Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

They say if the shoe fits … New research from the University of Kansas explored the correlation between a person’s character traits and his or her most commonly worn shoes. Volunteers completed a personality questionnaire and provided a pair of their favorite footwear. Students were then asked to guess the age, gender, and social status of each participant strictly by the 208 different pairs of shoes collected. See what people think your shoes say about you here.

I’m left wondering how someone wearing this shoe might be categorized. (NSFW)

People love to make assumptions about rock stars. Alcohol, sex, drugs, groupies—you name it. Turns out, companies can learn from these—I assume—indulgent rockers and their roles within a band.

Meanwhile, a number of companies filed for new domain name extensions—think .com, .net, etc.—that could provide advertisers the chance to develop Internet addresses ending in their client’s brand names or even an entire product category. Reports The New York Times, Google was among the most persistent of applicants for the new website extensions.

The folks at Microsoft are busy these days. Not only are they applying for these website extensions, but also talking about acquiring Yammer, which is a sort of Twitter for internal communications. According to Bloomberg, the deal could go for more than $1 billion.

A billion dollars might be cool if you asked Justin Timberlake Sean Parker, but when you think of McDonald’s, you think of billions (plural)—be it profits earned or hamburgers sold. And thanks to all of those hamburgers (and fries and so on), McDonald’s transcends language. (via AgencySpy)



Fast food rival Burger King is pulling out the big guns in its marketing efforts against the No. 1 chain in the world. And by that, I mean it’s fighting fire with bacon. Hitting summer menus at a Burger King near you is a new bacon sundae, as well as sweet potato fries, BBQ sandwiches, and frozen lemonades.

There’s something new coming from the Animal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that doesn’t make us cringe: The organization is tapping the popularity of LOLCats and funny viral videos of felines. I thank you, ASPCA, for retiring Sarah McLachlan in favor of this new adoption campaign effort.



While the ASPCA is busy saving pets, one group is out to save the print industry by proving its value and by clearing the air on a number of the misconceptions associated with paper waste and its impact on the environment.


Doubt it’d take much effort to convince E.L. James of print’s value. As the British author of women’s porn publishing’s newest sensation, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” James stands to make even more money branding the bestselling book for potential fragrances, bedding, jewelry, and of course, lingerie.

Speaking of undergarments, consumers can’t seem to get enough of their favorite athletes in their unmentionables, and marketers hope they continue taking the bait. From Dwight Howard for Adidas and to David Beckham for H&M, sports stars are anything but shy when it comes to stripping down to their skivvies for sponsorship deals.

Luckily for TV audiences, it looks as though our pet hamsters have moved on from their dreadful unofficial sponsorship with Kia Motors and are now eyeing the snack industry for their newest ride. That’s in large part due to an all-in-good-fun “Twitterbombard” by comedian Ross Noble, an odd request from one amused follower, and the surprisingly hilarious response from the Doritos U.K. social media management team. Advertising Age explains.

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