When Someone Great Saves The Day

http://www.cary.intlminutepress.com/

They saved the day for me. I want to thank them, and I want everybody to know how GREAT they are. Thank you PAUL.

So Friday morning, I'm at the gym at 7:30am when I realise that my current company brochures are unusable, and I was supposed to get brochures to ChannelAdvisor in 1 biz day so that they can be put in the attendee bags for Catalyst.

What do I do?

Well, I rip my husband off the treadmill (sorry, honey), and we run home. I'm in a panic. Who is going to print these that fast? He says someone near ChannelAdvisor. I said I'll start with my current print company. Long story short, my current print company had a noon deadline, and at 11:30am, their website stopped working. Oh it worked well enough to charge my card, but I couldn't upload my files. So they'll be crediting me.

But everything happens for a reason. I went to Yahoo Local and looked for printing near Cary, NC. I found Paul's shop. Paul was amazing. I haven't seen the printing, but I'm assuming it's great or good enough. :)

Paul had my job PRINTED before I had even paid. I DID pay, and he put it and his wife on the back of his motorcycle. He offers free delivery in the area, and with the nice weather there, he decided it was going on the bike. Thanks to Kathy Todd @ CA for receiving our last minute package!

We'll have Paul print our signs too, and we'll get to meet him today. We land in Raleigh-Durham at 2pm. We should be at Paul's shop around 3:30pm. I am just so thrilled and grateful. There are great people out there with nimble businesses who are willing to help and get things done. That's great marketing, and I always appreciate that.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Good Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Referral Commissions

I was just thinking about something. Play this out with me. :)

We offer partners a referral commission. If they send someone to us, we give them 5% of the contract amount for the person they sent. Our average sale is $3000, so some people are happy with that percentage, especially since we want you to do NO selling. Don't sell us! Just refer people to us and let us do the sales. We're good at it, plus we only want to sign the right people for the right services.

Some people think that 5% is too small, and they want more of a cut. Firstly, I'm not sure how much they deserve when they're not really doing any sales or work. They're just telling someone to call us, or us to call them. Secondly, if Company X can afford to give someone say 15% as a commission, then that's money they can lose and STILL be profitable.

As in let's say you pay someone $1500, and let's say they pay $225 to their affiliate as a commission or referral fee. That means that this company could be charging you $1275, and still make money. When the sale doesn't come from a referral, Company X just makes even more.

I was just thinking about giving people a great price for the services you provide. I feel a little weird that some people can offer 10%, 15%, maybe even 25% kickback to someone else. This year, we raised our prices because we have been packing more service and attention into what we do. It costs us money internally, so we need to bring that in as revenue.

How would you feel if I raised our prices just to have more of a buffer to give out as commissions? Anybody can do this math. If you know that I only give 5% to everybody, then you know that I am pricing things pretty much as low as I can. If you find out another company gives 25% in commissions, imagine if you got that 25% off instead of that company pocketing it or giving it to the friend who referred you.

It reminds me of a conversation I had in my eBay Live booth a few years ago. A woman stopped in my booth, and was nearly angry that I didn't have lots of freebies for her. She asked me where was the free stuff? I replied, "You think that free stuff is free? The more I have made up to give you to for free here, the more I have to charge you when you hire my company." She walked off in a huff.

I guess I'm still part socialist. I like to see the client get the best price rather than build in huge buffers for us just in case someone gets a commission. I'd rather that commissions be small thank yous rather than things that drive people, or something that makes or breaks relationships. I'd like people to refer us because we're the best, and then enjoy the thank you. :)

Posted at 01:53 PM in Just An Observation | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Advertising iPods

I was in Vegas last August, and the place seemed to be full of huge iPod billboards. Now, I know a few things about marketing, so I look at those and wonder...

Do they need the visiblity? No, I think many people have heard of iPods.

Do they need the market share? I heard somewhere that iPods have 70% of the MP3 player market share. They probably don't need to advertise to maintain or gain market share.

Do they need the billboard to sell you on it? I don't think so. As I once heard Seth Godin say, there are two kinds of people: those who have an iPod and those who want an iPod.

Now, I'm the unmentioned third kind of person, but the billboards won't sell me anyway. I'm AnythingButIpod, and now enjoy my new Cowon.

