The 12 Most Intense Marketing Wars Ever

Marketers don't always play nice, especially when they're trying to take on one of their closest rivals. Often the most brutal battles come in the form of comparative advertising -- the direct comparison of one company's product to another. Once the line is drawn, it's up to the opposition to either fire back or ignore its competitor. Some companies have been duking it out for decades, like Coke and Pepsi. Others took decades to respond: Apple ran its first anti-PC advertisement in 1984, and Microsoft didn't fight back until recently -- it let hardware makers like Dell and HP do the fighting. We've compiled some of the most intense marketing wars ever waged between two companies.Avis targeted Hertz with the famous "We Try Harder" slogan in the 1960s

Hertz was the first national car rental company, and when it finally had serious competition from second-place Avis, neither side hesitated to fight head-on. The slogan "More people by far... use Hertz Rent-A-Car" debuted in the 1956.  Avis followed with its "We Try Harder campaign of the 1960's, which prompted a strong response from Hertz: "For years Avis has been telling you Hertz is No. 1. Now we're going to tell you why." Despite new competition sprouting up over the years, the two remain the industry leaders, and the No. 1 vs. No. 2 dialogue continues to this day. Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been sniping at each other since the 1970's

The eternal feud between Coke and Pepsi has raged for decades, but the most widely-known marketing skirmish between the two was the Pepsi Challenge in 1975. Pepsi paraded around its triumph in the taste test for years, eventually prompting Coca-Cola's horrific New Coke debacle in 1986. Since then, they've taken the fight into outer space, fought over loyalty programs, and raged over social media. After it was bought by Pillsbury in 1967, Burger King started launching direct attacks on McDonald's

Like Coke and Pepsi, these two fast food behemoths have constantly traded blows for decades, though much of the jostling was done without direct attacks. Instead, they used product development (like this duplicate breakfast sandwich) and market positioning to fight the war.  But there were exceptions, such as this young Sarah Michelle Gellar spot from 1981. In 2009, Burger King confronted McDonalds with more head-on comparative marketing. BK's Whopper Virgins campaign put the two brands' marquee products -- the Whopper and the Big Mac -- to a taste test by people in remote places around the world. It turned out to be a huge failure, but not because of a response from McDonalds. The public saw the ads as exploitative and racist. See the rest of the story at Business Insider For the latest career news, visit War Room. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.See Also:How "Breastaurants" Took Over The Casual Dining Industry12 Successful People Who Started As InternsWhy Some CEOs Are More Likely To Get The Boot

This Man Asked For A Million Dollars On YouTube -- AND GOT IT

A 27-year-old comedian in Brooklyn recently started posting videos on YouTube where he asked someone to give him a million dollars. It sounds like a pipe dream, but Craig Rowin was dead serious. After just two months, his wish has come true. A legitimate millionaire named Benjamin called Craig and said he'd be happy to fork over the cold, hard cash.  The transaction will take place live at New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theater on February 2nd, where Craig will enter the club collecting unemployment, and will leave a millionaire.

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Why Using Airbnb To Go To The Super Bowl Was The Best Decision I've Ever Made

Airbnb is this thing where people rent out their houses or apartments for short periods of time. So when BI decided to send me to the Super Bowl long after all the hotel rooms in Indianapolis had been gobbled up, it seemed like a perfect option. Airbnb is one of those "sexy" start-ups that has raised boatloads of cash. But not everyone has had such a great experience using it. SAI reporter Matt Lynley tried to use the site when he first moved to New York, and it was an utter disaster. As is the case with sites like Ebay or Craigslist, the quality of your Airbnb experience probably comes down to how lucky you get with the seller. Lynley got burned, and his experience was terrible. On the other hand, I lucked out, and as a result my travel experience to Indianapolis was more pleasant than I ever could have hoped.Learning how to navigate the website was simple, and it didn't take me too long to find a place once I got browsing

Like a lot of people, I leave any website that takes me more than 60 seconds to figure out how to use. But Airbnb was generally simple. The one drawback was that the bolded title of each listing was often misleading (pretty much every one had "INDY" and "SUPER BOWL" in it even if the place was located outside Indianapolis). But other than that, it was easy to click through and find a place. Eventually, I settled on a place that cost $200 per night. It seems like a lot, but seeing as some hotel rooms 20 miles away were going for $400+, I'd call it a steal.

