Samsung's marketing team is inviting the public to contribute to "We All Share," a crowdsourced film that it plans to unveil in a live premiere at CES on January 9th at 2pm EST:

"Embark on a global film experience and discover what common bond brings us all together. Tell us 'what does sharing mean to you?' by tagging Twitter or Instagram pics with #weallshare and learn more at weallshare.samsung.com."

Watch the trailer below, and Samsung's other 2013 CES videos on its YouTube channel.Continue reading...

Al Gore’s embattled, progressive cable news channel, Current TV, is on the block. Spinning it in a positive light, CEO Joel Hyatt confirmed the rumors to the New York Post, commenting, “Current has been approached many times by media companies interested in acquiring our company. This year alone, we have had three inquiries. As a consequence, we thought it might be useful to engage expertise to help us evaluate our strategic options.”

Co-owned by former Vice President Gore, Hyatt (who made his money with Hyatt Legal Services) and several private backers with similar left-leaning political views, Current is available to about 60 million homes, and receives about 12 cents per subscriber from pay-TV operators carrying it, around $82 million last year, according to SNL Kagan, with ad revenue in 2011 estimated at $16.9 million. But that's still not enough to make the media brand an attractive enough standalone play for its owners.

The channel launched in August 2005 as a youth-centric, user-generated service, fueled by Gore’s personal crusade against global warming. Positioned as a bid to "democratize" the media business, putting more power in the hands of viewers to produce and distribute their own content (and then user-generated ads, called V-CAMs, short for "viewer-created ad messages"), the ill-fated service has gone through programming and personnel upheavals since the moment it went live.Continue reading...

The Australian Advertising Standards Board (an arm of the country's Advertising Standards Bureau) has ruled that Facebook is an advertising medium, and as such, company pages must comply with pertinent codes and laws, vetting all public posts to ensure they are not sexist, racist or factually inaccurate.

“In a move that could change the nature of the social networking site forever, companies could be fined or publicly shamed for the comments that appear on their Facebook ''brand'' pages,” writes the Sydney Morning Herald.

The case involved a complaint to the ASB about Smirnoff vodka's Australian Facebook page, “accused of violating standards with sexist, obscene Facebook content that also promoted underage drinking." The ruling is tantamount to, in the words of Web Pro News, “If you can’t say it on TV or the radio, Facebook users can’t say it on your brand page.”  

The ruling "rocked" Foster's and Smirnoff's parent company Diageo, according to Beverage Daily. Diageo reportedly “argued that Smirnoff's Facebook page is a networking tool for communication between company and customer rather than a medium for advertising.”Continue reading...

Duct tape maker Duck Tape has a light side, making fun of the common mispronunciation of its product with its brand name. Now it's sponsoring a sticky contest, inviting young fans to design and wear outfits made from duct tape to their spring proms and post pictures on the brand’s website. The winners will be chosen through online voting that runs through July 11.

Brooke Wallace, 17, of Solomon, Kansas (above) spent more than 200 hours creating a western-style prom dress for herself and a suit for her date, using 42 rolls of duct tape. She and her date, Mark Aylward, named one of 10 finalists, could each win $5,000 scholarships and an additional $5,000 for their school, Solomon High School. Wallace chose a rodeo theme because “we both live in the country, so it fit our style.”Continue reading...

AOL’s about.me billboard contest has just concluded with ten online personas moving from computer screen to bright lights today in New York's Times Square. Contestants spent August and September soliciting votes for their about.me page which aggregates all their web identities (e.g., Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) in one digital place.

“The contest signals a new direction in the area of online self-promotion and yielded results that increased exposure for contestants and the about.me product alike,” said the company about its awareness-building campaign.Continue reading...

Things will be a little different at the 2014 Super Bowl. The main difference is that it will be cold. Viewers will likely see the breath of players on the field. The gloved applause of thousands will sound like a muted herd of cattle rampaging.

It marks the first time a Super Bowl has been in an open-air cold-weather stadium. The logo for the big game, unveiled at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, signifies the potential chill at the event by sticking a snowflake right at the center. The dominant image of the logo, at right, is of the George Washington Bridge, which connects New York and New Jersey, where the game will be played.

“We are going to be completely up front from day one about the weather,” said host committee CEO Alfred Kelly, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

“It’s going to be February in New Jersey when that game is played. It’s likely to be cold. It’s likely to have snow or remnants of snow or threats of snow and we thought it would be both fun and direct to put the snowflake right into our major symbol.”Continue reading...

“Verge culture,” as in young, digital, influencers and brand-savvy hip youths, is poised for a social media guerilla takeover — if Karmaloop TV has anything to do with it.

An offshoot of the Karmaloop.com retail site, KarmaloopTV.com is an online video-based network that's vying for broadband and video-on-demand distribution in the US. It aims to be a full-blown 24-hour cable TV network, and is now pitching cable and telco TV operators that it can help them “reclaim” the 18-to-34 year old audience that lives online, on digital, on mobile and on social.

In a similar vein to Vice TV, it aims to offer an in-depth look (and insights) into global street culture. The website also features exclusive interviews with designers, brands, artists and musicians — musician/producer Pharrell Williams signed on as KarmaloopTV's creative director in May.Continue reading...

Google today acquired the iconic user-reviewed restaurant guide, Zagat, adding food fodder to its Google Offers and another feather to its growing cap as purveyor of all things digital.

Tim and Nina Zagat, the husband-and-wife team whose 30-point scale and quotation-mark-happy reviews franchise is the Bible to millions of foodies, shoppers and travelers, will stay involved as co-chairs.

“We couldn’t be happier to see our baby placed into such good hands and are looking forward to being Googlers in the years ahead,” they stated in a letter on zagat.com, which "reviews" Google on its homepage today in celebration of the mega-deal.Continue reading...