So what's the point of huge billboards for iPods in Vegas? I wasn't sure. I didn't think Apple needed to spend more on advertising something that many people want, many people have, and just about everybody knows about.

On what could Apple spend this money instead?

Posted at 05:00 AM in Just An Observation | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Dixie Chicks, Again

I held my Board Games Meetup last week, and I don't know how we got on this topic, but one woman said she didn't like the Dixie Chicks. OK, I'm no major fan (I like one song), and she's entitled to not like them. Someone playing the game asked her why. I didn't see this answer coming.

"The Dixie Chicks are anti-American."

Huh? They said they were embarrassed that Bush was from Texas (because they're from Texas). Lots of people say far more cutting things about Bush, and are NOT accused of treason. So I pushed this woman on it a bit.

The woman started saying that she defended their right to feel and say whatever they want. (OK, then where's the problem here)

Finally, the woman seemed to hit on it. When the Dixie Chicks said that, this woman was way pro-Bush, and felt it was un-American to say that. Nearly 5 years later, she no longer supports Bush, but was still thinking of the Dixie Chicks as bad for what they said.

This reminds me of how people need to update things when they get new information.

It also reminds me of a commercial that ran here in the 2006 Congressional elections. The challenger ran a commercial with a stern sounding woman saying that the other candidate hung a picture of the President UPSIDE DOWN!!!! IN A TIME OF WAR!!!! I didn't think that was so bad. It's not like he burned a flag while peeing on it. He turned a photo upside down. Big deal.

PS: Guy didn't get elected. And I will always think of him as the guy who hung a picture of the President upside down... in a time of war... and then I have to laugh.

Posted at 05:00 AM in Just An Observation | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

What Else Is A Digital Download on eBay?

Following along the lines of yesterday's post about eBay getting e-book sellers, Evan P of PESA was lovely enough to Skype me and mention that by the letter of eBay's Digital Downloads law, more things fall under that than just e-books. eBay listing templates, logos, banner ads, and other things that people may sell as stock things or custom things would technically be digital downloads as well as they are delivered digitally.

That means that all the people selling eBay templates, eBay Store designs, and other things like that will have to list those items as Classified Ads, and receive no feedback for it.

I'm actually OK with that. Personally, I think that if you are selling that type of good or service, you should end up with some sort of rating in the Solutions Directory. I really want to see the eBay Stores Design Directory have ratings. To me, people should see how these companies and dealers are rated specifically on these products and services. That should be separate from feedback that may be on how the transaction went.

I'd like to see feedback about how people's businesses improved when they use a service or template or eBay Store design. I don't think the current feedback system really covers that anyway, plus it might be hard to find feedbacks just on that if the seller sells other things. So I'm for this, and I hope that the Stores Design Directory will eventually have ratings and comments from customers.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Good Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

eBay Gets The e-Book Sellers!

Oh I am SO happy about this. For seeming ever, I have been railing against the so-called eBay experts who tell people one or both of two things:

1) Selling e-books and information products on eBay is so easy and you're just going to make money wildly!

2) It's a great way to do so little, make money, and get LOTS of feedback!

I knew eBay hated this because they felt that most people were just buying and selling feedback. They had all kinds of triggers to try to find which sellers were doing this. So as "experts" were telling you to do this, I was out there screaming for you to not do this.

Well, now eBay is my back-up screamer. :) http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803241300132.html

HOORAY!

The big change is that if you sell a digitally downloaded good, aka an e-book or information product, you have to use the Classified Ad format. So you can still sell them. You can make all that money those experts are promising you. But you can't get feedback. Problem solved!

So, "information product" sellers, look out! I hope you're making a lot of money with your 99 cent e-books after all your eBay fees because you can't get feedback for them anymore!

Posted at 08:24 AM in That's Good Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Iraq War

I don't say much about politics here, but I will say this.

I just heard some stats on how many Iraqi civilians we've killed the last like 5 years of this war. By some counts, it's higher than some of the genocides Saddam undertook.

If we're killing as many or more people than Saddam's genocides, what the heck are we doing, and how can we say that this war is "working" or going well or mission accomplished?

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

eBay Live! Hotels

With eBay Live! open for registration again, I noticed that hotels are once again a sticky situation. Now, I booked mine in August 2007, so I'll be 2 miles away for $237/night. Not the best, but I try to find the best of proximity and price. Call that same hotel now, and they want $480/night. The trick is to book it when they don't yet know there's a convention on.

