“New Yorker” Articles That Marketers Should Check Out While They Still Can

The New Yorker has openned up its archive for the next three months. I’ve put together a collection of articles that marketers and advertisiers should check out before access ends.

Ad Campaigns

• Honey Maid and the Business of Love by Andrew Solomon. An exploration of how traditional companies like Honey Maid, Cherrios, and Coke are embracing the culture war in their advertising.
• What Does “The Scarecrow” Tell Us About Chipotle? by Elizabeth Weiss. A discussion as to why the Mexican-food chain has centered its advertising on a sustainability message.
• The End of Got Milk? by Kirk Kardashian. A look back at the iconinc Got Milk? ad campaign, the impact of its 21 year run and the reason for its demise.

The New Face of Media

• Facebook: The World’s Biggest Direct-Marketing Company by John Cassidy. A 2014 analysis of Facebook, its marketing capabilities and its ability to disrupt the media landscape
• Searching For Trouble: Why Google Is On Its Guard by Ken Auletta. A 2009 profile on Google and its emerging efforts at trying to transform itself from being just a search engine.
• Streaming Dreams: YouTube Turns Pro. A discussion of how YouTube is going after the traditional TV networks and their ad dollars.

Marketing Strategy

• Twilight of The Brands by James Surrowiecki. Access to information creates new challenges and opportunities for brands.
• The New Pitch: Do Ads Still Work? by Ken Auletta. An exploration of how the ad agency world has changed since the days of David Ogilvy and a discussion as to what direction it is headed.
• Hanging Tough by James Surrowieski. How brands react in tough economic time.

Political Advertising

• The Final Push: The Obama Team’s High-Risk Strategy by Ryan Lizza. A look at the 2012 Obama campaign’s marketing strategy in the final weeks leading up to the election.
• The Lie Factory: How Politics Became a Business by Jill Lepore. An exploration of the birth of political consulting industry and its ties to the advertising world.
• Attack Dog: The Creator of the Willie Horton Ad is Going All Out For Mitt Romney by Jane Mayer. A profile on Larry McCarthy, the man who created the political attack ad and his legacy.

Miscellaneous

• The Six Things That Make Stories Go Viral Will Amaze and Infuriate You by Maria Konnikova. A study on what causes a story to be passed around.
• Elmore Leonard, Chevrolet Copywriter by Bruce McCall. A look at the award winning author and screen writer’s early days working at a Detroit ad agency.
• My Father, The Potato Chip by John Lahr. The author reminisces about his father Burt (a.k.a. the Lion from “The Wizard of Oz”) and discusses how being the Lays potatoes chip spokesman in the 1960's had both positive and negative impacts on his career.