Category: Culture

The Persuaders

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Frontline (watch it online):

Americans are swimming in a sea of messages.
Each year, legions of ad people, copywriters, market researchers, pollsters, consultants, and even linguists?most of whom work for one of six giant companies?spend billions of dollars and millions of man-hours trying to determine how to persuade consumers what to buy, whom to trust, and what to think. Increasingly, these techniques are migrating to the high-stakes arena of politics, shaping policy and influencing how Americans choose their leaders.

This is an interesting example: I recently posted a few comments on Pepsi Spice It looks to me like Pepsi’s ad agencies are attempting to run a viral marketing campaign using search engines. I could be wrong but find it hard to believe that customers are flocking to search engines looking for Pepsi Spice information….

Dodge Cty Sherrif Todd Nehls Letter from Afghanistan

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Todd Nehls:

We delivered our truck full, yes truck full, on Sunday. The village had 160 families and over 500 children. As we drove into the village the children started running towards our vehicles to greet us. We spoke with the elders who advised us to just give the shoes to them and they will distribute later. I disagreed and told them that the soldiers wish to give the shoes out to the children on an individual basis. After the first 100 pairs, we lost a little control as we had difficulty matching shoes with children. Though our first foray into shoe distribution did not go as planned, the smiles could not be hidden. Parents were appreciative, Elders pleased, and the soldiers hearts were filled with personal satisfaction.

Toilet Paper Math

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Shopping today, I came across the following math problem: Two toilet paper packages were “on sale”:

  • 24 rolls for 6.54. Each roll contains 199 sheets
  • 12 Rolls for $8.59. Each roll contains 1000 sheets.

Which is the better deal? 🙂 Which one had much larger floor space and inventory?

Best Buy: Devil Patrons…

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Kurt MacKey on Best Buy’s attempt to use technology to weed out their least profitable customers:

dage “the customer is always right” goes, Best Buy doesn’t buy it. The massive retailer is being vocal about something that at first might sound a little uncouth: frankly, they’d rather not have 20% of their customers as customers. In an age where it seems like everyone casts their nets as wide as possible to bring in more eyes, feet, and wallets, Best Buy is doing the opposite. They believe that a small portion of their customers are bad for business, and they’re looking to shut them out. Of course, Best Buy loves their “angel” customers who buy things regardless of price, and load up on high ticket items. The problem is that the details are about the devils.
The devils are its worst customers. They buy products, apply for rebates, return the purchases, then buy them back at returned-merchandise discounts. They load up on “loss leaders,” severely discounted merchandise designed to boost store traffic, then flip the goods at a profit on eBay. They slap down rock-bottom price quotes from Web sites and demand that Best Buy make good on its lowest-price pledge. “They can wreak enormous economic havoc,” says Mr. Anderson.
Some see this as Best Buy trying to “have its cake and eat it too,” by wanting to keep rebates, loss leaders, and massive promotions going, but exclude those who make routine use of them.

Slashdot discussion.

The Renaissance – A Milwaukee Documentary

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Tom Daykin writes about a film that documents that restoration of Milwaukee’s Renaissance Building.

“The Renaissance,” a one-hour documentary by independent filmmaker Chris Smith, features interviews with about a dozen people who operated businesses at Heartland’s Renaissance building, 309 N. Water St. Most of those businesses featured in the film – including Smith’s film production company – have since moved out.
Smith said the film discusses the sense of community that existed among the 19th century building’s arty businesses, which also included ad agencies, a recording studio, and a graphics design firm. The film focuses on how the remodeling work affected that community, including reactions of some tenants who face the prospect of leaving the building – and their friends, Smith said.

Passing time at O’Hare

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Walking from gate to gate at O’Hare recently, I observed two mischevious fellows (dudes?) using a string to tempt travellers with a $1 bill tied to a string – tied to their cell phone. They told me that during the past 45 minutes, 20 people chased the dollar bill…… click on the photo to view a larger version

$3500 Designer Cats

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Allerca lifestyle pets announces he world’s first hypoallergenic cats:

… we expect the birth of these first special kittens in early 2007.
The cat allergen is a potent protein secreted by the cat?s skin and salivary glands. Removal of the allergen will not harm the cats in any way. The resulting hypoallergenic cats will improve the health and quality of life for millions of cat-allergy sufferers.