Grumpy Editor

Most U.S. television viewers find a commercial confusing

Seems you’re not alone in trying to figure out what went on with a just-viewed television commercial (was in for a car maker, an airline, a tire firm, a tourist destination --- or a promo for the network) since there appears to be much fuzziness with viewers these days, observes Grumpy Editor.

Three-quarters of Americans (75 percent) say they find a TV commercial confusing, according to an Adweek Media/Harris Poll, based on 2,163 U.S. adults surveyed online between July 27 and 29 by Harris Interactive.

Many TV spots tend to be on the artsy, gimmicky or cute side.

(Now that would have been frowned on by the creative folks at the 1960s-era Madison Ave. advertising agency depicted in the TV series, Mad Men on cable network  AMC .)

Some of the current ad agency talent often forgets the prime focus with production of a TV commercial, especially in a competitive environment, is to sell a company’s product or service while injecting solid facts and figures.

The latest survey also finds about three out of 10 people (29 percent) 55 years or older say they often find commercials on television confusing.

For those 45 to 54 years old, 17 percent often find commercials confusing as do 18 percent of those 18 to 34 years old and 13 percent of those 35 to 44.

Most print, TV editors overlook (sold out) bed bug summit

Coverage of the recently concluded (and sold out) two-day North American Bed Bug Summit in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, strangely didn’t grab the attention of many print and television news editors around the nation despite the public's growing interest in the blood suckers, notes Grumpy Editor.

Most editors feel putting the spotlight on the bugs isn’t as “sexy” as the unveiling of another Apple Inc. product --- or covering other summits, especially in foreign lands.

Bed bugs are popping up everywhere around the nation and increasingly are putting the bite on Americans.

Hotels, hospitals, movie theaters, military housing, college dormitories, shelters, retail stores, among others, are popular gathering spots for the mushrooming tiny bugs that also are invading homes.

Bed bug capital right now is New York City.  Recently, the Nike flagship store in Manhattan and a Victoria’s Secret closed temporarily due to infestations.

Credit the shelving of DDT for the bed bug upswing.   The pesticide, banned 38 years ago, kept the apple seed-size insects under control.

Thus, the North American Bed Bug Summit last week attracted entomologists, vendors, exterminators and scientists all focusing on how to combat the upsurge with techniques and products now available.

The event attracted 400 --- paying $399 each --- to the Hyatt Rosemont.  About 200 others were turned away.

Among suggested actions to kill the pesky insects:  bug-sniffing canines, assorted detection devices, treatment routines (including both heating and freezing assaults) and fumigation.

The National Pest Management Association estimates bed bug complaints have soared 500 percent in five years.

Star-Ledger, Newark, seeks marketing ideas from staffers

One way a newspaper can collect savvy marketing ideas --- without going to a high-fee consulting firm --- is to invite staffers to share their thoughts.  That’s what the Star-Ledger, Newark, is doing, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Star-Ledger, owned by Advance Publications, Inc., is New Jersey’s largest daily newspaper.

Columnist Kathleen O’Brien is spearheading the internal effort, via an e-mail to staffers, “to come up with ways we can signal our continued journalistic vitality and importance,” reports Joe Strupp, a former senior editor at Editor & Publisher, in a Media Matters posting.

O’Brien tells staffers she is seeking “thoughts on what we should be saying and how we should say it. Big ideas, little ideas, bring 'em on. I'd especially love to hear from our newer employees, who may have different insights as to how the paper is viewed.”

Tapping brains of newsroom personnel, and others on the payroll, is a nifty way to gather suggestions for improving or expanding the product, especially in a competitive area.

Often, unexpected gems blossom from internal ideas.

That’s why some alert businesses have maintained suggestion boxes for years.

Meanwhile, another, yet mostly overlooked, low-cost method in refining an editorial product is going a step further by encouraging suggestions from the other side:  readers.

With ‘Obama’s Wars' in hand, Greta sets interview on Fox

The on, then off --- and now on again --- Sept. 30 interview of journalist Bob Woodward by Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren hinged on her obtaining a copy of his latest book, “Obama’s Wars,” notes Grumpy Editor.

Initially, Simon & Schuster, the publisher, last week declined to send a copy for her “On the Record” show prep.

