Archive for February, 2007

Yelp

February 23, 2007 at 11:26 am · Filed under Bricks and mortar, Like, Websites, consumerism, word of mouth

So I finally signed up for Yelp, the online review guide. For a little while there, I was writing my reviews on Tribe.net. But since then Tribe has gone downhill and I also met one of their moderators before he got laid off during the mid-2006 upheaval and it sounded like Tribe was on the brink of extinction, but anyway… I think it’s more useful to the rest of the world that my restaurant reviews appear in a place where it’s actually having creating a cumulative effect with the reviews of other people. Don’t you love Web 2.0?

So if you want to read more of my writing, visit:

http://wella.yelp.com/

Leave a Comment

How to wear a hat

February 14, 2007 at 4:04 pm · Filed under Love, brand awareness, brand loyalty, consumerism

I stumbled across this blog post on how to break in one of those men’s baseball hats, like what the players wear on the field.  Before this, the only knowledge I ever had about breaking in a new hat came from John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” It’s been years since I read the book, but I recall  Tom Joad leaves prison and has a new hat. At one point, the bill gets creased. I have to look up exactly how Steinbeck described it, but it’s an image that’s stayed with me into adulthood.

Now I don’t wear this type of hat. I have a low-key, fitted Oakland A’s baseball cap in all yellow, which I think is appropriate for a girl like me. I had no idea how much guys think about breaking in their hat! They’re really willing to stand in the rain or shower in it?

Bugs & Cranks – We’ve Never Tested Positive » Blog Archive » A Bugs & Cranks Special Report: 59FIFTY Surgery
Because for a large population of men myself included, the only options with New Era’s are to buy them 2 sizes too big and wear them crooked on the top of your head or wear it as-is and end up looking like poor old Tom Glavine over here who looks like he could be hiding about 3 baseballs under his cap. Or you could gut the insides and remove the stitching so the top lays flat. Now I’m not saying that I invented this technique, it’s common sense if you think about it. But I am saying that I perfected it. And will be the first to document the process I call it “surgery” complete with pictures and a set of rules, just like Jazzy Jeff.

Comments (3)

Unusual BART station at San Francisco International Airport

February 12, 2007 at 1:54 am · Filed under Like, advertising, billboards

On one of my flights to the San Francisco International Airport recently, I took the train to get home. While waiting at the BART station for the train, something felt a little off. It took me about a minute to figure out, and when I did, I was both pleased and mystified.

Study these photos. Do you notice what it is?

Sign for San Francisco International Airport at the BART train station for SFO

There are three tracks at this BART station. The one in the center wasn’t in use so they put the cones to warn people to stay away. That’s not what’s odd about this train station.

Commuters and travelers waiting for the train at the BART station for the San Francisco International Airport

It took a while for the train to come so we commuters stared at the empty track while we waited. (That was a clue for you.)

Windows at the BART station located at the San Francisco International Airport

These people are looking at either the train schedule or the route maps. That was another clue for you trying to figure out from these pictures what’s different about this BART station.

People look at train schedules at the BART station at the San Francisco International Airport

Did you get it yet?

Train track at the BART station of the San Francisco International Airport

Except for the occasional announcement in the scrolling sign that would announce the train’s destination, this BART station for the San Francisco International Airport doesn’t have any advertising!

These photos were taken on the first week of December 2006. I haven’t been back to see if there are billboards or other ads there now. And though I haven’t visited every BART station, this is the first one I’ve ever seen that’s ad-free. For comparison, check out my post on this Montgomery BART station done up in Target advertising.

I can’t think of many public places that don’t have some large wall ad or display or billboard somewhere. Being at this BART station was refreshing, but also a little strange at the same time!

Comments (1)

The REAL Israel

February 12, 2007 at 1:15 am · Filed under Like, Marketing, billboards, promotional

This is a billboard on 7th Street in Oakland that I pass on my way to work everyday.

The Real Israel billboard in Oakland, CA

“The Real Israel. Different from the Israel in the news.”

That’s the caption under a photo of five attractive women dressed for going out and all smiles as they cross a city street.

I suppose it’s some kind of tourism ad for Israel. I’ve never seen this anywhere else. West Oakland is an unusual place for this billboard. If anyone has more information about it, I’d love to hear it.

In the meantime, I’m thinking that Israel would be a great place to visit…

Update March 6, 2007: I found this billboard in Emeryville at the southwest corner of Powell and Hollis.

The Real Israel billboard at Powell and Hollis Streets in Emeryville, CA

I briefly saw this billboard — a third one — by a convenience store across from Nystrom Magnet School on Harbour Way South in Richmond, California. My dad saw it first, but when I went  back there with a camera, it had already been replaced with an insurance ad.

Comments (9)

Slacker Mom, my a$$

February 11, 2007 at 12:17 am · Filed under Internet Advertising, Loathe, Marketing, Surveys, Websites, advertising

I got an email on my Gmail account from a friend this afternoon giving me an update on her kids. As we all know by now, Google displays ads to the right of the Gmail inbox. The ads are triggered by keywords in the emails.

One of the sponsored links accompanying my friend’s email said this:

What Type of Mom Are You?
15 fun questions to see what type
of parenting style fits you!
www.AreYouASlackerMom.com

I cannot explain why, but I clicked on it to see the quiz. I guess I wanted to see the questions and try to figure out what a “slacker mom” is supposed to be. I cannot say why I’d want to take the quiz because I am not a mom.

The questions are written to be fun and compelling, but if you’re breezing through it quickly, you might not realize it’s collecting some good marketing information about you. Questions like:

4) What kind of lunch do your kids have on a typical day?

