I should probably hold back and be polite and diplomatic and say that I am surprised that Firebrand fizzled out today.
Firebrand, a television and online service that since October has been presenting commercials as content, is being shut down as its major investors decided to stop providing more money.
A spokesman for NBC Universal, Cory Shields, said on Tuesday afternoon, “we are not putting any additional capital into the company.”
But that’s the problem: no one had the balls to tell NBC Universal et al. that this was a plain dumb idea.
What’s wrong with people? Why don’t people have the courage or backbone (and decency since we’re actually wasting money) to say “time out, this is not a good idea…”
So everyone patted themselves on the back until today, when a spokesperson said “we would not flush any more money down the toilet on this junker”.
Speaking of toilets - and bringing brands to life on the Web - there’s a smart way to do it, and a dumb way to do it. Firebrand was at the extreme of the spectrum at the dumb end of things. I am biased (shocking) but I will say this, online, the key is (ironically to borrow a term from GE, parent of NBC Universal) to bring brands to life.
One example? Here’s a more clever way to bring a brand to life. Is this a paid placement or integration? You tell me.
Comedy Skit: 2000 and 1 Flushes Thief
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Such a thing can go viral and the brand won’t exactly be offended or what not. But literally putting a TV ad online and expecting that to go viral? Man, why not just flush money down the toilet.
Oh, wait, you did.
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