True or False: You have heard someone say the phrase, “I only read it for the articles”, when making reference to Playboy? Maybe it was, gasp, you. I would venture to say that this phrase is almost as infamous as Playboy itself. As much as Hugh Hefner has made the topic of sex mainstream, his magazine also causes some to be ashamed to admit that they look at it…the pictures too! (Note: I am not one of those people. I think Hef is a genius. No one person has shaped pop culture the way that he has. Yes, my household has a monthly subscription to the magazine.)

Playboy Enterprises has officially launched its new “safe for work” website: The Smoking Jacket.  In a short video on the site, Hef tells us that “Next to the Mansion, it is the best hangout on the planet”. The site itself is is positioned as “a safe for work men’s entertainment destination that provides guys with smart and sexy distractions throughout the day”.

Given this description I just had to spend a little time reading some of the articles doing research to see if it could live up to the description. What I found was definitely safe for work in the BFG Content Department, but I’m not sure how it would fly in corporate America. With headlines such as:

• How to Hang Out with Porn Chicks
• How to Get Laid at Work
• Gemma’s Bikini Body Workout, Boob Job Benefits, Audrina’s Bongos and more (Note: Yes, those bongos.)

I’m not  sure what employer would feel comfortable having an employee taking time out of their day to peruse this site. There are more tame topics about movies, gadgets, lifestyle topics, and even Bros Icing Bros. My favorite was a short video tribute to the 80’s, because, who doesn’t love the 80’s?

“But what about the pictures?” Thanks for asking! Most of the pictures were pretty tame by Playboy standards. There were a lot of girls in low cut shirts, bikinis, & lingerie. The site also has some vintage photos from the earlier years of Playboy. I wasn’t personally offended by anything, though I’m not sure a girl laying face down on a couch, wearing nothing but a thong, is work appropriate. Most people probably wouldn’t want to look over to find their co-worker ogling something of that nature.

For comparative purposes I also took a look at the Maxim site. There I found a lot of similar content, and even some racier photos.

In the end I would categorize The Smoking Jacket as “safe for work” at your own risk. I applaud Playboy for making this attempt to stay relevant during a time when they are losing money on their print publication.

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Here’s a quick first look at WIRED Magazine on the iPad and why I think this new medium will be huge for advertisers in terms of increasing sales and measuring ROI for media buys.

Got questions? Leave a comment below, email me, or find me on Twitter.

Have you rushed out and bought an iPad yet?

Are you going to?

Do you think the iPad (or any tablet computer for that matter) is going to be a life raft for book publishing and traditional media like newspapers and magazines?

I’m actually excited to see where traditional media, which is always reportedly on the very edge of issuing its last sad breath, yet still manages to wheeze and somehow find the strength and dollars to carry on, will embrace these new platforms as they grow even more robust.

As the video below shows, magazines like Time, GQ and Popular Science have already put their own unique spins on what magazines can look and feel like on these new devices.

While I’m not rushing out to buy a first generation iPad (because there are always glitches and bugs), I’m looking forward to getting one of these in my hands to check it out eventually. I’m a Mac person and a heavy iPhone user/abuser. I still happily use the first, pre-3G iPhone and the slower Edge network, because it still works great, even after two years, and I’ve never had one problem with mine (this is saying a lot for a piece of technology that gets as much of a working out as my iPhone does).

Hopefully these new iPads will be able to take some punishment, although this video shows that Apple probably needs to rethink the wear and tear aspects for future models as it is an easy target for getting destroyed. Doesn’t seem like it takes to much stress to ruin one.

This isn’t very cool after one has shelled out good money for one, since the whole idea of these devices it that they are light and portable, so shouldn’t toughness and overcoming the “drop factor” be a big part of the design? It’s still early days, so I’m sure Apple will eventually clear these hurdles (or a competitor will).

Writing in the New York Times, computer programmer and author Craig Mod likes what he sees and likes where the technology is taking us (especially for content creators and publishers):

The next few years will be very exciting for content creators and publishers, who will have a first crack at defining user interaction, design and typographic standards that will establish the habits and expectations in readers for decades to come.

We’re already seeing the work of art directors and interaction designers merge by necessity. When content can move and break linearity, classic art direction for static content doesn’t hold up. It’s no longer about where to place an image, it’s about how and with what level of interaction.

iPad Magazine Art Direction from Brad Colbow on Vimeo.

Allegations of plagiarism have yellowed the snow at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, threatening to expose the rotten underbelly of Park City—and the movie reviewing business as a whole. Oft-quoted critic Paul Fischer has emerged from this year’s festival as a sort of noir villain, after being branded a hack by filmmakers demanding legitimate reviews.

