Feeling Flirty? It Might Be Your Shopping Bag
It was just a shopping bag from Neiman Marcus! A big sack that was tattered at its corners and sprawled inconveniently across the kitchen counter. One of my old college roommates lugged everything in that heavy-duty catchall: books, groceries, mail or whatever else she had happened to pick up between school, work and home. The […]
Wedding Cake With a Side of Rhinoplasty
When I think of grand prizes, I tend to think of new cars. Bags of cash. Trips to Hawaii. Maybe even a year’s worth of fine chocolate for foodies. But apparently I’m boring old school. Now E! has created a new reality TV series in which brides-to-be are thrown into an arena and told to […]
The Need (?) For Speed – #1
Last week I purchased a MacBook that’s roughly 20 trillion times faster than my ancient iBook, whose microchips finally (subtle shout-out to Apple’s toughness) gave up the ghost after six years of daily use and lots of international travel. Yes, I resisted the urge to upgrade, in part because all of my frugal, Depression-era, use-it-till-it’s-gone-or-dead […]
Viewers Say, “Zombies!” Zombies Say, “Uuuurrrrrrrr …”
On Halloween night, AMC debuted the long-awaited comic-book-based, zombie-centric series, The Walking Dead. It was a gamble, considering how many horror lovers were probably dressed as zombies and not at their TV sets. But the show still drew 5.3 million fans—making it the best-rated AMC premiere and the highest-rated AMC episode. Ever. (Check out my […]
Always Live & Wild
About three weeks ago I felt “homesick” for Africa, where I worked and lived for about a year. There had to be some sort of streaming camera somewhere in South Africa, so I Googled and found africam.com, which sports several always-on webcams from various parts of South Africa—including a 24/7 live video feed from the […]
Smell Like a Monster
Ads from Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man” campaign have been among YouTube’s most-seen viral videos this year. And, always on the lookout for new ways to teach prepositions, Sesame Street has come up with “Smell Like a Monster,” brought to us by Grover, a grouchy clam and a cow with potential identity issues. The […]
Worn Your Favorite Shows Lately?
While researching Grey’s Anatomy recently, I read a New York Times article by columnist Rob Walker. Walker points out that Barco Uniforms offers a top-selling surgical scrub line patterned after the ABC dramedy. He calls this “notable.” So do I. At the least, it’s a sign of media’s power to influence consumers. Apparently, the line […]
America, Limping Toward Malaise?
You hear and read a lot of commentary on how America’s values are skidding down the slippery slope at breakneck speed. But you don’t typically hear much about how this country’s optimism may be waning. Even in difficult times, Americans have often been called among the most cheerful people on earth. But that may be […]
Really? This Is Awesome?
I first heard about AwesomenessReminders.com about a month ago and assumed it would garner 10 followers. Then it would land on obscure marketing websites, listed as one of the silliest ideas ever. But I was wrong about one thing: It now has more than 1,000 subscribers. And at about $20 a month (the site offers […]
Guilty Is Good?
The MTV Video Awards aired recently. I didn’t watch them, but author and youth culture expert Walt Mueller did, and in his summarizing thoughts on the show, he mentioned a new ad for Gucci Guilty, a women’s fragrance I hadn’t heard of, let alone smelled. The commercial depicts a daring, take-charge woman driving a futuristic […]