A nation seeking an escape from bad economic news, a massively popular Olympian, and drug use were an obvious recipe for a tabloid sensation.  So when the photo of Michael Phelps hunched over a bong hit the news, the social media reaction was predictably huge.

YouTube mined the funnier side of the episode while a number of blogger tackled the allegations a bit more seriously.

At the start of the month, the incident threatened to cast a pall the greatest story in sports since Lance Armstrong’s 7th Tour de France win. Kellogg’s pulled Phelps’s endorsement deal, removing the Corn Flakes box from his overburdened trophy case. Kellogg’s may have damaged their brand with the move, and one social media indicator we measured reveals that damage to Phelps’s reputation may have been fleeting.

Using Twitter to gauge the digerati’s reaction to the affair, it appears the verdict on Phelps’ behavior is a collective shrug.  Supportive Tweets for Phelps outnumbered criticism 2:1 consistently since the news broke at the start of the month.  That figure rises to 4:1 if one includes criticism of marijuana laws and their enforcement by the Richland County sheriff spurred by the incident.  In particular, the contrasting treatment of A-Rod’s steroid allegations anchored  assertions that drug enforcement is inconsistent or illogical.

In recent days, volume has slowed to a trickle as the story has come to a conclusion  with no charges being filed against Phelps.  The swimmer remains suspended from competition and has withdrawn temporarily from the public eye. However, based on Twitter I’d say the swimmer will be able to easily forget this one, even without lighting up.

Online and offline, consumers are passionate about their brands. Tropicana recently swallowed a mouthful of pulp with their redesign of their flagship product Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice.
The redesign is drawing thoughtful critique and strong commentary online, but Tropicana insists that it’s not the volume of negative buzz that swayed them to revert to the [...]

Paul Chaney of Conversational Media Marketing and Bizzuka compiled a timely video series with nine people’s opinions on stretching marketing dollars.
Since these videos were shot, pressure on marketing plans has only increased: according to an ANA survey released today, 93% of marketers are looking at areas of cost reduction and 48% specifically looking at reducing [...]

Interesting to see how the words used to describe the event changed as the recaps came in over the next  24 hours. In this version, the true social media star of the event, Henry the Boston terrier, gets a mention.

As part of Social Media Week, Crimson Hexagon sponsored a Social Media Breakfast on online branding. Here’s a quick recap:

Brad McCormick talked about different ways Porter Novelli delivers brand and business insights from social media to B2C behemoths
Shiv Singh of Razorfish gave us some meaningful ways to think about successful online branding (think: authenticity, transformation, [...]

100 Million viewers tuned in on Sunday evening to view a classic clash of the titans. They were treated to a record-setting interception by James Harrison, a heated 4th quarter rally by both teams, and a flood of new commercials with animals. Priced at $3M per 30-second spot, NBC sold a record $206M in [...]

Agencies and a few brave clients converged on OMMA Social in San Francisco earlier this week. The most debated panel was about “Personal CPM” (a term championed by Charlene Li back in 2007).
In short, personal CPM reflects each person’s value as a publisher of content with influence. Everyone will develop their own number which defines [...]

Lately Google has been adding features, such as its Preferred Sites or SearchWiki, that enable users to narrow in on the one result they want even better, or to promote or demote sites in their own future searches. These features will clearly help users find the needle in the haystack, but as they get better [...]

In the age of user generated content, design-on-line computers and customized tennis shoes it was a bit odd to hear the joint announcement from the Gap and Pantone earlier this week that 2009 was, in fact, the year of Mimosa – not the drink, but the color.
At first (champagne-induced) blush it [...]

Hyundai’s been making a big splash recently.  This summer it become the world’s 5th largest automaker. Early this month, the company announced the innovative sales promotion of allowing buyers to return their cars if they lose their jobs. And this week, Consumer reports crowned Hyundai’s new entrant into the upscale sedan segment, the Genesis,  [...]