note that Twitter can be a great marketing tool for many pro athletes, such as Dwight Howard, Randy Moss and Nick Swisher. Twitter undoubtedly allows for athletes to market their personal brand and connect with fans. However, he argues that the megastars simply don’t need the marketing boost and don’t have the time.
While I understand his argument, I call foul! Sure, LeBron doesn’t probably need any marketing boost from Twitter, but what about connecting with fans? Are these guys too big to do that anymore? I hope not! The fans are the ones who give athletes a good chunk of marketing power. Twitter is one of the great democratizing tools of social media and athletes that have bought into this have usually benefited.
I also can’t quite buy into the “lack of time” statement. Twitter is fast and easy. I understand that the Tom Bradys of the world are more busy than the average Joe, but come on! If Britney Spears (even if it is mostly through her team) can tweet, I certainly think ol’ Brett Favre can jump on the bandwagon and let the world know how excited he was to beat his old team.
This comes as a result of an interweb campaign that was launched specifically to cajole him into joining. It worked — and in just one day. With its mission accomplished, the site is now defunct…but still features an awesome picture of Morgan wearing a pair of sunglasses that my grandma, or Zsa Zsa Gabor, might wear.
Anyhow, if you start following @RealTracyMorgan, you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll see some refreshingly crazy tweets.
Note: Some of Mr. Morgan’s tweets may be a bit, um, untoward — if you’re looking for something more family-friendly, but still ridiculous, check out @SherriEShepherd. Side note: Tracy Morgan accidentally set her apartment on fire. If only he was on Twitter then!
Over the last few months, Twittering has become quite the topic of conversation in the sporting world. This is due in part to athletes using it well (Larry Fitzgerald with @Lfitzgerald11), league bans and the antics of Ocho Cinco (child, please!), which are amusing and ridiculous, but relatively harmless. Then there came Washington Redskins linebacker Robert Henson.
Mashablereports that Henson sent two insulting tweets directed at Redskins fans after last Sunday’s game. Apparently the rants were fueled by fans booing during the game. Regardless of the fans demonstrating a lack of undying love towards the home team, the pro athlete’s response was inflammatory and appalling. He later made a public apology and disabled his account. Sounds like someone needs to learn that he shouldn’t be dishing it out if he can’t take it.
What this really is, though, is just plain sad. I’ve waxed poetic about the possibilities of social media and sports in previous posts. Folks like this ruin it for themselves and for others.
Kanye West’s MTV Video Music Awardsshenanigans last night caused a twitterstorm of controversy, with Trendrrreporting that Twitter users sent nearly 300,000 tweets in the moments following his onstage outburst. The celebrities in attendance even got in on the action, with some of them Twittering during the show. Some especially outraged Taylor Swift fans even made a concerted effort to make the hashtag #boycottkanye a trending topic.
Either way, props to MTV for realizing that awards shows have been completely revitalized by Twitter and the real-time web, and catering to the platform. MTV created its own Twitter widget called the Tweet Tracker, powered by Radian6, and hired iJustine to be the VMAs’ “Twitter correspondent.” To be honest, I didn’t even technically watch the VMAs because I don’t have a TV. However, between following along on Twitter and MTV.com posting videos online just minutes after it happened live, I felt like I did!
“ Before, it was just at live shows, now you have to be able to do a great live show, you have to be able to do a great online interview, you need to have a great Facebook page, you have to have a great television performance.
Diddy (AKA Puff Daddy, AKA Sean Combs), on the rules of being a star
“ My baby wasn’t acting right. Did I notice it was out? That would be the equivalent to asking, did you notice you woke up?…For me, it would be the equivalent of going outside to get on the freeways and find that the freeways are closed down. Twitter being down is the equivalent to no way to get to the airport.
MC Hammer, on yesterday’s Twitter outage
