The first bumper stickers appeared before World War II and were attached to cars with wire. Kansas City silk screener Forest P. Gill is recognized as the father of the bumper sticker having pioneered the use of pressure sensitive stock to make the message stick to the bumper.

Americans’ claim to bumper stickers as a form of political expression isn’t exclusive. In Israel, people’s passion for bumper sticker messages have crossed over into rap — spawning a hit single covering 120 stickers in the lyrics of one song.

Which brings us to the message of one Florida native, seen here visiting a rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike.

What the message lacks in grammar is more than made up in passion (note that the slogan is not on the bumper, but permanently affixed to the back window).  And given a choice between being a fan of outdoor sports and liberal-media-inspired rules on proper capitalization, who wouldn’t prefer grabbing a Savage Model 110 rifle to a red tipped Sharpie marking pen?

The recent dustup between Professor Gates and Officer Crowley has taught us all about the dangers of profiling and sterotyping. But I’m willing to go out on a limb here and assume that someone who doesn’t know the difference between their and they’re won’t know how to spell xenophobic, either.

Sources: Buperstickerz.com, Wikipedia, NY Times 8/16/2004

The story notes

• The no-god advertising is represented by the Atheist Bus Campaign (“There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy life”)
• Countered by the pro-God groups, jesussaid.org, the Trinitarian Bible Society, The Christian Party (“There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life.”) and the Russian Orthodox Church (“There is a God, BELIEVE. Don’t worry and enjoy your life”)

Nielsen has designs on measuring all media consumption. Nielsen has labeled this “Follow the Video.” Perhaps they should call it “Follow the Audio.”

The ratings juggernaut has put in place measurement technologies that follow three screens – TV, internet & mobile. Now comes word that Nielsen will release out-of-home data later this summer through a joint venture with a company called IMMI. This technology from IMMI is similar to Arbitron’s PPM. Panelists will carry a specially-designed cell phone with them wherever they go. This cell phone is completely passive and collects audio fingerprints from all media sources. The audio signals are then uploaded to a central site and compared to a master database of all audio sources.

Does this mean we are really back to one screen? This smart cell phone screen? Can audio rule the day versus video? Can audio fingerprints truly be matched to all possible audio fragments in a given market? I think the overriding question is: Does this work?

This technology will not be accredited by the MRC at launch. Some other impediments include:

• IMMI’s sample is ages 13-54. so, Kids & Tweens 2-12 will not be included, nor the huge 55+ demographic. So this is not exactly representative.
• All panelists must use the IMMI “smart phone” as their ONLY phone. One can not use a landline phone or one’s own cell phone for day-to-day use. This will take a lot of convincing for people to give up their own cell phones. What about ringtones?
• Respondents carry the smart phone with them all of the time, in their pockets and their pocketbooks. Can this miracle device hear and identify every audio source in a market amid the cacophony of everyday noise and audio distractions?

Is this technology sound and ready for prime time? Well, at least we know it’s “sound.”

See also: Cynopsis Weekender, July 2007: Here, There And Everywhere

• Lee Doyle, North American CEO of Mediaedge:cia: “Economically challenged people are pulling the plug on their cable TV subscriptons, choosing to view video online instead.” Good economical move for the less advantaged. But how poor could they be if they have a computer and a broadband connection? Has anyone noticed hordes of the homeless watching the Lost finale in the public library?
• Paul Donato, Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer at Nielsen: “It may take as many as nine streams of data to measure the three screens of viewing.” To report usage on TV, computers and mobile devices, Donato’s list includes peoplemeter data; set top box info; out of home measurement; Internet panel, server and branding measurement metrics; mobile; bill panels; on device metering.
• George Shababb, COO of TNS Media Research North America on how STB data complement panel based audience measurement: “Over 90 percent of the channels in a digital environment have audience shares of less than one percent.”
• Todd Juenger, TiVO’s Vice President & General Manager, Audience Research and Measurement on why advertisers should want to study commercials skipped in TiVO homes: “If you are a doctor trying to cure cancer, you experiment with patients who have the disease. DVR (ad skipping) isn’t just another digital phenomenon. We need to study it before it becomes an epidemic.”
• Josh Chasin, Chief Research Officer, comScore: “70-75% of the US online audience watch one or videos online each month.”
• Tracy Patrick Chan, YouTube/Google: “Ten hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. YouTube is the #1 Entertainment Web site and the #7 ranked Website in the world.”
• Martin Eichholz, VP of Research at Frank N. Magid Associates: “The average age of viewers at ABC.com is ten years less than the average age of viewers to ABC television.”

• New York (including Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex-Somerset-Union)
• Los Angeles (including Riverside-San Bernardino)
• Chicago and
• San Francisco (including San Jose)

The September reports for these markets, using PPM data, will be available on October 8, 2008. At that time the company’s diary-based radio ratings will be withdrawn from those eight markets and radio transactions among Arbitron-subscribing stations and agencies will take place solely using PPM-based radio ratings.

These markets join Houston and Philadelphia as “live” currency markets. PPM technology has also been licensed for radio and/or television measurement in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Singapore.
Source: Arbitron, 6/12/08

When the Beatles released the song “Here, There and Everywhere” in 1966, the media landscape was much simpler than it is today. In that pre-remote, non-digital, all-live era, all you needed to get by were three networks and a television set with rabbit ears. In 1966, mobile media included transistor radios, 45s and a few ungainly black & white TV models with handles.

Now, mobile media is here – and everywhere. But consumers’ desire to watch and roam conflicts with advertisers’ need to know who is getting their messages. IMMI, a Silicon Valley technology startup, thinks they have a solution to this conflict of interests.

“A measurement system needs to be ubiquitous and flexible,” says Amanda Welch, co-founder and interim CEO of IMMI. The firm will have research panels in six DMAs by September to collect consumer exposure to broadcast, cable and radio using proprietary cell phone software. Each mobile phone samples ten seconds of sound twice each minute transmitting digital signatures for each snippet to central media servers. The respondents’ signatures are then matched against a database of audio continuously collected from all TV and radio outlets in the market. These data can be supplemented with static content from offline media as well as commercials, promos, movies and songs.

IMMI’s technique differs from the Arbitron PPM deployment in Houston and Philadelphia. Where Arbitron relies on media outlets to encode content with an inaudible serial number identifying it’s source, IMMI can classify content without client cooperation. Nielsen, formerly a PPM partner, is working with IMMI to create a national panel of Persons 13-54 to measure out-of-home media consumption. The first phase of Nielsen’s out-of-home reporting for six broadcast and 70 cable networks, regional sports networks and 40+ syndicated shows is targeted for release in September, 2007.

Studies from Arbitron, IMMI and other vendors indicate there’s a substantial amount of out-home-viewing that doesn’t get included in the ratings. Data from IMMI in March and April data show unreported out-of-home viewing to American Idol accounted for 5-20 percent of total viewing in Chicago, Los Angles, New York and Miami. Including out-of-home viewing in future ratings is good news for both providers of movable media and advertisers who want to reach consumers here, there and everywhere. ##