As Kermit the Frog taught an entire generation, “It's not easy being green.”

Clorox’s Green Works is a case study in the steep learning curve of green branding. The line of environmentally friendly housecleaning products launched in 2008 with an endorsement from the Sierra Club, which helped boost its market penetration and credibility. 

That $1.3 million contract ends in December and the brand chose Earth Day to announce a strategic marketing revamp, including a new tone of voice (embodied by its new manifesto, posted on Facebook and its website) and the removal of the Sierra Club logo from all Green Works packaging, a clear sign of the times as green cleaning products have been forced to reduce their premium prices and re-position the sell to deflect declining sales.Continue reading...

Ahead of its April 19 release date, the HTC One is making its debut Friday in a series of branded entertainment videos for the "Facebook Phone," which features the fully-integrated Facebook Home app for a social experience like no other.

Seizing the growing value of branded entertainment, Turner Broadcasting and Funny Or Die have partnered with HTC on a short-form comedy sketch featuring James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues fame) to promote the HTC One across TBS, Adult Swim and truTV as well as Conan O'Brien's TeamCoco.com beginning the week of April 15.

A riff on The Bachelorette, Van Der Beek hosts a dating show featuring the HTC One and competing bachelor contestants—Smart Phone, Flip Phone, Rotary Phone and ‘90s Phone—all vying for a beautiful HTC One bachelorette.Continue reading...

Forget sticky marketing; Clorox is going with icky marketing in its latest effort to get moms to laugh.

As announced in a press release Wednesday, the brand is partnering with Carol Leifer, an award-winning comedian and comedy TV writer (Seinfeld, Modern Family), to launch the Clorox Ick-tionary, a wiki-style dictionary of everyday ick that parents and caregivers contend with on a daily basis.

As Leifer observes in a blog post, "Don't ask, don't smell... Because as I’ve learned from my comedy writing on sitcoms, real life always does seem to present the funniest ideas."Continue reading...

Every April 1st, Google tries to outdo itself with a new array of April Fools' Day pranks, and this year was no different.

Users of Google quickly spotted a “Google Nose” link that appeared on April 1st that invited consumers to smell what they are seeing on the site, whether it is a campfire or a flower. Or, at least, it would let them “leverage new and existing technologies to offer the sharpest olfactory experience available.”Continue reading...

Happy April Fool's Day! If you thought your favorite brands were too serious and focused on great products and innovation to have a laugh or two, think again. Here's a roundup of some social media jokes from YouTube, Honda, Twitter and even the little town of Ely, Minn. 

Be honest: did you fall for any of them?Continue reading...

"Go home American Eagle you're drunk."

That's the most popular YouTube comment on a new "skinny jeans" ad from American Eagle Outfitters. Is it an early April Fool's spoof or a blatant attempt to go viral by spoofing a trend gone too far?Continue reading...

Following the countdown, the launch plans of a Kim Jung-Un lookalike are thwarted by a crashed browser. The dictator grabs a rifle, intent on immediately executing the cadre responsible for the embarrassment. But the fast-fingered lackey whips open a Liebao browser and saves the day. "Use Liebao. Launch Victoriously" reads the tagline. Then everyone starts Gangnam Styling because… of course.

Poking fun at ally North Korea is just the latest little stunt by China's Kingsoft to promote its new Lieboa (猎豹; Cheetah) browser. But is the world ready for a Chinese face on its Internet?Continue reading...

Call it "We are the Swirl." As brandchannel broke on January 7th, Kraft's Miracle Whip dressing brand has produced its first musical video, an "anthem" that will premiere during Sunday night's Grammy Awards telecast, but won't run on CBS. Instead, it's being promoted on the brand's social and digital channels.

The tongue-in-cheek video, above, stars Scottish songbird Susan Boyle (in her first U.S. commercial endorsement) and an unlikely crew of musicians, including Lance Bass (formerly of 'N Sync and readying his first solo album), country star Wynonna Judd, '80's pop star Tiffany, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, alt rock drummer Philip "Fish" Fisher of Fishbone, heavy metal singer Don Dokken, rap/hip-hop artist Chali 2na, and members of the Village People.

In the vein of "We are the World" and other musical pleas for understanding, the eclectic mix of performers sings "Keep an Open Mouth," continuing on a theme that debuted during last year's Academy Awards telecast. The sense of humor is in keeping with a brand that makes light of its claim that "a lot of people say they hate us without every (even) trying us," as its YouTube channel notes.

As Judd tweeted, the campaign's goal is "to set all the pre-judgers out there straight." Addressing the "haters," the Miracle Whip Twitter feed promoted the video (hashtag: #KAOM) with the comment, "Don't knock it 'til you try it," and will be live-tweeting throughout the Grammys telecast.