Short and stout

Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without you
Dorcas Reilly invented the green bean casserole in Campbell's kitchens for a magazine article in 1955.

Global warming goes thud
Horrible, but sure makes its point. (source Creativity) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Ae__MHG-U

They're ba-ack
Direct mail credit card offers. Up 34% in October vs. September. The 29.99% question: Are we going to accept them? (source: Mintel/Marketing Daily, 11/23/09)

Most interesting old man in the world
The Dos Equis guy is 71, and his name is Jonathan Goldsmith. When he's not convincingly playing a hot-and-cool Latino, he's had bit parts on Matlock, MacGuyver, Murder She Wrote, and a host of other series nobody ever noticed him on. TMIMITW: clearly also his most interesting character. (source: IMDb & MediaPost, 11/23/09)

There's another life
Selling products and keeping people in jobs is an admirable goal, but imagine talking terrorists into defecting? That's what marketers at Lowe Columbia do. They spend weeks hanging out with former members of FARC and other militant groups to understand the lives they lead in the jungles and their motivators for breaking free. The radio and TV spots, which usually feature testimonials from former guerrillas, run during soccer matches and have been quite successful. (source: Ad Age, 11/16/09)

New mindset
Iconoculture sees, emerging from the recession, a desire by consumers to work collectively. Not for the common good, but because working together will gain the most benefit for ME. It's still every man for himself, but all together.

Finance your pants
In India, Levi's jeans are an aspirational product. Something that shows you've made it. To help more Indians realized their denim dreams, Levi's is working with a number of banks to make interest-free microcredit available. Choose your 501s today, pay in 3 installments. (source: The Hindu Business Line, 11/24/09)

I know what you're watching
Researchers at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience showed they could create a crude reproduction of a movie clip that someone was watching just by viewing their brain activity. Unless, of course, they're watching a SyFy original movie and there is no brain activity. (source: Iconoculture/New Scientist, 10/28/09)

Gobble
Would you like fries with that? Atlanta, you're #3 in the US for eating fast food-behind Birmingham, AL and Lexington, KY. Interestingly, every city on the top-10 is southern. (source: Scarborough Research)

Rube Guinness
Not saying I like this ad, but it's fun to think about what went into producing it. (source: Creativity) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHURiTjidrI