ELVIS ECHO A PEOPLE PLEASER THE KING CROONS FROM SOUND CHIP IN MAGAZINE.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Elvis Presley started singing ``Blue Suede Shoes'' in a Manhattan courtroom this week. The King wasn't in the building, of course, but a singing copy of People magazine was. It had been inadvertently jostled inside of a jury members' bag, setting off the sound chip embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. in an ad promoting CBS's Elvis week. ``I think it's the kind of thing that definitely stops you and makes you take notice,'' said Paul Caine, People's publisher. ``The reaction has been extraordinary. My phone has been ringing off the hook. Howard Stern even played it on the air.'' The noisy multi-page glossy spread has also been getting a lot of attention in hair salons A hair salon (also called 'Hairdresser' and 'Hair Parlour')is a place where one goes to get their hair cut, as well as styled, highlighted or coloured. There are many different types of hair salons that one can choose to go to. where customers reading People and other celebrity magazines might be routine, but having singing ads inside of them is not. ``It scared me!'' said Angel Seanez, a hairdresser at Vous Hair in Hollywood. ``It has scared a couple of people but we've all gotten a laugh over it. We've been standing around watching to see how customers react when they open it.'' At the Chrome Salon in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , owner Roger Humphrys said the singing ad has been a source of amusement all week. ``You see people look around, maybe open their bag up to see if it's their cell phone,'' he said. ``They are just wondering what is going on.'' After a snippet A small amount of something. In the computer field, it often refers to a small piece of program code. of the song plays, an announcer takes over to remind readers not to miss the CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. miniseries min·i·se·ries n. pl. miniseries 1. A televised dramatic production, as of a novel or film, shown in a number of episodes. 2. Sports A short series of performances or athletic contests. ``Elvis'' to air May 8 and 11 and the television special ``Elvis by the Presleys'' scheduled for May 13. Neither Viacom Inc.-owned CBS or People Magazine, part of the Time Inc. unit of Time Warner, would say how much the advertising stunt cost to produce and distribute. But the multimedia marketing blitz blitz n. 1. a. A blitzkrieg. b. A heavy aerial bombardment. 2. An intense campaign: a media blitz focused on young voters. 3. for the six hours of new Elvis programming has an estimated budget between $10 million to $20 million. ``This is a big event for us,'' said George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing Group. ``We wanted to do something really different and outrageous and make a big impression. This was a perfect tie-in because of the music.'' Horizon Media Inc.'s Zach Rosenberg said even though shock jock shock jock n. Informal A host of a shock radio program. [shock (radio) + (disc) jock(ey).] Stern found the Elvis ad annoying, ``he talked about it for like 15 minutes and played it for his listeners. How's that for PR?'' Rosenberg, whose firm is the largest independent media company in the U.S., added that ``it's all about breaking through. We think this gets noticed.'' Magazine industry expert Samir Husni, chairman of the journalism department at the University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1848, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford and three branch campuses located in Booneville, Tupelo, and Southaven. , said innovation is the only way to stand out with new technology making all kinds of campaigns possible. ``I think it's just a sign of the times A Sign of the Times was a 1966 single by Petula Clark. Written by Tony Hatch, the uptempo pop number juxtaposed Clark's driving vocals with a powerful brass section. She introduced the tune on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 27, 1966. ,'' Husni said. ``You want to see the picture, touch it, scratch it, have it talk to you. It's a clever way of showing us the future of things to come. We are taking integration one step further.'' Caine said CBS was smart to place the ad inside of the magazine's annual ``50 Most Beautiful People'' issue. This year's edition features Julia Roberts on the cover. ``It is a guaranteed big seller,'' said the publisher. ``There's always a lot of buzz.'' The magazine has a circulation of more than 3.5 million but claims to have a readership of 37 million. This marks the first time CBS has ever used a music chip and the first time that People has used the technology pioneered by Americhip Inc. which the publisher said was no easy task. ``Anytime you do something with thicker paper stock utilizing any technology, it will create challenges,'' said Caine. ``But with our experience in producing a weekly magazine, we understand the process well enough that we have the ability to do this more efficiently than anyone.'' CBS has a lengthy list of other marketing partners pitching the Elvis shows including American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the which will run a Presley program during its in-flight entertainment In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. After World War II commercial aviation flights became a daily event in which entertainment was requested by passengers to help the time pass. and distribute Presley CD samplers to passengers. In addition, next week's issue of TV Guide magazine features four different Elvis collector covers with a free never-released CD of ``Young and Beautiful'' attached to the cover. Unlike the singing People ad, that one actually has to be placed inside a CD player to be heard which should make judges around the nation grateful. Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) no caption (People magazine) (2 -- color) no caption (TV Guide) |
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