Ashton Kutcher Wins Twitter Battle With CNN, Makes $100K Donation To Malaria Fund

ASHTON KUTCHER WON!!! ASHTON WON!!! ASHTON WON!!!

But what is the meaning of this victory to the marketing world? What did it prove?

In a single word, Transformation. This was the defining moment of how the Internet won over the Television. It is, as Ashton said, “A changing of the guard…from the old way of consuming media to the new way of consuming media.” Not only did CNN have the advantage of having continuous air coverage, but they had not one, not two, not three, not four, but over five nationally, and in fact, internationally recognized faces and names plugging their Twitter account. And yet Ashton still won.

So, how is this transforming? As Ashton said “The new wave is here…We get to choose what we want to see and don’t want to see and who we want to have broadcast.” It no longer resides with the big companies, “the Giants” forcing you to watch endless commercials, listening to their points of view, or buying into their ideology. But the power now rest firmly in the hands of the consumer. This simple competition has put forth what we should already know. Consumers, People, are going to the web for their entertainment, for their personal growth, and for fulfilling their lives. We now have, more than ever in the history of mankind, the ability to connect across all boundaries, across all oceans, and right through the middle of any misunderstandings that our governments have with each other. We have the power to determine what we watch, what we let into our lives, and with a simple click, close off what we don’t like. No longer are our lives dominated by mass media force feeding us what they want us to hear or what they think we should hear.

It’s remarkable that a multinational news and cable organization would compete with a single man and lose. It’s ironic that they would tell their viewers to go to the web. The very medium which will one day replace watching CNN on the television.

The masses have spoken. The dice have been cast. The internet is the ultimate victor here. “Victory is ours!!!!”

Will the marketing world wake up? Will they see that the consumers they are spending millions trying to reach on the television are not even there any more? I don’t know. Perhaps if they are visionaries they will. But if they are steadfast in their resolve that the television will continue to be their best channel, then they will go out the same way that the newspapers and print media are going out today…a slow and agonizing death.

Congratulations Ashton and thank you for your efforts to rid the world of Malaria. Thank you also for the clarity of this message: the world has truly gone to the web.

Patrick Houlahan
VP of Business Development
AdJack
www.AdJack.tv