Ford’s and Chrysler’s Misleading Advertising Campaigns – Ford Motor Co. and Chysler Group are have had complaints to the FTC over misleading advertising that lead some of the general public to think their vehicles are made in the USA – particularly the Chrysler 300 and the Ford Edge. Apparently, these models are assembled in Canada and often have Mexican-made parts, which go against Chysler’s “Imported from Detroit” tagline and Ford’s radio spot that advertised it being an American car. What do you think of the companies’ advertising their cars as American?

BlackBerry outages spread to North America – Across the world, Blackberry users noticed an outage in their services – one of the biggest outages yet. Since the European infrastructure failed, emails and messages sent were so backed up in the RIM systems, it caused outages in the US and in Asia. With outages happening a couple times a year, people are rethinking keeping their Blackberries, opting to upgrade to a DROID or iPhone. Can Blackberry keep up?

Bank of America sharpens messaging about new fees – Last week Bank of America announced a $5 monthly fee for debit card users – causing public outrage. They now have repositioned their messaging, explaining who will be charged with this fee and how it can be avoided. According to this PR Week article, a recent survey found 36% of Americans have “very little” or “no” confidence in US banks. While BoA is saying this new fee is to recover lost revenue, do you think consumers will look to bank elsewhere?

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This week it was a 4:1 vote – Blackberry. With the general population being so dependent on technology, especially mobile, Blackberry needs to make sure outages like this don’t happen again. This one on of the biggest stories of the week and had people questioning whether or not they should still be used, and that is why this story won as the Power Ranker.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Bank of America's Fees, Blackberry outages, Chrysler and Ford advertising, misleading advertising, RIM

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The similarities: both involve typing letters, numbers, and symbols from a keyboard onto an electronic screen to be sent to the screen of someone else. Both require very little energy use or cost to the server in terms of data transfer. Both can be done quickly, but only if you don’t lose the connection (which happens a lot, especially with T-mobile).

So what makes them different? E-mail is considered more formal, because one is taking the time to actually write out a message (when was the last time someone send out an e-mail that just said ‘k’ or ‘lol’ or ‘cool’?), whereas texting can be done very quickly and on the go. Also, e-mail requires one to be logged into an internet server somewhere. So even if you’re travelling and you can get internet service through your phone, you’ll have to log-in to do it-making the process slower, and potentially putting yourself at risk for phishers to hack in if your phone’s internet connection is unsecure for any reason.

That said, e-mail allows individuals to send more information than texts usually can, such as links to Youtube videos and better quality photos. It’s much easier to send word documents, excel spreadsheets, and power points to yourself or others via e-mail, (texting it is impossible at this point unless you have an iPad, and even then). Plus, if I have to wait to be on the internet to use e-mail, that’s one less opportunity to send a message while I drive (promoting safe driving).

Finally, I often am in contact with people on a professional level. I feel very uncomfortable sending out texts to those people, especially if I don’t know the person well. I’ve never been uncomfortable sending out an e-mail, even to unfamiliar people. For that reason, even more-so than the other two, I personally prefer e-mailing people as to texting.

What do you think? Do you prefer texting to e-mail? Share your thoughts on this subject.

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Technorati Tags: email vs. text messaging preferences, USA Today Survey on email vs. texting

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Abercrombie to ‘Jersey Shore’: Ditch our brand – Abercrombie and Fitch has sent an offer to the cast of the Jersey Shore offering them compensation for the halt of them wearing the brand on television. A&F is concerned that by the cast wearing their brand they are “distressing” fans of their brand. What do you think of Abercrombie’s offer? Is the Jersey Shore really hurting its brand?

Google Goes Soup-To-Nuts On Android With Bid For Motorola – Google put in a bid to buy Motorola for 12.5 billion dollars – a move that signals how moving into the Android market (by owning their hardware) is going to be an important strategy in the future. If the deal goes through, Apple will definitely have some big competition. Will Google every one-up Apple?

Amazon Launches New iPhone App for College Students – Amazon has launched an application for iPhones targeting college students. The app lets students do price checks on things they need including, textbooks, electronics, etc. It also allows them to list items they no longer use on their “trade in” feature. Rather than getting cash back, students will receive Amazon gift cards for items sold. Do you think this is a helpful application for college students?

