Ok, so this isn’t a real ad but the point is heavily taken. And sure, there are several cases of  brands committing epic fails (i.e. The Gap) but Starbucks knows they’ve got us by the balls and we’re coming in every day for their crack. You pull off an ad like this – it’ll probably piss off most of America…but damn would I love it.

I never made it to Girl Scouts (Brownies, represent!), but I do recall that patches, along with Kumbaya and craft fairs, were all the rage. In fact, their mantra should have been “make new friends, but cut a beezy for a badge.” But who really cares if we can camp together, peddle cookies outside a grocery store, or get high on life anyway? I think these Nerd Merit Badges are much more commendable, and no doubt I’ve diligently earned the “Family Tech Support” and “Inbox Zero” varieties. Unfortunately, the “Printer Hero” badge is the only one that comes with these super fresh letterpress backs from Dolce Press, since a regular copy job couldn’t embody “the heroic vanquishment of these godawful beige-colored killers of our souls.” Hell to the yes, I’ll take one of each please.

As you might have noticed, we removed just about all advertising from our site. Last summer, we signed on board with an ad network that specializes in indie content. We had high hopes that an additional source of revenue would enable us to kick more ass and potentially quit our day-jobs. So, what happened?

Holiday Matinee in November 2010

As it turned out, the traditional advertising model of CPC just wasn’t a good match for us. To make any significant income, you’d need crazy amount of traffic and the reality is, that model just doesn’t work well in today’s online landscape unless you’re the NY Times or CNN. We had enough of subjecting your eyeballs to crappy American Apparel or ITT Tech ads. It wasn’t worth it. We’re a niche site and it’s okay that we’re not for everyone.

But delivering great content is what’s important. Writing to help, inspire or make you guys laugh means the world to us and gives us a purpose. We should not have let bold advertising interfere with that, but the experiment is over. Moving forward, we’re keeping our day jobs while maintaining an open discussion on how to bring in additional revenue sources so we can keep spreading awesome. One company that we’ve got our eyes on is The Deck. Rather than pay a cost per click, they sell ads on a monthly basis to brands that fit your content and they seem to truly value engagement of your readers rather than the number of site visits. That’s definitely more our speed and hopefully, we’ll make some magic together.

What are your thoughts on blogs with ad models? Do you find yourself relating to a lot of the content thrown in your face? What are your favorite sites that have a good balance between advertising and content? Let us know!

Dear Dave,

My name is Sarah from Article Writing Services. We have a client who would like to pay you for the opportunity to post some of their content on your website. All of the content is professionally produced and you can select from pieces relevant to your audience. The result is you get some free, interesting content for your readers while getting paid.

In return our client is asking for one link that they specify at the bottom of the content (no porn or gambling). Feel free to contact me with any concerns or clarifications you may have. If you would like to see some examples of our content, please email me so we can begin.

Sincerely,
Sarah Miller
Outreach Manager – Article Writing Services

—

Hi Sarah,
Thanks for being in touch but we don’t accept payment for content. That’s illegal, morally wrong and downright disgusting to ever think of doing to our readers.

Have a wonderful day,
Dave

This is why I love Tumblr.

My friend Niamh is right, good humor should be implemented in marketing initiatives more often. It’s a great tool for allowing us to relate to brands and reevaluate our purchasing decisions in a comfortable manner. Too often, brands assume consumers to be stupid, yet, it’s the ones who are crafty, creative and full of wit that succeed.

You’d think the GAP logo disaster would have taught brands a thing or two about logo design. Apparently, the Washington Nationals brand managers were out to lunch (perhaps at Walgreens?) when coming up with their team’s new logo. [via BKS]