Mediaboss Marketing

After terrorist threats against moviegoers, Sony has canceled its Christmas Day release of "The Interview," starring Seth Rogan and James Franco.

Marcus theaters said they respect Sony's decision not to release the movie.

"The Interview" is a comedy about a U.S. government plot to kill North Korea's leader. North Korea didn't find it funny. Then came terrorist threats from hackers and Sony canceled a Christmas Day release after major theater operators said they wouldn't show it.

Milwaukee-area movie producer, screenwriter and actor Jeff Gendelman said he respects the theater owners decision to put safety first, but is concerned about censorship.

You know, here in America, we're free, and now we're letting other people tell us what we should or should not see. And that is a problem, Gendelman said.

Gendelman said he suspects the film will be more popular than ever when it's finally released. WISN 12 News reporter Terry Sater also talked to movie goers.

Obviously, we live in a country where typically it's not smiled upon to cower to terrorist threats, that kind of thing. But at the same time I don't think it's really worth it to risk public lives over a movie that critics said wasn't really supposed to be that funny, Henry Hammond said.

The world isn't what it was 30 years ago, and you have to be realistic about that, Kirstin Roble said.

You don't want to cause uproar. There's so many different things going on the world that you don't want to cause a stir in the world. You just don't want to cause problems, Tyler Schaller said.

After all, it's just a movie. It's just a movie, Ben Cheesman said.

Link:
Local movie producer concerned about censorship after Sony pulls film

Ive written before about accidental PR disasters such as the McDonalds #McDStories campaign (instead of nostalgic memories it led to disgruntled customer tirades), government sites that went dark during the federal governments shutdown, or even a physical altercation between a PR lead and a heckling journalist, all recorded on video.

This month yet another PR gaffe is making national headlines: the Topps Company (maker of the Ring Pops jewel-shaped candy on a plastic ring) may beinvestigatedby the FTC for their most recent social media campaign #RockThatRock a promotion that invited teenagers to upload photos of themselves wearing Ring Pops to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.The complaint alleges the campaign violatestheChildrens Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting and disclosing personal data from children under 13 without their parents permission.

The R5 band featured Ring Pop photos in a music video (Image courtesy of fan site Ready5SetRock.com)

Not the outcome the company was looking for, clearly.

A blog article in the New York Times reports the company launching the campaign earlier this week inviting teens to submit pictures of the ways they rock their edible bling with submissions going up on the companys Facebook and Twitter pages along with contestants social media names. Winning pictures were also featured in a music video by R5, a pop-rock band that is popular with teen and pre-teen girls.

But some of the photos featured teenage girls and some who appear even younger in provocative poses with their lips wrapped around the Ring Pop candies. Parents and advocacy groups erupted in rage.

Showing young girls licking the candy in a Lolita-type way, its outrageous, Michael Brody, a child psychiatrist in Potomac, Md., told the New York Times. By knowing the contestants user names you could get in contact with them. Children shouldnt be put in this situation.

Oops.

As brands work to engage audiences on social media it is critical they understand FTC guidelines, best practices and even the practical implications of the ways a seemingly innocuous social media or PR campaign can go wrong. Katie Creaser,vice president of NYC-based PR and social media firmAffect, has offered up the following tips and planning questions for marketers to consider before launching social media campaigns, as follows:

Says Creaser: When you decided to engage on social media, you are agreeing to stand on a very public stage and allow your customers to tell you what they really think about you.What sounds like a great idea or a promotion in a marketing meeting may not play out well once its launched online.

Go here to read the rest:
Marketing Gone Wrong: Is Your Social Media Plan Legal?

Joshua Dufurrena sings Journey To Justin Bieber

By: George Zimmerman

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Joshua Dufurrena sings Journey To Justin Bieber - Video

Getty Images

George Zimmerman

A Florida judge has ruled that George Zimmerman can't prevail in a defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal and some of its television reporters and, as a result, has granted the media company's motion to dismiss.

Zimmerman sued in December 2012 claiming that NBC distorted facts and edited his 911 call to make it appear as though his killing of Travyon Martin was racially motivated. "Their goal was simple," stated Zimmerman's lawsuit. The network attempted to "keep their viewers alarmed, and thus always watching, by menacing them with a reprehensible series of imaginary and exaggerated racist claims."

PHOTOS Hollywood's Most Fascinating Legal Sagas, From Casey Kasem to Michael Jackson

As part of the lawsuit, Zimmerman objected that NBC hadn't made it clear that he was answering a 911 dispatcher's question when saying, "He looks like he's up to no good. ... He looks black."

Zimmerman also was upset at the allegation that he used a racial epithet to describe Martin.

On Monday, Florida Circuit Court Judge Debra Nelson issued a final judgment that determined that Zimmerman was a limited-purpose public figure for having voluntarily injected "his views into the public controversy surrounding race relations and public safety in Sanford and pursued a course of conduct that ultimately led to the death of Martin and the specific controversy surrounding it."

As a result, in order to prevail in his lawsuit, Zimmerman needed to demonstrate that NBC acted with "actual malice," a legal standard that means knowledge or reckless disregard of falsity.

The judge won't let the plaintiff to go further.

The rest is here:
George Zimmerman Loses Defamation Lawsuit Against NBC

"Implications of Social Networking and Text Messaging" - A Persuasive Speech
Grand Prize Winner, Colt Scott, Lord Fairfax Community College Cengage Learning is pleased to announce the spring 2014 Student Speech Video Contest Scholarsh...

By: Cengage Learning

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"Implications of Social Networking and Text Messaging" - A Persuasive Speech - Video