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This is it was a surprising twist, both Renatta and Justin voted for A&F. Noting that the brand doesn’t openly advertise, this is a big PR stunt for coverage and is a bold move for the company considering the popularity of Jersey Shore. This PR stunt has also received a lot of coverage and got everyone talking about the brand.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: A&F making an offer to the Situation, Abercrombie and Fitch and Jersey Shore, Amazon's app for college students, Google Bidding for Motorola

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Budweiser pulling an Apple – Budweiser is pulling an Apple by saying no other alcoholic beverage can have the word “Bud” in it. The company recently sent a cease and desist letter to Budini, an Argentinean wine maker. Rather paying for lawyers in a trademark dispute, they changed their name to Bodini. Budini actually stood for Based Upon Dreams of Individuals, Not Institutions. They are donating the money that would have gone to lawyers in the dispute to benefit the Dominio del Plata Scholarship Foundation, a foundation that provides educational and recreational opportunities to the children of Bodini’s employees. At least some companies have morals.

FBI and iTunes release the ‘Child ID’ app – An application is now available for iPhones that allows parents to store information on their children if anything, God forbid, were to happen to them. The applications stores pictures, information on their height, weight, etc. – all which can be quickly sent to authorities in the case of an emergency. Nothing like being constantly paranoid, however with the recent stories of missing children, this is a good application to download.

Comcast offers Internet access for low-income families – Comcast is now offering a $9.95/month service to low income families through a program called Internet Essentials. Eligible families will be able to have Internet connection at a low price, be able to buy a more affordable netbook and have free Internet training classes. While this all seems like Comcast is opening its heart to those less fortunate, this is actually an agreement made through its Comcast-NBC merger. Let’s see how generous they are in 3 years when the terms expire.

Paperless Receipts – More and more major retailers are sending customers out of the store without their receipts. Why? Because they are being sent electronically. While Apple has been doing this since 2005, the use of mobile and the Web for purchasing has started to change the way we shop – and the things we need. What do you think of paperless receipts?

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

We had a tie this week between the Child ID application and Bodini. Topazers, Liz and Renatta, both thought that the Child ID application should win this week’s ranking because it’s an application that is actually useful, and meaningful. They both said that with all the less important applications out there such as, Angry Birds, the application you can track if your friend is PMSing, and whatnot – this stands out from the pack as something that could help out a family and/or community when in need.

On the other hand, Justin and I both thought the Bodini article came on top. Rather than fighting with Budweiser, they just threw in the towel and decided to better themselves by donating the money they would have used in a lawsuit towards a good cause. This not only makes them look like the good guys, it also helps to spread the word about who they are as a company.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Bodini, Budini, Budweiser's ceast and desist, Child ID app, Comcast, Comcast's Internet Essentials, electronic receipts, paperless receipts

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T-Mobile and Radio Shack Break-up – T-Mobile devices will no longer be available at Radio Shack locations after an apparent “breach in contract.” Radio Shack will now be teaming up with Verizon Wireless come September 15th. While most brands, people… entities, attempt to make their split amicable and PR-friendly, this duo seems to be doing the opposite.

Social Media & Education- While social media isn’t completely embraced in the classroom, certain schools across the nation are incorporating social media and mobile devices into their curriculum. The theory behind this is that these new ways of participating are encouraging kids to pay attention, making them aware of what they post and who their audience is. A principal from NJ said that kids are coming into the classroom bored and disconnected and social media is a way to get the students’ attentions.

Man gets 4 years for Stalking on Facebook – A man is currently getting 4 years in prison for stalking women on Facebook, figuring out their email passwords and sending explicit pictures of the women – which he found by trolling their email folders. This brings up the bigger issue of making sure your private information isn’t available to everyone on Facebook or other social networks. While social networks are often thought as places to connect with friends – odd people are lurking on them as well.

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This week social media in the classroom won because like it or not, kids are online and using technology more and more. There is no way to stop it – so why not embrace it and integrate education into their use of it?

What do you think?