Found an intresting PR for AOL , and new adds
Dulles, VA /DenounceNewswire/ -- April 26, 1997 -- Boldly marketing
where no online service has dared go before, America Online today
announced it had secured agreements with all of the major music and film
distributors to include AOL advertisements, sponsorship messages, and copies
of software on popular music CD's, videotapes, and laser discs.
Beginning next month, all recorded media from Disney, Time Warner, Viacom,
BMG Entertainment, PolyGram, and Sony will include advertisements,
commentary, and software with an AOL-oriented message.
The latest "3 Tenors" opera CD, for example, includes the voice of Steve Case
suddenly appearing in the left stereo channel while Luciano Pavarotti wails
away in the right channel. Case, who at times has to shout to be heard over the
booming tenor's stirring delivery, asks listeners whether or not they know that
there is an opera forum on AOL which they can go to discuss this current
musical piece.
Likewise, the rap stars Wu-Tang Clan will be including a plug for AOL on
their next CD, to be released next month. Wu-Tang Clan fans will be able to
insert their CD into their PC or Macintosh and use the software on the CD to
connect to AOL and join the Wu-Tang Clan Fan Club forum online. In turn,
Wu-Tang Clan then gets the fan's identity, address, credit card information,
and other vital demographic data which it can use for whatever purpose it
wants. In addition, AOL gets to sell the information to whatever law
enforcement agencies or political parties bid the highest. "It's a
win-win-win-screw arrangement," said an AOL spokeswheel. "The band wins,
AOL wins, law enforcement wins, and the consumer gets screwed."
AOL will also show up in so-called "Vendor's Cut" versions of movies, both in
the soundtrack as well as the visuals. Certain scenes have been re-recorded so
that characters now mention AOL in the dialog. Pictures of AOL floppy disks
have been digitally inserted into some scenes.
Using words like "leverage" and "partner" as verbs, BMG Entertainment vice
senior chief operating president Kevin Conroy said some things in a prepared
statement which were too boring to include in this press release. His assistant,
who asked to be identified, was not.
"My vision," says Steve Case, chief operating founder of AOL, "is one of the
American consumer coming home from a hard day at work, cozing up in front
of their TV, popping in an AOL-enhanced DVD, watching a movie, and then
clicking on their favorite star to be magically taken to that star's AOL chat
room or web site. I envision Americans wasting more time than ever on
worthless information that really has no meaning or significance in their lives. As
long as we have access to consumers' credit card accounts, and as long as the
consumers are fooled into thinking they're happy and satisfied, we're happy
and satisfied." |
