Fish got to swim.

Birds got to fly.

And people, well, they don't have to do anything. Athough they might be more inclined to fly given the appropriate alignment of the cosmos--and a direct flight.

This week, ZAGAT unveiled the results of its annual survey of frequent fliers and travel professionals, and it turns out travelers judge airlines most on their number of direct flights.

According to the survey, the top five things airline travelers take into account when choosing an airline are:

• Direct routes (65 percent)
• Ticket price (55 percent)
• Past experiences (50 percent)
• Time of day (48 percent)
• Seat comfort/leg room (46 percent)

For the third straight year, Continental earned top honors for premium seating among large domestic carriers. JetBlue was ranked No. 1 for economy seating. Virgin America ironically proved anything but inexperienced when it came to servicing its clients. It earned the top spot for best frequent flier program.

Southwest Airlines ranked No. 1 among domestic carriers for its value, on-time estimates, luggage policy, check-in experience, and website.

One category winner did surprise me a bit. Among domestic carriers, the title of best in-flight entertainment went to JetBlue Airways--although with the incomparable amusement of flight attendants like Steven Slater, how could that spectacular prove anything but first-class.

The most amusing part of the survey was the outtakes from respondents. Among my favorite reviews of the airlines, one passenger likened his experience to "a cattle call, except the cows are mercifully slaughtered at trip's end."

(Image via)

Alcohol, drugs, sex--mere child's play when it comes to the latest addiction ravaging society. T-W-I-T-T-E-R.

For some people, signs of overindulgence are just beginning to surface. For others, arthritis of the fingertips has already crippled them.

As is the case with substance abuse, it's important to arm yourself with education in the fight against Twitter addiction. Knowing the signs, you might just save yourself or someone close to you--before it's too late.

Here are seven signs that you (or someone you love) might be addicted to Twitter:

1. You think the expression "size matters" refers to URL shorteners.

2. You're @thegym while at the gym.

3. For breakfast, you order eggs and a coffee with a side of hashtags.

4. You believe Twitter-ese is its own foreign language or poetic prose based solely upon phrasings of 140 characters or less.

5. Due mostly to the Fail Whale, you have an abnormal hatred for Free Willy and Moby Dick.

6. By retweeting, you're convinced you've done your part to reduce your carbon-footprint.

7. You say follower; the police say stalker.

Admitting there's a problem is the first step to recovery.

You can take an easy breezy quiz at The Oatmeal to determine how addicted to Twitter you are.

(Image via The Oatmeal.)

The "Ghost of Sexist Ads Past" has come and gone. Now, it's time for the "Ghost of Sexist Ads Present" to pay a visit. And unlike the ones that haunted PR Junkie last week--those would be the 10 most sexist ads of yesteryear--this new collection puts guys on the chopping block.

Wish I could say it gets better guys, but apparently not.

Although they're not as outwardly sexist as the feminist offenders of yesteryear, today's ads do paint a sad male-bashing picture that it's still OK for men to play either a source of mindless tomfoolery or submit to being a sex object.

It looks as though we're mere pieces of meat, men -- and somehow, I think we'll be OK with that. And with the chauvinist playing-field leveling out, just how will the "Ghost of Sexist Ads Future" look when it shows up? I hope like a young Meg Ryan.

1. At least give us the courtesy of four, possibly five minutes.

2. And we wonder why chivalry is dead--blame this little girl.

3. Hair loss insensitivity is a touchy subject for me--you'd have to meet my dad to understand.

4. And I bet she didn't even tip.

5. There's nothing light-hearted about domestic violence--unless of course it involves beer and your hostile (ex)girlfriend.

6. I imagine Jessie Spano (of "Saved By The Bell") probably wrote this ad. Oink, oink, baby.

7. I happen to find the aromatics of a persimmon's paradise quite the olfactory pleaser--very sensual, very epicurean.

8. This commercial just plain sucks. (Get it, 'cause it's for a vacuum.)

9. Way to make me feel like an a**.

10. Nothing sexist about this ad--I just really enjoy that Target lady.

Think this would work for your executive?

