Redskins Hold Press Conference To Announce They Are Still Sort Of A Football Team  |  The Onion

October 20, 2009 | Issue 45•42 | Onion Sports

WASHINGTON—Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn held a press conference Sunday to reassure fans that, despite an inability to effectively execute their offense, defense, or special teams, the Redskins were still somewhat comparable to a real football team. "It's been a tough season so far, and even though we are 2-4, we still have players, uniforms, Motorola headsets—all the components that technically constitute an NFL team, sort of," Zorn said while grimacing and making a "so-so" gesture with his hand. "Sure, I was stripped of play-calling responsibilities by team management, and I really don't have any clue who will play quarterback for us this Sunday, but I swear to you, in a weird, very convoluted way, we are in the NFL." Placing his hand over the microphone, Zorn then spoke briefly with an unidentified man near the stage, and announced that, for what it's worth, the organization owns the Internet domain name washingtonredskins.com through 2010.

"I Hate People" - New Jemina Pearl Video (Feat. Iggy Pop & Thurston Moore)

We've been through this already, but it bears repeating because it keeps happening: In 2009 Iggy Pop somehow became the king of oddball duets (often with younger ladies). He's also the best part of this campy video for Jemina Pearl's Break It Up lead "I Hate People" even though he doesn't physically show up for the shoot. The clip -- situated in a very hip diner employing both a nervous, bespeckled Thurston Moore and a burnt-out Pearl -- follows a she-works-hard-for-the-money storyline to its conclusion. Jemina can take it from there.

Working for the weekend:

Jemina Pearl (Feat Iggy Pop) - "I Hate People" (MP3)

Break It Up is out via Ecstatic Peace/Universal.

The Michelle Obama action figure. Three outfits FTW! Just go ahead & put this on my Xmas wish list right now.

Michelle Obama Action Figure

Ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere, meet the Michelle Obama Action Figure.

If there’s one person in America who has captured the public’s attention even more than Barack Obama, it’s his wife Michelle. So, following the runaway success of the Obama Action Figure we simply had to make her.

But just like in real life, the Michelle Obama Action Figure isn’t simply the female counterpart to Barack. She’s her own lady, with her own style and energy, and, of course, her own influential fashion sense.

Michelle comes in three variations: purple dress (the one she wore during her campaign fist bump), black and white dress (the one she wore on The View), and black and red dress (the stunning number from Election Day 2008).

She’s currently available for pre-order on our website for what we hope is the recession-proof price of $12.99.

While Michelle doesn’t ship until November 20th, you should check back periodically for special give-a-ways, discount offers, and information about the exciting Michelle Obama Custom Toy Show.

Alienate Your Female Customers? Pepsi Has An App For That

October 12th, 2009 | by Adam Ostrow

Pepsi’s latest foray into social media is certainly bold and controversial, but does it go too far?

The company recently launched an iPhone application [iTunes link] for its AMP energy drink called “before you score,” with “score” meaning (to put it in the most subtle of terms) having a successful night with a woman.

Beyond the premise of the app being rather risqué, it’s when you drill down to the specifics that it becomes much more, breaking women down into 24 types and suggesting “lines” to lure each one of them. If “successful,” the app also encourages users to brag about it over email, or even on Facebook () or Twitter ().

Here’s AMP’s demo:

Now, guy-centric marketing is nothing new for AMP, who often promotes itself through male dominated extreme sports (formerly, it was known as Mountain Dew AMP). The ads are also somewhat reminiscent of AXE, who insinuates in much of their advertising that its products will help you with members of the opposite sex.

But that’s simply a (far-fetched, but whatever) product claim. Here, AMP has actually built features into its application that make it seem one can systematically “score” by exploiting women’s naivety. Beyond that, they actively encourage users to promote such conquests through social media.

Mind you, the app is obviously targeted for “dudes,” many of whom probably won’t have a problem with it, but many of the women who have caught wind of “before you score” clearly do (see the comments on Jezebel or YouTube () for example).

Pepsi certainly seems on its way to creating a lot of buzz – but whether or not that buzz turns into something very negative and becomes a “what were you thinking?” social media fiasco is something to watch for. Meanwhile, let us know in the comments if you think this ad is clever marketing that appeals to AMP’s customers, or something that goes too far and could have big ramifications for AMP’s parent company.

via Mashable.com