To celebrate this week’s Facebook IPO bonanza, we’ve dedicated our Five Things You Might Have Missed blog entirely to Facebook marketing, news and management! You’re not going to want to skip this one — well, unless you work for GM.

1.) Facebook Got Run Over by a Car Company: Just as planet Wall Street was getting ready to pop bottles over the initial public offering for Facebook, GM had to rain on their parade. The car maker announced on Wednesday that it would be pulling a massive $10 million dollars in Facebook ads. The reason? “They don’t work.” Facebook isn’t a place for shoppers, according to GM. Ouch. Way to be a downer, GM. But seriously, we all sort of saw this coming (and kind of agree.)

2.) And they’re off! Facebook threw its hat in the race to become the next Groupon this week alongside heavy hitter American Express. AMEX and Facebook are just two of dozens of Groupon wannabes out there in BrandingLand, but unlike those other clones, these two have the financial chutzpah to potentially take a chunk out of Groupon’s business. It’ll be a race to the finish to see who really profits as deal mania finally tapers off.

3.) Hype ‘Rises:’ So maybe Facebook doesn’t work so great for that whole ad thing, but you can’t argue with its power as a hype machine — especially when it comes to entertainment. The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment in the Christopher Nolan Batman films, is a great example of how Facebook can pimp a product brilliantly without ever having to purchase an ad. Loaded with clips and exclusive contests, TDKR’s page is a one-stop-shop for fanboys and movie freaks.

4.) IPOh, I get it: We were a tad baffled on how Facebook would actually make money on this IPO thing, so thankfully those folks at CNN did a great job of explaining how an Internet brand becomes a cash making machine.

5.) Ads in Action: It was all well and good to hear about GM’s dissatisfaction with Facebook advertising, but how do they really work for the little guy? According to our final must-read on the list, not too darn good. This fascinating NPR piece about Pizza Delicious in New Orleans breaks down the numbers, dollars and likes behind purchasing a real-life Facebook ad. Eye opening stuff that could sway small business owners who are trying to decide whether or not to dip their feet in the Facebook waters.

Honesty in Facebook marketing?! Kitties attacking all kinds of webpages?! Freaky job postings?! What the heck is going on? Fear not. We sort it all out just for you in our weekly list of Five Things You Might Have Missed.

1.) The Sarah Phillips Warning: This week, Sarah Phillips made headlines for getting fired from ESPN after a Deadspin article painted the columnist as a con artist with several identities who help spearhead some big-time Internet scams. The scandal reminds us that if you’re hiding something, bloggers will always find it — and no brand is above being occasionally duped.

2.) Kitty Cat Attack! As YouTube has proven time and time again, everything is better with cats. So cat treat maker Temptations is letting Facebook fans put cats everywhere they go online. The Kitty Hijack app available on Temptations Canada’s Facebook page gets dragged into your bookmark bar and then the feline fun is unleashed as kittens crawl all over any site you visit. The funny, frenetic frenzy is Facebook and online marketing purrfection.

3.) Help Wanted: Here’s a jaw-dropping print campaign from the UK for the non-profit Freedom from Torture. Made to look like a job posting, these ads boldly seek to fill the positions of “Torturer,” “Abuser” and “Kidnapper.” Bent on making a point and standing out in an employment-starved climate, Freedom from Torture turns a simple classified ad into something unforgettable.

4.) Rocking Crowdsourcing: We love to see a spunky individual who can turn themselves into a brand by using online and social media marketing, and nobody better personifies these attributes than musician Amanda Palmer. David Meerman Scott profiles Palmer’s ingenious way of using Kickstarter to fund her new album on WebInkNow and we think it’s worth the read. Palmer has raised more than $350,000 and the total goes up nearly every minute, thanks in large part to her huge social media following.

5.) Coming Clean with Social Media Flubs: Common Sense Media’s goal is to help parents control their children’s use of Facebook and mobile phones. To get the message out, the group has released a series of funny TV ads. In the spots, parents admit to their social media flubs and misconceptions. Tech- and Facebook-addicted kids are a very real, very “now” issue and Common Sense attacks it with humor and heart.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good, old-fashioned soda smack-down contest between Coke and Pepsi. But as the summer months approach, both beverage giants are getting ready to release some seriously competitive social media marketing maneuvers and we the next generation of the cola wars brewing.