Last week, Dr. Stephen Duckett, the top doctor at Alberta Health Services, left a meeting about fixing Canada's health care system. When reporters approached him, Duckett refused to answer questions because he was eating a cookie.

Hard to believe this is real, but CTV has the full story.

Ever had the feeling that major media organizations spend more resources covering Hollywood than the actual goings-on in Washington, D.C.? You know, the legislating, the real sausage making of Democracy, not the name calling and bitter partisan divides.

Well, a report from Poynter Online reveals that 27 reporters at USA Today cover the entertainment beat, compared to just five who are assigned to Congress. The break down of reporters covering various beats is available in this Google document, which could be of service to PR professionals looking to pitch stories to USA Today.

The Medill School of Journalism, part of Northwestern University, may soon become The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

Medill faculty voted this month to make the change, which goes before the school's board of trustees for final approval in the spring, according to The Daily Northwestern.

"Conversations about changing Medill's name have been ongoing for years, due in part to concern from the Medill administration that the term 'journalism' does not encompass everything the school offers," reports The Daily Northwestern.

The name change has annoyed at least two media critics.

On Monday night, blogger and J-school professor Jeff Jarvis, a Medill alum, sent a flurry of tweets criticizing the change.

Veteran Chicago journalism critic Robert Feder tweeted:

Would America's voter turnout be higher if political parties ran sexy ads like the ones that are heating up the airwaves in Spain?

The New York Times reports that political parties in Spain's Catalonia region produced two highly suggestive TV commercials, recruited a porn star for campaign events, and created a violent video game to persuade young Spaniards to vote in local elections.

• The Young Socialists of Catalonia produced a TV commercial in which a young woman gets extreme pleasure from casting her ballot. It's reminiscent of the famous restaurant scene in When Harry met Sally, except this one is probably more graphic. The video has hundreds of thousands of views, 245 "likes," and 108 "dislikes." Be careful. This one is Not Safe For Work (NSFW).

• Candidate Montse Nebrera posted a very NSFW video that simulates a pornography film--with all the sounds effects and none of the nudity. Statistics appear over the video as an unidentified woman moans. Nebrera appears at the end of the video wearing only a towel. Again, this one is NSFW.

• Joan Laporta, the former chairman of Barcelona football club, is running as a separatist candidate for the Catalan Solidarity for Independence party. Laporta wants Catalonia to break away from Spain. He has recruited María Lapiedra, a well-known Spanish porn star, to stump for him at campaign rallies, reports The Guardian.

(Photo via Lapiedra's Facebook page.)

• The conservative Populist Party posted a video game on its website in which a white seagull bombs illegal immigrants and Catalan nationalists. The game was so popular that it attracted enough visitors to crash the party's website, reports The New York Times. The game was later removed. The Populist Party said the game-maker was not supposed to allow players to bomb illegal immigrants, but instead the human traffickers who smuggle them into the nation.

Some of these ads might be graphic and inappropriate, but I'd take them over the taunting, name-calling, and outright lying that appears in U.S. campaign commercials.

One, and two, and lunge - typically, it's good when exercise gets you sweating.

But not when it comes to FireBell, a new proprietary social-media stress test from PR agency Weber Shandwick that has clients feeling the burn while attempting to keep their cool.

FireBell is a stress simulator that provides "a real-time experience of being under attack on social media channels," such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, according to the website Mr. Web. Establishing "a plausible crisis scenario," clients are thrown into secure, but real-world oriented circumstances, thereby allowed to develop responses to an array of potential situations that they, as a company or public figure, might face.

"This stress-inducing exercise prepares clients for exactly how and when to engage with audiences via social media," says David Krejci, senior vice president of digital communications at Weber Shandwick.

Last week, PR Daily posted a story from Prosumer-Report confirming that--despite all their big strides in the workplace--women still earn an average of 20 percent less than their male counterparts.

