Bloggers Be Warned:

FTC May Monitor What You Say

Thinking about letting a big-name blogger test-drive your new hybrid in the hope he’ll post a glowing review about it, or maybe sending some beverage products to an influencer, hoping she’ll spread the word?

You might have to think twice, if the Federal Trade Commission follows through with its proposed plan to start regulating viral marketing and blogs.

As part of its review of its advertising guidelines, the FTC is proposing that word-of-mouth marketers and bloggers, as well as people on social-media sites such as Facebook, be held liable for any false statements they make about a product they’re promoting, along with the product’s marketer. This could present a significant issue for marketers, including the likes of Microsoft, Ford and Pepsi, who spend billions on word-of-mouth and social media. PQ Media projects that marketers will spend $3.7 billion on word-of-mouth marketing in 2011.

Newsflash: Subway Effort Was Not Racist

We’re Dangerously Close to Stripping the Word of All Meaning

The Big Tent

Bloggers are claiming Subway pulled an online effort because it was “racist.” Such efforts only make it that much harder for real instances of racism and racial insensitivity in this industry to be taken seriously.

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Honda Ads Pioneer New Form of Road Music A 3 Minute Ad Age Video Report

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Inspiration for advertising can come from anywhere but this is probably the first time the lowly highway rumble strip provided any. Honda’s new flock of Civic spots document an effort to turn a portion of California road into a data-storage surface and a new car into a musical instrument. It was a rare sort of undertaking that didn’t just create new ads but made musical and road engineering history in the process.

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Google’s Browser Throw Down Is All About Advertising

Data-Blocking Changes to Microsoft’s IE May Have Fueled Search Giant’s Effort to Launch Its Own Browser

By Abbey Klaassen

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — It’s hard not to view the Google vs. Microsoft internet ad battle as the biggest new-media business story for the decade. And in the latest fight, Google is throwing down a challenge to the one area in which Microsoft has clearly had the biggest success: the internet browser.

Google’s free Chrome browser is creating a frenzy among tech bloggers.

Google yesterday introduced its free web browser, Chrome, which launches a Windows version in beta today, via its company blog. (The news leaked when Google prematurely — and accidentally — sent a comic book it had commissioned to introduce the browser.)

Already, the browser is creating a frenzy among tech bloggers.

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Nike Hires Don King to Trumpet Tennis Showdown

New Campaign Portrays Nadal and Federer as Boxing Rivals

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Tennis has always had its share of loudmouths, some of the more memorable being Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors and, of course, John McEnroe. But for its most “significant” tennis campaign in years, Nike is bringing out the most loquacious and vociferous loudmouth of them all — Don King. Tennis will never be the same.

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P&G Taps Bloggers, Moms for Unconventional Product Launch Word-of-Mouth, Buzz Push for Crest Weekly

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — Procter & Gamble Co. is trying something decidedly new with toothpaste: launching a product designed to be used once a week. And Crest, long one of P&G’s biggest-spending media brands, is also taking a different tack in its marketing approach for the brand.

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Li Ning’s Spanish Inquisition

Why China’s Gymnastics Prince Will Laugh at Spain’s Court Jesters

China Olympics 2008

Li Ning has been almost unanimously crowned the king of the Olympic ambush marketers, but in one case, the Chinese sportswear company’s efforts appear to have publicly backfired. The Chinese sportswear company created a promotional photo of the Spanish Olympic basketball team all posing in uniforms sponsored by Li Ning, in a way to make their eyes narrow in a caricature of Chinese facial characteristics.

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Vampire Bloggers Crack Ancient Language Code for HBO Series A 3 Minute Ad Age Video Report

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — While they’re only one part of the larger campaign launching HBO’s “True Blood,” viral promotions by New York’s Campfire agency for the vampire series are a real stand out. Among other things, a message written in ancient language symbols was mailed to prominent bloggers and science fiction geeks known to be interested in vampires. When a few with language degrees cracked the code, they found an address for a vampire website. It was all blood and deliciously engaging fiction from there on.

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P&G Relies on Power of Mommy Bloggers

Blogging moms are the new celebrities, as far as baby care is concerned. And in a related story, Babycenter is trying to become a Web 2.0 player. FULL ARTICLE

How Honda Trumped Toyota in the Race for Brand Advocates And why you should watch upstart Hyundai. This is the first in a series on which companies successfully grow brand fans. FULL ARTICLE

Sears Tries to Alter Image, Co-Opt Cool in Web Push To build cred with tweens, the typically traditional retailer hits virtually every online community for back to school. FULL ARTICLE

From Gathering Around TV to Gathering Around Wii Want to bond with your family? Get a Wii, writes Mike Vorhaus. FULL ARTICLE

When Marketing Feels Shallow, Go Deep As in deep into an examination of your consumer, writes David Armano. Here’s how he did it. FULL ARTICLE

We Get It: The IPhone’s Big. App Store Will Make It Bigger Digital music exploded when Apple launched iTunes. It hopes to do likewise for mobile applications through the App Store. FULL ARTICLE

Giving Some Thought to Google, the ‘Potential Monopolist’ As Congress looks at antitrust concerns of Google and Yahoo’s search deal, Group M’s Rob Norman worries about long-term implications. FULL ARTICLE

Will Microsoft Prevail With Its Pepé le Pew Approach to Yahoo? As the tech giant’s mad pursuit devolves into Looney Tunes territory, what does It mean for the brand? FULL ARTICLE