__ An organic, nutritious meal usually involving the four food groups
__ The yummy fish sticks and fruit cup they serve in the school cafeteria
__ Whatever’s in the fridge…I am a genius at making a great meal for my kids with what I have on hand
__ Whatever I can creatively construct at the convenience store on the way to my kid’s school

5) Moms definitely come in all ages…what’s yours?

6) How much schooling do you have to go along with your “mom smarts?”

7) What was the last TV show you watched from beginning to end?

__ Oprah Winfrey Show
__ Sex in the City rerun
__ NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS
__ Beginning to end? You must be joking. Did see five minutes of Blues Clues recently. Does that count?

and

11) How would you describe your debt level?

__ Debt free and serene
__ Some debt, but no problem…sometimes you’ve got to spend a little to get a lot
__ My debt makes me nervous…where does all that money go?
__ My debt is out of control…I could use some help

12) Do you own your home?


Now I ask you — how do any of the above choices indicate whether someone is a “slacker mom”? These are all questions to gather consumer tastes and demographics. I think it’s a marketing survey posing as a fun online quiz!

The tip-off? When you get to the end of the questions, you have to supply your email address so they can send you your results. Yeah, right. Do that and expect to be bombarded with emails about mortgage refinancing, credit card offers, and multi-level marketing products. Of course I did no such thing.

When I do come across an honest survey collection methodology that allows me to opt out of receiving any spam or junk mail or sales calls, I’ll happily participate. I’ll even give honest answers.

Leave a Comment

Marriage proposal via TV commercial

February 7, 2007 at 1:37 pm · Filed under Love, TV Commercials

Here’s all you need to know about the guy who proposed to his girlfriend via TV commercial. The blog post is from InsideGoogle and has an SEO slant, but all the necessary links are in it, especially the marriage proposal commercial itself and the girlfriend’s reaction.

» Holy Crap! SuperProposal Guy Is SEOmoz’s Rand Fishkin! » InsideGoogle » part of the Blog News Channel
Many people have no doubt been following the story of the anonymous “JP”, who campaigned to get his marriage proposal aired as a commercial during the Super Bowl, promoting it on his MySuperProposal.com website. The plan fell through, as there wasn’t enough money for the $2.6 million commercial, and CBS couldn’t find extra time in the game to help him out, but he did manage to buy a 30-second spot during last night’s Veronica Mars on the local Seattle affiliate.

Congratulations and best wishes to the couple.

So if you keep getting up during commercial breaks to go to the kitchen or bathroom, you’re gonna miss your marriage proposal.

Comments (2)

Techdirt: Kodaks New Battle Plan: Cheap Printer Ink

February 6, 2007 at 10:34 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Good post on the outrageous price of printer ink from TechDirt. I’m so glad someone is expressing what I feel towards the tyranny of home printers and the oppressive cost of ink. In my house it’s gotten to a point where the only things I’ll print are resumes. Anything else that could be printed such as driving directions? Heck, I’ll write it down on a piece of paper.

TechDirt reports that a market correction with regards to consumers purchasing printer ink may be coming up courtesy of Kodak.

Techdirt: Kodaks New Battle Plan: Cheap Printer Ink
Someone once worked out that if you filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool with printer ink bought at retail, it would cost you $5.9 billion dollars yes, with a b.

Comments (1)

Molecular Gastronomy explained in layman’s terms

February 2, 2007 at 2:42 pm · Filed under Media, Other

While I was laid up in bed with the flu last week, I got sucked in to “Top Chef,” Bravo TV’s food equivalent to “Project Runway.” I watched the three episodes leading up to the finale, which aired last Wednesday and which I had to watch, naturally.

I’d never watched “Top Chef” before because, well, a cooking competition doesn’t make for great TV. As stated by host Padma Lakshmi herself on the series, cooking is perhaps the only art form that involves four of the senses: taste, touch, smell, and sight.

(My friend Vera said, “What about sound?” and I replied, “No one wants to hear you chewing.”)

Well, when you’re watching a cooking contest on TV, you can’t taste, smell, or feel the food (in your mouth), so what’s the point? In the end we’re just subjected to another reality show where contestants backbite each other, occasionally get into confrontations, and get dismissed with tears.

The “Top Chef” contestants, on the other hand, did manage to shock me. In one episode Michael, a large African-American chef, manhandles Marcel, the petite, white chef who everyone hates. Michael was dismissed by the show’s head judge (and producers, I hope) for breaking the rules. In all the reality shows I’ve seen on TV, this is the closest I’ve come to seeing physical aggression. Even Janice Dickinson waving a large kitchen knife near Omarosa on an episode of “The Surreal Life” seemed to me more like a jest than an threat.

Anyway what it came down to — predictably — was Marcel, the most-hated chef/the villain, was up against Ilan, the one chef contestant who’s the most annoyed by him. Ilan won last Wednesday.

Thank goodness this series is over and I can stop thinking about it. I should’ve stuck to my original instinct which is: cooking competitions don’t make for great TV. “Iron Chef”, on the other hand, was great in the 1990s because of the theatrics — not the cooking per se — and the subtitles of bad translations. As we all know, the show lost its cult status when it became corporatized and they actually dubbed it into English.

Though I’ve wasted four hours of my life on “Top Chef,” I was sick so technically it’s not the best time of my life. However I found this good article from Newsday that gave me a better understanding of why the winning chef deserves the title of Top Chef.

What makes Ilan Hall Top Chef? – Newsday.com

Reading this article is more enjoyable than watching even 15 minutes of the TV show.

Leave a Comment