Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Missing Time Phone Line

 

I've seen these ads around on telephone polls as well as in a Newsweek magazine recently. Apparently Zyrtec works 2 hours faster than Claritin. If you call this number it tells you you've reached the missing time phone line due to taking Claritin. Then the recorded message gives you some more info on Zyrtec directing to their website for more info. Pretty clever huh.
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Ice Cream You Scream

You'd think having gone to school for business and marketing and currently working in market research I'd be less susceptible to advertising - not true. I buy Method products for 2 reasons.. 1 - I like the way the bottles look and 2 - it's better for the environment. I'd even buy this ice cream cone not because I have any idea what it says but because it looks cool.

 
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On-the-go Radishes



I was at Trader Joe's and I saw these radishes. It's a cool concept however it would be a lot cooler if it were for carrots 1- because it's shaped like a carrot and 2 - because who eat radishes as a snack. I'm sure lots of people eat radishes but it doesn't strike me as one of those on-the-go healthy snack you see people eating at their desk. Package carrots this way and you got yourself a new customer!
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Glass Walls on the rise in Hollywood



I'm detected a new architecture trend on the rise in Hollywood!!! Let me give you a little background info of the area first. I've lived here for about 3 years now and when I first move to Hollywood I had no idea what was behind most of these solid sign-less walls. If most of the trendy and elite clubs and restaurants were placed in any other city, from the outside they would look like warehouses, chop-shops, or drug dealin' locations. Unfortunately you have to be in the know to see that behind these walls are trendy hangouts filled with hot actors and celebs. Well, some business people have finally realized that if they only cater to these people, they will be out of business within a year - seriously.. I see it happen all the time. Within the last 6 month a 24 hour posh diner opened called Kitchen 24. It's affordable and more importantly accepts all people. I think the major difference with this place is that it has large glass windows so you can see everything inside which makes you want to go inside when you see how awesome and crowded it looks. It's fairly simple really... if people can see inside and it looks cool, they will want to come inside, and this, my friend, is why I feel it's always so busy. Face it, most people who come to Hollywood have no idea how to find a club with no sign and a door that you enter in a creepy alley. Following Kitchen 24 is Loteria Grill and Kress. I don't feel cool enough to get into Kress so I can't speak confidently for it yet however their similarities are the large glass walls. Loteria Grill is also always packed and I feel the reason why is that you can see inside! People know what they are walking by and they can see that it looks cool and busy. I'm sure it's less intimidating too when you know what you're walking into. Anyways, I think you get the point, in the near future I envision that more and more bars, clubs and restaurants will be bringing their solid walls down in place or inviting see-through glass.

The Red Cross and Dracular 3 Partner

According the the American Red Cross, every 2 seconds somebody in America needs blood. There are more people in need of blood than there are those who are donating it. How do you get people to do something that is quick, easy, free, and almost painless? The Red Cross has decided to partner with Encore for the release of their new computer video game: "Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon". The Dracula Blood Drive will take place October 3rd and 4th at eight locations in Los Angeles and Orange County. Each blood donor will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the video game as well as other give-aways. We all know that daily it becomes more and more difficult for brands to find new and innovative ways to engage their consumers and I feel this is one of those ways. It's a win win opportunity.. free stuff, engaged participants, and more importantly these days - social responsibility.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Coconut Water and The Health Craze

I recently tried coconut water and love it! It's considered natures Gatorade because it has lots of electrolytes but without the fake sugar and all the other additives. Additionally it's good for your digestive system, skin, arteries, blah blah blah and... hangovers!!! Anyways, I'm starting to see it everywhere, particularly from this brand called O.N.E. A while ago I read that Coca-Cola had tons and tons of beverages in vending machines in Japan that were on and off the market in 3 months. They were beverages for the purpose of enhancing certain aspects of your health or appearance - I was loving the idea and anxious for these all-mighty drinks to make it here. While I have not seen much from Coca-Cola yet I have stated seeing all sorts or random brands popping up left and right including ONE and Borba. I am a total slave to these and I can't wait for more! The only thing that makes me feel less like a sucker is that at least the coconut drink is 100% coconut water and doesn't have all this other stuff in it but check out some of the ingredients in these drinks and you probably haven't heard of most.

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

California Goes Hands-Free

So as you know, Blabby can no longer hold her cell phone to her ear when she drives anymore, she must be hands-free. So, she got out of Trader Joe's the other day and from a distance it looked as though a bird had taken a serious shit on her windshield but to her surprise it was this cute ad for a hands-free thing from Parrot.com. It was pretty sweet, I couldn't avoid looking at it, and I was pleased that it wasn't shit :)





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Sunday, September 7, 2008

Simple Shoes

I went into this retail store at the Sunset Junction called something Kicks today. They sell Obey T-shirts, Nike shoes and other hipster brands. Included in their selective brand list are "Simple" shoes- a brand that prides itself on the use of sustainable materials and all that other great stuff that will save our environment. What caught my attention (which I failed to take a picture of) was the display that Simple shoes had provided to the company. It looked like a shelf with jars and inside each jar was a natural resource which Simple uses to produce their shoes. This included organic cotton, hemp, recycled car tires, suede, bamboo and recycled inner tubers.


It was very creative, visually eye-catching, and you didn't need to read a tag as to why you should buy this sustainable product, it just got to the point immediately... it was Simple. But wait, there's more... a patron in the store picked up the jar with the "hemp" in it and asked the employee what it was. The employee said "hemp" of course, and the lost customer was enraged and started yelling at him. The hemp was actually made of plastic which is somewhat ironic considering that plastic is not hemp nor is it sustainable. To me, it really didn't matter, I mean... could you even save hemp in a jar without is going bad? I figured it's just a nice display trying to get the point across and as long as the shoes are really made of hemp (or whatever natural material the brand claims) then who really cares... apparently this guy does. Unfortunately he took his concern up with the guy trying to make a simple living selling t-shirts instead of the company. While he was completely out-of-line is was still very ironic.
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