Given such a statistic, it appears women everywhere are in need of their own 'It Gets Better' campaign--you know, kind of like the anti-bullying videos. To help launch the campaign, I put together this collection with 10 of the most sexist ads ripped straight from days of yore.

Why a collection of sexist ads?

Because each one of them is a demonstration that in time, it does get better.

1. Pretty sure dad always said, "And under no circumstance do you ever buy a woman something for the house."

2. For those who can't read the first line of copy, it says, "Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things." Guys, repeat those words and I promise you'll be the ones getting hit.

3. I'll give you some "PEP."

4. Now go cook me a potpie.

5. But still leave the pickle jar to the man, little darlin'.

6.Where does she store all the files?

7. "Ma--the meatloaf!"

8. So, are you floored, ladies?

9. I mean, at least give her a hand, guys.

10. Most girls I know would blow-up in your face.

A petition from right-leaning news website WorldNetDaily (WND) seeks to curb invasive airport screenings--and it appears the effort has gained some serious steam. WND introduced a petition last week and so far more than 22,000 people have signed the appeal, with an unreported hodgepodge of letters flooding Washington.

WND is calling it the "C.E.A.S.E. campaign," a cleverly roused acronym that stands for, "Cease Enhanced Airport Security Excesses."

Joseph Farah, the chief executive of WND, said he canceled family travel plans this week "as a result of widespread reports of groping, voyeurism and humiliation techniques." Farah has called on Homeland Security to retract the policies by Thanksgiving, likening American flyers to "cattle."

I would have equated flyers to the bird of holiday-lore, the turkey, but I digress.

(Image via Mike Industries via Gawker.)

Screens are everywhere--on your computers, your TVs, your mobile devices. Heck, I've even been known to screen the bulk of my phone calls (not yours, of course).

On its website, The Wall Street Journal published an 18-hour glimpse into the way online newspaper readers access all their daily gossip and reports, segmented by screen (or device: smart phone, computer, iPad) and time of day (morning, afternoon, evening).

With the help of comScore, WSJ found that:

• 2 percent of readers get their news on smart phones
• 97 percent get their news on computers
• Less than 1 percent get it on iPads

Of all the gadgets tracked in the report, iPad users are the only ones whose peak media consumption happens in the evening. All of the devices experience an initial bump during the waking hours, followed by a slow descent throughout the afternoon before another brief rise at night, but both computer and smart phone usage tend to fizzle earlier than that of the iPad.

Here's a link to the infographic WSJ uses to display this data.

If you understand, "My air's so fresh, I'm the talk of the nation," then this rap song was made for you. Anyone else think the song is almost as annoying as Ira Glass's voice?

Holiday spice doesn't have everyone feeling so nice, keeping some consumers indoors this season. According to a new study, the idea of shopping on Black Friday has left more people feeling gloomy, rather than gleeful.

In a national survey of 1,000 participants, CouponMountain.com revealed 55 percent of Americans plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping online, with 40 million consumers prepared to do the bulk of it via the Web.

The survey identified the top five frustrations keeping shoppers away from the mall this year:

1. Crowds (69 percent)
2. Long lines (58 percent)
3. Having to arrive early to get the best deals (50 percent)
4. Stores under-stocked on hot items (48 percent)
5. Parking lot pandemonium (37 percent)

By comparison, online retailing easily attracts customers, with an allure of shopping anytime and anywhere--not to mention receiving better deals, to boot.

Now, before releasing your inner Scrooge from its cage, it should be noted that it's not all bad news this holiday. The season of giving still has people feeling generous, with more than seven out of ten gift-givers intending to spend the same amount, if not more than last year, according to a recent survey of holiday shoppers conducted on behalf of Lands' End and Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. The survey also said that 84 percent plan to send their Yule-tide, mailing out greeting cards.

Find other spending trends this holiday here--see if it doesn't grow your Grinch-heart three sizes larger today.

Alan Pearcy wrote this post.

