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Tag: Monster

  • Charlize Theron Shaves Head for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

    Charlize Theron shaved her head for her role in Mad Max: Fury Road. Why would someone as gorgeous as she is do such a thing–when makeup, prosthetics, and the like are all so readily available in Hollywood?

    Fans no doubt realize that this isn’t the first time Charlize Theron has taken unusual measures for a specific role. Did you see her in Monster? She gained 30 pounds and wore prosthetic teeth to play Aileen Wuornos.

    During a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Charlize dished on her philosophy with regard to playing certain roles.

    “Every movie is its own animal and you have to respect it and treat it that way,” she said. “This one was just a naturally a long process because the movie took so long to make, but I had a lot to have the story really inform me as to what I needed to do and what needed to happen. So I was grateful for the time.”

    She says shaving her head to make Mad Max: Fury Road wasn’t only about playing her character, however.

    “I just had this moment where I was like, ‘I need to shave my head! I can’t think about what I’m going to do with my hair in this movie. I’m going to be in the desert. I’m a new mother. Let’s just shave it,’” she said. “The next day we did it. I can’t even imagine doing it any other way.”

    What did Sean Penn think about her buzz cut?

    “I think he liked it,” she says.

    Mad Max: Fury Road hits theaters on May 15th. Fans can likely expect to see Charlize Theron walking red carpets between now and then–perhaps even on the arm of the ‘love of her life,’ Sean Penn.

    Will you be checking out Mad Max: Fury Road–and Charlize Theron at a theater near you?

  • Beastie Boys: Judge Backs Band; Monster Energy Drink Has to Pay Up

    The Beastie Boys sued Monster Beverage Corporation, the energy drink maker, earlier this year. At issue was a promotional video that Monster put together that prominently featured the Beastie Boys’ music.The Beastie Boys won that lawsuit. But it ended up before a judge again.

    Now the surviving members of The Beastie Boys have been handed a second victory. But why did the case go back to court again?

    According to court documents, the initial jury had found that “Monster had intended to deceive consumers” into believing that the Beastie Boys endorsed their product. The amount Monster was ordered to pay up to the tune of $2.7 million.

    But Monster fought the decision, again according to court documents:

    “Monster argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the finding of willful infringement. Monster argues that the evidence was insufficient to support either a finding of a false endorsement or that Monster acted with intentional deception.”

    But this second judge begs to differ. Apparently Monster’s claim is that the tracks they used were a re-mix done my a DJ named Zach Sciacca, who goes by the name “Z-Trip.”

    “In early 2011, Z-Trip had entered into an agreement with the Beastie Boys to create a remix of some of their songs to promote the group’s then-upcoming album, Hot Sauce Committee Part II. Under the agreement, Z-Trip was authorized to offer the remix for free as a promotional item.”

    Monster says that they got Z-Trip’s permission to use his mix of the Beastie’s songs in their video.

    “However, Z-Trip did not have the right to sell or license the remix, or to authorize third parties to use it. Nor did he obtain any rights to the underlying Beastie Boys songs.”

    In the end, it boiled down to the fact that:

    “Monster never obtained, or attempted to obtain, permission from the Beastie Boys or their management to use the Beastie Boys’ music in the video.”

    But Monster claims that Monster’s regional marketing director, Nelson Phillips, did not know that he had to obtain explicit permission from the Beastie Boys, not just Z-Trip. The judge wasn’t buying it.

    “Notwithstanding his background (in the forestry and skiing industries) and his lack of training in music licensing there was ample evidence from which a jury could conclude that Phillips well appreciated the concept of copyright and the consequent need to obtain permission to use an artist’s music in the promotional videos he created for Monster.”

    The judge further found that the Beastie’s music was used so much in the video, that any reasonable person would assume they had given permission.

    “The Beastie Boys are featured as prominently in the video as Monster — where Monster is dominantly featured pictorially, the Beastie Boys are dominantly featured aurally. The Beastie Boys’ music fills almost all of the video.”

    The video had been uploaded to YouTube and concluded with the words “RIP MCA,” referring to the then-recent death of Beastie’s member Adam Yauch. Universal Music Group is next in line to get a piece of Monster over the video. They have filed their own lawsuit against the company.

