Olive Garden Concerned With Playboy Bunny Kendra's Rogue Endorsement

Kendra Wilkinson, one of Hugh Hefner's young girlfriends featured on the E! reality hit "The Girls Next Door," just happens to be a really big Olive Garden fan. She has been seen proudly waving doggy bags and heard raving about the endless breadsticks.

Most companies would welcome a bit of promotion on national television, right? It's like free product placement.

Well, apparently, Olive Garden, who has spent many years (and many dollars) building their family-oriented image, is not happy about being associated with a Playboy Bunny.

In 2008, Kendra, in cooperation with Playboy, held a national casting call for Olive Garden waitresses to be featured in a nude pictorial.

"Our position is that our team members as private citizens have freedom to participate," says Olive Garden spokesman Mara Frazier. "While we're not endorsing the initiative, we're not making choices for our employees."

Though Olive Garden has made no official moves to silence Wilkinson, they have expressed some discomfort with the association. According to The Wall Street Journal, Olive Garden has declined to comment on the issues, however, one official says the company has tried to walk a fine line with its response, maintaining the chain's wholesome image without alienating potential customers.

Airlines Look to Advertisers to Subsidize Rising Costs

CNN Money reports that major airlines are now so desperate for cash-flow that they are willing to sell advertising space on almost every part of the in-flight experience, from tray tables to airsick bags.

The appeal to advertisers is, of course, the idea that there's no escaping their ads as you sit on your 3-hour flight across the country.

"It's a captive audience, literally - and sometimes involuntarily - for an extended period of time, so there are certainly opportunities to make contact [with potential consumers] in-flight," said Michael Derchin, an airline analyst for FTN Midwest Securities.

Future flyers can expect to see more ads popping up on tray tables, boarding passes, airsick bags and of course, during your in-flight entertainment in the form of commercials or sponsored "networks." Those who've flown on Delta since July 15 may have already notcied advertising for destination-specific venues on their boarding passes.

I can't imagine anyone would pay much for advertising on an airsick bag - the bags are rarely used, and when they are it isn't exactly a pleasant association for the company's products. Perhaps if they did this, it would be required that the bags be placed on your seat so you'd see them upon boarding, instead of buried in the seat pocket.

image via flickr.

YouTube and Bloggers Reveal Apple iPhone 3G Speed is Nothing Like Commercials Claim

With some sarcasm, Gizmodo serves up a post featuring a YouTube video with a side-by-side comparison on the iPhone commercials and the actual iPhone operating speeds.

Not that Apple is having any trouble making sales on the phone, but it's interesting that with the power of the internet, it's almost impossible to engage in false advertising these days without getting called out on it.

As of the time of this posting, the video has already had 91,273 views. That's a lot of eyeballs.

Google Launches Insights for Search

This week Google announced the launch of Insights for Search, a free tool to help marketers plan keyword campaigns.

Users can now get in depth information on keyword combonations, frequency of searches, geographic origin of searches and patterns of popularity. One of the most valuable features the new tool offers is the ability to distingush intentions for common search terms, for example, was this person searching for "Apple: the company" from "apple: the fruit?"

Google emphasized the increased ability for geographic targeting as well. This example from the New York Times illustrates why this can be a powerful function:

The tool is aimed primarily at marketers, who may use it to devise and track advertising campaigns. A car company, for instance, could experiment with different versions of a television ad in Cleveland and Columbus, and check the number of resulting searches in each city to see which one is more effective. Or it could use the data to find out where users are searching most actively for “fuel efficiency” and aim ads for a gas-sipping vehicle there.

Google also expects that Insights for Search will be used by sectors other than marketing.

“We are also very interested in uses like the economic forecasting, finance, sociological studies, even in etymological studies to track how new words spread in the population,” said Hal Varian, Google’s chief economist.

Meet Me In Atlanta - You Might Even Learn Something

I will be attending the Online Marketing Summit in Atlanta next week. It should be an interesting event and a good chance to mingle with fellow marketers from around the southeast, as it's the only stop in this area on the OMS Summer Tour.

More information here.

Discover Card Shows Their Softer Side

Apparently, Discover Card has been telling us they care since 2006, but it's only in their recent commercials that I've really gotten the message.

Though I think what they are trying to do is pretty cool, I'm not sure I buy it. I just have a hard time believing that a CREDIT company legitimately wants me to pay down my debt, thereby not having to pay them any more interest. Though they do counter this a bit by reassuring me that it's that we are "a nation of consumers."

So, even though Discover Card does have a lot of innovative features like great cash back programs, a hearty online interface with many options for personalization and a Pay-On-Time bonus that actually -gasp- refunds you interest if you make six consecutive on-time payments, all I see is a commercial that seems to convey a fake sentiment.

It is the same feeling I get when I know anti-smoking ads are sponsored by tobacco manufacturers. It just doesn't sit right.

Image via discovercard.com

The Skinny on Marketing to Women

Despite the worldwide trend of using (relatively) healthier looking models in runway shows and advertising campaigns, a new study published in Advertising Age suggests females still prefer stick-thin women to hawk fashion and beauty products.

The study, conducted at Villanova University, presented the puzzling conclusion that ads featuring thin models made women feel worse about themselves but better about the brands featured.

The 194 female college students aged 18-24 interviewed for the study felt more negative about their own sexual attractiveness, weight and physical condition after seeing thin models and were also four times more likely to say no to Oreos offered to study participants than those who had yet to view the images.

Despite the fact that these ads made the study participants feel worse about themselves, the women expressed that they would rather buy the products featured in the ads with thin models than in the campaigns featuring more "normal" women (sorry Dove!).

The subject requires further research, since recent studies from University of Sussex and University of West England showed conflicting results, concluding that ads featuring ultra-thin models do negatively impact self esteem, but in fact don't sell products better than ads featuring more realistic models.

Though I can't say I approve, I can definitely see the logic that using thinner women would lead to higher sales. It's simple and it's essentially the same technique used in the heyday of tobacco advertising. For the slow learners:

Women want to be beautiful. Society (not JUST advertising) tells us that thin is beautiful. Women see thin woman using Product X. Women buy Product X to be more like the glamorous model depicted. Women buy more and more of Product X (and Y and Z) in order to continue the neverending quest for perfection.