What these guys are talking about doesn’t exactly sound right for a car commercial. What’s 7 inches longer, handles great and is loved by girls? A Dodge Durango of course!

This very suggestive ad for the new Dodge Durango got pulled from broadcast, but is now thriving on the web and in emails. Commercials can be banned for numerous reasons. Sometimes they’re too sexy, too inappropriate, too violent, or sometimes even too honest for TV.

With creative liberty and a lack of blatant censorship, is it any wonder why there’s so much buzz about “going viral?”

Do you think the ad should have aired on TV? Do you think the internet is the only place left for provocative content like this? Share your thoughts, LOL’s, and/or outrage below.

Oil giant, BP, could be dealing with another disaster in addition to the one in the Gulf of Mexico; its brand was hijacked on Twitter by a sarcastic, witty and sometimes inappropriate writer, posing as the BP Global PR department’s official Twitter feed.

The account started last Wednesday afternoon with this tweet: “We regretfully admit that something has happened off of the Gulf Coast. More to Come.”

With fewer than 100 tweets, the feed has claimed nearly 20,000 followers including Alissa Milano, Michael Moore and Michelle Branch. The account is nearly quadruple the size of BP’s real feed, but BP hasn’t yet contacted Twitter to take it down.

Twitter has some guidelines on dealing with parody accounts in order to avoid impersonation. Even though the majority of the BPGlobalPR feed is clearly humorous, according to Twitter’s official rules, it’s closer to impersonation than it is parody. The feed identifies itself as “BP Public Relations,” listing its location as “Global” and it’s bio “This page exists to get BP’s message and mission statement out into the twitterverse!” It also used to use BP’s actual green-and-yellow logo on the page, but changed it to black-and-white with an oil stain on it.

Although you wouldn’t expect BP to be tweeting: “We just saw a shark fight an octopus inside the geyser. Almost made this whole thing worth it,” the best part of following @BPGlobalPR is reading the responses from people who don’t get that it’s a satirical account.

Would the real BP please stand up?

Tony Odone, a spokeman at BP, told Ad Age: “I’m not aware of whether BP has made any calls to have it taken down or addressed. People are entitled to their views on what we’r edoing and we have to live with those. We are doing the best we can to deal with the current situation and to try to stop the oil from flowing and to then clean it up.”

One disaster at a time

While BP is dealing with the damage of the oil catastrophe in the Gulf, it’s brand is suffering every day. A Google search for BP yields results from Facebook, many blogs and websites of many organizations calling for a boycott of BP.

With eleven workers dead, an estimated 70 miles of Louisiana coast hit by oil, and BP’s unsuccessful efforts to stop the leak, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Naplolitano refers to the disaster as the “largest incident response to an oil spill ever in the history of the United States.”

In a catastrophe like this, it is not surprising to see public outrage, calls for boycotts and government intervention. The satirical comments and the use of the old BP logo and the handle @BPGlobalPR isn’t something BP seems bothered by. Mr. Odone noted to Ad Age that BP is aware of the feed. “People are frustrated at what’s happening, as are we, and that’s just their way of expressing it.”

Allowing the public to voice their concerns and frustrations openly is a step in the right direction.

If you worked for BP, how would you respond?

In the fall of 2006, MediaCross was awarded a contract to help to recruit physicians with specialties in General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Family Practice. MediaCross began by developing a comprehensive strategy that included a rigorous process for identifying, finding, evaluating, credentialing and hiring the most qualified subset from what is considered the most-highly-educated profession in America.

Next, MediaCross developed trade advertising, direct marketing, a microsite for the Army Reserve Medical Corps, along with booth and vehicle graphics all designed to boost inquiries and assist our team of field recruiters.

The results? MediaCross has been generating over 5,000 outbound calls per month while receiving over 300 inbound calls. Our micro Web site receives over 13,000 hits each month and we’ve generated over 400 quality leads and a number of physicians are currently in the process of credentialing for Commission into the Army Reserve Medical Corps.

It is said that “creativity is the last legal means you have to gain an unfair advantage over your competition.” It is also estimated that the average consumer sees 10,000 advertising messages each day. Since your organization will often vie for the same talent as your competitors, your message not only needs to be appealing, it needs to have stopping power – some creative element that causes your ideal prospect to stop, consider your message, remember it and act upon it. MediaCross has an award-winning staff of “stopping power” creative professionals. We develop creative and strategic recruitment advertising in all mediums, including print, radio, television, outdoor, direct mail, e-mail, point-of-sale and others. Each ad is given a unique identifier, enabling MediaCross to determine how many responses are generated for each ad, which helps us determine its effectiveness.

If you answered yes to all of these questions, we don’t think you’re a geek; we’re excited to meet you. We want you to bring your design skills, your voice and your technical knowledge to your new home; MediaCross.

Description:

MediaCross is a St. Louis advertising agency seeking a font-end web developer with 2+ years of agency experience. Qualified candidates must be proficient in XHTML, CSS, JavaScript. W3C compliance is a must. jQuery and user interface/user experience development skills will set you apart from the pack. If you can also have a working knowledge of AS2/AS3 and XML, please keep reading.

The ideal candidate is a creative thinker and is able to translate ideas and concepts into useful and memorable web-based user experiences and motion-based designs. This person must have excellent communication skills and an ability to meet deadlines while being comfortable in a fast paced yet flexible environment.

Our culture demands that you have an attention to detail and ability to uphold and deliver digital work at the highest quality standards.

All applicants applying for U.S. job openings must be authorized to work in the United States.

Use the form below to apply for the Web Designer/Front-End Developer Position

If you answered yes to all of these questions, we’re excited to meet you. We want you to bring your design skills, your voice and your creative knowledge to your new home; MediaCross.

Description:

MediaCross is a St. Louis advertising agency seeking a web designer with 2+ years of agency experience. Because you probably won’t strictly be designing websites, qualified candidates must be proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Fireworks. Your ability to create Flash animations is a plus.

The ideal candidate is a creative thinker and is able to translate ideas and concepts into useful and memorable interactive marketing, brand/identity, web and motion-based designs. This person must have excellent communication skills and an ability to meet deadlines while being comfortable in a fast paced yet flexible environment.

Our culture demands that you have an attention to detail and ability to uphold and deliver digital work at the highest quality standards.

All applicants applying for U.S. job openings must be authorized to work in the United States.

Use the form below to apply for the Web Designer Position

Responsibilities

The Receptionist/Office Assistant is responsible for the daily administration of general office activities, including:

• Handling incoming phones
• Sorting and routing incoming mail
• Managing couriers and UPS/FedEx
• Transcriptions
• Greeting/welcoming guests and vendors
• Keeping lobby area clean and straightened/same with large conference room
• Coordinating conference room activities
• Ordering office supplies
• Making travel arrangements for team as necessary
• Invoicing (Accounts Receivable)
• Handling outgoing mail: stuffing, sealing, posting
• Postage meter restocking
• Coordinating office machine maintenance and repair
• Assisting in the coordination of tracking vacation time, sick leave and other forms of personnel leave
• Assisting with the coordination of new employee paperwork
• Tracking hours by client on spreadsheet program
• Assisting with ongoing administrative projects in the office

Overall Qualities

Candidate should be good with details, computer literate, and some accounting or bookkeeping experience is a plus.  Must be proficient in word processing and have a good understanding of spreadsheet and database programs. Candidates who are offered positions must submit to and pass drug and background tests.

We offer good salary and benefits, paid vacation and 401(k) (once eligibility requirements are met).

MediaCross is an equal opportunity employer.

Use the form below to apply for the Receptionist / Office Assistant Position