It’s Halloween! And what more could you ask for from your favorite peeps at Merlot Marketing than a Halloween-inspired contest? Why, TWO Halloween-inspired contests! That’s right, we’re bring ScaryBack with two competitions in the PR Mafia’s (please note the new nickname for our stellar PR Team) never-ending attempt to overthrow Matt as the reigning Merlot Competition Champion of Everything.

The Pumpkin Carving Contest (which Matt won last year) and Costume Contest (a new one this year) are up for grabs. Voting took place this afternoon, so click through to see what and who entered the field of competition… (more…)

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In honor of Halloween i wanted to post something a little creepy for everyone to have fun with. Luckily this thing i wanted to post fell into my lap at just the right time! Hopefully everyone can take a little break from their day to see (and rate) some of the creepiest animals out there. Enjoy!

Creepy Animals of the World!

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Everyone is talking about how awesome Will Ferrell and Tina Fey were last night on SNL’s election special. And they were! It was one of the funniest skits they’ve done all year! But I want to draw attention to Kenan Thompson’s continued role of Oscar Rogers, SNL’s financial consultant.

Kenan’s Oscar character has once again made me to laugh so hard, I had tears pouring down my face. Like, streaming down my face in a continued flow of tears. Oscar is so wound up and anxious about the financial crisis, that he’s freaking out and all he wants the people in charge to do is, “FIX IT!” But it’s the construction of Kenan’s face in his delivery that makes this comic genius. Check out the video below of last night’s “Weekend Update” skit. You can fast forward to the 1:45 mark if you are pressed for time, but I also highly recommend Fred Armisen’s bit with the interactive map. Chuck Todd is soooooo jealous.

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no one can deny the tsunami that social networking and media has become. from tweeting every move you make to the iPhone allowing us to snap photos and upload them to our MySpace/Facebook/Friendster/Etc…we all, to an extent, are generating content (which is a completely separate blog post).

that being said. the digital “paper trail” that we leave with this massive output of content can potentially backfire. take the following example.

Ashley Todd, a McCain/Palin supporter caused a flurry of interest and scandal when she reported that she “was attacked by a 6-foot-4 black man Wednesday night”.
(more…)

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A: “Zebra print.”

(I’m not kidding.)

So, how fitting was the absolutely fabulous and delicious birthday cake we recently got her to celebrate her October b-day? Too perf, we had to post it up here to give a shout-out to Nugget Market in Davis for their most excellent use of butter cream.

Also, check out the painstaking hand detail that Tiffany, Charlene and I put into the birthday candles in an effort to continue the zebra theme. Now, that’s commitment… and a most excellent use of a Sharpie. 

Happy B-day, Z!!

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Real quick: Sarah Palin will be on SNL tomorrow. “Brand,” or “Josh Brolin” as he’s known to people who aren’t cool enough be Goonies (right, b-rad?), is hosting, so I wonder what sort of dub-ya/Palin skit they might have in the works. Whatever it is, I hope Tina Fey is writing it. Tina=comedy gold. Can’t wait for SNL!

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(l-r) Charlene, Zsavonne, Peter, Jana, Tiffany at Aura

Merlot Marketing’s PR Team subscribes to Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out (HARO) service, which connects savvy journalists to sources. It’s a brilliant viral movement and Peter’s membership is growing each day - he’s nearing 40,000 members! While HARO is a large network, Peter’s three daily e-mails make you feel like he’s your bff. Thanks to the Sacramento Public Relations Association (SPRA), Peter was in Sacramento yesterday for an SPRA luncheon where he talked to local PR pros about social media and its future in PR. Not only was it a great discussion, full of amazing information and certainly a lot of laughs, but we also got to meet our homeboy, Peter, in person!

As is customary for Peter’s speaking engagements, SPRA threw a members only happy hour at Aura in midtown last night where we all got to hang out, network and kick it with our HARO bestie. Massive thanks to Peter for giving Sacramento his time and sharing his wisdom. Also, a great big thank you to my friends at SPRA for having the forethought to bring Peter into town. (I should probably disclose here that I am SPRA’s VP this year. And I know that that looks like I’m thanking myself, but I’m actuallythanking the faboo SPRA peeps who make my job as the veep so rewarding.)

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I’m not talking about the possibility of electing our nation’s first African American president or female vice president. I’m talking about political advertising in video games. As you may have read, The Obama campaign has recently acknowledged purchasing advertisements in select video games, including Madden 09, Guitar Hero, Burnout Paradise, NASCAR 09, NBA Live 09 and several others. The ads are targeted at 18-34 year old (males) in key states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. The ads will be shown in the form of billboards and other in-game signage and will appear in Xbox 360 games that are played online.

What makes this tactic notable is that, politics aside (The McCain campaign was also approached with the same opportunity but declined), the Obama campaign has reached out to a group of voters in a rather unique way.

Video game advertising, in one form or another, has been around for many years. However, blending a static “McDonald’s” on a city wall  wall or “Firestone Tires” into a scoreboard often goes consciously unnoticed, as it seems to ad “realism” to the environment, stadium or sporting venue. (more…)

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Gordon Gekko, the iconic hero of the Reagan era told us “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good” You can see the context of this quote below if you are unfamiliar with the movie or the character.

The problem with the quote, as is with most things that get quoted and passed along, that it gets simplified and boiled down to the basest idea possible. In this case, the phrase itself was modified and pulled out of context. What we all are left with is “Greed is good”
(more…)

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We Giants fans have a saying: “I only root for the Giants and anyone playing the Dodgers.” With that said, GO PHILLIES!!

Matt Stairs' crushing blow to the Dodgers = Jana sleeps very well at night

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