Fined

"I'm here so I won't get fined..."

With a $500,000 fine looming, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch made a bizarre appearance at Super Bowl Media Day. The famously tight-lipped running back gave a big eff you to reporters and the NFL who forced him in front of a microphone for the leaque minimum five minutes by responding to 25 straight questions with the same answer: "I'm here so I won't get fined."



All of this begs the question: Why not hire a media trainer?

Last year I detailed how to eliminate your stage fright. But for some, reading a column and taking a bit of advice isn't enough. I mean, even kings need special exercises ala Colin Firth in his Academy Award winning turn in the "The King's Speech" ...

"I'm a thistle-sifter. I have a sieve of sifted thistles and a sieve of unsifted thistles. Because I'm a thistle-sifter."

Whether giving an interview to CNN, speaking to an audience of 1 to 1,000 or facing a camera, getting the proper training enables the comport you need to help you avoid the mistakes that everyone makes.

In my early media days I was given a guide to conquering the media. I still have it an it's been invaluable for decades as both a speaker and a trainer. I call it the Holy Grail of Media...perhaps that's a stretch...

• Don’t be afraid of the interview.
• Keep in mind that the great majority of reporters are cordial people who are not out to harm you. They just want to get a story that will satisfy their editors and go home to their family.
• Reporters hate when someone misleads or lies to them. Reporters don’t like it when their stories have to be corrected through no fault of their own and because of inaccurate information provided to them.
• Don’t “wing it.”  Come prepared with notes  regarding the topic. 
• If you don’t know the answer to a question, tell the reporter that you’ll get back with an answer. 
• An interview is not a legal hearing. It’s okay to tell a reporter that some information is proprietary.
• Just because a reporter puts away a notebook or turns off a tape recorder doesn’t mean the interview is over and you can say anything without it being used. 
• If a reporter makes a statement that you do not agree with, say so. Remaining quiet may give the impression that you agree. 
• Don’t answer if you are not sure of a reporter’s question. Always ask for a clarification.
• Never say anything negative about an individual or company.
• Don’t stray from the subject of the interview to comment on the day’s news. That might open up a new line of questioning.
• If a print reporter signals that the interview is over but the client wants to provide additional information, it’s okay to ask the reporter for a few more minutes.
• Reporters like facts and figures. Instead of just voicing an opinion, back it up with facts and figures.
• Prior to departing, let the reporter know how you can be contacted if additional information is needed.
• And most important, never lie to a reporter.

So Marshawn, next time media day rolls around, give the Media Guy a ring...or just email me.

Super Bowl XLIX Commercials!

Super Bowl XLIX Ad Chart: Who's Buying Commercials in Super Bowl 2015

All the Marketers, Agencies, Creative Plans and Backstories, as We Learn Them

Psssst...first things first! Thanks to the AdAge team for the heads-up on this story. Secondly, if you need to see some of the spots before game day, go here. Now, on with the countdown..

The soft TV ad market this year is extending even to Super Bowl XLIX, where NBC said in November ad sales were moving along slightly more slowly than in prior years. Among returning advertisers, Coca-Cola and GoDaddy are each running one commercial instead of the two they bought in 2014.

Automakers, too, aren't crowding the field as much as they have lately, without as many new models that the game is well-timed to promote. (Volkswagen is out, among the notables.) There will be about a dozen new advertisers in the 2015 game, especially in digital commerce and technology. And, sadly, my Korean Ice Cream Commercial didn't make the cut:

Avocados From Mexico
Buy: One 30-second spot near the end of the first quarter
Creative: The spot and its approach will not be released until the ad airs.
Agency: Not disclosed

Anheuser-Busch InBev
Buy: The company has secured a total of seven 30-second ad units -- or 210 seconds -- for the game. That's slightly down from last year's 240 seconds of airtime. In Super Bowl XLVIII in February, 2014, the brewer's critical and costly Super Bowl play totaled three ads for Bud Light and two for
Budweiser.
Creative: The brewer, which has exclusive beer advertising rights for the game, will spotlight Bud Light with a 60-second, 80s-themed spot from BBDO and Budweiser with two 60-second ads from Anomaly. That leaves 30 seconds that could expand the Bud Light ad or be used by the brewer another way. The Clydesdales will return in one Bud ad, despite a brief internet scare, while the other will highlight Bud's "brewing credentials." Bud Light will continue the "Up for Whatever" campaign that began with in the 2014 game, this time promoting new packaging that will eventually feature more than 100 different messages scrolled on Bud Light bottles. The brewer plans to release all of its ads early to take advantage of the usual pre-game ad buzz.
Agency: BBDO (Bud Light); Anomaly (Budweiser)

BMW
Buy: One 60-second spot during the first quarter
Creative: Not disclosed
Agency: KBS handled creative duties and UM handled media buying.

