Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Am I Missing Something?



A colleague of mine just dumped her coffer into a big mug with ice, creating an "Iced Coffee"!! Not being a coffee drinker, maybe I am missing the point but isn't coffee suppose to be hot or at least warm? My colleague then explained that she was saving herself five bucks! So I am assuming that's the going rate at local purveyors of these types of beverages.

Again, not being a coffee consumer I realized that the sales of commercial marketers of coffee, especially in colder climates like Canada, probably took a hit in the the warmer months when consumers did not need that warm up jolt. So they invented these iced coffees etc., to maintain their markets shares.

Pondering what was next in the line of exotic beverages, I discovered that a "Frozen Hot Chocolate" was being conjured up by a big chain in the USA. Wait a minute, isn't hot chocolate, supposed to be .... hot? If hot chocolate is hot, how can it be frozen or if it is frozen, how can it be hot at the same time. Hmmmmm?

However, this debacle is a non-issue for marketers. Marketers just wave their magic wands, add a few catch phrases, such as refreshingly new, energizing tasty treat, sprinkle in a few enticing commercials and wallah, consumers suck it up like sheep to the slaughter, lining up in droves to part with our coin.

When are we going to wake up and smell the coffee?

Now why didn't I think of that?



Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Twitter, Really?


Seriously, what's up with twitter?

First off, I'm not a technophobe. I use a Blackberry Torch, laptop, email, Facebook, MP3 player, iTunes and other music sites. I have watched movies online, streamed internet content to my television, etc. So, I embrace all of our new "can't live without it" technology.

Twitter, on the other hand seems a little trifling and narcissistic to me! Is it really necessary to broadcast how you feel about restaurants, politics, sports, news, celebrities and just simple feelings or emotions to hundreds and even thousands of followers? Unfortunately, the story hungry media picks up these little tweets, like they came off the news wire, giving them more credence than necessary, and repeats them as fact. Meanwhile, in my opinion, many of us feel like saying "who cares?" Tweet that!!

To say that one has fifty, hundreds or even thousands of followers is like a badge of honour! But when you start tweeting the first thoughts that come to mind, that's when the fireworks really start. Recently a few sports figures, politicians and other personalities have tweeted their feelings on controversial subjects and suffered repercussions, even if they later retracted or clarified their tweets with further tweets or re-tweets!

Losing face, dropped endorsements and facing public scorn and ridicule is the cost of airing ones controversial thoughts. I mean, let's face it, we all have some controversial and even insanely crazy thoughts that cross our minds at times, like poisoning our neighbors cat or telling our manager to take a long walk of a very short pier, but we don't share them with the world!

As a social media tool, Twitter may prove somewhat useful, but in the hands of some otherwise intelligent people, Twitter is a tool to infamy.

Recently, a young woman in the US received a photo via twitter, of an underwear clad bulge, supposedly from a congressman named appropriately, Weiner! In all fairness to the congressman, he does state that his twitter account was hacked, but did not deny that the picture was his.

Really, was the account hacked or was the picture of the "Weiner" just sent to the wrong young woman?

Wake up people, just saying, or at least, please think before you tweet!