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Apple: Treating celebs like regular folks since 1976
In my second celebrity-oriented post of the day, we'll explore how Apple treats stars like ... well, like regular people. According to a post on Fast Company, Apple is horrible to celebrities. You see, if you're a major sports figure or a top actress like Snooki, you don't really have to buy a lot of things. Companies love to give you free products so that they can ride your famous coattails to success. That's why if you happen to be blessed enough to walk the red carpet at the Golden Globes or Academy Awards, you'll often find yourself "gifted" with about $100,000 in free products. Well, Apple doesn't need any of that celeb love, much to the chagrin of many stars who lobbied unsuccessfully for Apple schwag. Perhaps the most famous celebrity to beg for an Apple product is NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who was quoted as saying "The great Steve Jobs, rest in peace, when the iPhone was first coming out, I used to call him every other day. 'Can I please get one first? Can I please get one first?' He never gave me one. He said, 'Shaq, I can't, I can't, I can't.' He was a great guy." Long-time Apple user and author William Gibson says that "I used to imagine that [Apple] might call me, one day, but I don't think they work that way, and the story about Shaq seems to bear that out!" Bradley Frank, a celebrity publicist with Rogers & Cowen, says his requests to the company for free tech toys have gone for naught: "And when the iPhone 4 came out, I can't tell you how many clients were like, 'We need that early.' And Apple's like, 'No.'" NBA forward Channing Frye of the Phoenix Suns, seems to have Apple's strategy worked out perfectly. Frye, whose cousin works for Apple's marketing division, says "It's just wild how they are so tight-lipped about everything. That makes everyone want it so much more--and the NBA is sponsored by Apple, basically. I've yet to see a player use a PC on the road." When you're standing in line at your favorite Apple Store on Friday awaiting your chance to turn your cash into a new iPad, look around -- you might see a celebrity in line with you.
Sony giving away PlayStation Move for block parties, along with completely wild freebies
Looking for a free PlayStation Move setup and a bunch of useless schwag? Too bad you didn't sign up for Sony's Ultimate Block Party. In the vein of the hilarious Windows 7 and TiVo promo giveaways of yesteryear, PlayStation's thrown a virtual bash that actually requires a modicum of interaction to properly enjoy this time. As this isn't a retail Move package, there's no traditional unboxing to be had, but soon-to-be-host Phil does show off a demo disk (with eight titles and uproarious setup guide) that we pray will be included in the final kit. Other than that, the promo box includes your standard array of party supplies -- PlayStation Move cocktail napkins, Sports Champions mini-frisbees, plastic soda can handles, and the gift that keeps on giving: a bag of Kevin Butler button badges. Because real boxers don't do Tupperware. Spot all the goodies at our source link.
Get a sneak peek at SOE Fan Faire '09's in-game items
E3 may be the show on everyone's minds right now, but SOE is doing what they can to make sure that people don't forget that they have their very own event later in the month. They've put up a preview of some of the digital schwag that attendees will receive for coming to SOE Fan Faire 2009, and the new rule this year is that you'lll be able to get one in-game item for each game you have an active account for -- no need to choose just one anymore.The preview has pictures and some details about the items, and there's one in particular that will probably get the most attention: the Dianoga Dumpster for Star Wars Galaxies players will spit up collection items if fed once a week for a month, and besides that, it just looks kinda cool. Other neat items include a statue of Firiona Vie for EverQuest II, and a flying dragon mount for Vanguard, although, that one might divide people due to its bright pinkish-purple color. Registration for the fan faire is still open, so if you simply must have a pink dragon, now's the time to book.
The SOE Fan Faire bag o' schwag
What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas -- unless of course you happen to be at Sony Online Entertainment's 2008 Fan Faire! We here at Massively are party-crashing this fun event bringing all the dark, dirty details to you straight from the heart of casino central! For those who are unable to make it to this year's event (and those of you who are just curious about this kind of thing) we're bringing you the contents of the official SOE schwag bag for this year. So gather your courage, and dip in to the gallery for a first look at all the wonders contained in the 2008 Bag o' Schwag.%Gallery-29668%
The Joystiq Meetup: how to get there
If you're interested in getting your hand on some of our over 200 lbs. of schwaggage, imbibing in free food and drink, and oh, meeting your favorite damn video game bloggers in the blogosphere, then get yourself to our Second Post-E3 Joystiq Meetup and Schwag-Off™. Find out how to get there after the break, and set your GPS to FUN.
The things we do to get you swag: Bourne Conspiracy strings us along
"Are you Mr. Stern, by chance?" A built man in a black suit asked, standing in front of a black Cadillac. His black sunglasses evenly split M.I.B. and The Matrix.I'd just stumbled into the daylight after an afternoon meeting near San Francisco's Union Square. I'd been standing on the sidewalk for a moment, shifting my attention between my notebook, phone, and this man. I'd stolen glances like I was meeting a blind date, wondering if this was my contact but not quite approaching himI confirmed my identity, and he motioned me over to the sedan. "I'll be taking you to the drop zone," he said and then was silent.A few weeks earlier, FedEx dropped off an unmarked, prepaid mobile phone. The carbon-copy shipping slip gave no origin address or FedEx account number. I called the delivery company and asked for more details, and all they could dig up was the location the phone was picked up. Some place called "Vivendi University" according to the agent. And so the marketing stunt began.%Gallery-20464%
Today is the last day to enter WoW Insider's Dell notebook giveaway!