“I actually read the books before I do the interview,” she declared.

Hearing about this, Woodward later sent Van Susteren a message to apologize and said he is "delighted” that she wants to read his book --- which gives a behind the scenes account of President Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan --- and will send her a copy (available through Barnes & Noble on line or Amazon.com for about $16).

Some PR person must be blushing.

And Van Susteren has 464 pages of Woodward's writing to read prior to Thursday's interview.

She might want to ask him about the book's title.

It’s interesting to note that the title, “Obama’s Wars,” comes very close to “Obama’s War,” a documentary produced by Martin Smith, which kicked off the 28th season of Frontline on PBS last Oct. 13.

Lights out: G.E. closes last U.S. incandescent bulb plant

How can you determine if your newspaper or television news editor is alert?  See if print or TV outlets you watch cover the (sad) scheduled closing today of the last major General Electric Co. factory making incandescent light bulbs in the U.S., points out Grumpy Editor.

As part of the “green” movement, about 200 workers will lose their jobs with the shuttering of the 455,000-square-foot G.E. plant on 57 acres in Winchester, Va.

The plant closing is triggered by Washington lawmakers’ action that bans ordinary incandescent bulbs by 2014, forcing replacement mainly with compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs.

The small glass tubes, twisted into a spiral, are made overseas, mostly in China.

Those against CFLs frown on the use of mercury in the bulbs, which can cause problems when they shatter.

Development of the incandescent bulb goes back to the early 1800s.

It received a major thrust in 1878 when Thomas Edison began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp.

The inventor filed his first  “improvement in electric lights” patent application in October, 1878.  His first successful test came a year later.

Now, those highly-used and effective incandescent bulbs soon will become collectors’ items.

Hygiene, style are factors in top 10 U.S. restrooms

“Best of” items are all over the place, ranging from “best bingo” in Las Vegas to today’s recognition of “best restrooms” in the U.S.  “Best” may be overused but lists using that word attract attention and readers, observes Grumpy Editor.

With “best restrooms in America,” sure, it’s a plug for contest conductor Cincinnati-based Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ:CTAS) which provides restroom hygiene products and services.

But in tallying votes in the 2010 contest, the company gives recognition to extraordinary restrooms, selected from a national cross-section of businesses, including restaurants and hotels.

And let's face it, people appreciate knowing about locations that provide an appealing and pleasant atmosphere when there is an urge to "take a break."

Based on exceptional hygiene, style and open access to the public, the top 10 are selected by “tens of thousands of votes,” says Cintas.

Leading the list is the Fountain on Locust which Cintas says is known as the most photographed restaurant in St. Louis with restroom facilities featuring hand-painted murals, ornate fixtures and designer mirrors.

Others in the top five:

Second place: Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City.
Third: Bryant Park, New York City.
Fourth: Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Fifth: The Muse Hotel, New York City.

Rounding out the top 10:  China Grill at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas; Lawrence Dumont Stadium, Wichita, Kan.; Rivue Restaurant and Lounge, Louisville, Ky.; Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, Calif., and Joe's Farm Grill, Gilbert, Ariz.

View images and further details of the winners' facilities here.

Unhappy bank customers = major PR job ahead

As the economy improves (word out of Washington on Monday claims the recession ended 15 months ago), banks --- which have been socking it to consumers and businesses --- will have an enormous public relations job ahead, predicts Grumpy Editor.

An Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll finds 52 percent of those surveyed say they have little or no confidence in banks and financial firms.

One in four respondents puts banks in the same “absolutely no confidence in” category as Congress, federal government, organized labor and blogs. 

Banks  are getting the bad image from a variety of things.

Customers complain loan applications get lost or delayed, then in the end are nixed.

Interest rates, including certificates of deposit, money market funds and savings accounts are in the pits --- just barely above the 0.00 percent line.

Patrons, no matter how long they have held accounts with the banks, are getting nicked with hefty fees even with one-day-late payments.

Other unexpected fees and charges are appearing more on statements.

This may spur the American Bankers Association, the trade group representing the industry, to put aside some lobbying efforts from its Washington base to focus on developing a special PR push to soothe and woo a growing number of unhappy bank customers around the nation.

