By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hey Captain’s Readers,

Here’s your Thursday Deal:

1. To the first of many

It’s been 9 years in the making, but the $1 billion Cape Wind project finally got the go-ahead from U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar yesterday. Not only will this be the nation’s first offshore wind farm, but according to Salazar, but it’ll be the “first of many projects up and down the Atlantic Coast.” Cape Wind Associates will serve as project developer and plans on beginning construction of the 130 turbines off Nantucket Sound in Cape Cod by the end of the year.

The Captains of Industry would just like to say congratulations to Cape Wind. As avid renewable energy advocates and believers, we’re proud to live and work in the state of Massachusetts, a place where revolutions are born. Hopefully this will be just the beginning of many more offshore wind farms to come. Cheers!

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hi Captains Readers,

First of all, I apologize if you felt like I dropped you like a bad habit last week. However, I can assure you that my absence was not in vain. I traveled thousands of miles, braved stifling temperatures, hair-curling humidity, and angry mobs of hot, angry and (very) sweaty people just to bring all of you the latest and greatest green news from one of the most treacherous places…er…happiest places on earth, Walt Disney World! So if you were thinking I ditched the Daily Deal for some “vacation,” you’re forgiven. Now on to a special edition of the Deal brought to you by my research at the Disney World theme parks.
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By Ted Page, Captains of Industry


A recent experiment using Google’s free translation service, Google Translate, speaks volumes about why America as a country is often misinterpreted, our people maligned, and our global standing degraded beyond repair. I input the original text of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address into Google, then translated it into Italian, then the Italian into Finish, then Russian, Chinese, Slovenian, Afrikans, then back English.

Here, unedited, is the opening to the Gettysburg address as it would appear to other countries:
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By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

According to a recent report, U.S. solar installations grew by 37% in 2009, arguably the worst year overall for business since the great depression.

Why is solar growing fast? It’s a combination of government incentives and the desire by more and more people, both homeowners and businesses, to do the right thing for the environment. When people do the math these days, from California to New Jersey, they see that installing solar makes perfect sense from a financial perspective. People can help save the earth, and save money at the same time. The scale has tipped. Change is happening all around us.

Thank God – and Uncle Sam.

By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hello Captains’ Readers,

Here’s your Daily Deal:

1. Chillin’ Like a Villain With Umbra

Eyes lid spasms. Stiff neck. Constant headache. If any of these symptoms sound familiar, it’s likely you’ve got a case of the “I’m-super-stressed-out-blues.” But lucky for you, that quirky, loveable, and environmentally obsessed red head from Grist has provided us with a list of ways to say goodbye to twitchy eyelids and hello to relaxation while still being environmentally conscious.

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Ahoy Captain’s Readers,

Here’s your Daily Deal:

1. You Have to Be Smart. You Have to Be Nice. But Above All, You Have to Fit In.

Have you ever worked with someone you just didn’t click with? You know, those people who just give you a vacant stare or a befuddled look rather than laughing at your jokes? Or maybe you’re the one with “confused” written all over your face while the rest of the conference room is in stitches. It’s in those uncomfortable moments that you realize you’re just not on the same page. Hell, maybe you’re not even in the same book.

And that’s OK. Not everyone is going to “get” each other. But when you get right down to it, wouldn’t you rather have fun and feel comfortable with the people you spend most of your day with? Make that, most of your LIFE with? Well according to Jeanne Bliss from MarketingProfs, studies show that “the single greatest contributor to performance failure and job dissatisfaction is lack of fit with organizational culture.” When you don’t feel comfortable with your fellow comrades, it’s not only difficult to make effective relationships, but impossible to deliver your company’s “special blend of magic” to prospective clients.

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Here’s your Daily Deal:

1. If You Don’t Want People To Drink and Drive, Just Overcharge Them

Even though Brazil has zero tolerance policy on drunk driving, 35,000 people still died last year from drunk driving accidents. Since it seems that Brazilians aren’t concerned with threats of fines and jail time, Ogilvy Brazil decided to show bar patrons just how much their tab would cost if they decided to get behind the wheel while intoxicated. By adding up things like an ambulance ($3,050), X-Ray ($820), and wheelchair ($1,350) to tabs, Bar Aurora in Brazil not only showed their patrons just how costly drunk driving could be, but how deadly. Check out this video called the $73,000 Bar Tab. Just watching the shocked look on people’s faces when they get their mortgage-payment-bill is priceless.

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Here’s your Daily Deal:

1. Teenage Boy Harassed on Facebook…By His Mom

I don’t think Lane New, a 16 year old from Little Rock, Arkansas, will be getting “Mom” tattooed on his arm any time soon. According to Tom Parsons of the Huffington Post, Lane’s mother, Denise New, went on his Facebook account, posted her own comments while posing as Lane, changed his password, and wouldn’t let him log back on to his account, all because Lane posted a comment about a girl that didn’t sit well with Mama New.

What’s a teenage boy to do? Yell? Scream? Runaway from home? None of the above. Lane decided to take the grownup approach and filed an official complaint with prosecutors who approved the harassment charge in March. In his complaint, Lane claims his mother “posted things that involve slander and personal facts about my life.” Denise’s defense? “I was only trying to be a good mother.”

If Lane New wins, it could become a landmark case that could potentially change the rights parents have over their children’s social media in the future. To learn more about the case, read Parsons’ article.

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

1. Going Beyond the Grave is Going Too Far

In Tiger’s debut ad since his stint in sex rehab (it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it), Nike features Tiger’s father, Earl Woods. But here’s the clincher—he’s dead.

In the spot, Earl’s voice asks Tiger “what he’s learned” and a pitiful looking Tiger shoots the camera his best puppy dog eyes, and then the Nike logo appears.

I’m not sure what kind of feeling Nike was trying to evoke from its followers, but based on some of the comments from AgencySpy’s posting of this spot, most viewers thought it was a “stomach-turning, exploitative low” while others felt at the very least that the message didn’t “connect with the brand.”

Is Nike so great that one can still “Just Do it” from beyond the grave? I think not.

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hey Captains’ Table readers,

Lindsey here. For a while now I’ve been writing The Daily Deal for my fellow captains. It’s basically a low down on the latest news in renewable energy, marketing, social media, and really anything that we might need to know about this forever-changing, forever-growing industry we work in: marketing. And we figured that if we’re in the know, you should be in the know, too. So as of today, we’ll be publishing the Daily Deal on our The Captains’ Table Blog. Happy reading, and feel free to send it to your fellow captains as well.

Over and out,

Captain Lindsey

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By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Some agencies still don’t get it. Traditional advertising is dead. Gone, checked out, finito! Yet some traditionalists still cling to the vain hope that they can shove whatever brand message they want down their consumers’ throats and they’ll immediately start buying like it’s going out of style.
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By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

One of the more interesting things we’ve learned running our Incredibly Boring Web Content Challenge is that there is no recognized and well-understood definition of “content”. Most companies who submitted sent a link to their whole website, hoping for a free makeover. What we thought we would get was links to specific web pages (or pdfs) that described one product or service. A web page with boring text describing, for example, Xolor – a medication, could be “captainized” into an engaging video, ebook, quiz or podcast that brought the product to life. Something so interesting it would help draw the right customers to see it.

That’s how we define content: An engaging element that’s information-rich, yet entertaining, that exists within the larger context of a website.
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