If producers anticipated that the new movie "Sex and the City" might be a marketing bonanza, it did not disappoint. Vanity Fair magazine sent two reporters to view the movie and count the number of promotional products that appeared on-screen, including any blatantly-mentioned brand names. The movie mentioned no fewer than 26 different clothing and accessory designers, eight stores and services, seven gadgets (including Carrie's Apple computer, an iPhone and a Blackberry), seven publications, seven drinks and snacks, five pharmacy products (like shampoo and moisturizer) and eight places or conveyances (like American Airlines, Mercedes-Benz and the Four Seasons Hotel). The movie in fact proved to be such a prominent vehicle for advertising that a New Line Cinema executive dubbed it the "Super Bowl for women."

Who, me, propagandize? (Pentagon pundit Ken Allard)Speaking at a media conference in Germany, Voice of America (VOA) director Danforth Austin advocated for "rigidly enforcing the dividing line between government-financed efforts to inform people and government-financed attempts to influence and even mislead a population without revealing that government's involvement or motives." According to Austin, VOA is the former. "The Voice of America does not do propaganda," he said. He also warned about other countries' attempts to use media to "mislead and manipulate" and engage in "'influence operations' that are disguised as journalism." As John Eggerton points out, Austin's warnings "resonated with those dealing with domestic media issues including alleged Internet-content blocking and the Defense Department's embedded analyst program." That's not to mention the Pentagon's new "Trans Regional Web Initiative," which hires local journalists to write stories that promote U.S. military interests overseas.

"As they duel over how best to deal with Tehran," Senators John McCain and Barack Obama "are exaggerating what's known about Iran's nuclear program," reports Jonathan Landay. "The U.S. intelligence community ... thinks that Iran halted an effort to build a nuclear warhead in mid-2003, and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency ... has found no evidence to date of an active Iran nuclear-weapons project." But, in a recent Fox News interview, Obama said, "Iran is stronger now than when George Bush took office," and "they have been developing nuclear weapons." During a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, McCain said, "Tehran's pursuit of nuclear weapons poses an unacceptable risk." Most media have been "failing ... miserably" at calling out the presidential candidates' unsupported Iran claims, notes Columbia Journalism Review. "We launched one Middle East war this decade in part because politicians made claims about an adversary's weapons capabilities that turned out to be wildly inflated -- and the press, for the most part, went along. ... The press has some pretty powerful evidence with which to challenge the candidates on the question of Iran's nuclear program -- the nation needs journalists to do just that."

Newport Menthol cigarette ad targeting African AmericansThe Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who negotiated with Philip Morris to draft the bill to allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco, defended excluding menthol from the list of flavorings banned under the bill. CTFK president Matthew L. Myers asked rhetorically if menthol was banned, "Would [menthol] smokers look to get their fix from non-mentholated cigarettes, or would they start to use another substance?" CTFK's position is that menthol should not be banned because doing so "would negatively impact the public's health." Dr. Louis Sullivan, a former secretary of health and human services who is now president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, said Myers' statement was "Poppycock ... That's the kind of statement I would expect to be issued by a tobacco company, not a health advocacy group working to ban flavorings from cigarettes." About 75 percent of African American smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, far greater a percentage than white smokers; blacks also suffer a disproportionately higher rate of tobacco-related cancers. The African American Tobacco Prevention Network withdrew its support from the bill this week because of the menthol loophole.