Carnival Corp.
Buy: One 60-second spot, the company's first Super Bowl ad, as part of its campaign promoting its full range of brands. Carnival Corp. owns brands including Princess Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises and Seabourn.
Creative: The company in December released four potential commercials and asked consumers to vote for their favorite, which will ultimately run in the game. Voters were entered in a contest promising a yearly cruise for life.
Agency: BBDO, Atlanta

Coca-Cola
Buy: One 60-second commercial for flagship soda brand Coca-Cola.
Creative: TBD. Coca-Cola ran two 60-second spots in the 2014 game, one shot in Green Bay and showing an underdog high school football player scoring a touchdown, and the other featuring people singing "America the Beautiful" in a variety of languages.
Agency: TBD. Wieden & Kenney made both of Coca-Cola's 2014 Super Bowl ads.

Doritos (PepsiCo's Frito-Lay)
Buy: Two 30-second commercials
Creative: Doritos is bringing its "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, which asks consumers to come up with its ads for the big game, back for the ninth year in a row.
Agency: Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners has long assisted the contest.

Dove Men+Care (Unilever)
Buy: Undisclosed
Creative: The brand is coming back to the Super Bowl for the first time since its U.S. introduction in 2010 with a new campaign aimed at supporting the brand's commitment to "celebrating modern men," the company said.
Agency: Undisclosed. Omnicom Group's Davie Brown Entertainment has handled Dove Men+Care creative in recent years.

GoDaddy
Buy: The web-hosting company is back in the Super Bowl for an 11th consecutive year, but this time has only purchased one spot, down from its usual two.
Creative: The 30-second spot will be called "Journey Home" and feature Nascar star Danica Patrick and a puppy in telling the story of a business owner. (The company solicited names for the puppy via social media in December.) There will be a plot twist, according to GoDaddy CMO Barb Rechterman. The company has moved away from its earlier, sexually-suggestive Super Bowl strategy, and last year ran two commercials about real women who own small businesses.
Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000

Kia
Buy: One 60-second spot. Kia is making its sixth Super Bowl appearance in a row in 2015.
Creative: Former "Remington Steele" and James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan will appear to promote the 2016 Kia Sorento.
Agency: David & Goliath, which created last year's Super Bowl ad starring Laurence Fishburne in his "Matrix" role.

Lexus (Toyota)
Buy: One 30-second ad, titled "Make Some Noise"
Creative: Lexus released the commercial, its second Super Bowl ad, on Jan. 14, more than two weeks before the game, making it the first marketer to pre-release its spot. The ad shows the Lexus NX roaring elegantly around a neon-lit parking garage.
Agency: Walton Isaacson

Loctite
Buy: Loctite, the make of Super Glue, is spending the equivalent of nearly its usual annual ad budget to buy a Super Bowl slot at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Creative: The ad will be the the latest installment of Loctite's less-than-a-year-old #WinAtGlue campaign.
Agency: Fallon, Minneapolis

McDonald's
Buy: McDonald's is prepping a Super Bowl spot in the 2015 game, executives familiar with the business said, after years of opting out of the game and advertising instead in the pre-game slot just before kickoff.
Creative: The effort is likely to "evolve" the "I'm lovin' it" theme but retain the tagline.
Agency: Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett won the Super Bowl assignment, executives familiar with the matter said.

Mercedes-Benz
Buy: The marketer's buy is likely to continue its Super Bowl habit of a 60-second spot. This will be Mercedes' third time advertising in the Super Bowl, having last appeared in the game in 2013 and sitting out 2014.
Creative: TBD. Mercedes' 2013 Super Bowl commercial, "Soul," featured Willem Dafoe, Usher and Kate Upton.
Agency: Merkley & Partners

Mophie
Buy: One 30-second ad
Creative: TBD. One of many first-time advertisers in the Super Bowl, the marketer of charging accessories and cases for smartphones is aiming to significantly increase its name recognition.
Agency: Deutsch, Los Angeles

Nationwide
Buy: Undisclosed
Creative: To be determined. Nationwide hasn't advertised in the Super Bowl since 2007, long enough ago for Kevin Federline to have starred. The company became the official insurance sponsor of the NFL in August.
Agency: Undisclosed. Chiel Worldwide's McKinney is Nationwide's lead creative agency. Ogilvy & Mather handled this year's new campaign with Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

Nissan
Buy: One 60-second spot in an undisclosed quarter. Nissan is coming back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1997, the company said on Dec. 2, as part of its recent strategy to emphasize "fewer yet bigger moments."
Creative: Not disclosed.
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles.

