Sprint isn't giving in to the request and is proceeding to argue independent test results. I quite frankly don't care whether they give in, keep the claim, or change it to say that they're the best thing since sliced bread. I just want reliable service and calls that actually go through. [Electronista]

Google's game here is obvious: by analyzing this anonymized sea of TiVo viewer data, they can help customers target their ads more accurately. Ad buyers also win, because they have a better sense of exactly how many people are actually seeing their ads. Guess who doesn't like this plan!:

Now, with TiVo's data, collected from millions of digital video recorders across the country, Google can tell exactly which of those commercials are being bypassed. If all the commercials are being skipped, the channel gets no money. It's easy to see why TV executives get heartburn over this.

Between my cable box's DVR function and my computer, I rarely watch live TV. And when I do, I usually end up flipping around during commercials. I know I'm not alone, and I know this is causing problems for networks, who are pushing more and more of their advertising into show, instead of between them.

Google, which already licenses similar data from Dish Network, is giving us a preview of how this kind of thing will work for everyone in the future—soon, data detailing what people are and aren't watching will be too present, too obvious to ignore, and networks will have to acknowledge that hey, nobody is watching ads anymore. In the long term this will make advertising more effective and efficient, but it could also kneecap TV ad sales as a whole. Or not! Says Google:

Our system makes it easy for people to buy TV ads. We're lowering the barriers to entry, which has the effect of growing the market.

Somehow I imagine "lowering the barriers for entry" isn't on the top of NBC's to-do list right now. Google will kill all. [LAT]

(Click image for big-i-fied version.)

For a few thousand dollars, Japanese design firm D-Barcode will make your business a custom barcode, incorporating these simple vertical lines into pretty much any type of scene you can imagine (the code serves as everything from noodles to trees to rain to strands of melty cheese in the work we've seen)...which makes us ask, why is our packaging so lame?

If you'd like to see more D-Barcode work, hit these links: [Bar Code Revolution and TheDieline via FastCompany via NewLaunches]

The ads were designed to highlight the better grip the new bottles offer. They placed them in bus stop shelters in Paris, ready to rip cashmere sweaters and expensive clothes. But instead of hating them, the French bought 3.8% more of their sugar water.

What I want to see is an image of one of these ads after a week of being there. I can imagine giant balls of dust with cats and drunk people inside. [Daily]

If you don't feel like watching the whole ad, jump to about 1:50. It's where the truth is revealed. It's also the moment when I began to daydream about the days when ads actually showed the product for more than a few seconds. [Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!]

AdMob is one of the most dominant players in the mobile advertising arena—you've probably seen their ads in iPhone apps and things like that, as a bar on the top or bottom of the screen. AdMob isn't restricted to one platform; they're on pretty much all of the major consumer mobile OSes, including both iPhone and Android. What does this mean for you? Nothing, yet, since it's going to take at least a few months for the deal to go through. But it means that Google will have a huge influence in mobile advertising, way beyond Android. [Google]

According to this note he supposedly wrote and sent to his staff, Lee's figuring out other people's positions, not his own:

Hey Everyone:

So we tried to promote Duncan Milner because of the great job he's been doing leading the Media Arts Lab and look at how the blogosphere decided to make it a conversation about me.

As you all know, I'm here every day meddling in everything that goes on, pushing the creative on many brands including keeping an eye on Apple.

I remain Chairman of MAL, Global Creative Director of Media Arts and Chief Creative Officer of TBWA Worldwide.

I'm not going anywhere.

Love, Lee

There you have it. We can stop fearing that Apple ads will start sucking. [Media Bistro via All Things D]

So, while he's probably not a household name with the Apple faithful like Steve Jobs, or even Jonathan Ive, Clow left an indelible stamp on the company.

From its "1984" TV ad to the current Mac vs. PC ads, Clow has played a huge part in shaping the public perception of Apple.

Of all his big branding campaigns, it appears Clow thinks the most highly of the Apple store, saying, "The Apple Store was probably the best ad we ever did.... Everything a brand does is advertising," according to Print Mag. (via HuffPo).

Here's a look at some of his work.

My math teacher wasn't amused. And Carla was grossed out. A clear lose-lose-lose situation. German company Eichborn, however, thought it was the best way to promote themselves at the 2009 Frankfurt Book. Look Eichborn, it didn't work with me, it's not going to work with you. [Wired via Masahable]

Beezag's premise is to target 18-24 year olds—makes sense, since they're the poorest people with the most amount of free time to watch ads for cash—and give them prizes in return. The prizes?

Beezag then rewards them with discounts and cash which can be paid into accounts like iTunes, PayPal™, their favorite charity or even their personal bank account.

Unfortunately, payout rates were absolute garbage back then, and I don't imagine they're any better now. The best thing I got out of it was a shirt for GarageBand.com.

It's fine if you want to revisit an old business model that takes advantage of kids with no money, but don't pretend that it's some revolutionary thing you came up with now. The only thing new that we see is the Beezag bracelet they're giving away with an ID on it, plus an iPhone app that you can watch ads with on the go. [Beezag]

Created by Juan Cabral, the Sony Soundville campaign played music from the likes of Death in Vegas, Bob Dylan, and the Guillemots for a week. Cool stuff, Sony, but where's the Abba, the Chic, and the rest of the disco love? [Likecool]

This is one of those genius guerrilla advertising campaign that it's silly, absurd, and absolutely effective, increasing The North Face products sales by 38 percent. Of course, these weren't the products—which apparently many people still wanted to buy. They are actually products used as advertising for their brand, placed in retail racks and shelves. [Direct Daily]

The tagline is actually advertising Nokia's "Point and Find" service, which is a sort of user-generated phototagging system. Take a picture of your shoes, or a painting, or whatever, add in a link to its Wikipedia page or shopping link, and then whenever anyone snaps a photo of that item, they'll see your links. The slogan idea is kind of a ripoff of those eBay ads from three years ago that used the tagline "Find Your It." Unfortunately, whoever decided on "TAG YOUR IT" evidently did not go to elementary school in an English-speaking country.

The service itself isn't nearly as useful as, say, a barcode scanner, and relying on users to supply those links is sort of cheating in my book, but the service isn't really the point here. The point is that there's a box of macaroni and cheese that says TAG YOUR IT on it.