  • Gangs of Chihuahuas Invade Arizona Town, Hunt Kids

    Satan.

    Satan with four legs, aka, tiny chihuahuas are causing chaos in the Phoenix suburb of Maryvale, Arizona. Alongside their mega poop parties, furious lip licking orgies, and chasing school children, the humans over at animal control fear their rapid reproduction tactics.

    This year, over 6,000 calls were made to animal control concerning the wild little hellions.

    “We compared the number of calls we got in 2013 from that area to similar areas in town and the calls from Maryvale were three times higher than surrounding areas,” Melissa Gable of the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control told ABC11.

    Gable said it was due to the bitches looking for sex: “Part of it is these animals aren’t spayed or neutered, so they’re out looking for a mate and are having babies, which also contributes to the problem.”

    The strays roam around in large packs, swelling the streets, and chasing Maryvale children as they walk to school.

    “I seen six or seven Chihuahuas … and big dogs running with the Chihuahua’s in a pack running every single day,” Frank Garcia told Fox News.

    Often times, the chihuahuas join forces with other bigger, stray dogs rolling in packs as large as 15,  and creating a rag tag team of canine ferocity that strike fear in the hearts of locals.

    Maryvale resident Ray Rios told Fox News, “Yeah a lot of them they are out here chasing kids or going yard to yard … anywhere in groups of eight to twelve just running around.”

    Animal control is offering a hand in their services towards neutering for free. They have called upon residents to safely capture any of the dogs until they’re combed out.

    “If at all possible, if you see a stray, if you can safely contain him in your yard and then call us, that makes a big difference,” Gable told ABC.

    Images via Wikimedia Commons (1), (2)

  • North Carolinian Hunter Kills 500lb Hog

    Every now and then our inner child jumps around like a relapsing drug addict on planet cocaine when the news showcases a wild beast like Big Foot or the Mothman that ‘proves’ to us that monsters DO exist and reality is truly stranger than fiction. Unfortunately, a lot of the times, we grow up, we learn then that news is sometimes augmented, and much like a bitter parent who tells us Santa isn’t real, we later find the magic to vanish.

    But wait!

    A 34-year old Conetoe, North Carolina resident and hunter named Jett Webb has bagged a beast last month: an 8-foot long, 500-pound wild boar pig. Webb first spotted the swine romping around in the manly woods of White Oak Ranch Hunting Club in Bertie County on February 28th.

    “The Mohawk down the back, the tusks really lean, the muscular big front end,” Webb said. “This is far from a domesticated docile pig that we’re used to.” Webb told WNCT-TV.

    (image)

    A few years ago, the animal was captured on trail camera footage – avid hunters failed to gun down the beast, until now.

    With the .308-caliber AR-15’s stock tucked in his shoulder, a calculating Webb drew a bead on the gallivanting beast from 50 yards away, tensed his index finger, and sunk one fatal bullet in one of Mother Nature’s many monstrosities.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r6gBGTkPm0

    “It was very surreal.”

    “It was a shock. It was very humbling to say the least, when you walk up on a beast that big and you say, ‘Oh my gosh. I had no idea that there could be something that big running around the woods of Eastern North Carolina.’”

    Mike Mansell, president of the White Oak Ranch Hunting Club noted the rarity of the hog’s size: “It takes your breath away for a second to realize how big this hog is.”

    “It took up the entire bed of the pick-up truck.”

    Mansell also said the wild boar population is a community of beasts that will never die: “They’re a species that is invasive. Once you have them, you’re not going to get rid of them. They just continue to multiply.”

    Webb has hunted “a similar-sized” monster pig before, and, proudly displays its mounted head on a wall of the White Oak Ranch Hunting club. The other swine will be going in the stomachs of him and his family:

    “We’re not going to waste anything,” Webb said.

    “So that pig will provide food for me and my family for a good year.”

    Webb swears the picture isn’t photoshopped.

    (image)

    For you doubters, such big cases of fatty creatures aren’t unheard of; the rise and fall of the 800-pound boar named Hogzilla happened in Alapaha, Georgia in 2005, and was the subject of a National Geographic documentary.