My eventual landlord confirmed my purchase after just 16 minutes

I booked my trip on Jan. 23 — less than two weeks before the Super Bowl — so I was stressed out that I wouldn't be able to find a room in Indy. Luckily, I booked the room at 5:31 p.m., and by 5:47 p.m. my landlord had confirmed my purchase. Boom! Just like that I was ready to go See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook.See Also:The Jacksonville Jaguars New Mustachioed Owner Is Selling This $112 Million YachtSPORTS CHART OF THE DAY: Has 'Spygate' Impacted The Patriots' Success?Here's Video Of The Giants Player Proposing To His Girlfriend On The Field After The Super Bowl

BORING MEETINGS SUCK: Here Are Some Ways To Kill Them For Good

Your fourth hour-long meeting of the day may have convinced you that all meetings are useless and hopelessly, irrevocably boring. Not so, says Jon Petz in his recently published Boring Meetings Suck. In his world, meetings are productive events at which information is shared, perspective is offered and everyone emerges better for having been there. They are also quick and even rare. Find out if the fantasy he describes could be your reality.The most important thing is an engaging presenter. That means no hiding behind a PowerPoint. Also no um's or aaah's or monotone or fidgeting

PowerPoint sucks - actually, PowerPoint can be effective but it is never a substitute for an engaging message. Um...aaah sucks - what linguists call "neutral vowel sounds" are death to engaged listening; practice in front of your family, the mirror, the computer, whatever it takes to rid yourself Monotone speeches and movements suck - tedious monotones and fidgety twitches are a sure-fire way to inspire blank stares and longing glances at the door

And a great presentation can make even the so-so meeting inform and inspire

Run and Drag: Tempo makes all the difference; speak more quickly to show excitement, slower pacing to make a point. The Effective Pause: Silence can feel wrong but pauses allow and encourage your audience to think, place emphasis on an idea without beating it to death, and breaks the monotony of all those words, no matter how riveting Stories: Anecdotes engage the audience, makes abstract data real, and allows a more personal voice Humor: Even if you can't tell a joke or have no sense of timing, levity (verbal, visual) is still an option Movement and Eye Contact: Move but don't twitch, make eye contact but don't stare Body Language: As important as anything you say, with it you build rapport, share emotions, and make an audience more comfortable with you and more open to listening to your ideas

Certain types of meetings deserve special mention for accomplishing too little and taking too much time

Conference Calls - Too often absence or lack of moderation; background noise; unidentified speakers; regular beeping and other technological glitches that make it feel as if it were 1984; and promises of later conversations that make the current one sound like the less interesting one Sales Meetings - Information overload and meetings that don't justify the time they take away from actually selling anything Online or Virtual Meetings - When the technology becomes the point of the meeting, rather than the agenda Friday Meetings - enough said

See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.See Also:11 Ways To Lie With StatisticsFrom Jan. 20, 2009 To Today: More On Why The Fiat-Chrysler Merger Makes Sense Eat The Following Foods For Maximum Productivity

Meet The Silicon Valley Programmers Who Beat Each Other Senseless Every Two Weeks

  The Silicon Valley "Gentlemen's Fight Club" has been meeting once every two weeks for more than 11 years. Gints Klimanis, the mastermind behind the invitation-only gathering, told filmmakers Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari, who chronicle the club in their documentary Uppercut:  "In Silicon Valley, we have the highest concentration of aggressive people in the United States. And it’s a place where all life has been reduced to working in a cubicle, and then after work going out to have a Merlot at the Fromage bar. I’m kind of looking for something a little more primitive, a little more basic, something that appeals to the essential nature of a man."Meet Gints Klimanis, a software engineer and martial arts instructor, who started the Gentlemen's Fight Club in 2000.

See the complete film and more > All the fighting takes place inside this garage located in Menlo Park just outside of Palo Alto.

See the complete film and more > In over 11 years, the police have not shut down the club because the fighting takes place on a private property between consenting adults, according to the AP.

See the complete film and more > See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.See Also:Follow Two Men As They Defend The US-Mexican Border From SmugglersA Look At How Health Reform Is Driving Doctors Out Of Business A Frightening Tour Of El Camino De La Muerte, The World's Most Dangerous Road

There's A Fight Club For Geeks In Silicon Valley. Seriously.

This is actually pretty cool. There's a club in Silicon Valley where geeks can blow off steam by beating each other up in a garage -- just like the Fight Club of movie and novel fame. (TheNextWeb) "In Silicon Valley we have the highest concentration of aggressive people in the United States," a member says (has he been to a trading floor?). They need a place to blow off steam. The club is a bit nicer than the movie version, but it's still people beating each other up pretty bad. There's a video. Watch:

Don't Miss: Here's What Silicon Valley Insiders Think Larry Page Should Do Next →Join the conversation about this story »

How Your iPhone Can Make You A Better Golfer (AAPL)

