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Grounds for Desertion: The Last Stand of Starbucks’ Third Place?
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Oh, now you've gone and pissed off the mermaid... (illustration by Jeffrey Thomas) Three yuppies walk into a Starbucks. Sounds like...
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In The Can: Coors Campaign Leaves Us Cold
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Just chillin' It’s not as much fun picking on Coors now as when they were run by right-wing zealots from a mountain stronghold in...
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Too Soon? iTunes Features Michael Jackson
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC The news of Michael Jackson’s death just hit the internets a few hours ago, and the iTunes Store already has Michael Jackson featured...
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Creativity without Borders: “Beat It” Tehran Style
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Score one for the Iranian protesters — at least when it comes to marketing. Just last week, the Iranian protests dominated...
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Not Exactly “Metafore!”: Politicians and Poetic License
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC "My darling, I may be a lowly postal employee, but I do have government-run health insurance..." "Then shut up and kiss me, you...
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United States of Generica: Pizza Hut Becomes “The Hut”
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC No pizza for you! What’s wrong with pizza? I love pizza! Yet fast food giant Pizza Hut is dropping the word “pizza” from some of its...
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WTHWTT?! Microsoft Tosses Up New Ad — Don’t Watch
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC File under “What the Hell Were They Thinking?!” A few days ago, Microsoft leaked a new ad for Internet Explorer 8 — though I’m not...
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Expressing My Inner TURFgeek: How I Became a Professional Sportswriter for a Day
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC No, not me on the cover. Really. Somebody my size with my athletic ability doesn’t play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Picture an...
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Going Out with a Really Big Bang: Celebrities Planning Even Grander Finales
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC The following is a satirical work of fiction. Those easily offended should surf to safer territory now… "You ain't seen nothin'...
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“True Blood”: Only Skin Deep
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Not my type. I finally got around to watching the first season of “True Blood” on DVD — yeah, I know, I’m a total TV slacker — but I...
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What’s The Deal With Rebates? (And How Can Your Business Use ‘Em?)
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director of Atomic Tango LLC "Let's talk about a sensitive subject: breakage..." So you finally found that gadget you’ve been dreaming about — you know, the one...
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1984 2.0: Amazon “Kindles” an Orwellian Fury
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Still a troublemaker. Orwell is not only spinning in his grave, he must be doing triple salchows. Amazon kindled a web-wide furor...
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“Syrup”: The Antidote to Boring Business Books. And Klingons.
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC "I write business books for a living. What do you do?" I’m pissed. I just read one of the dullest business books ever — and I’ve read...
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Game Over: MySpace Seeks Salvation in… Gaming?
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC What lies in store for MySpace? MySpace is losing it. And I’m not talking about its members defecting to Facebook. Last year, the...
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The Brand is the Result: In Defense of Image-Only Advertising
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC I couldn’t resist the bait. A direct marketing guy on LinkedIn posed the following question: “Why don’t most advertising agencies pay...
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Stage vs Screen: Time to Swap Bodies?
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Hollywood is experiencing a “Freaky Friday” that’s lasting all summer — and perhaps beyond. In the 1976 movie “Freaky Friday,” a...
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Pop Quiz: Which One of These Things is Not Like the Others?
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC I’m usually impressed with Amazon’s ability to recommend products based on a purchase. It’s a smart way to get current customers to...
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Black and White and Dead All Over: Can Journalism Survive Free Riders?
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Yeah, try re-bottling that. (illustration by Stuart MacKay-Smith) It’s tough watching an old friend slowly die. Even tougher knowing...
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United States of Generica 2: Radio Shack Becomes “The Shack”
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Previously on Cool Rules Pronto… Pizza Hut became “The Hut,” evoking images of Jabba — or worse. Now word comes that another iconic...
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Out of the Office — and over at Drew’s Marketing Minute
Today I’m guest blogging over at Drew McLellan’s esteemed blog, Drew’s Marketing Minute. In my post, “Not Safe For Work”: Chief Reputation Officers & Other Executive Excess, I dissect the silliest...
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Just Break ‘Em: Not So Cool Rules in Marketing and Media
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC For all our talk of freedom, we Americans LOVE rules… Our favorite sport, football, has the most rules of any sport on the planet....
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Prepare for Takeoff. Again. And Again. And Again… JetBlue Offers “All You Can...
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Never unpack again. Suddenly, millions of Americans are making lists of where they would like to go. Others are wishing they hadn’t...
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Worth Repeating: MBAs Fail to Communicate
“Next to analysis, communication skills must count among the most important for future masters of the universe. To their credit, business schools do stress these skills, and force their students to...
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Enough with the Fluff! A Recession is No Time for Management B.S.
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC "My hit HBO series is over, and my stock portfolio is worth dirt, and you're telling me to 'be resilient'?!" Pass the paper bag, I’ve...
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Movin’ On Up: Cool Rules Pronto has a New Address
This is the last Cool Rules Pronto post at this address. I’ve migrated the entire blog (past articles and all) to a hosted site: http://atomictango.com/blog. The move was pure hell — you’d think...
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