Yesterday, Pepsi unveiled its latest marketing weapon: Pepsi Pulse. Pepsi Pulse is an interactive social media dashboard that covers all things pop culture happening right now. The enticing, headline-driven dashboard is right on trend for Pepsi’s “Live for Now” campaign, which launches on May 7. Pepsi Pulse hopes to cash in on our thirst for the latest pop culture headlines by using Twitter hashtags like #LiveforNow and #Now on tweets about celebrities, movies, music and television.

“Pepsi Pulse is a cheat sheet for pop culture,” Shiv Singh, global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages, told Mashable. “It’s not enough anymore to have phenomenal TV ads — brands have to do more.”

Pepsi Pulse is hoping to evoke memories of its past memorable ads featuring pop culture icons like Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Speaking of music, Coca-Cola is going all in on a partnership with Spotify to push its Coca-Cola Music campaign this summer.

“We want to… have a sustained conversation around music with our consumers because it is an everyday passion point for them. This is just the next chapter in that evolution where you take the product and the services and social ability of Spotify and bring it into the Coca-Cola brand experience,” says Joe Belliotti, director of global entertainment marketing for Coca-Cola, in an interview with indystar.com.

Coke and Spotify will be rolling their global music domination campaign this summer during the Olympic games. Expect Coke’s Facebook page to serve as the hub for the partnership.

Which “sodie pop” is gonna wind up on top after all the Facebook and Twitter marketing moves are said and done? Stay tuned. In a summer filled with big sporting events and major marketing opportunities, the battle is just heating up.

All natural cereal brand Kashi tells us in its commercials that the company comprises “seven whole grains on a mission.” Recently, the mission in question looks like one to save the company’s face through strategic social media marketing.

The best defense is a good offense, and this is doubly true in the world of online marketing. When consumers start bombing a brand’s social media pages with complaints, smart brands use those same pages to combat the negative messages. And Kashi is currently working overtime on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to do just that. The issues for the hippie-dippy cereal started late last year when a watchdog group uncovered GMOs in Kashi’s list of ingredients. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are the last thing a shopper would expect to find in an “all natural cereal.”

The story picked up heat this month as Green Grocer, a healthy grocery store chain, dumped Kashi from its shelves. The following sign appeared on Green Grocer’s shelves: “You might be wondering where your favorite Kashi cereals have gone. It has recently come to our attention that 100 percent of the soy used in Kashi products is genetically modified, and that when the USDA tested the grains used there were found to be pesticides that are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.”

Soon social media outlets were abuzz with Kashi criticism. The brand’s Facebook page was plundered with posts from angry consumers who felt like they’d been duped by the company. Kashi, which is owned by cereal magnet Kellogg’s, hustled to convince consumers that everything was okay and that GMOs aren’t harmful, even if they aren’t natural. The company released a video late last week on YouTube featuring a Kashi nutritionist and team member named Keegan who reads from a script about the “inaccurate information being circulated online about Kashi ingredients.” The brand has taken to Twitter and Facebook to post the video and to address any product concerns.

Has Kashi’s offense worked? It might be too early to tell, but once a brand has betrayed its image, it is extremely hard to win consumers back. Especially on social media. The Facebook shopper and Twitter critic aren’t easily swayed by corporate moves and they are in no hurry to help a brand restore its name. Also, we live in an era where consumers love to roast a hypocrite and Kashi, with its all natural claims, looks like just that to the average shopper. The big unfortunate fact for Kashi is that in the instant information age, you can’t get away with hiding things from the public. One way or another, it’s going to get out — and when it does, you better be ready to embark on a mission to save your image.

Two years ago, when we talked about Facebook marketing all anybody could yammer about was “Likes.” Likes, we said, were the key to Facebook fame and fortune; if you wanted your brand to get noticed in the sea of hungry online marketing sharks, you had better whip up a strategy for Likes, like pronto.

Yet as the marketing platform of Facebook has started to show its wear and tear over the years, we’ve sensed that perhaps Likes aren’t all they were cracked up to be. Now a new study affirms that Facebook Likes aren’t the end of the rainbow. If we want success on Facebook, we have to engage.

Between all the campaign drama and sports shenanigans, you might have missed some of the smartest, sassiest and strangest stories from social media and online marketing this week. Fear not, gentle reader! We have you covered.

1.) The BK Blige Bilge: If you missed this story about Mary J. Blige’s yanked commercial for Burger King, you really were hiding under a rock this week. Nevertheless, it’s a list topper for personifying all that is ridiculous with viral advertising, racial sensitivity and celebrity endorsements. Claims of racism aside, we dare you not to chuckle while listening to Blige warble the ingredients of Burger King’s new chicken wraps. In the end, BK apologized for releasing a spot they claim “wasn’t ready” and Blige apologized for offending anyone with the commercial. Perhaps the ad was pulled because it’s a really horrible ad. Just a thought.