In a story published in the Vancouver Sun, reporter Chris Parry cites multiple instances of Fischer lifting chunks of verbiage–nearly word-for-word–from press materials and dropping them into his own reviews.

Take, for example, this snippet from Fischer’s review of Animal Kingdom, a film that recently scooped up a Sundance jury prize:

“When tensions between the family and the police reach a bloody peak, Josh finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.”

Now, compare that to this blurb from the official synopsis that was published in this year’s festival guidebook:

“When tensions between the family and the police reach a bloody peak, ‘J’ finds himself at the centre of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.”

Identical save for one word, “Josh,” Fischer’s review was published at DarkHorizons.com—a popular site that has seen its plaudits woven into film trailers and DVD covers.

In Perry’s article, Sundance Film Festival associate director of media relations Brooke Addicott says that the repurposing of studio- or filmmaker-penned marketing language is rife among bloggers, in particular. With no editor to vet their work, bloggers, according to Addicott, often take the shortcut to glory; favorable “reviews,” in turn, play directly into the hands of the studios.

“We’ve seen some people do that, take the press notes and just print them as part of their work. Generally online bloggers tend to do that because they feel like those are the official descriptions and they can go with them. We’d obviously prefer they didn’t. If you’re going to review a film, you should probably see it and come up with your own take on it.”

And since professional media critics are often the first on the chopping block at contracting print publications, movie bloggers have begun gaining more visibility and traction as legitimate sources for reviews. The moral of this story? All those grains of salt being scattered across Park City’s slippery streets might be put to better use in reading film reviews.

Time, Inc. recently posted this video to YouTube unveiling its plans for Apple Tablet-friendly interactive issues of Sports Illustrated, supposedly available some time next year. This definitely takes reader engagement up a few notches.

Of course, the key to this equation is Apple, which to date has not actually confirmed that it is developing a tablet computer. Rumors about the Apple Tablet have been swirling for months including not only what it might look like, but also its potential to redefine the publishing industry in much the same way the iPhone changed the cell phone industry.

Time, Inc. is the not only publisher imagining what their publications might look like on the mythical tablet device. Last month Mashable reported plans by Conde Nast to develop a tablet-friendly issue of Wired magazine. All Things Digital even posted this clip of what said digital version of Wired might look like:

We’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on this one!

In an era where major print institutions have been going under, I was sad but not necessarily surprised to find out that hip music and culture magazine Paste is hurting. I was, however, surprised to see the magazine going to its reader base for donations.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported:

Paste Editor-in-Chief Josh Jackson said he needs donations in “the low six figures” to safely keep the magazine devoted to music, film and culture afloat.

“We have been trying to cut costs but apparently not fast enough,” Jackson said Wednesday. “We’re at the point where we have to go to the readers for a little help. We hope it will be a one-time thing.”

Paste is following the Obama model and is trying to get small donations as opposed to large ones to help it stay afloat. The magazine has put out emails and calls for donations online. Its Twitter followers have taken the campaign a step beyond, tweeting about the situation and using the #savepaste hashtag. Fans have also set up a Facebook page for the cause.

It’ll be interesting to see if the campaign pans out for the magazine (and personally I hope it does). It’s Paste’s latest in creative fundraising. In the past, they tried the Radiohead pay-what-you-wish pricing model for subscriptions.

One of the rituals of college life is tromping to the campus bookstore and buying textbooks at incredibly over-inflated prices. If you’ve felt the high dollar squeeze on your financial aid you might be tempted to call the world of academic publishing a racket, right?

Another great joy of college life is then lugging all those weighty books around campus for months on end. Then, the moment the last test is taken, the poor student hurriedly runs to resell their pile of books before professor gets wind of the “new” version with the updated appendix, which sadly for the student, turns the math or science book they paid full price for a few months back into well, perhaps a nice doorstop.

I say bring on the e-book tablets. E-readers will potentially save many student’s lower backs and perhaps a few trees along the way. Although, while portable and convenient, it’s doubtful that e-readers will save students money, as the price of those textbooks, digitized or not, will surely remain quite high.

Amazon is taking another step in the direction of a lighter backpack future and will announce the unveiling of its new and improved Kindle this week. This Kindle is larger and better suited for reading magazines, newspapers and yes, even textbooks, which, as you can easily imagine, is where the real e-reader gold mine is located.

The three aforementioned media contain content that is continuously updated and e-readers are the perfect tool for dealing with this information flow. The Kindle has already sold well at its current size, though magazine and newspaper publishers see the larger device as a potential lifesaver for print media. Though, it’s those expensive textbooks that could really be the silver lining and produce the most revenue for publishers and makers of e-readers.

