Tennessee High School Girls Basketball Teams Punished - Why?

Two High School Girls Basketball teams from Tennessee are punished because both teams were trying to lose a game against each other. 

What did they do wrong?

This small event in Tennessee made national news. For a brief period in late Feb. 2015 this was a mainstream news story.

• It made CBS Morning Show & CBS News.com 
• It made The Washington Post
• It made The New York Times ("They have a sports section?" "Yes." "Why?" "Because Obama plays basketball.")
• It made Deadspin.

The vitriol in the comments section of those pieces is particularly interesting because it's so intense. Who knew people were so passionate about high school sports in states they don't live in?

I don’t know which side you, dear reader, are on, but if you’re on the “What those girls did was wrong” side, pause for a movement before we move forward.  Clearly articulate in your head your answer to this question “What, exactly did the girls do wrong?”

I’ll give you a few line breaks.

Branding and Product Names are Important

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. But it is worth revisiting.

On Amazon you can buy a 4-pack of Potato Chip Bag Clips for $5.99. Translating to roughly $1.50 per clip.

Lincoln - Not Just a Republican President

You secretly want this

In 2014 the Lincoln car company released some TV advertisements featuring Matthew McConaughey.

They were given a lot of attention, supposedly because they were so odd. The adverts featured Matthew driving around, doing nothing, and trying to sound ‘deep’.

The adverts struck a cord with pop culture. Parody is arguably the highest form of flattery. Many people claimed they didn’t ‘get’ the ads, and therefore the bizarreness of the adverts was ripe for parody, including a memorable 3-parter by Jim Carrey on SNL (which he pitched himself according to interviews)

And this piece by Ellen.

On the off chance you’ve never seen the original Matthew adverts - here is one.

Lincoln just released two more adverts. So, now is a great time to talk about the series of adverts overall, and who they are targeting.

A basic truth of advertising is that advertising knows you better than you know yourself. Advertising teaches you not what to want, but HOW to want.

The Lincoln adverts are for a very specific type of person. Who is that person?