To poke or not to poke? That is the question--and apparently a growing number of adults in the U.K. display proclivity to the former.

At least that's what a new study by PollOne.com (and first reported on by AllFacebook.com) would lead us to believe.

According to the survey, which questioned 2,000 adults on their online habits and sexual activity, researchers concluded that approximately 11 percent of Britons have had sex with someone they met on Facebook.

But that's not the only revealing thing this naught little poll reveals offers. Among others provocative results:

• 50 percent have had a one night stand
• 35 percent have 'sexted' nude photos of themselves
• Brits have sex, on average, biweekly
• 10 percent have had sex with a coworker, with 50 percent of those incidents occurring in the workplace

These results come on the heals heels of a newly revamped British airing of "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew," with the survey having been commissioned by the U.K. TV channel Really.

The results also coincide with a growing number of online dating websites, begging the question, what happened to good old-fashioned snogging?

Romp 'n' roll, Britain--romp 'n' roll.

Alan Pearcy wrote this post.

As the federal trial of Chicago crime boss Michael "Big Mike" Sarno gets underway this week, I couldn't help but think what lack of imagination went into the poor construction--though accurate depiction--of his mob nickname.

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, there's a possibility that "Big Mike" had no say on his nickname. Apparently, some names are pushed on criminals by the press--names that many mobsters grow to resent, according to the Tribune.

Damn that elitist media and their lousy nicknames.

Of course, most nicknames arise from some twisted ounce of truth, no matter who claims credit for them. And with as much dinero as large corporations and their global agencies are willing to stake on just the right name, we thought it might be fun to reveal a list of ten of the best real-life mobster nicknames we could wiretap ourselves into.

Here you go:

1. Al "Scarface" Capone. His street cred alone puts him atop the list.
2. Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. He liked the ladies of the night, and they liked him.
3. Sam "Golf Bag" Hunt. Nothing scary about plaid, but weapons in a golf bag--yikes.
4. Thomas "Butterfingers" Moran. He'd pickpocket you like taking candy from a baby.
5. Tony "Big Tuna" Accardo. Upheld as quite the fisherman, the name is just too funny..
6. George "Machine Gun" Kelly. A gift from his charming wife, who made him practice.
7. Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone. Link to the Philly mob and owner of a bagel shop--dare you to say New York bagels are the best.
8. Johnny "Tightlips." OK, this one's from the Simpsons, but come on!
9. Lester "Baby Face" Nelson. Angelic and youthful on the outside, coldblooded inside.
10. Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo. Somehow, he always ducked prosecution.

Want your own mobster nickname? Go here. I'm Lightning Fingers Valentino, which is weird because that's what they called me on Mathletes back in high school.

Gawker's John Cook did some investigative reporting and found that "of the 344 White House employees who were listed on the payroll in both White House's 2009 and 2010 salary reports, 253--or 74 percent--got raises in 2010."

Gawker published a list of the White House's top 20 raises and guess who the biggest winners were? Communicators. COMMUNICATORS! Speechwriters, assistant press secretaries, and communication directors of various stripes. And why not? As we all know, the White House has done a bang up job communicating to the press and the public.

Ahem. Sorry. Something stuck in my throat.

So, I guess the big question is: Did you get a raise in 2009 or 2010?

Here's the chart of the bigges raises that Gawker published:

This is a guest post by Alan Pearcy.

If I had a nickel for every time my vengeful ex-wife with a prosthetic leg dragged me to court - well, I'd be as broke as I still am. And that might be more than the bank account of Geoff Baker, Paul McCartney's former friend, right-hand man, and publicist of 15 years.

Baker's been unemployed for four years after a falling out in 2004 with McCartney over his marriage and divorce to Heather Mills. Baker admitted to London's Daily Mail that he's hit "rock-bottom" and has taken his life to the streets--literally.