I know I would have rather hauled around a lightweight e-reader, loaded up with every text I needed, rather than the small library of books I schlepped around like a Sherpa hauling gear on Mt. Everest. It seems only natural that in the not so distant future, the load that college students will have to physically carry will drop dramatically as e-readers penetrate the halls of the academy.

Beginning in the fall, some students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland will be given large-screen Kindles with textbooks for chemistry, computer science, and a freshman seminar already installed, said Lev Gonick, the school’s chief information officer. The university plans to compare the experiences of the students who are issued the devices and those who use traditional textbooks, said Mr. Gonick.

Amazon has worked out a deal with several textbook publishers to make their materials available for the device, Mr. Gonick said. The new device will also feature a more fully functional Web browser, he said. The current version of the Kindle, which debuted in February, contains a Web browser that is classified as “experimental.”

In total, six universities are involved in the project, according to people briefed on the matter. They are Case Western, Pace University, Princeton University, Reed College, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State University.

While the new Kindle will surely be a wonderful addition to your gadget collection, keep your eyes peeled for what might possibly the Kindle killer from the inventive techies in Cupertino. The Apple Tablet is essentially a larger, tablet size version of the iPhone. The Apple tablet would have everything the Amazon Kindle has, plus everything the iPhone has - full screen, internet connectivity, a zillion apps. Sounds good to me.

In tough economies, we tend to recycle more and live more frugal lifestyles. We pass down clothing, lend and borrow movies, and buy used cars. But now it seems we are even recycling ideas and literature, as with the new book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The Author (or perhaps “Inserter” would be a more appropriate title), Seth Grahame-Smit, changes Jane Austen’s classic into a scene of comical terror. The writing and storyline are significantly unaltered, but through textual insertions and deletions, Grahame-Smit tells the story in a zombie-ridden England, where a plague of the living dead has infected the pleasant countryside with mayhem and chaos.

Here is the opening of this gripping novel:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was this truth more plain than during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead.

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is occupied again?”

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not and went about his morning business of dagger sharpening and musket polishing—for attacks by the unmentionables had grown alarmingly frequent in recent weeks.

The writing still has the tone of the beloved classic but now zombies seem to be a little more important than the anguished love between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. And although some may feel that he defaced a classic, all Grahame-Smit has really done is make the classic more appealing to a new audience.

And so, this new version of Pride and Prejudice showcases a new literary trend— recycle, rework, reuse—and proves that there is always a fun way to recycle.

It seems like each day brings the news that another once proud newspaper, such as The Rocky Mountain News (which closed) or The Seattle P.I. (which went totally digital this week) is printing its final edition, or that another once popular magazine is biting the dust. So, it is no surprise that in today’s digital world, print is feeling somewhat maligned.

Due to this, traditional media like mags and newspapers is constantly seeking innovative ways to appeal to, and more importantly retain, readers who have gotten used to surfing the web and cherry picking content.

In the spirit of the mash-up, Time, Inc. is rolling out a new magazine title, Mine.

It is a magazine that gives readers the opportunity to select preferred content from five its magazine titles. Backing the venture is one advertiser, Lexus, who views this as a unique opportunity to “hyper-target” the mags readers who, if they fill out a survey, will see ads directly focused towards the them.

Lexus, which came up with the idea, will be the lone advertiser and will buy four full pages of ads for each 36-page magazine.

“I wouldn’t call this an ad, this goes much beyond this,” said David Nordstrom, Lexus’ vice president of marketing. “Our message of ‘driver-inspired’ and ‘customization’ will come through a lot stronger.”

Without specifying, Nordstrom said the venture did not cost more than other advertising campaigns. He suggested that the potentially higher costs of individualized printing would be worth it if the ads got a better response from a greater number of readers.

As for the mag itself, readers can choose to receive content from five mags, such as Golf, Travel & Leisure, Sports Illustrated, Food & Wine and Time. Editors will then choose the relative content insertion. Right now, the magazine is free to the first 31,000 people who sign up and the another 200,000 will receive and online PDF version that will look something like a newspaper, and readers can then print it out. It’s an interesting experiment as old media tries to find new ways to utilize its traditional print resources in an increasingly digitized world.

[via AP]

We’re always looking for the latest and greatest ways to build brand awareness. Involving multiple senses like sound, touch, sight and scent can create lasting and memorable experiences. Integrating video and print is one non-traditional way to appeal to multiple senses and at the same time engage customers and elevate brand recall.

Video in print, like this example from Americhip, can play up to 90 minutes of high-resolution video. Just imagine an iPod’s screen embedded into a print format that can play any type of video content you’d like. It certainly opens up some new possibilities.