Marketing

While it was a helluva Super Bowl (Go Saints), when it came down to the ads, too many of the commercials smacked of familiarity and a lot lacked the surprise element because they were leaked to YouTube in advance of the event. However one commercial kept under close wraps rose above the rest for for not only its shock value, but also because it played off of the overexposed celebrity of two men we've all grown to love over the years- namely Letterman and Leno!

Dependent on what team you are rooting for in this year's Super Bowl (#SB44), you might be surprised to learn who is winning on the Social Media field of play. When Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning faces off against New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees, you might want to check out some of the stats and trends surfacing on the social networks before placing your final wager.

There is a strange phenomenon afoot in this country. The rumblings of an establishment of a "Tea Party" party can be heard growing louder and louder. The National Tea Party, a first-time convention for the group has attracted 1,100 delegates to Nashville, Tennessee for three days of protest, caucus and debate. It's a movement everyone says is people-powered to give voice to the frustrations of a heretofore leaderless party. With all this talk channeling through the traditional news vehicles of legacy newspapers and TV, why hasn't this group chosen to be represented on social networks?

Well, it was bound to happen. As popular as location-based services are becoming, it didn't take long for the Spamalot Brigade to step in for a little menace and mayhem. As if privacy wasn't a big enough issue with LBSs, now we have to worry about hackers and other insidious tactics to infiltrate geo-tagged ads and profiles on our mobile devices.

We know about ad deals based on impressions and  we are familiar with banner ads and pop-ups. Google Adsense opened us up to cost per click-throughs. But as social networking moves from the desktop to mobile devices are we ready to engage in a brand new business model ☞ Cost Per Check-in? And will local establishments and brands be willing to pay for it?

In an effort to find out more about what makes Lego lovers get that moment where your ideas just "click" together, Lego has introduced a new website to bring clicky thinkers together.

Rear Gear.... "no more mr. brown eye" reads the header card.  A butt cover for my dog or cat.  Wild!  I love it!

Not to be outdone by all the hype surrounding the iPad, Google released concept images and video of what a tablet PC running Chrome OS might look like.

Did you ever wonder why you miss out on specials at your local eatery, or miss a buy-one-get-one at the supermarket?  You can fight back against missed deals using this great Google Maps application.

For those of you who are of the camp that "only watch the game for the commercials," this blog is for you!  [Spoiler Alert] ☞ From the raucous antics of GoDaddy.com, to an aging quarterback, to a very cherry Dr Pepper, to the return of a legendary rock band and ending with one controversial 'don't-ask-don't tell' commercial, this year's TOP FIVE can be seen here in advance of the game. They're inventive - they're insane - and they're definitely the caliber of ads the Super Bowl is known for.

Two Haitian Charity Songs will be hitting the airwaves at just about the same time. While it's been a proven formula that combining entertainment with fund-raising is one of the quickest ways to raise awareness for a cause, will these two anthems backed up by star-powered choruses work together synergistically or will they compete for the same charitable dollars? And in so doing, does the effort overshadow the cause and shift the spotlight to the artists?

Apple's iPad is barely a few days old, and it's already facing potential litigation. On the heals of China vs Google battling over censorship and Gmail hacking issues, Apple is having its own altercations with the Chinese. This time around, instead of debates with the government, Apple is being held up by bandits, literally.

The highly anticipated Google-branded smartphone has seen very limited success with its launch on T-Mobile, but will launches on AT&T and Sprint make up for the disappointing sales numbers?

The 2010 Grammys seemed more like a 3 1/2 hour concert than it did an award show. For those that missed it, or those that just want to see an encore, there were five performances that stood out from the others (20 in total). As an 'invention" news site, InventorSpot  is known for finding the best of the best, and these TV performances were the most 'inventive' I have seen in a long time. Don't be surprised if you don't see the big winners of the night listed (namely Beyoncé and Taylor Swift).