( Read more... )

( Read more... )

A late lunchtime quick news chum, all having to do with raising revenue:

• TV is Everywhere. If you haven't heard by now, McDonalds is introducing an in-store TV channel. Not only will this permit the occasional ad for McDs, but it will also permit them to sell advertising to other companies. This is nothing new: United Oil gas stations out here in ( Read more... )

Today's lunchtime news chum is all about... food and marketing.

• Marketing Food on TV. We've all see commercials for restaurants where the food looks so appealing... yet when you get to the restaurant, it is so... blah. There's a reason. It turns out there is a whole special segment of the creative market devoted to making food look good. These ( Read more... )

It's Friday... and not just any Friday (which is enough of a reason to celebrate)... it is the end of the Government Fiscal Year, and the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah (for those that observe two days). So, with a Happy FY11-12 to some, and a L'Shanah Tovah to others, let's clear out those links. Note that I do plan a post on the excellent Erev Rosh ( Read more... )

Today is Friday, and that must mean the lunch menu is news chum stew. Let’s see what tasty morsels are in today’s offering:

• The New York Times decides to incite an ages-old rivalry, making fun of the Los Angeles Times. Now, while I’ll admit it is a far cry from what it used to be under the Chandlers, it is still one of the best papers around ( ( Read more... )

Culled from recent news, here are some iconic deaths (well, most of them are):

• Mr. Goodwrench. Yup, GM is pulling the plug on the guy, giving him that ol’ pink slip. Seems that even a bailout couldn’t save his job. He’s on the unemployment line, being replaced with “Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac Certified Service”
  
  
• Sara Lee. At least on baked ( Read more... )

I'm taking a quick late lunch break today, and I'd like to have a moment of silence for a brand that died yesterday: PontiacNow, I never owned a Pontiac, but I do drive a Pontiac-clone: the Toyota Matrix. Or should I say the Pontiac Vibe was the clone, as Toyota designed the car. Therein lies the reason for the death of Pontiac: they went from a ( Read more... )

The other day I had a doctor's appointment. During the appointment, we got to talking about the relationship between prescription drug ads and Toyotas-more specifically, about the fears related to prescription drug side effects and unintended acceleration. I thought I would share some of these thoughts over lunch ( Read more... )

I had thought about using my normal lunchtime writing slot to discuss this whole “post your brassiere color” thing going around Facebook, and what it says about the changes with respect to modesty in society. I mean, in the 1960s would women have done this (if, of course, Facebook was around)? Anyway, I’m not going to discuss it. I found something ( Read more... )