    Images via White Oak Ranch Hunting Club

  • Monster Drinks: Is Coca Cola Looking to Buy Them?

    Anyone who has either visited a gas station or been around teenage boys for any length of time in the past ten years is probably familiar with Monster, which is a specific, popular brand of energy drink. The drink has a sort of cult following behind it (often made up of the aforementioned teenage boys), and has become even more popular over the years by inextricably linking itself to the popular Call of Duty video game franchise, as well as building awareness and publicity for young athletes.

    Monster’s publicity is not all good, however. The company and its energy drinks have been under fire lately because of allegations that the brand markets to children. This is problematic because the drinks are not particularly healthy; in fact, they are often harmful, and have even proven to be deadly on occasion, as is the case of the incident that lead to the current lawsuit. The lawsuit rests on the accusation that, although Monster drinks are proven to be harmful to “children, pregnant women, and people sensitive to caffeine,” the company still markets its goods to children.

    Despite this recent bout of bad publicity, however, there are rumors abounding that Coca-Cola may take steps to acquire Monster Beverage Corp. Rumors such as these are not uncommon, and the two companies have negotiated previously, although nothing was settled upon. The possibility is becoming more and more concrete, however, as Coca-Cola is looking seriously into expanding into the energy drink market.

    Monster has seen tremendous growth in its worth since the first talks with Coca-Cola back in 2011, rising from being worth around $11 billion to $16 billion. Although the cost would now be higher, Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co., thinks that it would still be profitable for Coca-Cola to make the purchase. He was quoted as saying, “A transaction like this would give a buyer a huge, huge base in the energy drink category.”

    Russo was also careful to warn, however, that lawsuits and other existing problems and stigmas surrounding the energy drink market certainly need to be taken into account. “Certainly any buyer that wants to get into this category has to look at the regulatory environment and see that there are a lot more alarm bells going off about energy drinks,” said Russo. That brings up the question, then, of whether or not Coca-Cola will decide that Monster’s profitability is worth its somewhat infamous stigma.

    What do you think? Would it be a good move for Coca-Cola to buy out Monster?

    Image via Twitter.

  • Lawsuit Claims Monster Energy Drinks Are Unsafe

    Monster drinks have been gaining in popularity over the last few years and nowadays it’s hard to go anywhere without seeing someone drinking one of these energy beverages. While there are numerous energy drink brands out there, Monster is one of the most popular, especially with teenagers.

    While a recent lawsuit aims to stop energy drink companies such as the Monster Beverage Corp from marketing their energy products to children, health experts say the drinks are harmful to everyone, not just teens and youngsters.

    Caffeinated Monster drinks contain on average, 240 mg of caffeine. That is over half of what is recommended for adults on a daily basis and more than double the recommended intake for children and teens. Considering most adults drink other caffeinated beverages throughout the day, including sodas and coffee, an energy drink can easily cause the average person to consume unsafe amounts of caffeine each day.

    When it comes to energy drinks, adults are expected to know better than to fall for advertising gimmicks and to avoid consuming too many caffeinated beverages. Children and teens on the other hand, are much more easily influenced by television commercials and advertisements.

    According to San Francisco attorney Dennis Herrera, who has filed a lawsuit against the Monster Beverage Corp, the company is aware that the ingredients used in their energy drinks are unsafe, but have failed to warn consumers of the risks involved with drinking the energy drinks.
    Monster released a statement about the lawsuit saying,

    “The sale and consumption of more than 10 billion Monster energy drinks worldwide over more than 11 years has shown that our products are safe. Contrary to allegations, they are not “highly caffeinated” and they are not marketed to children. In fact, a 16-ounce Monster Energy drink contains less than half the caffeine of a 16-oz (medium) size cup of Starbucks brewed coffee. Monster’s labels state: “Consume responsibly: Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women or women who are nursing.”

    The FDA believes that caffeine itself is the real problem and not just energy drinks. It is the opinion of the energy drink companies and many consumers that the task of ensuring that children and teens do not drink energy drinks falls on the parents.

