Skin in the game

So not "Goodnight Moon"
For all you creative, subversive types, some not-so-usual kid lit. I'd add to this list my personal twisted favorites, "Half Chick" and "Struwwelliese" (also available in English). http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/ (source: The Very Short List, 1/21/10)

Conflicted
Augmented-reality Hallmark cards: a great way to keep snail-mail greetings relevant or way too much work for a "Happy Birthday"? After all, modern grandmas don't have all day.

I am so screwed
According to a new Australian study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, TV kills. Not the appalling programming, but all that sitting. Adults who watch television four hours or more per day are 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who watch two hours or less, and 46% more likely to die of any cause. Overweight or not, doesn't matter. The study was adjusted for risk factors like smoking and poor diet. (source: NY Times, 1/19/10)

Ad ticker
Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners has set up a mini-mutual fund (through their client Vanguard) of their publicly traded clients' stock which agency employees can buy into, and profit from, or not. How much do you believe in the idea you just pitched? Would you bet your retirement on it? (source: NY Times, 1/18/10) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/business/media/19adco.html

I'm lovin' it
Cool OOH http://adsoftheworld.com/media/outdoor/mcdonalds_steaming_transit_shelter . (source: Mediabistro via JZ. Tx, Jeff.)

Mother of invention
When you live on a tiny atoll in the middle of the South Pacific, you have to be creative to survive. The needlefish that the residents of Santa Catalina Island eat have mouths too small for hooks, so the fishermen have devised an ingenious way to capture them.
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2009/08/spider_web_fishing_in_the_sout.php

Oxy-shoe-on
Jimmy Choo UGGs, coming in October, $495-$795.They will be sheepskin. (source: Marketing Daily, 1/19/10)

What really matters
Everybody's played "what would you bring to a desert island," but what do you cherish when your daily life is that island? Photographer Susan Mullally's portraits of the down-and-out who congregate at the Church Under the Bridge in Waco, TX, are both somber and inspiring. (source: The Very Short List, 1/19/10) http://www.susanmullally.com/photos/wik_photos/index_3.html

From the Winter Fancy Food Show
Top 5 trends for 2010: Good-for-you foods, coconut, gluten-free, exotic citrus, and nostalgic foods. More hot flavors: Indian sauces, hibiscus, chocolate with spices, and "bacon in new places." Read more http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120960&nid=110234 (source: Marketing Daily, 1/21/10)

Ambulance chaser makover
Old ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4uGHY0bKzc&feature=related
New ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eck-dlk0n4
And funny-but-thank-goodness-he-was-disbarred ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5hn8bhEpMY&feature=related

Mini maxi
What do you think of the new Mini Countryman? It's about the size of a Honda CR-V. This feels like a Porsche Cayenne to me - Mini sales: "We need an SUV." Design: "But that's so wrong." Sales: "Let marketing deal with it. Just build it."

Brutal, yet brilliant
The agency for an Israeli packaged dessert manufacturer decided the best way to boost its client's sales on a teeny budget was to look for broken hearts in need of sugary mending. They partnered with an online dating site to target members who came back to the site after an absence/presumably failed relationship. The rebounders got personalized messages inviting them to seek solace in a free sample of their new chocolate pudding. (source: Ad Age, 1/21/10)

Operation skatin' Stephen
An update: The Colbert Nation has raised over $300K for the US Olympic speed skating team. That's more than they would have gotten from their former corporate sponsor, a Dutch bank, which went bankrupt. Colbert managed to piss off one of the skaters (imagine that) while poking fun at his sport. The two will be racing to settle their differences. (source: NPR, 1/19/10)

A nugget of wisdom from Howard Schultz
"The big issue I think was that growth is not a strategy, it is a tactic, and if growth becomes a strategy I don't think it is an enduring one. I think growth covers up mistakes." As somebody whose company grew from 3 shops to 16,000 and then shrank by 1,000, he's learned a thing or two about the importance of strategy and commitment to the culture that got you there. Starbuck's latest financial report shows they've turned the corner with 4% revenue growth. (source: GuardianUK.com, 1/20/10)