2.) A PSA with Balls: We’re always on the lookout for print ads that have a strong voice and a clever delivery. So we were thrilled when we found these ads for the League Against Cancer on I Believe in Advertising. The photos feature cell phones, joysticks and magicubes on the front flap of men’s underwear in an effort to raise awareness for testicular cancer. On the band of the underwear is the message “Give your fingers a better use. Examine yourself for testicular cancer.” Kudos to the League for grabbing their audience in a way that’s hip and bound to make them think.

3.) Hand Over that Password: This ominous sign of the times couldn’t be over looked by those of us who work in the social media marketing field and who often hustle for freelance jobs. The Atlantic and other big news sources were in a tizzy this week at the news of Representative Ed Perlmutter’s proposed amendment to H.R. 3309, the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012, in an effort to thwart employers from demanding the passwords of employees’ social media accounts. Perlmutter’s amendment was voted down and now all of media land is gearing up for a social media privacy battle unlike anything we’ve seen thus far.

4.) And Speaking of Creepy: Without giving too much away, we can tell you the latest promo for Google+’s Project Glass is part science fiction, part annoying Google+ branding at its most shrill. Yet whatever you think of these yet-to-be made Google goggles, it can’t be denied that the idea is a groundbreaking one. Tell us what you think about this Geordi LaForge-style innovation in the comments section below.

5.) When Skype Talks Smack, You Can See it: Finally, we haven’t had a good old trash talking from a tech brand in quite some time. Thankfully, the good folks at Skype answered our prayers with a series of UK ads that straight up diss Facebook and Twitter. Oh no they didn’t! (Oh yes they did!) And the result is pretty entertaining.

If you listened closely yesterday morning, you could practically hear a comic book nerd revolution in the making. On Monday, fanboys and fangirls erupted when it was announced that Facebook users could determine the fate of where The Avengers will be shown to a group of lucky moviegoers on April 14th, nearly three weeks before it opens.

With Buffy director Joss Whedon at the helm and killer superhero source material, The Avengers promises to be one of the summer’s biggest films. It stars, in case you haven’t already heard, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner. Now with some shrewd Facebook marketing, the film is sure to create absolute pandemonium.

Here’s how the exclusive fan screenings work: Marvel Studios announced yesterday the movie will have advance screenings around the globe in cities where The Avengers has picked up the most Facebook Likes. Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Houston and Miami have already accumulated enough fans to garner sneak preview fan screenings in IMAX 3D. If your hometown didn’t make the cut, don’t worry — Marvel has a few more Facebook tricks up its sleeve. The studio is planning another round of screenings in five more cities wherein anxious Avengers fans can vote for their city to be on the sneak preview list. Voting will go down on The Avengers’ super-packed Facebook page. Currently, The Avengers has 962,000 fans, and with incentives like this one, we’re sure that number will absolutely explode.

We’ll be closely watching the social media marketing and Facebook trends of Hollywood blockbusters like The Avengers this summer. Why? Well, first off, because it’s fun to see what kind of big-bucks campaigns Tinsel Town will roll out online. But also because these trends are bubbling over to influence how other businesses use social media. Films like The Muppets used Facebook for tickets and screenings last year, and now we’re seeing clothing companies and other businesses using Facebook to move merchandise while promoting events. Hollywood wants you to hit that Like button before you grab the bucket of popcorn… and so far, their plan seems to be working.

Facebook marketing experts were hit with a study this week that can only be described as depressing. Psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax has been making headlines with claims that Facebook can actually cause depression in teenage girls.

“Then they look at all the other girls’ Facebook pages, look at them being happy and think, ‘my life sucks, look at all the things those girls are doing and how much fun they’re having,’” Sax says.

Girls who spend too much time on Facebook aren’t nurturing real life relationships, he notes. But this isn’t just sad news for teenage girls and their families. For about two years, mental health professionals have been monitoring what they call “social media depression,” a sadness or deep depression caused by following other people’s lives on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Couple this with studies that link anxiety caused by reading news online, and it’s impossible not to wonder: What can business bloggers and social media marketers do to make the Internet less depressing?

First off, we should make it clear that we in no way think that some happy online marketing can make the problems go away — just as it’s impossible for an organization or company to say things to erase a person’s mental health problems. Still, marketers do have the power to send messages that add to the online experience of users. Blogs with positive themes or that teach readers something consistently rank as the most popular and widely read on the ‘net.

