The British Broadcasting Corporation went live on the airwaves with its first radio news bulletins on Nov. 14, 1922. The top news that day: a train robbery and the notorious London fog. The BBC is still an institution, even as the venerable broadcaster is gripped by an ethics scandal, as it marks the 90th anniversary of that first transmission by making another bit of history.

To mark the occasion, BBC Radio broadcast a three-minute collage from Blur frontman Damon Albarn, 2LO Calling, named for the first transmitter used in 1922. It played on every BBC radio channel at 5.33pm GMT simultaneously, reaching more than 80 million listeners on 55 radio stations, the broadcaster's first simulcast since that first transmission.

"The first broadcast by the 2LO 90 years ago marked the moment when radio moved from the realm of the 'amateur enthusiast' to the first proper public broadcasting service in Britain,” said Tim Boon, head of research and public history at London's Science Museum, which is hosting an exhibition about the anniversary that features the device.Continue reading...

The tony Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas made its name with the “Just the right amount of wrong” campaign.

Building on that theme this summer was an on-site installation that invited the public to share their "right amount of wrong" in an exhibition called "Confessions," a public art project designed by New Orleans artist and TED Fellow Candy Chang, whose public installations aim to spark conversation. Visitors were asked to share their secrets anonymously, keeping the brotherhood intact of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but wooing over 1,500 confessions by exhibit end.

As artist-in-residence at The Cosmopolitan, Chang turned its P3 Studio gallery into a giant confessional, “inspired by Post Secret, Shinto shrine prayer walls, and Catholicism, people could write and submit their confessions on wooden plaques in the privacy of confession booths.” The confessional themes that emerged ran the gamut: “Over half were about sex, love, or fears of dying alone.”Continue reading...

On Black Friday, several stores of outdoor sports outfitter Cabela's gave away guns. And have you heard the one about the gun club offering photos with Santa and ammo?

Guns, always popular in the US, have become even more so in a slumping, anxious economy. No wonder, as a new report exposes, a New York City-based capital management form has been buying up as many gun brands as it can get its hands on.

The gun-loving conglomerate, Freedom Group, now sells more than 1.2 million guns a year, notching $40 billion in yearly revenue. (That's more than Coca-Cola, by the way.)

Benefitting from the rise in gun sales are the gun accessories industry. But one such brand faces a huge uphill marketing challenge, burdened with severely tight regulations, even for the gun industry. The brand's answer? An education campaign called "Silencers are Legal."Continue reading...

Chrysler’s new “Imported from Detroit” positioning may not be directly responsible for helping the automaker move cars off the lot, but it's certainly creating some memorable audio branding.

Through July, Chrysler has sold nearly 40,000 of the new 200 model sedan that was featured in the epochal Eminem Super Bowl commercial, in a segment where it sold only 24,000 cars the year before. Yet the latest version of the larger 300 sedan, fresh as of March, only moved 6% more units in July than the old version did a year ago, and Chrysler relies on the same basic positioning for its 300 advertising campaign. 

Yet there’s no doubt that the Chrysler brand has benefited from its willingness to embrace Motown again as a place of authenticity where you really can build fine automobiles.Continue reading...

The proverbial glass ceiling is still intact, according to one corporate watchdog — which is a shame for brands. Women and minorities are still underrepresented on US corporate boards according to the recent report, “Missing Pieces: Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards — 2010 Alliance for Board Diversity Census,” by the Alliance for Board Diversity.

“Missing Pieces shows that, six years after the first Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD) Census, not much has changed. While research points decisively to the benefits of a diverse boardroom— including enhanced financial performance—white men continue to dominate corporate boards and have, in fact, increased their presence since 2004. Women and minorities are still vastly underrepresented.”Continue reading...

An iconic logo that touched a generation of music listeners before being obliterated from the popular consciousness by the move to digital is finally getting a makeover. Yes, the unmistakable black and white barred "Parental Advisory Explicit Content" is back to be completely useless to a whole new age group.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola today kicks off its teen-centric global Coca-Cola Music campaign, expanding the "Walls" commercial (above), which debuted in Germany in January, worldwide. The track, "Can you feel it" by British band One Night Only, contains Coke's sonic signature, similar to how K'naan's World Cup "Waving Flag" subtly incorporated the brand's audio mark.

More details on the campaign (which includes a Maroon 5 tie-in on March 22nd) our earlier story, and in Coke's press release. Scroll down for a behind-the-scenes look at the commercial.Continue reading...

“Yeah, 1983… 27 freakin’ years ago!” blogs Al Watts, ”Almost every news story about at-home dads asks, 'So you’re a Mr. Mom?' or uses 'Mr. Mom' in the title of the story or shows a 'hilarious' clip of Michael Keaton in the 1983 movie, Mr. Mom."

It's 2011 and everyone's still trying to figure out how to appeal to the legions of men who are stay-at-home care-takers and shoppers.Continue reading...