I'm serious as a raidleader on progression night-- if you haven't left a comment over on this WoW Insider Dell notebook giveaway, you better queue up and do it right now, because today's your last chance (the whole thing ends at noon). And if you have left a few already (the contest has been going for eight days), go leave your last one now (on that post, not on this post-- all this post gets you is on Santa's naughty list) because you get to post one per day.Right smack dab at noon Eastern, WoW Insider's Dan O'Halloran is going to close the comments and choose one lucky winner to take home the whole package-- notebook, WoW schwag, FigurePrints figure, and those Blizzard beta keys. And if you did enter, check your email in the next 48 hours, because that's how he's going to make it the luckiest day of your life.Yes, even luckier than that Tuesday you heard school got closed, and Blizzard decided not to do maintenance so you could play all day, and you discovered a whole six-pack of soda in the back of the fridge that you didn't even know you had, and the donut truck crashed outside your house, and the donut guy came knocking on the door asking you to help them clean up the donuts before they all went bad. Even luckier than that.
WoW giveaways part deux: the revenge
So a few of you may have heard about this obscure little game. We hear it's all the rage in Tajikistan and all but surely you understand, we have bigger fish to fry here at Massively. Therefore, we're giving away a 60-day game time card to you kind folks in the hopes that one of you might just pick it up and play it for a bit and tell us what it's all about -- think of it as field reporting. In order to win, you must have existed in this universe for no less than 18 years, and reside currently in these here United States (official legalese here). So you say you want this World of Warcraft game card, do you? Leave a comment in this thread by 11am EST tomorrow, Sunday November 4, and we will choose one lucky winner at random to spend 60 free days in this strange little world... of Warcraft. Good luck!
Massively's massive giveaways day 2: World of Warcraft
If you joined us on day 1, you'll know that we armed you with enough Tabula Rasa loot to bury all the Bane you're killing. You'll also know we have nefarious plans to give a ton more stuff away, so let's get to it! Today's giveaways are World of Warcraft-related, so WoW players, get your trigger fingers on your keyboards and get ready to leave some comments to win some cool stuff. Our first giveaway gives you a chance to win one of our perennial favorites, a 60-day game time card. Short of being a US resident 18 years or older (be sure to check out the official legalese), all you have to do to roll on this phat lewt is leave a simple comment in this thread by 9am EST tomorrow, Sunday November 4. No fuss, no muss, easy as pie. Mmmmmm, pie...
Like loot? Massively wanna give ya some.
As you may have heard, there's some new kid on the block covering MMOs (no, not that one!). Luckily, that kid brought along some bribes in a cheap and transparent attempt to win your love and affection, and all of today's giveaways are WoW-themed. We know some of you principled individuals have a firm stance against Free Stuff, and we respect that. For the rest of you, check in on Massively today to win some 60-day game cards, and even a special prize. We could tell you what it is, but we'd have to kill you -- because it's top secret. We can't even give you a hint, so don't ask us!
Dragon spotted in Tokyo subway system
The 20? Near the exits of Chiba's Kaihin Makuhari train station, where a crack team of Microsoft marketeers established an outpost during morning rush hour each day of the Tokyo Game Show. Their mission? Grab virgin mindshare before attendees could be dazzled by competitors' booths full of bleeps, bloops, babes and strobes. Their weapon? A bag emblazoned with the Blue Dragon name and logo. As far as TGS schwag goes, these bags are like the thing. Attendees just gobble them up. Check my impersonation of a TGS attendee: "Hey! Free bag!" It's clear that Microsoft's working hard to promote developer Mistwalker's Blue Dragon, but it's hard to believe that any single title will be the silver bullet that the company so badly needs in this market. They're working it, but to what end? We look forward to next week's Xbox 360 sales numbers for the Japan territory.
Limited-edition t-shirt for readers at E3
Peter got one (it'll show off those tattooed pipes right nicely). Now you can get one too, if you stop by the AOL booth at E3's West Hall today between 11 AM PDT and 12 PM PDT. We will only be handing these shirts out for one hour or until supplies last (whichever is shorter). Please keep this our little secret, as we want this to be a reward for Joystiq readers, not any old random schwag hunter.
Presenting, the GDC bag of schwag
Here's the bag of schwag they're handing out when you claim your badge. Liberally adorned with Microsoft's various X-brands (DirectX, Xbox 360, and XNA), just like the entire convention is (more on that later), the bag is omnipresent at the show thus far. Read on for some shots of the magical trinkets inside the bag.
1983 Apple T-Shirts
The Mothership!, a Mac site "dedicated to the preservation of Apple computer history," has come across a catalog picture of a quirky piece of Apple schwag hailing from 1983. Surely, even back then it is apparent that Apple covered all the bases, offering colors, styles and sizes for the entire Apple-obsessed family.While I'm glad Apple's branding and marketing have come quite a ways since 1983, I still wish they'd offer some kind of catalog to score schwag like this. Aside from the schwag that Laurie picked up for me when TUAW made the trip to this year's Macworld, how else am I supposed to get my fix?[via digg]