Voluntarily cleaning the roads of his hometown of Lyme Regis, Dorset, Baker hopes his "selfless" deeds will be enough to conjure up a little good karma. And by good karma, I mean cash. Embracing the government's plan to have homeless sweep the streets, Baker plans to begin offering tours of the area while performing his public duties--for a fee, naturally.

Baker said he hopes to collect enough money to self-publish a book, miraculously titled, Rock Bottom; I think I'll save my dollars/pounds and just chuck a few rocks in his general direction.

I'd imagine McCartney's old pal John Lennon may say Baker's a dreamer. I'll go out on a limb with Sir Paul, and just say the guy is nuts. What do you think--will his publicity stunt work?

Alan Pearcy wrote this post.

Theme days in the workplace can be the corporate equivalent of leaving the cat at home to watch the fish--not the end of the world, but given the right circumstances it could be a disaster.

Inspired by a post on MyRagan in which communicators shared actual examples of theme days gone awry, here are five days you may--or may not--want to work from home.

1. Leon Day. That's Noel spelled backwards. Get it? A MyRagan member's company celebrates it on June 25. "We try to be as opposite from Christmas possible, so all the gifts have to be used and from your home," the MyRagan member explained. Maybe a bit sacrilegious, but people are too prudish as it is. I would go as far as to say it's not so much the anti-Christmas, but more of a "Festivus for the rest of us" sort of vibe.

2. Rubik's Cube Day. This is one of those morale-builder kind of things. Everyone starts in teams/departments represented by a certain color. By the end of the day, you have to have worked you way through the workplace, meeting and conversing with at least one person from each of the other departments. Punch. Me. Now.

3. Halloween. While not an odd theme, it does shed some light on who you have sitting cattycorner from your cubicle. Much like the candy that people hand out, you can tell a lot about a person from the costume he or she wears. Are they more Tootsie Roll or more Sour Patch Kids? Trick or treat?

4. Decade Day. For the corporation facing a generational gap among employees, people come dressed from the decade they grew up in, offering stories from their past in an effort to unite the company as a whole. It could be fun, unless you have to hear stories from the close-talker in accounting--you know, the one with the bad breath. Ack.

5. Nude Fridays. A cheeky MyRagan-ite mentioned this one (in jest, no doubt), but should your office have such a liberating work environment, I'd see about working from home on Fridays. [Ed. note: This last item was edited to indicate that it was meant as a joke.]

There was quite a reaction to an e-mail that Ragan sent on Wednesday promoting a PR Daily webinar.

Ragan's customer service department received numerous e-mails questioning the professionalism of the subject line, which said (in part), "WTF is Tumblr?"

People called it inappropriate, distasteful, offensive, and ridiculous. Two people suggested the e-mail was sent by mistake. (It wasn't.) A few tweets floated around Twitter Wednesday and early Thursday echoing these opinions. It even elicited a #raganfail.

And yet, we also heard from several PR professionals who complimented us on the subject line. One person said she "loved it."

Well, what do you think? Have we entered an age where it's OK to write WTF in a subject line? Or did we go too far with this one?

This is a guest post from Alan Pearcy.

"As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly satisfied."--Oscar Wilde

That may have been the case in Wilde's time, but not today.

A study from CafeMom, a website described as "by moms, for moms," shows a significant decrease in the fulfillment felt by family matriarchs. The site's quarterly MomIndex fell to a "C" grade for overall life satisfaction, which is based on responses to about self, kids, relationships, money, and the larger world.

Why are moms so unsatisfied?

According to the study, nine out of 10 "often worry about the economy and jobs." For those of you keeping score, that's an astonishing--not to mention altogether disheartening--90 percent of moms! A mere 7 percent of moms scored an "A" on the index.

That's bad news for moms and families--and marketers.

A mother's expectations in regards to brands, companies, and product trends are affected by her happiness, according to CafeMom. The greater her satisfaction at life, the more she wants companies and brands contributing to the causal society around her, thereby adding additional value to her life.

And to think, all this time, I had no idea that Rolling Stones' song was about the happiness of mothers. "I can't get no."