Playing golf today is a significantly better experience than playing golf in 2008, all thanks to the iPhone and its app store. Third-party developers have made a bunch of apps that can improve your game, your round, and your time off the course. These are our favorite golf apps for the iPhone. Most, if not all, should be available for Android folks, too.Golfshot GPS is the best app for tracking distances. There was a time when you had to pay $300-$550 for a rangefinder that told you how far you were from the pin. With Golfshot, you only have to pay $30 and you get accurate readings on almost every course in the world. It also keeps track of your score, as well as fairways hit, and putts made. With all that data you can geek out on your round and see where you tend to miss. You also see which part of your game needs work. Golfshot gives users a handicap, something that normally costs $40 through the USGA. It's not USGA official, but after a recent app update, it's pretty much just as accurate as the USGA's system. iTunes link, price, $30 The Tiger Woods "My Swing" app lets you illustrate your swing. Golfshot also partnered with Tiger Woods to create "My Swing," an app that lets people track their swings. If you've ever taken a lesson, maybe you've had the instructor film you and draw lines on the screen. This helps you see your swing plane, and if you're head is moving. (Mine bobs like crazy.) With "My Swing" you have a friend film your swing, and then you can draw the lines on the screen to see how you're moving around. It also includes some pre-recorded video tips from Tiger. Generally, I think pre-recorded tips aren't all that valuable, but that's just me. The lines are a nice supplement for any professional lesson you get. You can measure what you're doing on the range against what you're supposed to be doing. iTunes link, price, $5 Swingbyte attaches to your club to track your swing. Speaking of your swing's plane, Swingbyte is a new app that syncs with a piece of hardware you attach to the shaft of your golf swing. Swingbyte then records the shape of your swing and illustrates it in the app. It's not nearly as helpful as the other two, but it's another clever way to track your swing shape. In this case, you can do it without a partner filming. Link to Swingbyte, which is $149 See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.    

Okay, Folks, Let's Put Aside Politics And Talk About Taxes... [CHARTS]

Well, everyone's fighting about taxes again, as the government tries to avoid the fiscal cliff. And inasmuch as everyone in the government is now shooting off his or her mouth about taxes, it's a good time to review some facts. Let's start with these two: Everyone hates taxes. Everyone wants someone else to pay all the taxes. Alas, we have a massive budget deficit, and most reasonable people agree that the only way to balance it will be to cut spending growth and pay more taxes. So, who should pay them? How much is too much? What's fair? Those are all good questions. So, let's put aside politics for a few minutes and look at some facts...A preliminary note: In these slides, we will be talking about FEDERAL taxes. If there's one government that everyone hates paying taxes to more than any other government, it's the federal government. Federal tax revenue, as you can see, is still going up. As a percent of the economy, though, federal tax revenue is actually well below average--only 17% of GDP. Of course, federal spending is off the charts. See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.

Inside The Crazy New Offices Of Billion-Dollar Startup Airbnb

Airbnb is a pioneer in short-term rentals for travelers. The San Francisco startup helps people rent their places out to visitors by providing them a template to post pictures and a ready-made market of interested travelers. It then takes a 10% cut of each sale. Despite a scary moment earlier this summer when a renter's apartment was ransacked, the business has been growing like crazy.  That helped Airbnb raise a $112 million round earlier this summer, and put it into the ranks of the new billion-dollar startups. A few months ago, Airbnb moved into a new office in the sunny Potrero Hill neighborhood. The company is proud of its crazy new design, and while it's closed to tours, they were willing to share some photos with us. Most impressive: the conference rooms were designed after listings on the site, like this mushroom-shaped cabin.Start by walking down this long hallway. What's that in back?

It's the old PanAm logo on the wall. The windows make it look like the inside of an airplane. PanAm was synonymous with air travel back in the day.

The office itself is pretty swanky, as fits a member of the billion-dollar club. Those chairs look comfy!

See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.See Also:Here's Why You Can't Find An Awesome Person To Fill Your Awesome Startup JobInside One Of New York's Greatest Startup Success Stories, AppNexusApple Rebuilds Huge Cube With 15 Pieces Of Glass Instead Of 90

IBM CEO Ginny Rometty Faces Off Against Golf's Most Sexist Club (IBM)

The Augusta National Golf Club is famous for two reasons: it hosts the Masters Tournament and -- even now -- it doesn't allow women to be members. As late as 2010 the club refused to admit women.  It only admitted its first black member in 1990, the Daily Mail reports. Now that IBM has its first female CEO, the sexist club is facing a conundrum. IBM is one of the Master's three big sponsors and its last four CEOs became club members.  The tournament starts next week and CEO Ginny Rometty still hasn't been granted access. If Rometty doesn't become a member, she will have to be accompanied by green-jacketed member at all times while watching the tournament, which is both annoying and embarrassing. Either way, the sexist club will have to break one of its ridiculous rules. Augusta will either ditch its infamous anti-women policy and invite Rometty to become a member or it will break its tradition of making corporate sponsor CEOs members. Please follow SAI: Enterprise on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »See Also:IBM's New CEO Starts Right Off With A ReorgThis Guy Buys Startups For IBM -- Here's What He's Looking ForTech Giants Join Forces To Fight Amazon's Cloud