Our lives are non-stop — we hear it all the time. If we’re not in a meeting, running an errand, cooking dinner or squeezing in a workout, then we’re probably on our smartphones either planning these things, doing them virtually, or posting about them on social networks. We, as a society, have forgotten how to be still.

Enter Amstel beer and its own take on the smart vending machine trend — stand perfectly still for three straight minutes and this harbinger of serenity will reward you with a free beer. The message is pretty clear: take a break from your hectic life with an Amstel. Simple, yet perfectly on point.

If this sounds like an easy way to earn a free beer, take three minutes of your Friday and try actually remaining perfectly still (no checking Facebook, no fidgeting, no phone calls) without getting antsy — it’s harder than you’d think! But it is rewarding (even without the free beer).

Here’s the associated commercial out of Bulgaria:

GolinHarris announced the promotion of Adam Pawluk to executive creative director in its New York office. Pawluk will continue serving key clients, such as Unilever, Vivus, GSK, and Digicel. He will also play a key role in new business development and continue to lead the creator community for the office. Creators are integral in the agency’s g4 model, charged with developing bold and innovative ideas and creating effective content. Prior to joining GolinHarris in 2008, Pawluk served as vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations and Ketchum working on a number of healthcare and consumer accounts. (Release)

CP+B has welcomed three new creative directors to its Boulder office: Sesh Moodley, Matthew Elhardt and Avital Pinchevsky. Moodley arrives from AKQA, where he spent nearly a year as creative director in the agency’s San Francisco office. Prior to AKQA, Moodley has had a variety of global stints, spending several years as a senior creative at the Sydney offices of both Leo Burnett and Lowe and as a CD at Naked Communications. Elhardt, a 20-year industry vet, has freelanced as a variety of agencies ranging from TBWA\MAL to W+K but has also served as a CD proper at TBWA\Chiat\Day itself as well as Carmichael Lynch and 180LA. Finally, Pinchevsky arrives from DDB South Africa, where she spent the last 18 months or so as creative director on McDonald’s. During her career, she’s also served as an ACD at BBDO New York and as a copywriter at Y&R Tel Aviv. The new hires will all work across accounts in their roles at CP+B. (AgencySpy)

SHIFT announced that it has named Paul Ollinger as president of the company. Spending the last 15 years in executive and advisory roles, Ollinger most recently served as vice president of sales for Facebook’s west region. Ollinger has a rich background in social media marketing and technology. In 2007, Ollinger joined Facebook as one of its original 250 employees and focused on business and sales growth. As vice president of sales for Facebook’s west region, Ollinger and his team designed and implemented social marketing strategies as the space grew through its formative years and matured into a powerful opportunity for businesses of all types. Prior to joining Facebook, Ollinger worked in sales and business development roles at LAUNCH.com and Yahoo! Ollinger will continue to serve as an advisor to startup companies 8tracks and LeanKit. (Release)

The Washington Post: E-book Sales Level Off as Genre Fiction Goes Digital Mainstream

BusinessWeek: Under Pressure, NCAA Quits Lucrative Jersey Market

PR Daily: ’Hunger Games’ Themed Camp Not Starving for Attention

Adweek: Twinkies Rebranded as Dude Food

Advertising Age: NFL Places Ads in Fashion Magazine Marie Claire

Get ready to head back to school. Pepperdine University is looking for a new director of communications to develop its central communications efforts.

In this role, you’ll be responsible for the school’s communications strategy, developing and implementing an image-building public and media relations program. You’ll also handle editorial, traditional and digital media, crisis management and social and community outreach, while serving as the university’s spokesperson. Read more

For a minute, we were all paying attention to Newsweek again. But just as quickly as our heads whipped around when we heard that the title had been sold to IBT Media, the company that owns International Business Times, our heads whipped back the other way because Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post.

Newsweek, which was meant to be revived by its association with Tina Brown’s site The Daily Beast, instead seems to be even more of a shell of the notable newsweekly it once was. For one, it stopped printing seven months ago and went all digital. Then, a number of notable staff left, including CEO Baba Shetty and editor Tunku Varadarajan. Finally, you had Newsweek owner Barry Diller saying publicly, “I wish I hadn’t bought Newsweek, it was a mistake.” Diller’s point was that a newsweekly’s time had passed at the rise of Twitter and other instant news. Sales pitching at its finest!

But the companies involved here would have us believe that this is a great sale and a great brand.

Read more

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”—Oscar Wilde

TARA, Ink., a boutique public relations, creative marketing and special events firm specializing in the New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami Beach markets, is pleased to announce the addition of UK-based retailer Superdry to its roster.

TARA, Ink.’s charges include media relations, product placement, special event conceptualization, celebrity dressing, and influencer outreach. The agency will report to the North American President of Superdry, Stephen Cox.

The Superdry Womenswear Autumn/Winter ‘13 collection offers sophisticated street style with preppy flair executed in bright colors, bold stripes, floral patterns, hooded Eskimo capes and nautical-themed peacoats. The exclusive London Thomas Everest Collection makes its way to America, with the popular Everest coat now available in a bomber as well as longer styles. Other pieces include the Ernest dress in tweed herringbone, the sequined glitter ball skirt, signature style Windcheaters, Tin Tab tees, and colorful leathers.

“Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television.”—Woody Allen

Balsera Communications, one of the nation’s premier U.S. Hispanic public relations firms, has been named the agency of record by Vme Television, the first national Spanish-language public television network in the United States. Balsera will be leading public relations and public affairs strategies for Vme in the United States.