On Monday, we published the results of a study indicating that Facebook and Twitter are ineffective at driving traffic to business websites. In terms of retailers in the U.K., this is not the case, as Alan Pearcy explains in this guest post.

Have you gone shopping lately?

The Christmas trees are out, the holiday décor is up, and the tinsel is strung wildly about as shoppers--full of pre-holiday cheer--flock to stores. At the very least, they'll buy some seasonal merriment once they arrive. But who's to say consumers need to leave the comforts of home?

A study by Experian Hitwise shows signs that department store aisles might be a little less crowded this year. Don't fret--the tinsel still looks nice.

So where are the shoppers hiding? Online, silly.

In the report, the company analyzed September Internet visits to online retailers in the U.K., comparing data from this year to last. Their findings show roughly 11.6 percent of all visits were sent via social networking sites, representing a 13 percent rise in online traffic to retailers from 2009.

Facebook appears to be the hands-down David Beckham of the Web. It dominated the online traffic game. The social network now accounts for 1 in 10 online visits--up from 1 in 13 last year--and is second only to Google as the overall online source of Web traffic.

Here's a breakdown on the top five social network sites, according to share of visits:

1. Facebook - 55.4 percent
2. YouTube - 16.84 percent
3. Twitter - 2.26 percent
4. Yahoo! Answers - 1.03 percent
5. MySpace - 0.91 percent

Although I'm a bit surprised that Twitter's share isn't higher, I am impressed that MySpace is still hanging in there with the rest of the social media big dogs. It's like the black sheep in the family that has somehow kept its wool coat from being sheared off completely.

Seen the graphic images the FDA plans to include on cigarette packages?

Among the 36 proposed labels and pictures, one image features a blackened lung, another shows smoke pouring from a hole in a man's throat. Pretty disturbing stuff.

Guess who's going to profit from these pictures? Companies that make cigarette cases. According to Britain's The Telegraph, sales of cigarette cases tripled in the first 10 months after the European Union slapped graphic labels on cigarette packs.

"The demand is unbelievable," the manager director of a cigarette case manufacturer told The Telegraph in 2003. "It is completely customer-driven. It seems that the health warnings are not having the desired effect and that instead of taking heed, smokers are wanting to cover them up."

Seems fair to assume there will be a similar reaction in the U.S.

Don't dwell too long on this video, otherwise it might bum you out. Instead, just look at the fast-moving images and listen to the music. Whatever you do, don't think about your life flashing by on Facebook. (Warning: There's some foul language in a few of the Facebook posts the video shows.)

(via The Next Web)

This is a guest post by Alan Pearcy.

Bill Cosby was right -- kids do say the darndest things.

Although it seems their four-letter words of choice have received an overhaul. At least that's what the Parents Television Council (PTC) might conclude after the release of its latest study, Habitat for Profanity. (See what they did there with the play on word? Cute.)

The study compared two-weeks of prime-time television this fall--on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and the CW--with the same programming on the same networks (plus UPN) in 2005.

The PTC discovered a sharp increase in profanity--69.3 percent to be exact--with a bulk of the vulgarity aired during timeslots when children are likely still present. The study also showed a significant rise in regards to the "use of anatomical and sexual references." For instance, the word "balls" increased 200 percent.

The PTC and its allies consider these results profane, but I have to hand it to the networks. This is quite an accomplishment. I would like to hear a speech in recognition of such efforts -- though most of it would need to be censored and/or bleeped.

Here are the 10 most popular examples of profanity* polluting our airwaves.

1. The f-bomb (bleeped)
2. hell
3. ass
4. damn
5. bitch
6. sh*t (bleeped)
7. miscellaneous "genital" references
8. crap
9. screw
10. suck

Any surprises?

Got the results of the "world's largest website traffic survey" this morning and--true to its title--the survey is large. The analysis of the data is 120-pages long.

The survey describes which tools communicators are using to drive traffic to their websites, including search engine optimization, press releases, e-mail, and social media. Turns out Facebook and Twitter are not doing the trick.

