adage.com: Groupon CEO: We Placed Too Much Trust in Agency for Super Bowl Ads

In a Bloomberg BusinessWeek profile last week, which noted Groupon has stopped working with CP&B, Mr. Mason said he placed too much trust in the agency “to be edgy, informative and entertaining, and we turned off the part of our brain where we should have made our own decisions. We learned that you can’t rely on anyone else to control and maintain your own brand.”

I am surprised how little brand managing actually occurs in companies these days.  Most of the time marketing seems to be outsourced and tacked on a the end.

From CNNSI.com

LATimes.com: Japan radiation fears spark panic salt-buying in China

China tried to quell panic buying of iodized salt Thursday after grocery stores across the country were emptied of the seasoning by hordes of people hoping to ward off radiation poisoning from Japan.

…

People were under the false impression that consuming enough iodized salt would protect against radiation and that China’s sea salt supplies would be contaminated as a result of the unfolding Japanese crisis.

That sparked long lines and mob scenes in some of China’s largest cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou.

Cleveland Leader: John Kasich Defends Increasing Salaries of His Top Staff (published 1/8/11)

On Friday, it was revealed that incoming Ohio Governor John Kasich planned to give some of his top staff significant raises, while continuing to preach budget cuts, fiscal responsibility, and how unions and public sector employees are the downfall of our society. Many Ohioans were understandably outraged.

In the midst of all this budget belt tightening, how can John Kasich be paying his staff significantly more than what the staff of former Governor Ted Strickland was paid?

More: Governor’s Office Salaries Going WAY Up Under Kasich

Strickland’s Chief of Staff John Haseley makes $122,990/year but Kasich’s incoming Chief of Staff Beth Hansen is going to receive $170,000. This is more money than every cabinet member but 3, more than the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, more than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor, Speaker and Senate President!

And while John Keeling doesn’t appear to be on the list yet (it’s still very incomplete), Jai Chabria is.

For his long-time friend and the second half of his two man office at Lehman, John Kasich made up a brand new position: Special Assistant to the Governor. And a brand new salary as well: $145,000.

The Governor himself only makes $141,708!

How about $1 salaries until the budget is fixed?

SI.com: London 2012 countdown clock stops after 17 hours

A giant clock counting down to the 2012 Olympics stopped on Tuesday, less than a day after being started in London’s Trafalgar Square.

The digital clock, which is made by Olympic sponsor Omega, was stuck at 500 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes, 56 seconds.

“We are very disappointed that it has stopped working,” Omega said in a statement to The Associated Press. “It’s obviously a technical fault and we’ve got people working on it now.”

First person footage of the Tsunami in Japan. Shows the raw power of the Tsunami.

Micgadget.com is offering the Mark Zuckerberg or “POKING INVENTOR” action figure for sale. The sculpting detail is incredible.
Unfortunately they are sold out of the Steve Jobs figure or I probably would have gotten one of those.

I’m 5′ 11″ and I can’t even dream of dunking like that is. Jacob Tucker’s explosiveness is breathtaking.
 

This is pretty cool.  This person took a stock Battlestar Galactica Model from Moebius Model and modified it to exactly match the on screen version.