Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Putting together a cult classic: Sorry, Bill, I'm not missing ...

No question, "Sorry, Bill, I'm not missing 'Happy Pony'" is already a cult classic.  If anything will push AT&T Universal, that TV commercial with the family friction over program choices will.  It's all over the web, including YouTube and Twitter.

So, how do we put together cult classics like that as well as Bob's Discount Furniture, Carter Mario Law Office, Altoids, and Sarah Palin?

Well, of course, there's luck involved in that kind of commercial success, as Nassim Taleb explains in "Fooled By Randomness." 

But the odds can be boosted if we think goofy or, as the humor experts would call it, "incongruent."  There's earnest monotone Bob, sometimes with his sister, pitching crazy cheap pricing for a four-piece bedroom set.  His trick, as with Carter Mario, is extreme repetition.  You can't miss either of them on TV.  After a while, as with all humor formulas, this hits our funny bone.  Yeah, guys, it's entertainment.  We call our buddies over to watch Bob or Carter. 

Another tip is that the context has to be small-ticket.  Few high-end products or services become cult classics, except in scandals as with Client 9.  Hook the fish that way and they might stay for the more upscale stuff or even request it.  Those who want their family to be able to see "Happy Pony" and every thing else simultaneously might get to like AT&T services so much that they will help the company create $50,000 whatevers. 

Third, the promotion itself or some rendition of it has to be a good fit for YouTube.  Sales of my novel "The Fat Guy From Greenwich" blossomed nicely after a video trailer appeared on YouTube.  In fact, that got the buzz started in Manhattan about who The Fat Guy was/is.  And buzz is a necessary but not sufficient platform for a cult classic.

Cult classics can sell anything.  And, give the marketability an infinite shelf life.  Think "Night of the Living Dead."  So, it's plain dumb not to position a product or service, right from the get-go, in an incongruent or off way. 

In the buttoned-down discipline of defense law, the online tabloid site abovethelaw.com immediately developed a cult following.  Its positioning is irreverence about serious, almost tragic subjects such as layoffs in a field where there are few or any other jobs.

Jewish Lite: Not lite enough or too lite?

Gawker brings up the rumor that HEEB, the publication of Jewish lite, may be over.   Could be.

In reading it, I didn't get a sense that it had a clear enough identity to have a strong following.  It was both not lite enough, that is not bold enough, and too lite, that is not having enough depth in tone and content.

If the rumor is on the money, good luck to the HEEB staffers thrown on the streets glutted with writing/editing talent.

Louie Louie - Can Dilenschneider position Lou [Dobbs] as regular guy?

Call me Lou.  And, think that catchy song "Louie Louie," about a guy who longs for the regular things, like a girl somewhere.  

That could be the positioning that public relations expert Bob Dilenschneider finds the best fit for Lou Dobbs.  As everyone knows by now, Lou, yeah I feel very comfortable referring to him by that common-guy name, seems to be testing out a run for a political office.  He's playing a bit coy, not letting us in on what he's eying.  But, my what big eyes you got, Lou.  He has Dilenschneider representing him so that implies serious stuff.

We have had it with the high-brow ways of Barack Goat Cheese Obama.  Evidence of that are the unfavorable ratings, so bad that he might be perceived as a lame duck, not even a year into his term of office.  And it was on his watch, as two wars go on, that a nutty media-hungry couple crashed the White House.  Bring us Louie Louie, the Moose Lady Sarah Palin, or, hark hark, channel that simple soul Ronald Reagan.

Point of clarification: Incidentally, I thought I had set the record straight: Dilenschneider is not the Fat Guy who's the protagonist in my new novel "The Fat Guy From Greenwich."  I did freelancing for his boutique for years, until 1Q '09.  But the character in that comedy of manners doesn't represent any one person.  Neither do any of the other characters such as Hail Mary Full of Shit and the ex-cons Red and Shorty.  Here are the first two chapters Download FGFGchapters1,2.

Happy Pony - A no-miss

The AT&T Universal commercial brilliantly captures the national stuck-at-home Great Recession chic.  The family of mother, father, son, daughter, and granny are squabbling over viewing preferences, which are of course all solved by the technology available through AT&T.  The contrarian cute comes from the aggressive daughter who insists that no way is she missing her show "Happy Pony."

A Wedding, Another Presidential Run?