Pepsi (PepsiCola) [HALFTIME AD]
Buy: One 30-second commercial leading into the halftime show, which Pepsi is again sponsoring
Creative: TBD. Katy Perry is performing during the halftime show. For the 2014 game, Pepsi also ran a 30-second ad during halftime as a lead-in to its halftime show. Pepsi does not plan to release its commercial before it airs.
Agency: Mekanism will again handle the halftime show lead-in.

Skittles (Mars Inc.)
Buy: One 30-second ad in the first half
Creative: Skittles will appear in a commercial during the Super Bowl this February for the first time, according to people familiar with the matter, but it isn't clear what form the ad will take. Skittles was a big winner in last season's Super Bowl even without an ad because Seattle Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch is a notorious fan, but there are no signs yet that he would star in the anticipated Super Bowl ad. Skittles began promoting its commercial in early January with a video showing former NFL great Kurt Warner already tailgating outside the stadium where the Super Bowl will be played.
Agency: DDB Chicago

Snickers (Mars Inc.)
Buy: One 30-second ad, Snickers' first since 2011. Snickers declined to specify the quarter in which the spot would run.
Creative: The commercial will continue Snickers' "You're Not You When You're Hungry" campaign, introduced by BBDO, New York, with an ad starring Betty White in the 2010 Super Bowl. Ms. White will not appear in the 2015 Super Bowl ad.
Agency: BBDO, New York

Squarespace
Buy: One 30-second commercial
Creative: Not disclosed. Squarespace is making its second Super Bowl appearance, following a debut in 2014. It joins another web development platform, Wix.com, which will air its first spot during the 2015 game, as well as web-hosting company and chronic Super Bowl advertiser GoDaddy.
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, New York, in a departure from the 2014 approach, when Squarespace developed its ad internally.

Toyota
Buy: One spot seems likely. Toyota declined to detail its buy, but said it will be similar to prior years.
Creative: Toyota is back for its third consecutive Super Bowl with a commercial starring Team Toyota athlete Amy Purdy, a U.S. Paralympic Team snowboarder, and celebrating "great, bold dads" to promote the new Toyota Camry, said Jack Hollis, VP-marketing, Toyota. Toyota's 60-second 2014 Super Bowl ad featured Terry Crews and The Muppets, while the 2013 commercial starred "The Big Bang Theory" actress Kaley Cuoco.
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles

TurboTax (Intuit)
Buy: One 60-second commercial during the first quarter, a return to the game after last year's debut
Creative: In a repeat of last year's decision to avoid the deluge of pre-released Super Bowl ads, the brand is keeping the creative for its return under wraps until game day.
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy

Wix.com
Buy: A 30-second spot in the fourth quarter
Creative: The web development platform's first Super Bowl commercial will highlight Wix's mission to simplify website creation, specifically for small business owners, part of a campaign featuring former NFL players such as Brett Favre, Terrell Owens and Emmitt Smith as they move on to life after football. Wix is following the lead of web development platform Squarespace, which gained household name status with its debut Super Bowl ad in 2014 and is returning in 2015. For the past two years, Wix.com has been running direct response TV ad campaigns in the U.S., Europe and Latin America.
Agency: The company said it worked directly with Frank Samuel, Jeff Reed and Lauren Bayer of Committee LA, in collaboration with San Francisco creative team Jeff Huggins and Andrea Janetos.

Soft Balls

The Super Bowl with its 100 million plus viewers is around the corner. The recent deflated football scandal from last week's conference championship game brought to light that personal brand is the ultimate selling point. Sal Paolantonio, reporter for ESPN, aka the Worldwide Leader in Sports, theorized that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, aka the best looking guy in sport and hubby of mega model Gisele Bündchen held a press conference yesterday to protect his brand. He reported that Brady was motivated to speak out of a carefully plotted plan to get back to pitching girly UGG Boots.