“Over the past ten years the U.S. Hispanic demographic has not only grown in numbers, but it has also become more sophisticated,” said President and Partner, David Duckenfield, Balsera Communications. “We believe Vme is uniquely positioned to provide this new, up and coming Hispanic market the unique and educational programming that it is craving while also catering to the bilingual lifestyle that they are now embracing.”

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”—W.C. Fields Read more

Today in Ridiculously Overpaid Athletes Are People Too news, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is the latest beefed-up domino to fall in baseball’s ongoing steroid scandal. MLB commissioner Bud Selig decided to make an example of “Captain Rodriguez” with the longest suspension in the history of America’s Pastime.

The MLB Players Association appealed the decision on behalf of A-Rod, who is the only one of the 13 accused players to fight his suspension. Quite telling that the other 12 immediately ‘fessed up, isn’t it? The ensuing legal back-and-forth ensures that he will be able to wear a Yankees uniform for the rest of the season (which won’t last very long, considering the Bronx Bombers’ current 56-55 record).

PR to the rescue! According to The USA Today, Berk Communications President and “A-Fraud” publicist Ron Berkowitz posted a since-deleted tweet on Tuesday that read a little, shall we say, combative.

Hello Chicago!!! Lets do this!!! #fighting

—   Ron Berkowitz (@ronberk1) August 5, 2013

What was that all about? Well, in what one reporter called “an exceptional lack of self awareness,” A-Rod told the media “I’m fighting for my life,” strongly implying that Major League Baseball has it in for him. Poor guy.

So what will he do? And what should he do?

Read more

While Time Warner Cable and CBS continue their dogfight in a few major metro markets, a new cable channel, DOGTV, made its nationwide debut last weekend. The subscription-based network is designed for dogs, to keep them busy during the day when their owners are out. The 24/7 programming is available on DirecTV, via Roku boxes and online streaming. PRNewser learned the latest on the unique channel from Ron Levi, DOGTV’s founder.

Pet experts and animal trainers developed the content, aimed at entertaining, stimulating and relaxing dogs. They’re using real-world sounds, music, objects and animated movements, in three-to-five minute video segments. (about the same attention span as for human online video viewing). The goal is for canines who watch DOGTV to be less stressed, bored, depressed, and not as likely to experience separation anxiety. Plus, their owners will feel less guilty about leaving them behind. DOGTV employees can bring their dogs to work, though. As Levi noted, “They assist us with quality control.”

Levi commissioned extensive research to arrive at the right programming balance. Testing included monitoring dogs watching DOGTV at home. As a result, they eliminated barking sounds and shouting, which agitated canine viewers. Instead, they opted for stimuli to acclimate dogs to everyday life, such as car noises. Levi said “programs are all filmed according to dogs’ unique senses of vision and hearing. While all content is produced in-house, we’re open to ideas for future shows for dog parents.”

DOGTV’s popularity has exceeded expectations, Levi reported. While the channel doesn’t show ads, they have various partners. “For our pre-sale we partnered with Dog Is Good, Pet Best, Rover.com, and Pet Product Advisor to deliver a welcome kit to early subscribers”. He also noted the network’s involvement with animal charities. “Every time your dog enjoys DOGTV, pets in need are helped. DOGTV supports HSUS’ (Humane Society of the U.S.) Pets for Life program to extend the reach of animal services, resources and information to under-served areas.”

Read more

The woman at left is beautiful. She’s also an engineer. And as LinkedIn recently learned the hard way, those two things are not, in fact, mutually exclusive.

Toptal, a small developer networking platform, had featured this image in its ads for engineers, which appeared on LinkedIn. After “many LinkedIn members complained” about the image, the tech giant pulled the ads, telling Toptal that the promos could be run again once the picture in question had been replaced by “different images, related to the product.”

In other words, LinkedIn assumed an inherent disconnect between the image of a beautiful woman and a tech career like engineering.

Outraged by LinkedIn’s decision, CEO of Toptal, Taso Du Val (who I am proud to call a former classmate), wrote a scathing blog post, titled: “In Defense of Female Engineers.” In the original post, Du Val wrote, in part:

“Today was a disappointing day at Toptal. We saw extreme sexism within the tech community, from an industry leader and advertising partner that we work with quite extensively: LinkedIn…Are they seriously siding with people who complained to LinkedIn that our female software engineers are offensive?…these (and others) are our real engineers that we have signed contracts with. And even if they were only stock photography, who cares? The point is, they’re perfectly fine and represent normal professional people. Our male versions are no different. They’re male engineers, smiling, some with glasses, some without; the whole idea LinkedIn had was just ridiculous.

The fact of the matter is: members of the tech community (LinkedIn users) saw it as impossible that our female engineers could actually be engineers, and a leader of the tech community (LinkedIn) agreed with them. Unfortunately we’re banned from showing anything except 100%, all male software advertisements from now on and so, that’s what you’ll be getting. I’m disappointed both on a personal and professional level. I expect better.” Read more

Chicago Tribune: Yahoo’s New Logo Unveiling a Prolonged PR Event

Los Angeles Times: Online Game League of Legends Standout Gets Pro Athlete Visa

The Washington Post: Amazon Turns Its Focus to Online Art Sites

The New York Times: NYC Coffee Company Joins Mayoral Race for Publicity

Advertising Age: Tech PR: GE Hosts 6-Second Science Fair on Vine