Kenneth J. Weiss's Page

I have to admit, I flipped on the TV last night to watch the Olympics...and I missed it.

I did not miss seeing the events live,because, of course, they almost never were.

I did not miss the thrill of watching to see who won, because, of course, I already knew.

But as much as I missed the Olympics, a look at the coverage says that the whole
extravaganza was slightly a

… Continue

If you've spent any time over the past few months watching sports, news or entertainment programs you may have noticed the amazing quality of the graphics being used on air. Animations, transitions, bumpers, charts -
wow. And in hi def? Double-wow! Unfortunately, people are noticing more
and more instances of slightware, those unfortunate times where the technology
outpaces editorial control, and makes the program, news anchor, station or
network look bad.

… Continue

January turned out to be another great month for watching brands suffer serious face plants when using and misusing technology. The most notable brand and technology interactions where not disasters, however, but rather demonstrations of the amazing relationship between TV brands and digital technologies. (We'll get to this month's disastrous slightware examples in a few paragraphs.)

American Idol Goes Viral (Again)
When General Larry marched onto American Idol and sang "Pants on the gro… Continue

Another amazing month at the intersection of brands and technology! The biggest story of brand implosion caused by misusing technology goes to...drum roll, please...oops...quiet, please...Tiger Woods. Tiger, do you really think all of those text messages, voice mails and other examples of digital-lipstick-on-the-collar would just disappear? Toss in some internet remixes, the wild-fire spreading of digital pics, and a celebrity-crazed public, and boom - slightware! Brand damage is sometimes a tou… Continue