“Women don’t like cheaters,” said Paolantonio. “What’s the number one demographic that Tom Brady tries to sell Ugg boots to? Women. Guys are not going into the mall [and being like] ‘Let me get a pair of Uggs.’ No, guys don’t go into the mall for a pair of Uggs. Women do. This was clearly motivated because Tom Brady knows that his brand is damaged by this — not only on the football field, but what he sells off the football field.”

Moral of the story. Keep your balls firm when you're playing the branding game.

Speaking of brand, most celebrity endorsements seem rather obvious — or at least uninteresting and lacking inspiration. In the age of the second screen and on-demand information, when advertising is everywhere we look, it takes a lot more than Michael Jordan hawking his latest line of Nikes to get our attention. Advertising campaigns are at their most fun when we see something (or someone) out-of-the-box. When Wheaties recently put Madeleine Albright on the cover of their box, it prompted us to think of other unexpected brand representatives from recent (and not-so-recent) years.

Madeleine Albright
Wheaties

No, she was never an Olympic medalist or World Series winner, but former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is no less a champion — at least, according to Wheaties, who are attempting to redefine the term by awarding the diplomat the box-cover placement usually reserved for sports figures. And who are we to disagree? The former Representative to the United Nations has as many accomplishments in her field as star athletes have in theirs, making her as worthy of admiration as any Super Bowl MVP.

Joe Namath
Hanes Beautymist

Joe Namath was the ultimate counter-culture athlete at a time when America was questioning its identity. He grew his hair long, wore full-length fur coats on the sidelines, and famously backed up his guarantee of winning Super Bowl III. But he also had a charm and sense of humor that endeared him as a cultural icon, as he proved in this clever 1970s commercial for Hanes Beautymist pantyhose, which tricked many viewers into thinking they were admiring a woman’s legs. Sports have always been saturated with machismo, but only Broadway Joe was cool enough to pull off wearing women’s garments for millions to see.

Ron Burgundy
Dodge Durango

Okay, we’re cheating here, since Ron Burgundy is more of a fictional celebrity. But the real fun was how the Will Ferrell character touted the most basic features of the Dodge Durango, even going as far as appearing on Conan O’Brien's late-night show to call it “a terrible car.” Proving that there’s no such thing as bad advertising, the ads helped push a 59% sales increase for the Durango. Perhaps more importantly, the 70 clips produced for this campaign provided enough content to tide Ferrell’s fans over until the next Anchorman sequel.

Terry Quattro (Jeff Goldblum)
General Electric

Jeff Goldblum is also merely playing a so-called “famous person” here, but it’s too inventive to overlook. Directed by Tim and Eric, Goldblum’s "Terry Quattro" is only interested in how lighting can serve his vanity. Weird enough to be memorable and funny enough to be quotable, it’s also clever enough to use all these devices to effectively explain the advantages of General Electric’s new technology.

Tom Brady
UGG for Men

Tom Brady is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, and is also lucky enough to have the All-American good looks many advertisers covet. But what makes him an interesting spokesman is how he compares to other athletes that are much more approachable, like fellow MVP quarterback Peyton Manning. While Manning uses his affable personality and charm to endorse everyday products aimed at more mainstream consumers, Brady has been speaking for brands like UGG and Movado. These ads aren’t clever or funny or even relatable — but they establish a vision of class and luxury befitting someone who has led his team to five Super Bowls and married a supermodel.

Penelope Cruz
Nintendo

From Coca-Cola to L’Oreal, Penelope Cruz has done plenty of the kind of advertising you’d expect from a popular Oscar-winning actress — so it was a surprise to see her in ads for a product usually marketed to gamers and kids. Nintendo hired Cruz to appear in commercials for the Nintendo 3DS XL in 2012, in which she loses a bet to her sister over a game of the New Super Mario Bros. 2. Her debt? She had to dress up like the iconic plumber, complete with mustache. In doing so, Cruz delivered a performance that easily beats Bob Hoskins and Captain Lou Albano as the Best Super Mario tribute ever.

Sweaty Globes

Kathy Bates, Diane Kruger, The Clooneys and Helen Mirren all supported with Hashtag Activism.

Okay, so where am I? 

I'm writing from this from one of the quasi VIP lounges at LAX (destination?: Parts Unknown) on this fancy, new vintage writing accessory from Querkywriter (no, this is not a paid endorsement...).

