Posted 5:08 PM by Gene

If it's Sunday it must be Big Double-A-Scribble Time:

1. Surprise: Moon 'n' Stars's Expensive Razor Blade Division isn't working.

But P&G executives and some former Gillette managers say much of the deal's value is like an iceberg -- it's there, just obscured under water.

FULL SPEED AHEAD! said the captain of the Titanic.

Plus these bozos are about to turbocharge the engine room with one of those twenty-blade $10-a-blade "upgrades". Moon 'n' Stars never heard of Moore's Law.

2. Quit Complaining About More Credit-Card Offers

I'm not -- I'm flattered a few banks think highly enough of my credit rating to offer me cards. I've sent off for two zero-APR offers in the last several months. Why shouldn't I accept them? I try to live within my means; nonetheless it's nice to know my credit lines are there. I say if you get a good teaser rate and no annual fee, and intend to pay off any balance before it expires, apply!

3. Here's long term potentially very-bad news for the Ub Igers and Lowsy Mayses -- addressable ads. The only technologies that can pull it off are cable and the Web -- and if addressable ads are the usual big cream pies in the face, the viewers will throw one back. Careful targeting is the future of advertising, a future that, if done right, will mean NO MORE JUNK TV SHOWS AND THREE-SONG PLAYLISTS.

WORSE -- or better -- in a recent experiment CONCAST offered an opt-out, much as with direct mail or phone solicitations. This can only mean one thing: NO MORE TV AND RADIO FOR THE BIGGEST CREAM PIES OF ALL: AUTO ADS.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA HAVE RESCUED LIVE TV!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe. Maybe the usual people who must watch such live events found them marginally more interesting. Maybe Nielsen's tweaked its numbers (that's what WE suspect). Maybe next year people will decide to tune out the live specials again, or maybe someone will call out A. C. on his fantasy numbers. We wouldn't prolong the happy hour too many days.

5. There will be no Michael Phelps. Let's get that straight right away.

So why have you tone-deaf advertisers opened your wallets, turned them upside down and poured out tons of OUR MONEY?