Guns & Games: Licensing Partnerships Pave Way For Controversial In-Game Placement

Electronic Arts, the $4 billion+ game publisher with blockbuster titles ranging from Madden to Medal of Honor, has built its business on providing the most authentic gaming experience in the business. While that's a credit to sports titles, it can present some sticky issues when it comes to action games, according to The New York Times. For the release of Medal of Honor Warfighter, last Oct...

Is One of Soccer's Biggest Sponsors Running A Pyramid Scheme?

It's the takedown everyone's talking about. Herbalife's PR team likely spent the holidays in overdrive after hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, launched this lengthy and detailed attack on the fast growing nutritional products maker last Friday. That's the same Herbalife that earlier this year announced a $44 million, 10-year sponsorship with the LA Galaxy making it the single largest and longest...

Ball Drop Billboards Fetch $4M

One Times Square, which for over 100 years has hosted one of the world's most iconic New Year's Eve celebrations, will this year reel in more than $23 million from ad revenue. According to the Wall Street Journal, the mostly empty office building is a booming business thanks to ad deals with the likes of Toshiba, Dunkin' Brands and Anheuser-Busch. These brands pay a hefty price for the privileg...

This School Probably Surprised You With Their Rose Bowl Appearance

If you've watched enough college football, you're no doubt familiar with the sometimes cheesy recruiting promos which each school participating in the game usually runs during halftime. Disney/Pixar's Monsters University may not have a football team, but they found a very clever way to promote the school during yesterday's Rose Bowl. Check out this fictional recruiting video that ran during the...

Let's Hope NBA Sponsorship Doesn't Come To This..

In its most recent issue, GQ Magazine poked fun at the NBA's ongoing interest in commercializing team jerseys. Hat tip: Jared Melzer #humortag

Evian Launches Snow-Making Playground - The More You Play, The More It Snows

Evian, and its agency, Havas Worldwide, have found a novel way to take the brand's "Live Young" mantra to the next level. It is installing Evian playgrounds with adult-sized play equipment throughout London. Here's the trick though. Unlike one of those run of the mill adult playgrounds, Evian's equipment is hooked up to a snowmaking machine so the harder you swing on swings or see-saw on the se...

Fast Food Chain Invents "Couchgating" And Calls Itself An Official Sponsor

KFC is introducing its new "Gameday Bucket" with a new promotion that makes it the official sponsor of Couchgating. Just to be safe, it has also trademarked the term. Through a dedicated section on its Facebook page, facebook.com/KFC, and a partnership with Yahoo!'s ThePostGame.com, KFC will provide fans with special content such as Rules of Couchgating, profiles of Couchgating Legends and ...

Back to Work! NHL Lockout Is Over..

The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association reached agreement on the framework for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement early Sunday morning. After negotiating for more than 16 hours, both sides announced an agreement in principle shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday. No word yet on the start date of the season or the number of games each team will play though repo...

IMG Acquires Sports PR Agency, Catalyst

IMG has added to the capabilities of its consulting division by acquiring New York City-based, . Founded in 2005, the firm which counts brands like Purina, Subway, Dick's Sporting Goods, Under Armour, Timex, Vitamin Water and Powerade as clients, will retain offices in New York, Los Angeles and Charlotte as it is integrated within IMG's consulting division. "The acquisition of Catalyst is a ...

AP Gives Sponsored Tweets a Try, Twitterverse Freaks Out

As it looks for new methods of monetization, the Associated Press today announced that Samsung will be the first company to provide sponsored tweets to the news agency's primary Twitter account, found at Twitter.com/AP. The social media sponsorship is set to coincide with the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas starting today and the advertising will appear twice a day this week (Jan. 7...