Goodyear, bad day.

 

In a classic case of why you should always be prepared in PR, Tony Stewart completely blasted Goodyear after his second place finish at Atlanta yesterday. You can view his rant in its entirety above, but to summarize, he was a PR pro’s worst nightmare as he:

1. Called you out on a national stage

2. Called the product quality into question

3. Singlehandedly hurt your credibility by attacking the very thing you are known for

4. Mentioned two of your competitors as being able to provide superior products

Goodyear’s response afterward? Nothing. They completely glossed over it at the press conference, waiting a whole day to issue a statement. This gave ESPN (and other sports reporting programs) the chance to play it several times. So, what will people remember – Stewart’s rant or Goodyear’s reply that their tires are tested in accordance to NASCAR regulations and exceed every standard?

Maybe Goodyear wasn’t prepared; maybe this was their plan. I’m willing to bet it was the latter given that they didn’t even have a statement or media release on their racing site (come on people, be relevant; you know Tony Stewart, Goodyear tires, etc. ranked high in SE today).

But never give the media and the public the power to wholly pass judgement.

Blizzard 2008:The Eve of Destruction

I’m stuck in Columbus, Ohio – and staring down a blizzard. You should see this place; it’s at a halt and everyone is just hunkering down waiting for it to hit.

Ironically enough, after eating in the hotel I came up to my room and caught this old Barry McGuire performance on a local cable channel. (I love this song by the way – I like to think of it as President Bush’s theme song. But it was written in 1965.)

You can’t keep ‘Boner’ down

Forgive the absolute juvenile headline, but I couldn’t resist seeing as how Growing Pains sidekick Richard ‘Boner’ Stabone a.k.a. Andrew Koenig a.k.a. son of Walter Koenig a.k.a. son of Star Trek’s Chekov was in court last week awaiting penalties stemming from his arrest for interfering with a special event. That special event was the Rose Parade on New Year’s day. Turns out Koenig is a very vocal activist for military victims in Burma, under the rule of a dictatorship propped up by the People Republic’s of China.

So what landed Boner in the clink for 10 hours? He stepped out in front of a float holding a sign that read “China: Free Burma”. He was the only protestor arrested.

You know my thoughts on censorship – I hate it. But in this case, as much as I support Koenig’s right to protest, say what he pleases, etc., his ‘crime’ was public interference (similar to inciting a riot – yelling fire in a crowded theater) that could have resulted in an accident, a float being turned over, etc. While I’m not picturing an Animal House ending, it could have caused some harm.

That being said, how did I not know that Boner was the son of Chekov? And how have I gone this long without writing about ‘Growing Pains’ and my favorite three episodes?

#3. Episode 17 (season one) ‘Charity begins at home’: This is the one where Ben goes around the neighborhood to collect money for a fake charity so he can get Jason a sweet birthday gift instead of that crappy ash tray he made in shop class. (High comedy alert – Jason doesn’t even smoke!)

#2. Episode 27 (season two) ‘Employee of the month’: Mike loses his job at Burger Hut after taking the blame for a co-worker who left the cash register draw open resulting in it being short. Mike doesn’t want to lose his awesome VW Cabrio so he fakes having a job to avoid Jason finding out. But you know how smart Jason is – he can’t be fooled. Especially when he stops at Burger Hut to surprise Mike. (True sign of the 80′s alert – the ‘Get a job’ montage while Mike drives around looking for a new job.)

#1. Episode 105 (season five) ‘Ben and Mike’s excellent adventure’: Mike and Ben spend all night in pursuit of some school supplies. They end up avoiding the cops twice as well as principal Dewey. And they hook up with some girls!

On a side note, can you believe there were seven seasons and 177 episodes? Wow. If this has you longing for the good ol’ days, you can watch episodes online at AOL.