Weddings are great networking events.  And we can bet Mama and Pappa Bear Clinton will leverage their daughter's grand event this summer for all its worth.  If Mama Bear invites the right fence-sitters, critics, and downright enemies she might just be able to run again for President in 2012.  Could be that the current president is already a lame duck.

Happy engagement, Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky. 

Those 9-figure endorsement deals - Tiger as Bad Boy could increase them

Today, of course, AD AGE speculates if Tiger's troubles, whatever they are [we may never know], will have negative impacts on his 9-figure endorsement deals.  Well, did Letterman's troubles drive away his sponsors?  That didn't happen.  Even white-bread Disney stayed with the Bad Boy of Late Night.

The reality is that Bad Boy Tiger might attract more deals than his squeaky clean image.  Who in America doesn't love a Bad Boy?  After all, as John Gartner explains in his book "The Hypomanic Edge," our nation was settled by misfits who couldn't make it anywhere else.  Here in the new world they leveraged all that to create the most powerful economy in the world and great personal wealth for themselves.

If Tiger is shrewd, he will get out of this marriage.  In the NY POST there were mutterings that he never seemed comfortable being hubby and dear ole dad.  If he can restore his winning streak, then let the playboy let it rip.  High-end sin products would seek him out to represent them. 

Given that Tiger isn't any spring chicken, the timing might be exactly right for an extreme image makeover.

"Desperate Housewives" - Touches of Shakepeare

Touches of Shakespeare.  For example, the mixups.  Gabby goes over to Lynette to inform her that Carlos has forgiven her for not disclosing her pregnancy.  At the same time Carlos is served with a lawsuit filed by Lynette for firing a pregnant woman. 

Then, the star-crossed lovers.  Bree and Katherine are both blinded by love.  And both seem to be making tragic choices.  Danny can't manage the rejection of his love for Julie and tries suicide.  She is still in love with his father. 

Meanwhile, the great disclosure.  Mystery woman on the block Angie lets the audience know, as well as her son who overhears, that she killed a man.   We wonder if she's the serial killer on Wisteria Lane.

If it's Tuesday, we find out Angelina "goes ghetto" too

This Tuesday, Ian Halperin's tell-all book on Angelina and Brad comes out.  It will be no surprise that Angelina, just like Mrs. Tiger Woods, "goes ghetto" too.  She has quite the temper, mostly triggered by Brad's behavior including his "habit," which is smoking pot.

The Gawker.com folks had a peek at the book and disclosed the highlights.  None are really new news.  The conclusion, though, might be: The couple is headed for complete splitsville.

Dump Larry Summers movement afoot?

The negative comments about White House economist Larry Summers are piling up in the media.  Is there a Dump movement afoot?

Today in the BOSTON GLOBE, the criticism is about how Summers ignored many many warnings about the aggressiveness of investments in the Harvard endowment.  As we know, the fund lost billions and the university has to borrow on unfavorable terms and conditions.  Harvard had even started laying off.

If Dubai defaults on its $60 billion debt, the Obama administration could be dealing with a double-dip downturn.  That means it would have to give up a head to the people.  Summers's would be the ideal one, particularly since he is the source of the economic advice.

The Talented Sarah Palin: Will it be Palin/Beck in '12 & in what order?

Sarah Palin has a genius for a high profile.  In a few days she sold almost a million books, at a time when books aren't exactly flying off shelves. 

As most schools of public relations hold, the height matters, not the positive or negatives of the profile.  So, although many consider her a joke, or even a scream, Palin could be on the GOP ticket for '12.  That could be with Glenn Beck.  The order on that ticket could well be determined by the profile height of each. 

No question, Palin/Beck, in whatever order, is hot.  That throws into question if Lou Dobbs is going to get a decent ROI on testing out the waters on a run for the White House.  As the NY POST reports, he is represented by public relations pro Bob Dilenschneider, who usually doesn't come cheap. 

Dobbs is probably using some of his war chest from his goodbye package from CNN.  In addition to risking the bucks, this former news anchor is putting himself out there for a possible loss he can't recover from.  His show is gone and, in his 60s, his career runaway isn't that of a Palin or Beck.

The risk is also Dilenschneider's.  The fun has moved from representing corporate America to playing in political sandboxes.   Also, since many pols have their fundraising down cold, there's big money in this.  Obviously, pols and their handlers are watching how Dilenschneider manages this challenge of transitioning Dobbs to "Latinos best friend."

Full Disclosure: Now and then, I did freelancing writing for Bob's boutique The Dilenschneider Group from the mid '90s to 1Q '09.