This year, on eBay's list of hotels, one list says "under $200/night." There are three things to know about that list.

• I mapped some of those hotels. Some are airport hotels 11 miles away. I am guessing that's not very convenient for a daily round-trip drive in a major city.
• I priced some of those hotels. Many were $199/night. So they are under $200/night, but let's not imagine they are well under $200/night!
• One of them is a hostel. As in youth hostel. As in imagine European backpackers with tiny beds in a room and the bathroom down the hallway. Well, I guess you can get a private room with a bathroom, but it's still a backpacker's. And eBay thinks you should stay there?!??

This was like Live! 2007, when one of the suggested lodging choices was an RV park. Anybody with an RV was going to stay at one anyway. Anybody not with an RV was probably really wondering why eBay would list that as a viable hotel choice.

If eBay Live! is going to continue, one thing they need to change is getting it in a city where hotels are more affordable. This has to be awful for the eBay sellers who want to attend!

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

MLM Madness

I belong to a local business meetup.com group. It's just had its second meeting under the new organiser. And so far, it seems that about half the people there are involved in one or more MLM system, which greatly decreases my enjoyment of the event. I don't want to become an independent executive for (insert MLM system here).

But last night, looking at one of the guys who comes to these things, I thought of something. He showed up with 5 different business cards, each for an MLM system. Oh, he's a travel agent, a life coach, a Zrii rep, etc... And when it was time for each of us to do our 20-30 second introduction, he mentioned being part of a great opportunity and how you want to get in now, but didn't even say what it was. He evidently doesn't want to sell anybody on being his CLIENT... he doesn't want to book your travel, sell you Zrii, or coach your life. He wants you to be under him in the pyramid.

If MLM promises so much wealth and freedom, as I often hear, why did this guy just add a 5th MLM system this week? Wouldn't he be rich and busy from the first four? He has time to add a 5th, and he needs the money that could come from the 5th?

I definitely can't do the MLM thing. I can't rope friends and strangers into being part of a pyramid. If I like a product, I recommend it. If I get a commission, that's nice. But I can't imagine trying to make a living off getting friends and strangers to sign up to sell things I'm also trying to sell.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Please Don't Lie To Me

Over the last few weeks, a few people have told me some lies that I immediately knew weren't true.

Even without me asking you to NOT lie to me, please don't lie to me. I am never fooled by this stuff. And once I catch you lying to me, you're really hurting trust. How can we continue working together when I already know that you are willing to tell me things that aren't true to try to get me to do something I otherwise wasn't going to do?

I still feel badly that a number of people made me promises relating to our recent RocketPlace conference. Vendors and speakers promised me all sorts of things, and a few of them followed through on NONE of those promises. We even had one speaker not show up without contacting me, which I'd say is really not acceptable. I would rather hear what you think is "bad news" than have no contact or be lied to.

Actually, I was recently fooled by a couple of really big lies from the same company, who I trusted so much that I believed their really logical but unfortunately untrue explanations, but I'm not going to post about that until everything is settled with those people. Then, I want people to know what happened so that they can learn from my mistakes.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Can't Contact People

I've been to a few websites lately that seem to have NO contact information on them. One them has navigation along the top AND different links along the bottom, and NONE of those is Contact Us. They're missing out on hearing from me and everybody else. What if a visitor to their site has a question? They'll lose that person.

Another site I went to on the contact page had a home address of one of the principals (?) and a phone number but no email address. The contact page had an email form, but when I filled it out, I was told that I can't view that resource, and my mail wasn't sent.

I called them, and later found an email address on the FAQ page. But this could have been a lot smoother and better.

Do you make your contact information or contact details page easy for people to find? If not, do you want people to contact you? If you're a business, you should want them to contact you. :)

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

My Set Up Is OK

Someone engaged me in a live chat from our website this weekend. He (assuming it was a guy, who knows) wanted to find someone who would help him with eBay strategies. He said his listings were fine, but he needed to know more about strategies.

I never believe that listings are perfect. Something can always improve. So I told him we typically don't get involved when someone only wants advice but isn't open to making bigger changes. I asked him if in the course of advising him, what if I felt he needed to make major changes to his listings. The response in the live chat was:

"Debbie, my set up is OK."