You know, there is something special about the heavy, mechanical feel of an old typewriter keyboard. You can feel the keys working as you type, offering a deeper and infinitely more tactile experience than contemporary flat, plastic keyboards. The only problem is that typewriter keyboards are attached to old typewriters. They are heavy, they need ink, and you can’t work on one in Starbucks lest you reach the upper echelon of hipster douchedom. More on that later...

Let me say that I love awards season like I love a Starbucks venti drip with light cream (which means an awful lot). So far I've hit the American Music Awards, the Hollywood Film Awards and now the Golden Globe Awards. This year's event was riding a high from the 2014 rating bonanza that featured almost 21 million views. The swank Beverly Hilton was awash in designer gowns, a bearded woman, oversized eyeglasses, and every new style of hairs and make-up. And, unlike the American Music Awards where half the attendees and nominees look like they threw on something from the Goodwill Designer Rack, the Golden Globes attendees were in full Oscar prep dressed to the nines. Looking great, however, did come with a price.

Sweating with the Stars

Katherine Heigl literally shined on stage with David Duchovny.

 On a 60 degree evening who would have guessed that sweat was back?! During the ceremony, everyone looked like their agents just told them their shows were cancelled or a big part went elsewhere. Bright and shiny was definitely in. Hundreds of stars, including Clive Owen and Katherine Heigl, sported glistening foreheads while fanning themselves as soon as the teleprompter shoo'ed them away. Management at the luxury hotel insisted that the air conditioning was on full blast. Perhaps it was too much whiskey -- I mean even Kevin Spacey brought his drink on stage to accept his Globe (that's how he rolls) -- or maybe it was the air; all I know is that I'll feel a lot less awkward sweating in the future.

Je Suis Charlie

Before the event -- or maybe the red carpet IS the event for most -- Hashtag Activism was in full bloom with "Je Suis Charlie" seemingly everywhere you looked.  In an industry that regularly censors gays, sex, and politics, the performing artists we love and hate came out to champion peace and free speech. 

For those who have been away from their media for the last week, Je Suis Charlie (translated “I Am Charlie”) is the the solidarity slogan that sprouted up in the wake of the ghastly massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper Paris offices. Twelve were left dead at the hands of terrorists and now the tragedy has morphed into a mantra symbolizing those who stood in support of the slain Hebdo satirists at Hebdo and their world's right to basically the U.S.'s first amendment.

The slogan became the latest hallmark of hashtag activism with #JeSuisCharlie rising as one of the most popular hashes ever with over three million tweets in a 24-hour period. Hollywood caught on and George Clooney wrapped up the sentiment of A-listers in his moving Globes’ lifetime achievement award acceptance speech:

“And one last thing: to reiterate what we’ve all been talking about, today was an extraordinary day,” said Clooney. “There were millions of people who marched not just in Paris, but around the world. And they were Christians and Jews and Muslims. They were leaders of countries all over the world. And they didn’t march in protest; they marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear. We won’t do it. So, Je Suis Charlie.”

Leave it to Clooney to be the media mouthpiece. In 2006, while receiving a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Syriana, Clooney reflected on the progressive part of Hollywood:

“We are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while, I think,” Clooney said. “It's probably a good thing. We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects, we are the ones—this Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this Academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch.”

Gina Rodriguez Made Us Cry

Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez was the CW network's first Golden Globes nominee and today she's their Golden Globe winner! Judging by where she was sitting (aka the nosebleed section which was much closer to Hollywood than Beverly Hills) this was quite an upside win. Once she made her long hike to the podium, she unleashed her words that lefts us all a little weepy:

"This award is so much more than myself," she said. "It represents a culture that wants to see themselves as heroes."

Not-So-Candid Globes Moments

Sweating up a storm with (l to r) Camila Alves, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Matthew McConaughey.

Big thumbs up from Salma Hayek.

JLo and her Golden Globes

Hollywood's Royal Couple: George and Amal Clooney 

Emily Blunt and that guy from The Office.

Good Girl Rosamund Pike dressing oh so bad on the red carpet.

Qwerkywriter

I led the column with a tease about my new keyboard. The Qwerkywriter from Qwerkytoys is an authentic mechanical typewriter keyboard that can be used with your desktop, laptop, or even tablet. You can get that retro feel from a typewriter without eschewing modern conveniences like inserting and deleting. After almost $130,000 on Kickstarter, the Qwertywriter is headed for mass production, with units shipping summer 2015. For now, you can preorder a Qwerkywriter for around $300.