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December 8, 2010 • 8:19 PM 0

Product placement, Oprah style


Talk about awkward product placement…

In a lead-up to her Ultimate Australian Adventure, Oprah Winfrey last week aired Oprah’s Aussie Countdown, which featured a segment with a report by Australian TV personality Carrie Bickmore. Ms. Bickmore’s report, meant to educate the audience on Australian culture, sparked an upset when she said Australians like to spend time at “hip hangouts” called McDonald’s.

How’s that for a slap in the face?  I guess Harpo execs think that their target audience is a bit slow on the uptake.  Come on..really?  Hip hangouts called McDonald’s??

In shocking news..

A spokesman for Harpo confirmed that McDonald’s was a sponsor for the Aussie Countdown episode, along with Qantas (an audience member received a free trip for two to Australia), Motorola (audience members received free phones) and Tourism Australia, which is covering the ground costs of the visit (no money is going directly to Harpo).

Had the production team given this a little more thought, I’m completely convinced that they could have come up with a better way to incorporate McDonald’s into the show.

Filed under: Business, Food, Marketing, , , , , , , , , ,

November 26, 2010 • 7:30 AM 3

Face, face, face, face (am I going to get in trouble now?)


You’ve probably already heard about this by now… the US Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to let Facebook trademark the word face. Specifically in these instances:

“Telecommunication services, namely, providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter, none primarily featuring or relating to motoring or to cars.” 

For all those who thought I was going a little overboard when I’ve previously compared Facebook to Big Brother… who looks like the crazy one now?

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, , , , ,

November 15, 2010 • 9:56 PM 4

If reusable bags are bad for the environment, how should we carry our groceries?


If you’re a semi-eco-friendly individual, you probably own at least one reusable grocery bag. It’s sort of your contribution to the environment-at-large.  One small step…  Well, I am here to advise you to check the label of origin of that bag… make sure that it’s made in the USA, and not in China.

…reports from around the country have trickled in recently about reusable bags, mostly made in China, that contained potentially unsafe levels of lead.

I know what you’re thinking…what now?

Concerns have proliferated so much that Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, sent a letter on Sunday to the Food and Drug Administration, urging the agency to investigate the issue.

I say use paper, and check to see where your reusable bag is made.  Maybe US companies will finally start noticing that outsourcing EVERYTHING has its side effects…

Cheaper labor does not equal better quality.  I’m just saying.

Filed under: Business, Green, Health, , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 10, 2010 • 6:08 PM 1

A picture’s worth a thousand words, or so the FDA hopes


Today, the FDA unveiled 36 proposed cigarette labels.

Designed to cover half of a pack’s surface area, the new labels are intended to spur smokers to quit by providing graphic reminders of tobacco’s dangers.

Some of the warnings include: “Smoking can kill you“, “Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease“, “Cigarettes are addictive.”  I found the images pretty graphic…so you can click on the links above to view them for yourself.

I had no idea, but apparently the US was the first country to put require warning labels (Surgeon General’s..) on all packages sold.

So when does this all happen?

The agency will accept public comment on the 36 proposed labels, and expects to choose the final nine by June. By Oct. 22, 2012, manufacturers will no longer be allowed to distribute cigarettes for sale in the United States that do not display the new graphic health warnings.

I find it hard to believe that in this day and age, the general public is not aware of the dangers associated with smoking… It will be interesting to see if this has a big effect on smokers.

Filed under: Business, Health, Marketing, , , , , , , , ,

November 4, 2010 • 4:15 PM 0

Target to sell iPhones to all


If you don’t own an iPhone yet, chances are, that if Apple hasn’t fixed the daylight-savings bug yet… you won’t over-sleep and miss your opportunity to be one of the first people to purchase one, at a Target store near you.

The Minneapolis-based discount retailer said its 846 stores with Target Mobile centers will carry the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS and offer in-store activation.

Just imagine… You’ll be able to buy toilet-paper, cereal, and an iPhone all at the same place.  Could you ask for anything more?

Filed under: Business, Tech, , , , , , , ,

November 4, 2010 • 12:00 PM 0

No more Happy Meal toys for you (children in San Fran)


San Francisco has officially become the first major US city to ban restaurants from giving free toys with meals that contain high levels of calories, sugar and fat.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization)

Childhood obesity is already epidemic in some areas and on the rise in others. An estimated 22 million children under five are estimated to be overweight worldwide. According to the US Surgeon General, in the USA the number of overweight children has doubled and the number of overweight adolescents has trebled since 1980.

The estimated number of overweight children under the age of 5 (worldwide) is equivalent, in size, to the entire population of Australia.

Mind boggling.

While the move by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is definitely a step in the right direction, I find it sort of ironic that on a list of the America’s fattest US cities, San Francisco comes in last.  With San Francisco holding ground as the fittest city in the US, I’m not sure how much of an influence their new ban will have on the rest of the US.

Filed under: Business, Food, World, , , , , , , , , ,

November 3, 2010 • 10:32 PM 1

What do Blagojevich, Snooki & pistachios have in common?


Paramount Farms, a unit of  Roll International Corp. has hired both aforementioned controversial ‘personalities’ (for lack of a better term) to star in their $20M advertising campaign, rolling out this coming Monday.

While the spokespeople, no joke – Rod Blagojevich (former corrupt Illinois Governor) & Snooki (from MTV’s Jersey Shore) were clearly chosen for the attraction factor, the star of this advertising campaign will be a bunch of pistachios.

Filed under: Business, Marketing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 23, 2010 • 2:16 PM 1

What’s your burger’s carbon FOODprint?


A popular food chain in Sweden – Max Burgers, which is second-largest to McDonald’s in its area, is taking food labeling to that next level.

Richard Bergfors, CEO of Max Burgers says

…adding the carbon footprint to the chain’s menuboard was a way for the company to be honest about its affect on the environment.

According to an article in Scientific American Magazine, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report found that with regards to beef production,

…current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of “CO2-equivalent” greenhouse gases the world produces every year.

In layman’s terms:

…producing half a pound of hamburger for someone’s lunch a patty of meat the size of two decks of cards releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles.

[A Jeep Cherokee weighs nearly 3,000 lbs… just for visual reference.]

Trying to show its customers that there are yummy alternatives to beef burgers

Max Burgers has rolled out several alternative, climate-friendly burger options, including vegetarian, falafel, and salmon burgers. Since putting carbon dioxide emission counts on the menuboard—an act that made it the first restaurant chain in the world to do so—sales of these types of menu items have gone up 20 percent.

In addition, Max Burger offsets its carbon emissions by planting trees in Africa, uses recycled packaging, and gets its electricity from wind and solar power.

Like it or not, climate change is definitely a big issue that needs to be dealt with.  I’m hoping that other countries follow Sweden’s lead.

Bra jobbat Sverige! (Good job Sweden! …thank you Google Translate).

Filed under: Business, Green, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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