Let's say you go to the dentist because your front teeth hurt. He finds 6 cavities in other teeth. Should you have him NOT fix those because you only wanted your front teeth fixed? Are the teeth with cavities fine because they don't hurt yet? Sure, you can go a while without doing anything about those cavities, but eventually, that strategy just may not serve you.

And that's why we don't work with people who are not open to changing their listings. With everything going on right now with Best Match, DSRs, and eBay's changes, the right client for us is open to making changes that will increase buyer satisfaction and increase sales. Of course, let's try to increase profitability too!

Even if I gave my best strategy advice, and this person brought people to a listing that wasn't that great, didn't clearly communicate things, or anything else that can turn off a buyer, then what have you really accomplished? You'll get more people to listings, and people still may not buy. Someone not open to change is not the right client for us.

Good luck to that person. As I like to say, call us back when you get tired of how good we make your competitors. :)

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Americans and St. Patrick's Day

Well, it's St. Patricks Day. Being friends with Iarla has taught me a lot about the Irish. Some came from him, some from my own observations.

1. The Americans who say, "I'm Irish!" and wear shirts and drink green beer and may be named O'Connell are as Irish as I am Polish if they were not born in Ireland. Iarla is Irish. He was born and raised there; he lived there full time until his early 20s. "Irish" is reserved for people like him. Irish-American is for people who were not born there and didn't grow up there. I always ask these Irish-Americans if they were born in Ireland. No. How much Irish do you speak? They didn't know it was also a language. OK you're not Irish, case closed. This is my opinion - not Iarla's. I say that anybody not born in Ireland shouldn't be yelling, "I'm Irish!"
2. The proper short form for St. Patrick's Day is Paddy's. It's not St. Pattys. In Ireland, Patty is a woman, and St. Patrick wasn't. The Irish call the day Paddy's for short, and we should too.
3. Leprechauns and jigs are insulting stereotypes. The Shamrock was evidently St. Patrick's way of explaining the Trinity to people (something that is 3 and 1). The idea that the Irish mostly spend their time drinking and fighting is an insulting stereotype.
4. The stereotypical Irish accent doesn't exist in one town. It's a bastardised combination of a few different areas' accents.
5. According to Iarla, "the luck of the Irish" is meant to be sarcastic. It would be like looking back at hundreds/thousands of years of persecution and the Holocaust, and calling the Jews "lucky." The Irish have a similar bad history of persecution and being at the bottom of totem poles. So evidently, you DON'T want the luck of the Irish.
6. If it's Scottish, it may not be Irish, which means it may not be right for St. Patrick's Day. A guy in a kilt playing a highland tribute on the bagpipes might be Scottish.

I heard a comedian on XM talking about this. He basically said that St. Patrick's Day is the most important holiday in Ireland. It's the national holiday. It's like our July 4th I guess. It's holy in Ireland. And the Americans have turned it into every negative stereotype. Americans have made it about getting as sicko drunk as you can, all while having no understanding of the holiday or real respect for real Irish culture.

You couldn't get away with taking any other culture's or religion's holiday, and focusing on the negative stereotypes. You'd probably make CNN (in a bad way) for dressing up as a happy-go-lucky slave on Martin Luther King Day. The comedian made points like that, and I agree with him.

Iarla says that the stereotypes continue because there is no Irish (from Ireland) voice in this country. You have groups standing up for people of various races, religions, and the gay community. But nobody is speaking out when the Irish are reduced to a bunch of dancing, drinking, fighting, little people.

So if you're celebrating Paddy's today, just think about what you're celebrating. Now that I know more about Ireland and modern Irish culture, it IS to be celebrated, but with respect.

Posted at 05:00 AM in Just An Observation | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Job on Monster.com

Every day, I have Monster.com email me every job that has the word eBay in it. I like to see who's hiring for what (and using Monster). Yesterday, one of the jobs Monster sent me was really interesting. Here is most of the listing.

Job Description

Ebay, Ebay store, Developer, Manager, Administrator, office manager, marketing

Are you an eBay store developer or have the ability to be one? If so, read on....

What is in it for you?

- Salary
- Breaking into the fashion and jewelry industry

What you will be doing!

