UPS, which is donating $1.5 million in cash and in-kind support to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, shared this video today (taken by Michael Sober) showing a UPS truck making its way through flooding in Hoboken, NJ. Sober is asking media outlets that run his video to mention http://www.partywithpurpose.org to donate to relief efforts in Hoboken.

It's not exactly Coke vs. Pepsi, or Chevy vs. Ford, but the intensifying battle of the gas-pump TV networks just got a little more interesting.

Outcast just signed an exclusive deal with Fox News Channel to distribute its programming to more than 13,000 screens at gas station in 130 U.S. markets via its PumpTop TV network. Its rival, Gas Station TV (GSTV), has been adding branded content as well, including news reports from Bloomberg TV.

In the distribution battle to win valuable eyeball-level distribution via gas stations, expect more exclusive programming deals with big media brands as the duelling "networks" spread across America. It's also good news for brand marketers, expanding the quality of "place-based" or out-of-home opportunities to reach drivers.Continue reading...

When it comes to advertising, or anything really, you can never go wrong with being a "first." And what better first for a beer than to be the first beer in space?

On November 18th, sometime between 11:01 am (launch time) and 1:45pm (landing time), Natural Light (aka Natty Light) became the first beer to enter space, or that particular edge of space that Natty Light calls the "Nattmosphere."

So how did Natty Light make it up there? two Facebook fans of the brand, Danny B. and Rich T., came up with the idea for the beer company and pitched it on FB. Naturally, Natty gave them the green light and their blessing.Continue reading...

Blacktop 360 Party Hub Grill Fryer is a UFO-like portable tailgating machine that retails for $250. Billed as a "next-level man machine," the grill is "specifically designed for social cooking," better known as tailgating.

The grill is "a deep fryer, infrared grill and griddle all in one. Cook up all your favorite tailgating grub with ease—everything from fries to your favorite exotic big game." One of the neatest little details of the Blacktop 360 is that, in Spinal Tap fashion, the dials "go to 11."Continue reading...

A good marketer never misses an opportunity to spread the word, right? Well, a  public relations consulting firm in Austin, Texas, Phillips & Company, has found a way to place ads in a spot where lots of people are traveling every day: Google Maps and Google Earth.

San Francisco Business Times reports that Phillips (which is interested in the ultimate in outdoor marketing — the "space economy") is now able to place extremely large QR codes on the tops of buildings that will be photographed by the satellites that feed Google Maps and Google Earth its images and read on computers as an image. It's working with another local business, mobile marketing firm 44Doors, as the Austin Statesman reports:

For the service, which is called Blue Marble, Phillips' fee starts at $8,500, with a recurring $200 support fee. To install the codes, (Rich) Phillips said his company has a method of "physically engineering" a QR code onto a rooftop "to ensure it's permanent or temporary." He declined to get into specifics on the exact method. After a customer scans the code, 44Doors essentially handles the rest. The Austin mobile marketing company designs a variety of content — such as videos, coupons and mobile websites — where QR codes can send consumers.

Phillips says “that a company, such as a big box retailer with lots of roof space, which has one installed, will be rephotographed by Google within three months,” the Business Times reports. “The QR code will be digested by Google’s mapping systems and will cause a logo of that company to appear when someone looks at their building’s images.” 

With 1.2 billion people in India, there have to be more than enough that surpass the cool quotient needed to own a Harley-Davidson. It’s been 13 months since Harley opened its first dealership in the world’s second most populated nation.

The 108-year-old, Milwaukee-based company announced this week that it will release the Fat Boy Special in India to anyone who wants to shell out Rs. 19.7 lakhs ($44,210) for an image-changing powerful set of two wheels, according to the Hindu Business Line.

It will be shipped into India previously built and be sold alongside the 14 other Harleys available there.Continue reading...

How about a dose of stand-up comedy while you pump your gas, or grab your morning cup of Joe? That’s what SeeSaw Networks is betting consumers want via its new branded entertainment agreement with Manhattan’s Gotham Comedy Club to reach that elusive, sweet spot demo of 21 to 49 year-olds.

A series of short-form videos, The Gotham Moment, will feature 10-12 comedians with ten minutes of “clean, evergreen material appropriate for retail settings,” distributed across SeeSaw’s place-based media network.Continue reading...

Adidas has just announced November 19 as its first annual National Tracksuit Day, with an Old Spice-referencing video by brand advocate Snoop Dogg. But will Sue Sylvester's Glee for tracksuits (Adidas or not) convince the average citizen to wear them to work on Friday?