    What do you think?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Monster Energy Drinks Investigated By Attorneys

    Your company may want to stop pushing the envelope of your product if it has a history for being a potential causation of five deaths from reports by the Food and Drug Administration.

    Monster Beverage Corporation, the makers of the popular Monster Energy drink has been pitted against the combined forces of east and west: a New York state attorney general and San Francisco city attorney are investigating the company’s marketing towards children.

    San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joined forces last month after a federal judge in California tossed out a lawsuit filed by Monster; the company wanted to stop Herrera’s ongoing investigation that first began in 2012.

    Herrera filed a lawsuit against the company that claimed that Monster Energy drinks posed serious health issues as well as violating California state law by misbranding and marketing them towards children.

    Roughly 3,000 miles away in New York, Scheniderman issued subpoenas to multiple energy-drink makers as well as Monster as part of his ongoing investigation.

    “We are disappointed that Monster has remained defiant in marketing products to children,” Herrera said. “We hope this effort will cause the company to correct its irresponsible marketing practices.”

    Monster Beverage Corporation didn’t have an immediate comment on the joint effort, spokesperson Tammy Taylor said.

    Hold the tall large aluminum can of Monster and look closely and you’ll find a warning for all:

    (image)

    Not not that… this:

    (image)

    “Limit 3 cans per day. Not recommended for children, pregnant women, or people sensitive to caffeine.”

    Yet despite the disclaimer, Herrera asserts that the company pushes its product on minors.

    According kidshealth.org, at most, minors should ingest no more than 100 mg of caffeine per day.

    In December 2011, 14 year old Anais Fournier died of cardiac arrest due to caffeine toxicity after consistently consuming two 710 ml cans (3 cups) of Monster Energy per day. The combined amount of Fournier’s daily caffeine intake was 475 mg (14 cans of Coca Cola). It should be noted that Fournier had a pre-existing heart condition known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

    Like a record, Monster has stated repeatedly that its drinks are safe, claiming ignorance of any deaths caused by its products.

    “As a company, we vehemently deny that drinking two cans of Monster Energy by itself can cause a death from caffeine toxicity,” the company said to WRC-TV back in 2012.

    What do you think? Kid friendly?

    Update: Spokesperson Tamara Taylor of Sitrick And Company said in an email to WebProNews that:

    “The sale and consumption of more than 10 billion Monster energy drinks worldwide over more than 11 years has shown that our products are safe. Contrary to allegations, they are not “highly caffeinated” and they are not marketed to children. In fact, a 16-ounce Monster Energy drink contains less than half the caffeine of a 16-oz (medium) size cup of Starbucks brewed coffee. Monster’s labels state: “Consume responsibly: Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women or women who are nursing.”

    Images via Hoax Slayer, World Truth, Forbes, American Live Wire

  • Monster Drinks Investigated For Targeting Children

    Monster Beverage Corp. is coming under attack in an investigation by a New York state attorney general and a San Francisco city attorney general.

    Amidst all the death reports cause by energy drinks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that there is no solid evidence that the beverages have caused them.

    Yet in October, WebMD reported that a Maryland couple filed a lawsuit against Monster in the death of their 14-year-old daughter who drank two cans within one day from each other but then collapsed and was placed into an induced coma.

    Doctors declared that her heart had stopped following the consumption of the second 24-ounce drink.

    According to health experts, caffeinated Monster drinks contain on average 240 mg, but the daily recommended caffeine-intake for minors is 100 mg.

    The parents’ lawsuit claimed that the product’s ingredients are dangerous and shouldn’t be marketed towards young children and/or teenagers.

    Some have accused the company for not being completely transparent about the ingredients and even then the possible health risks the drink may expose to its consumers.

    It looks like other lawmakers couldn’t agree more.

    San Francisco attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit on the basis that Monster is intentionally marketing their products to minors.

    Monster responded to the lawsuit with their on lawsuit requesting to stop the investigation, but a California judge threw out the corporation’s case.

    However, the California-based company isn’t the only energy drink coming under scrutiny.

    New York attorney General Eric Schneiderman is also attacking the company along with others for marketing their products to children.

