Please.
Please tell me I'm the only parent blogger who got an email from a publicist for NBC/Universal--the subsidiary of GE which is set to become the largest media company in the world when its sale to Comcast goes through--providing me links to actual banner ads--ads!--and inviting me to "feel free" to run them on my site to "spread the word" about the upcoming premiere of a TV series based on a twenty year old movie?
Seriously, tell me it's just me, and that NBC's paying rest of the dadblogs and momblogs and groupblogs out there big, fat CPM's, even more than McDonald's and HP. At least more than Free IQ Test! and University of Phoenix. Tell me that it's just because I decided not to join an ad network--not Federated Media, not Glam, not iVillage [owned by NBC!]--but stick with the somewhat clunky, lower key blogads instead.
Because I can handle that. I'm even fine with it. I keep Daddy Types the way it is on purpose. I want it to be useful, but also I like it like that; after 16 years in the Internet business, I am actually happy to not be obsessing over monetizing eyeballs or maximizing pageviews or capturing mindshare every waking moment of my life.
And that way, when I see ads on peoples' blogs, and people talking up the upcoming show, it's because they're getting paid handsomely for it, not because they're so deluded and/or stupid as to give free advertising--advertising, not even PR, actual ads!--to a company that just spent $2 billion on a 2-week telenovela about freakin' ice dancers.
See the full text of NBC's generous invitation after the jump:
subject: #$(*%ing Remake Banners for Your Site!
9:59 AM (5 hours ago)
HI there,
We have a ton of banners for the new series, ready to be hosted on your site and perfect for getting your readers excited for the March 2nd premiere! You can find them all by following this link and opening the zip file: http://www.nbcagencywc4.com/files_digital/Uhh_
no_Promo_Brand.zip. We also have specialized links for clickthroughs on some of the banners. Look for the full set of links below, which are listed next to the applicable title so you can easily match the link with the appropriate banner!
Feel free to put them up if you'd like to spread the word about [The show NBC wants bloggers to advertise for free!]
Enjoy,
XXXXXX
300x250: phood_pb_300x250_hate_tue.jpg
300x250: phood_pb_300x250_todo_tue.jpg
728x90: phood_pb_728x90_father_tue.jpg
728x90: phood_pb_728x90_onenight_tue.jpg
120x600 & 160x600 banners:
All 468x60 multi-color banners:
But... look at how drab this site is! Wouldn't you love to dress it up with some winky, blinky banner ads for some dumbass network show that insults your intelligence and has 20 minutes of commercials per hour? Just askin'
I am actually happy to not be obsessing over monetizing eyeballs or maximizing pageviews or capturing mindshare every waking moment of my life.
It's funny, as I read this I was thinking, "I'm going to thank Greg for not sticking one of those 'click here to read more' links that seem to be appearing in every single post on so many blogs these days (presumably to score some extra pageviews)." But then I scrolled down to find a "click here to read more" link in this very post. D'oh!
(In your defense, I think it was entirely justified in this case, and I therefore thank you anyway for not using one no every doggone post.)
hah, yes, I decided against putting the full text of the email on the main page. But I went ahead and added a "what's after the jump" note to clarify.
it kind of reminds me of the dudes who say something to every woman they meet on the sidewalk about how beautiful she is and how good they could make her feel. out of every 1000, maybe one woman will be stupid enough to take them up on it.
in other words, these publicists have absolutely no shame.
You're lucky. The email I received suggested I pay them for the privilege of running their ads.
Huh. NBC is actually paying me to NOT advertise this show on my site. Weird.
Now I feel small. The closest I've gotten to NBC was a publicist wanting me to write about Team USA in the Olympics, and she misspelled my blog name. I split the difference and bitched about NBC's event coverage.