Of the 67 percent of respondents who use Facebook to promote their business, only 29 percent said it's effective for generating traffic for their websites. Pretty much the same thing for Twitter. Only 27 percent said they found it effective for driving Web traffic.

Not too surprising, really. How often do you click a link from Facebook or Twitter to a company's website?

Here's the study, which you can download for free. The survey was conducted by website software and training company Intellimon, in partnership with the University of Bradford. It surveyed more than 4,000 online businesses. Not sure if that makes it the "world's largest" survey on the topic, or of there's something else going on to give it that distinction.

Two contributors to PR Daily Europe, Adam Vincenzini and Beth Carroll, are engaged to be married. Adam popped the question Thursday. Beth said yes.

Although their romance isn't a result of PR Daily, I'd like to think it's helped fuel their love for each other, or something.

Congrats, Adam and Beth!

A press release turned up Friday saying that PR and communication professionals rank Daily 'Dog as the "best-read and most-trusted source of PR industry news."

As editor of PR Daily, another source of PR industry news, I was surprised by these results. More than anything though, I wanted to know how PR Daily ranked among survey respondents.

It didn't -- because it wasn't an option in the survey.

Here are the results.

As you can see, PR Daily isn't on the list, nor is PRNewser, a popular industry blog from MediaBistro, nor are several other PR-related blogs and websites.

This would be like asking people to choose their favorite baseball team from a list of nine teams -- and then touting the most popular one from the list as "America's most beloved baseball franchise."

But it gets better.

Daily 'Dog, for those unfamiliar with the website/e-mail newsletter, publishes every weekday. The survey pits Daily 'Dog against several publications that are published weekly and monthly, and several that are print publications.

Pardon the cliché, but apples and oranges.

For instance, the survey indicates that Daily 'Dog trumps readership of the print version of PRWeek. Never mind that the PRWeek magazine publishes on a monthly schedule.

Why not ask survey respondents if they read PRNewser's daily afternoon e-mail newsletter?

Or Ragan.com's Daily Headlines?

Or PR Daily?

They're probably afraid of the results.

A study of the global dating website Badoo found that Spanish women are the most flirtatious online. Polish women rank second on the list. Latin countries fill out half the rest of the top 10. The United States ranks 19.

What is considered flirtatious behavior online? Making the first move. The study, which analyzed 90 million contacts made in one month on Badoo, ranked countries by the number of contacts that women initiated.

Badoo is based in London, but according to Wikipedia, it is most popular in France, Spain, Italy, and Latin American countries. Wonder how these numbers would change for American women if someone analyzed domestic sites like Match.com and eHarmony.

Here's the list of the top 20. The numbers indicate how many contacts the average woman from each nation made with a man in a month.

1. Spain (1.33)
2. Poland (1.31)
3. Dominican Republic (1.25)
4. Italy (1.13)
4. Argentina (1.13)
6. Brazil (1.12)
7. Chile (1.09)
8. Portugal (1.04)
9. Canada (0.96)
10. Venezuela (0.94)
11. Netherlands (0.86)
12. Germany (0.81)
13. Colombia (0.80)
14. U.K. (0.78)
15. Czech Republic (0.76)
16. Mexico (0.72)
17. France (0.69)
18. Belgium (0.68)
19. United States (0.63)
20. Ecuador (0.62)

The popularity of social media is surging--but that doesn't mean it's a boom-time for brands. A new study from communications agency Cone found that social media users "like," "follow," or "subscribe" to an average of just 4.6 companies.

The good news is that 86 percent of respondents said they are open to engaging with brands on social media, up from 78 percent in 2009.

Consumers "like" a company on Facebook, "follow" it via Twitter, and "subscribe" through an RSS feed.

So, how are you supposed to win the affinity of consumers? Easy. Give them free stuff.