    The FDA doesn’t see the drink as a problem per se, but views the high concentration of caffeine as the reason for major health concerns.

    “FDA continues to evaluate the emerging science on a variety of ingredients, including caffeine,” a spokeswoman for the agency previously told WebMD.

    Monster Beverage Corp. has yet to make a statement on the investigations.

    UPDATE 1/15/13 2:06 p.m. 

    Here is a statement sent in by Monster Beverage’s PR:

    “The sale and consumption of more than 10 billion Monster energy drinks worldwide over more than 11 years has shown that our products are safe.  Contrary to allegations, they are not “highly caffeinated” and they are not marketed to children. In fact, a 16-ounce Monster Energy drink contains less than half the caffeine of a 16-oz (medium) size cup of Starbucks brewed coffee.  Monster’s labels state: “Consume responsibly:  Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women or women who are nursing.” “

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • LinkedIn Interested in Buying Monster

    LinkedIn Interested in Buying Monster

    Reuters is reporting that “people familiar with the matter” have told them LinkedIn, the popular social network devoted to professional networking, may be interested in purchasing Monster Worldwide, the company that owns the job search websites monster.com and hotjobs.com.

    In early March, Monster revealed that it would be retaining Stone Key Partners and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to review its financial situation. This “review of strategic alternatives” included the possibility of selling Monster Worldwide. Silver Lake Partners, a private technology investment company, was also named as a party interested in the possible sale.

    From the Reuters report:

    The company, which has roughly $950 million market capitalization, plans to send out financial information to the interested parties by the end of next week, they said.

    Representatives for Monster and LinkedIn declined to comment. Silver Lake, Stone Key Partners and Bank of America had no immediate comment.

    So, an anonymous source and no comment from the companies. Not much to go on, but the story has a ring of truth to it. LinkedIn is good at connecting employers and potential employees through social media, but integrating an established job search engine would be an interesting next step for the company. LinkedIn has been on a roll lately, posting impressive quarterly figures and increasing its mobile presence by releasing a well-regarded iPad app.

    What do you think? How would a social network such as LinkedIn use a job search engine? Leave a comment below and let us know your ideas.

    (via Reuters)

  • Coca-Cola In Talks To Buy Monster Beverage Corp

    It was reported today by the Wall Street Journal that Coca-Cola is considering buying energy drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. On news that Coca-Cola was looking into the acquisition, Monster’s stock went up 11% pushing Monster’s market value to $11 billion. If Coca-Cola pulled this off it would be the largest ever acquisition for the world largest beverage maker.

    When asked about the possible purchase, a Monster spokesperson said, “it is the company’s policy not to comment on rumors.”

    This is not the first time in the last few years that rumors have circulated regarding Coca-Cola’s acquisition of Monster, due to the fact that Coca-Cola distributes the energy drink.

    The purchase of Monster by Coca-Cola would prove to be difficult because of the price tag attached. At $11 billion, any company in America would be hard pressed to come up with that kind of cash.

    Update:

    After trading for the day had ended, Coca-Cola was asked about a possible take over of Monster and this is what they had to say: “We are not in discussions to acquire the Monster Beverage Corporation.” They will consider a partnership but are not trying to acquire them.

    @scottbudman
    scott budman    Update: Coca-Cola says it’s not in talks to buy Monster Beverage. $20 gain in $MNST shares evaporates. 19 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @MetricButtload
    Drew    Coca Cola says it’s not in discussions to buy Monster Beverage, blames “Assy” taste. 20 minutes ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Monster To Power Yahoo Job Listings In Latin America

     Yahoo said today it has partnered with Monster on a deal under which the career site will provide job listings in Latin American markets.

    Monster will become Yahoo’s provider of career and job content in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Monster says the partnership will give it access to almost 55 million new Internet users in Latin America. Terms of the deal were not released.

    Monster-Yahoo “The alliance with Yahoo! offers great synergy for our clients in Latin America, many of whom approach their needs in the market from a regional point of view,” said Rob Brouwer, senior vice president for Latin America and Developing Markets, for Monster Worldwide.