- Developing, managing and updating current eBay store.
- Ad Hoc Office work
- Customer interfacing
- Some light web development

What you need!

- Successful eBay Experience
- Light web programming
- Some Database
- Light Photoshop

So if you are an Ebay store developer or have the ability to be on, apply now!

So it's an eBay Store designer and office worker and customer service in the Los Angeles area, and for $30K/yr. And you want them to know web programming, Photoshop, and "some database." I also don't understand the "ability to be an eBay Store developer" but you aren't one now. If I were hiring, I'd want someone who really knows what he or she is doing!

Bad marketing in that I am not sure that this job will be filled by the expertise the ad claims to want... I'm not sure that expertise comes for $14/hr before taxes are taken out. After taxes are withheld, that person might end up with under $400 per week. ?!?!?!?!

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

eBay Live 2008 Speakers

I've just seen the list of who is speaking at eBay Live.

If you are someone I've blasted in this blog as someone who is maybe lacking integrity or good eBay advice for people, guess what. I've noticed you're NOT on the speaking list! One of you is, but only doing two "basics" classes. I won't say on what so I'm not calling anybody out by name.

But once again, eBay triumphs in NOT picking those lacking integrity to speak at eBay Live. Thank you, eBay! For you sellers out there, this is a great way to check who eBay thinks are the authorities on certain topics. They choose speakers very carefully and deliberately.

Of course, I got picked for 3 classes, and we'll be in booth 735 I think it is. A 20x20 in the middle of the room. You can't miss it. :)

Posted at 05:00 AM in Just An Observation | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Mystery Guarantee

Remember yesterday's post about the number one ranked eBay Store design firm in the whole entire world, according to themselves? :)

This company is using graphics in their marketing that says "Guaranteeed." I clicked and clicked, and I read and read their pages. I couldn't find anything about what this guarantee is. I hate this stuff since it's so misleading.

For all we know, the guarantee could be that you WILL receive work at some point from them, and that work will contain at least one graphic in it. Without a stated guarantee, they leave you to imagine what it is, and I bet that you imagine that their work will make your sales go up.

Well have them put that in their contract. If they are guaranteeing a change in your business, it should be in writing. And if it's a guarantee, the next logical question is what happens or what do you get if your business doesn't change or grow to their guaranteed point? Do you get money back? Do they do more work? How much more work?

This is just bad marketing because it's slippery and deceptive. If anybody offers a guarantee, make sure it's part of the contract that you're both signing. Don't go on a handshake. Don't just go on an email. Make sure you totally get it in writing, and that it's clearly written.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Great Blog Post About Best Match and DSRs

http://www.auctioninsights.info/decoding-ebays-best-match.html

Posted at 02:24 PM in That's Good Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The #1 Ranked eBay Store Design Service

I was looking around some eBay Stores recently, and one of them was designed by a company I'd never heard of before and won't name. I followed their link to their eBay Store, which promoted them, and then to their website, which I found incredibly bland. By they used two lines in a few places that really intrigued me.

• We are the NUMBER ONE ranked eBay store design service worldwide on eBay today.
• Number One Ranked eBay Store Design Firm WORLDWIDE!

I emailed my guy at eBay to ask if they are ranking or awarding design companies. He said no, that company appointed themselves the number one service. So these guys are THE BEST IN THE WORLD and even though we've been doing eBay consulting and design for 7+ years, I've never heard of them. I don't remember them speaking at eBay Live or exhibiting there. I guess they are too big and busy to come to eBay Live. :)

So then this is some bad marketing since it's a lie. Who ranked eBay Store design services? Where does my company fall in this ranking?

I just don't like when companies do this. They might as well say, "We're the best company out there, as voted by our mothers!" And anybody who hires them because they read that, believe they are the #1 ranked company, and don't even dig deeper to see who did the ranking and where other companies fell... well, you're not doing your research!

Always check on claims people make. If a company makes a claim or guarantee, which this company did, make sure you get it in writing and signed.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Time For Saving Daylight

This Sunday 9 March in the wee small hours is Daylight Savings in the USA. Everybody except I will be turning clocks one hour ahead.

Remember that Arizona doesn't change clocks. We are on "Mountain Standard" all year. So once everybody else moves forward and we stay the same, we'll be on the same time as California. What's up with Arizona?