Seventy-seven percent of new-media users look for free products, coupons, or discounts from companies, according to the study. They expect to find this free stuff on social networks (48 percent), mobile devices (20 percent), message boards (20 percent), blogs (13 percent), and online games (12 percent).

"Marketers are being more aggressive than ever with attractive promotions designed to generate likes, followers, and subscribers," Mike Hollywood, Cone's director of new media, said in a press release. "But attracting new media followers is like starting a fire -- coupons are your gasoline, and engaging content are the logs that keep the fire burning."

Consumers are also fickle on social media sites. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they're satisfied with their online experiences with companies, but more than half (58 percent) said they would stop following a company if it acts irresponsibly toward its consumers, over-communicates with them (58 percent), or provides irrelevant content (53 percent). Consumers would also ditch a company for under-communicating (36 percent) or censoring user-generated content (28 percent), the study said.

If a company delivers strong content, survey respondents said they will:

• Share information about the company across their own social networks (62 percent)
• Feel a stronger connection to the company (61 percent)
• Feel better served by the company (60 percent)
• Purchase the company's products or services (59 percent)

You can download the 2010 Cone Consumer New Media Study here.

A recent survey of companies with fewer than 1,000 employees found that 9 percent plan to increase their PR budgets in 2011, while 41 percent plan to maintain their current PR spending for next year.

A mere 3 percent said they plan decrease their PR budgets.

Zoomerang, in partnership with GrowBiz Media, conducted this survey of 751 small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), of which the vast majority (89 percent) have one to 25 employees.

Thing is if you linger for a moment on this data, it seems PR budgets might be expanding more than this study suggests. Why? Because public relations is becoming borderless.

No longer is PR simply pitching stories to the media or responding to crisis. After all, who is the media? Is speaking to a blogger and hanging out in a social network considered PR or social media in this survey? If social media is lumped into public relations, then PR budgets are seeing an even larger boost next year.

You can download the entire study here.

ReadWriteWeb reported on another component of this study, which showed that most SMBs plan to spend the same amount or increase their digital marketing budget in 2011.

Type "John Boehner is" into Google and you get:

Now type "Nancy Pelosi is" into Google--and what do you get?

Can't tell which is worse.

Now type your company/client's name into Google and see what happens.

Happy Election Day! Make sure you vote.

(h/t Word_Czar)

Dancing isn't sex, and it doesn't always--hell, it doesn't usually--lead to sex. I want to get that out of the way immediately. I'm not the dad from Footloose. Don't want to criticize sex or dancing. What I want to do is criticize Bristol Palin's role of spokesperson for abstinence education.

She is the Abstinence Ambassador for the Candie's Foundation, which means--just in case this wasn't clear--she promotes abstinence. It's solid advice for many youngsters; too bad the person giving it has zero credibility.

As you know, Bristol is a contestant on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Here's a clip of one of her earlier performances.

In case you didn't see the video, the nearly two-minute dance begins with Bristol laying on the ground. Her dance partner approaches and mounts her. They dance. She removes his shirt. They feign kissing.

That's not dancing; that's humping.

Here's a screen shot from the performance.

What does it say to teenagers when she's on national television taking a man's shirt off, humping him slowly, and fake kissing him--basically, simulating sex. And doing it to the applause of her smiling family?

What this says to teenagers is, "I'm not that serious about abstinence, even if I've made a clever commercial and talk about it on 'Good Morning America.'"

Congratulations, Bristol. You might be a wonderful mother, a terrific daughter, and crowd-pleasing dance partner, but you're also a terrible abstinence spokesperson.

A poll running on TVGuide.com asks readers which of four young female celebrities is the best teen role model. Bristol is among the four, and she's currently attracted 12 percent of the vote, placing in her fourth just above Miley Cyrus.

Candie's, it's time to dump your spokesperson.

Although judging by the video that Candie's just produced with Bristol and "Jersey Shore" star The Situation--yes, the guy whose sole purpose in life seems to be to have sex with women and then denigrate them on TV--the organization is only looking for easy press.