Sorry, Florence. The dogs days of summer are far from over. But hopefully our weekly, breezy roundup of online marketing news will refresh you!
1.) The Babymaker: Topping the list this week is this viral video from Singapore for Mentos. National Night, which happens on August 9th, encourages citizens of the small country to do their part to help the country’s low birthrate. So desperate for a new generation, the government in Singapore is even giving away financial incentives to new parents! Mentos is pitching in with this funny, cheesy R&B music video. Head scratching, hilarious and wildly straightforward, this is viral marketing on a totally different level.
2.) Fake Friends: This week, people couldn’t stop talking about people who don’t exist. A new study from the struggling social media giant claims that 83 million Facebook accounts are fake. While social media marketing gurus see the millions of phonies as a big red flag, Facebook is not taking the numbers lightly. The company issued a warning that b.s. Facebook accounts will be disabled and the creators of those accounts won’t be allowed back on the site.
3.) Hot or Just a Hot Mess: We haven’t had a good controversial blogger story in some time, so if you missed WSJ’s piece on Cat Marnell, we’ve got it for you. Marnell is a former beauty blogger turned blogger for Vice Magazine who now writes about her adventures as a drug addict. Marnell claims to be on the way to taking the literary world by storm while others say she’s a cheap imitation of a New York party girl. Whatever Marnell’s real story is, blog writing has never been a more powerful platform for launching talked-about personalities as it is right now.
4.) Corporate Cattiness: While all of these rivalries at the Olympics are keeping the masses riveted, most of us missed the serious smack down brewing between Samsung and Apple in a major lawsuit revolving around patent issues. Apple says Samsung directly ripped off ideas and technologies behind its hit products like the iPhone and iPad. Samsung denies the accusations — and bloggers are eating up the daily courtroom happenings with a spoon. Only time will tell what the financial fallout will be from this branding battle royale, but for now, it’s the best legal drama we’ve seen since LA Law.
5.) Tag, You’re It: Closing out our list this week is an awesome game from Expedia Australia and New Zealand. Tag Me if You Can sends famed Aussie surfer Nathan Jolliffe around the globe while followers try to guess where he is and correctly tag the travel videos. Players get more points if they share the game with Twitter and Facebook followers.
Really brilliant thinking about “SAMSAPPLE”