Two new Hummer TV ads have a clear message: Forget about being decent. Let a Hummer unleash your over-indulgent, spiteful tendencies.
William Gibson’s famous adage from Neuromancer, “The street finds its own uses for things,” catalyzed a deep realization within my skull. That the street is not only an exciting, alluring, dangerously deterritorialized zone of possibilities, it is actually alive. A god, even—one that as I walk within, I am (a very, very small) part. From this assertion expounds many resonant theories, but for now I speak of its skin: street art as an organic form of ritual dialogue; communion, if you will, as the writing on the wall.
Our friends at Grist recently covered two topics that simply aren’t covered often enough: marketing sustainability and composting feminine products.
Until recently, the life of an eco-manufacturer hasn’t been easy: “Here’s this product we made! It looks a little funny, but it’s good for the planet! And it—hey, come back!” But with prominent companies jumping on the green bandwagon and technologies improving, sustainability is getting, dare we say it, hot. (Well, warmish anyhow.) This means all kinds of opportunities for growth, says a Vancouver-based ad agency founder… if only the industry can figure out how to sex it up a notch.
Remember when food was just something we ate? Now everything on our plates and in our pantries is a cause of or cure for cancer. It’s enough to make you sick, if your diet isn’t doing so already.
This AP headline says it all: “Marketers Use Disease to Sell Food.” Give us your diabetic, your obese, your cholesterol-challenged; our foods will fix what ails you.
Manufacturers of tomato-based products had hoped to be the next Quaker Oats, which won permission from the FDA in 1997 to claim that oatmeal may reduce the risk of heart disease. The current Quaker Oats container sports a big banner proclaiming “Oatmeal Helps Remove Cholesterol!”
But the FDA determined yesterday that the evidence linking lycopene, a naturally occurring chemical in tomatoes, with a reduction in certain cancers is just too sketchy. It will, however, permit companies such as Heinz to label their products as follows:
“Very limited and preliminary scientific research suggests that eating one-half to one cup of tomatoes and/or tomato sauce a week may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. FDA concludes that there is little scientific evidence supporting this claim.”
Hard to hear any ka-ching in that ringing endorsement.
Interests: Anything with an ING:
dancing, biking, listening, talking, writing, reading,
watching, eating, drinking, running, thinking, working, dreaming,
surrendering, laughing, smiling, acting, traveling, singing, surfing,
driving, shopping, thanking, observing, welcoming, connecting,
loving, learning, sharing, practicing, asking.
Inspiration: Books: Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke/
Music: Linkin Park and The Cure/
People: My mother and all of those that have come before me that have fought their
own battles and didn't give up/
Places: Carl Schurz Park, New York, NY/
Movies: In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Stealing Beauty, Beautiful Girls, When A Man Loves a Woman, In America, Magdelene Sisters, The Notebook, Run Fat Boy Run/
Things: Causes worth fighting for: Lupus and other auto-immune disorders, Organ Donation and impoverished and at-risk youth.