    “For millions of job-seekers, this is extremely welcome news. As more and more seekers are casting a wider net that includes cross-border opportunities, giving them the ability to tap into Monster’s global footprint provides them with a tremendous advantage.”

    Recently Yahoo tapped Zillow to power all of its real estate listings and sell local ads on both sites.

  • Monster Announces HotJobs Acquisition

    Monster Announces HotJobs Acquisition

    Yesterday and this morning, reports indicated that Yahoo wasn’t having much luck selling its small business unit and HotJobs.  HotJobs has, however, found a new home.  This afternoon, Monster announced that it’s agreed to acquire the property for $225 million, and Monster’s reached a traffic agreement with Yahoo, too.

    Yahoo LogoThe agreement will see Monster provide career- and job-related content on Yahoo’s homepages in the U.S. and Canada for three years.  Monster’s also getting the opportunity to negotiate similar agreements with other Yahoo properties worldwide.

    Then, according to a press release, there may be "performance based annual payments calculated by clicks and expressions of interest, subject to annual floors and ceilings."  (No further details were given on this front.)

    Anyway, Hilary Schneider, Yahoo’s Executive Vice President, explained the sale by stating, "The transaction with Monster enables us to continue to provide an important service to our users through the traffic agreement.  Yahoo! remains focused on its core businesses and delivering exceptional experiences to users, partners and advertisers."

    Yahoo and Monster expect to complete the acquisition (and subsequently start the three-year traffic agreement) during the third quarter of this year.

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    > Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Gets Approval Deadline In Europe

    > Yahoo Possibly Interested In Yelp

    > VMware’s Acquisition Of Zimbra Made Official

  • Monster Talks Up its New Search Technology

    Popular jobs site Monster.com has introduced a new semantic search technology called 6Sense, which it says delivers "precision matches" for job seekers and employers. The technology powers Monster’s Power Resume Search, Candidate Spotlight and Seeker Job Search.

    The technology was developed through Monster’s acquisition of Trovix back in 2008. Monster says it utilizes intuitive, concept-based searching, with a "human-like understanding" of the recruiting process and hiring needs. It understands job titles, skills, experience level, industries, education, and the hierarchy of concepts. According to Monster, this helps it evaluate a candidate’s work experience like a recruiter would in just a fraction of the time.

    Monster 6Sense technology"While traditional keyword search engines are limited in their ability to distinguish concepts and meanings of words and cannot address things like recent vs. dated experience, the intelligence of the 6Sense technology contextually interprets the meaning behind words and concepts rather than relying on the narrow, literal meaning of keywords," Monster says.

    "The 6Sense semantic search technology is an extension of our investment in many technology innovations we’ve delivered over the past two years," said Darko Dejanovic, executive vice president, Global CIO and head of product for Monster. "We’ve continued to invest significantly in technology, product and infrastructure to completely revamp the talent and job search experience. This investment has consistently delivered significant improvements and value to our customers, saving them time and money by simplifying the process of identifying and evaluating qualified candidates, thus allowing more informed hiring decisions."

    Monster’s new search technology comes at a time when a massive amount of people in the U.S. are desperate to find jobs. Monster.com gets over 40 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S. according to data from Compete.

    "Hiring is fundamental to the economic recovery. Technology can play a significant role in helping businesses mitigate the burdensome costs and resources associated with bringing on the people they need," said Monster Chairman, President and CEO Sal Iannuzzi. "I hear from our customers that their businesses have jobs that they desperately need to fill and yet don’t have the resources to make that a reality. 6Sense technology changes all of this, facilitating the hiring process so that better matches are made more efficiently thereby getting people back to work more quickly."

    The technology is there for employers and job seekers alike. Monster claims it provides more relevant results because seekers don’t have to type exact terms in the job title to match.

    Monster says that in addition to its advances in search, it is also continuing to invest in advanced technologies such as semantic clustering algorithms and machine learning in "domain appropriate" ways.
     

    Related Articles:

    > Monster Establishing 19 New Recruitment Sites

    > Director Steps Off Monster’s Board

    > Monster Buys Affinity Labs For $61 Million Cash