(Photo from Pasadena Weekly online)

Republicans, I just can’t quit you

I reported for my civic duty today and voted. As you may remember, when we last left it I wasn’t sure what ballot they would bestow on this non-partisan. Turns out, I CAN pick what party I want. And as I did I found myself in a familiar place – at the elections hall holding a republican ballot.

Now, this was only because I wanted to support Ron Paul, but still, it stung a little seeing as how I walked in 2003 and hadn’t voted for one since 2000. I have since learned to look past party lines and actually take my independent status seriously. However, what alarms me is that there are people, young and old, that are out there pounding the street and their chests rooting for ‘their’ party like you would cheer for your favorite sporting team. It’s crazy. And I know that personally as I used to be that guy.

Hey, you’re talking to someone who wore George H.W. Bush buttons and stickers to school – three years before I could even vote. I wanted to be president when I was a kid, telling my sixth grade teachers that I had to so the republicans could stay in office more than the democrats. Heck, I voted for Dan Quayle, Bob Dole and Pat Buchanan for God’s sake! Thank goodness I’ve since come to my senses.

Thanks to everyone who was praying for my political soul. Speaking of praying, I’m curious how the republican party feels about voting for someone who deviates from the Christian right. Should be an interesting fall regardless.

What is this? A Justin Timberlake fan page?

You would think so after two straight days of clips with JT in them. First we had his cameo in the new Gnarls Barkley video; now, today we have the clip from his latest film ‘The Love Guru’.

His clip is just one good part of an overall pretty funny trailer. Check it out:

I’m an extreme liberal!

Exciting moment for me last week. I set a new monthly high for visits; I’m pretty excited about that even if a third of those have come from people searching for macaroni and cheese recipes. Speaking of which, you know, search engines are a funny thing. Turns out that this site gets returned when people type in ‘other extreme liberals’.

Now, I’m not sure why that is. Maybe there are some extreme liberals out there looking for a friend. And I’m alright with that. Come on over folks. We don’t judge here. Just don’t root for the Yankees or Michigan and we’ll get along fine.

On the other hand, I’m not sure why I pop up when said loner types in ‘other extreme liberals’. I published one post, trackbacked to a blog that labeled me one – that’s enough to do it? I guess it doesn’t take much for you to be labeled, literally, anymore.

Speaking of being an extreme liberal, I’m excited vote tomorrow. I’m a man without a party, you know. Ever since I switched to independent status four years ago (leaving the only political love I’ve ever known, the Republican party) I don’t know what I can do in the primary. It’s not for lack of trying though. I have literally called every number and looked at every FAQ and message board to find out, but I get a different answer every time.

So I will proudly show up as an independent tomorrow. If I can vote for a primary candidate, I will request a Republican ballot (I have to support Ron Paul). If I’m denied, I’ll take the ‘generic ballot’ and vote for every Democrat on it, just to offset the years I voted straight ticket the other way. Oh, and because I don’t like the Republican party anymore.

How many more days until I can vote for Nader?

New Gnarls Barkley is ‘Vibin’

Did you see the new Gnarls Barkley video? Looks like they pick up right where St. Elsewhere left off – and that ain’t bad. Gotta love the JT cameo:

Let’s Hear it for Cleveland!

No, not the city of Cleveland. Although the Cavs trades, Browns free agent signings and Indians promising season starting do have me feeling excited about the place.

No, I am talking about Cleveland Brown, the lovable, level-headed neighbor and friend of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin. See, Fox is debating on giving him a spinoff.

I like this idea. When I first read the teaser link on Pop Candy, I immediately thought of Brown and Quagmire. However, I think Quagmire might get old real fast if he is the feature guy – kind of like spinning Fonzie or Kramer off.

Instead, Cleveland gives them a chance to introduce new characters around the consistent bore of personality that we have come to expect and love. I just hope this doesn’t mean we’ll see less of him in Family Guy. You never know; two production schedules might keep the guy busy. He was unavailable for comment or else we would have asked him ourselves.

Personally, I would have liked to see them build one off of the greased up deaf guy.