Individual banks, meanwhile, may have to take a page from yesteryear and again dangle account-opening inducements ranging from pens to cruises.

Poll: Newspapers rank third in providing information

Certainly something for newspaper publishers and editors to worry about:  Newspapers are a distant third in informing people, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted last week, with just 11 percent saying they are the best source for news and information, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Rasmussen poll finds 44 percent of adults say the Internet is the best way to get news and information. Television comes in second with 36 percent.  Nine percent rely on radio.

This should indicate it is time for large and small newspapers to conduct vital all-day newspaper editorial board meetings to kick around ideas in efforts to improve the products, suggests Grumpy Editor who recommends these items to consider:

Fewer boring long stories, better selection of news items (with preference given to topics of interest to readers in newspapers’ circulation areas) rather than using random stories merely to plug editorial holes, an attractive and newsy front page with more than four or five stories, expanded local coverage, dramatic layouts on inside pages, dynamic --- and cropped --- in-focus photos and clever headlines.  And tap ideas from a cross-section of readers, too.

With the Internet age, the Rasmussen poll uncovers “two-out-of-three Americans (67 percent) feel they are more informed today than they were 10 years ago.”

The poll also finds 22 percent believe their level of knowledge is about the same, while just eight percent consider themselves less informed these days.

The results also show women are more confident than men that they are better informed now, the majority of Americans under 50 regard online sources as the best for news and information, and older Americans trust television more.

Sixty one percent of those surveyed are confident that if newspapers go out of business, online and other news sources will be able to make up the difference and report things people want to know about, according to the poll.

The Rasmussen Reports survey is based on 1,000 adults contacted Sept. 15 and 16.

Read the full report here.

CNN cuts from Sarah Palin for fuzzy ‘breaking news’

CNN, during Friday afternoon’s two-hour Rick’s List hosted by Rick Sanchez, had an edge on the competition when it was the only commercial news channel to beam live coverage of Sarah Palin speaking to about 1,400 cheering attendees at a Republican fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa, notes Grumpy Editor.

But half-way through her fiery speech --- and just when she started to hammer inaccuracies in reporting by media --- Sanchez abruptly broke in for some “breaking news” with a live report on a US Airways aircraft, already safely on the ground and at the gate at San Francisco airport, that had been diverted because of smoke in the cockpit.

There was no apparent incident, no injuries and an airport spokesman said the plane, bound from Phoenix to Maui, landed “uneventfully” and taxied to the gate.

CNN then went on to its usual programming and commercials --- leaving uninterrupted live coverage of Palin’s speech to C-SPAN, which repeated the Iowa event over the weekend.

The US Airways aircraft’s forced landing was hardly noticed in Bay Area media.  The San Francisco Chronicle’s Web site ran a short Associated Press story.

The appearance and speech of the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee at the Iowa Republican Party’s annual Ronald Reagan dinner was of special interest to many --- including media --- in seeking a clue on whether she has intentions on running for president in 2012.

More than 50 news organizations from as far away as London sought credentials for the Des Moines event.

Prediction: Look for a change in 'global warming'

Grumpy Editor predicts headline writers --- who relish short words and phrases --- won’t like this expanded identification being pushed by John Holdren, White House science adviser:  Use "global climate disruption" rather than the simpler and briefer "global warming.”

Holdren, who directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, feels the long-used global warming term (or alternate “climate change”) oversimplifies the atmospheric problem and makes it seem less dangerous.

He tells an audience in Oslo, Norway that global warming is a "dangerous misnomer" for something far more complicated than a rise in temperature.

Commenting on the newly-hatched phrase, Republican pollster Adam Geller says folks in Washington are “trying to come up with more politically palatable ways to sell some of this stuff."

Geller also notes Democrats refer to the Bush tax cuts as "middle-class tax cuts.”

Changing the reference to climate change likely derives from flagging public support for their bill to regulate emissions, says Geller, adding, "global warming" makes the cause easy to ridicule whenever there's a snowstorm.

The push for a three-word “warming” term isn’t new.

Three years ago, Holdren suggested an almost similar phrase, "global climatic disruption."

Well before that, early studies on humans vs. climate came up with the mouthful “inadvertent climate modification."