Well in the summer, we get some wild temperatures down here. You can get 95 in May and 110 in July in Tucson. They feel nicer than they sound, but you're still running air conditioning plenty. Temps drop off quickly in the evening once it gets dark. It may drop to 80, but it's still a drop! The idea is that if we had the "extra hour of sunlight" while people are awake and active, more energy would be burned. Slide that extra hour into a time when people may be sleeping or it looks darker outside, and people are hopefully using less energy like for air conditioning.

Friends and clients, it'll be an hour earlier here than you think! Just remember that when you call. :) If you're working with our Account Managers, they are outside Arizona, so they'll be the time you think they'll be.

:)

Posted at 06:16 AM in Just An Observation | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Photos From RocketPlace

Our RocketPlace conference for eBay sellers was last week. I finally got the photos into Flickr. There are roughly 1300 of them, but don't panic. Flickr's thumbnail view makes it pretty easy to see what's what, and then only click to see the images that interest you.

http://www.RocketPlace.com/images-spring08.shtml

We welcome people sharing these photos... put them in your blog, on your website, email them to friends. We only ask two things.

1) Please credit our photographer Jen Franklin.

2) Please include a URL of http://www.RocketPlace.com so that people know what event this is. We don't want anybody using these pics to advertise something that isn't RocketPlace. :)

Enjoy!

Posted at 05:31 AM in That's Good Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Thanks To Great Vendors!

We had our RocketPlace conference last week, and some vendors made things easier than other vendors wanted to make them. :) So here is where I thank those people because they were great. And tell them Debbie from As Was and the RocketPlace conference sent you!

In no particular order...

http://www.crewcallinc.com/ - Terrible website, great people. They sent us Al, our sound engineer, so please ask for Al at any event you're holding in and around Orlando, FL.

http://www.avmatters.com/ - OK website, great people. :) They rented our equipment to us. Ask for Phil!

http://www.avgiant.com/ - Nice website, nicer people! I think I worked with Danny. We bought 6 wireless microphone sets (microphones, belt packs, and transmitters). It cost me less to BUY brand new, brand name, quality items than to rent them.

http://www.oneinchround.com/ - They did our oPINions. Great customer service. Product quality is consistently excellent.

http://www.printplace.com/ - I'd never tried these people before, but I had them print our biz cards and conference programmes. They were fast and the items were just as I had hoped. Give them a try!

http://www.4imprint.com/ - They did our badge holders and the lavender conference bags. I've used them on and off for years. Tremendous customer service, and the items are always perfect and as promised.

These companies made working our conference a better experience. I hope you'll consider doing business with them, and spread the word!

Posted at 06:32 AM in That's Good Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Air Travel With Your Parents

I was flying a few months ago and noticed a family flying together... Mom, Dad, and two teen boys. They looked so young and scrawny. But here they were on this cross-country flight. I think this was my Phoenix to JFK in NYC flight back in December 2007.

At baggage claim, I noticed one of the kids is wearing a shirt with Dave Chappelle's face on it. OK, I like Dave. Under his face, it says, "Do I look like someone who would smoke marijuana?"

And this is what he's chosen to wear when going through many government agencies in airports, and travelling with his parents. Genius, kid! I hope your future employers remember you as well as I do. :)

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Where Does Milk Come From?

I overheard part of an NPR radio show where some self-absorbed-sounding musician guy was being interviewed. I didn't catch who he was, but he evidently hadn't been heard from for years and was just resurfacing. The interviewer asked him what spurred him to do his latest project, and I didn't catch what it was.

But I did catch the beginning of his answer until my brain turned into a Lewis Black comedy routine. The guy was lamenting about some study that showed that most school children don't know where milk comes from. He thought that was terrible that kids didn't know that, and .... my mind just faded after that.

Is our biggest problem that kids don't know where milk comes from? And will we tell them the truth about all the hormones and additives? How the cows are treated? The processing done on the milk after we get it? Or will this guy tell them "cows" and run away before the questions come?

I'd like school children to know where McDonalds burgers come from. I'd like them to know how McDonalds fries are "formed." I'd like them to know where the ingredients in Hot Pockets come from. Forget milk. Kids need to know what they're eating since for the most part, it's chemical-filled, over-processed SHIT.

Posted at 05:00 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)