So why not use your company blog to teach your readers a thing or two? Instructional blogs aren’t just a good way to add positive juju to your blog, but they are also a clever way to inject your products and services into your posts. Baking companies like Duncan Hines and Pillsbury have been using their blogs and social media pages like this for years and you can easily see why. Coca-Cola is another big brand that uses Facebook for good instead of evil. The soda company has slyly slipped into the top position when it comes to social media marketing with the happy images and life-affirming messages on the its Facebook page. Coke’s Facebook page isn’t out to change the world, but it does make visitors smile with classic visuals and sunny branded messages from the past and present.

Whether it’s teaching your readers some new tricks or spreading a positive message, we as marketers can do our small part make the barrage of Internet information less drab and depressing. Plus, by offering readers solutions or laughs or good ideas, we giving them a reason to keep coming back. And that’s something for everyone to smile about!

Disney-Pixar is just one of those brands kids of all ages love dearly and without question. It even withstands not-so-great moments (*cough,* Cars 2, *cough cough*) with flying colors. So beloved is Pixar that it can get away with things other companies would never dream of (like the dialogue-free first 20 minutes of the hit Wall-E).

That said, Pixar knows when it’s taking a risk and markets accordingly. Take this summer’s Brave, for example. The film boasts the brand’s first film heroine, a sassy Scottish tough girl named Merida. For the decidedly dude-centric film empire, her creation is an act of bravery in itself. Marketing Merida to the Toy Story set takes a certain finesse, and here’s how Pixar is handling it:

Thanks to Twitter’s new capacity to relay brilliantly and beautifully handled images, Pixar has been tweeting photos of Merida since late last year. Early on, bigwigs at Pixar clearly thought that the sooner they could establish Merida as a new animated star, the better. Next, the company employed the hashtag #Brave to get film fans chatting about the recently-released trailer. Since the film is a bit of a departure, image- and clip-heavy tweets are the fastest way to get folks excited about the film. Pixar, by the way, is a great example of Twitter marketing in general. The brand tweets clips and quotes from classic films as well as news on upcoming projects like Brave.

In addition, over on Facebook, it appears the movie is already a hit — and it doesn’t even open until June. With over 100,000 fans, Brave on Facebook embraces the film’s international roots by having multi-lingual options for viewing the trailer. The page promises to serve as a hub for contests, ticket buying and fan interaction as the film gets closer to its release date.

While we can’t be sure if little boys will love Merida, we know if any company can get inside their minds, it’s certainly Pixar with its masterful grasp on online marketing.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m sure many of us were disheartened to see our beloved childhood friend, the Etch A Sketch, dragged into the unsavory world of political campaigning. Last week saw everybody’s favorite red-screened, white-knobbed drawing toy used as weapon against Republican hopeful Mit Romney. Etch A Sketch fever hit social media like a tornado on Wednesday when Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said of his candidate’s performance during primary season, “Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.” This off-the-cuff comment led to Twitter silliness, moments of unexpected branding brilliance and a case study on how social media marketing interacts with today’s political campaigns.

Within moments of the comment, “Etch A Sketch” had become a top trending topic on Twitter. Much like Angelina’s leg, Mitt’s Etch A Sketch launched a Twitter account of its own. While all of this was funny and buzzworthy meme stuff, the comment itself was a PR disaster and Romney’s opponents hopped on social media almost immediately to skewer Fehrnstrom. Newt Gingrich and others were quick to use the Etch A Sketch metaphor to exploit Romney’s changing position on issues. Gingrich tweeted, “Etch A Sketch is a great toy but a losing strategy. We need a nominee w/ bold conservative solutions.”

Meanwhile, the makers of Etch A Sketch, Ohio Art Company, couldn’t have been more thrilled. Their product quickly received millions of dollars in free publicity as images of the Etch A Sketch were shot around the globe via the Internet. The company released this giddy statement about the brouhaha: “Happy to see Etch A Sketch, an American classic toy, is DRAWING attention with political candidates as a cultural icon and important piece of our society. A profound toy, highly recognized and loved by all, is now SHAKING up the national debate. Nothing is as quintessentially American as Etch A Sketch and a good old-fashioned political debate.”

News outlets were reporting toy retailers couldn’t keep Etch A Sketches in stock after the quote exploded. So score one for Ohio Art Company. And score one for social media marketing and digital PR. This silliness over a quote about an Etch A Sketch is the perfect example of how fast these channels work for and against brands of all sizes.