Transfer at Nonfiction

Students Max Pilwat, Keri Tan and Ferdi Rodriguez have an idea how to get more readers to the New York Public Library: Bring the library to the New York Subway.

The concept: Turn bored subway riders into readers by letting them preview digital copies of books on their cell phones using Near Field Communication (NFC). Browse a “bookshelf” poster, scan a title with your NFC-enabled cellphone, and download and read the first 10 pages  while you ride. Want to read the rest? Your phone will direct you to the nearest branch library that has a hard copy.

Coke & Corpulence

The Coca Cola Corporation is trying to dilute the flood of criticism it gets for selling the sugar-sweetened beverages that drive America’s obesity epidemic. The PR campaign features a slick new TV ad that tries to shift attention from the firm’s famous sugary fluids to Coke’s low-calorie drinks. Critics have re-edited the ad for accuracy:

Nike Drops Lance, Lance Drops Livestrong

“Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.

 Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer.”

 – Nike Statement on Lance Armstrong

Mad Men in China

American Tom Doctoroff can sell things to Chinese consumers when other Westerners can’t. In China, collectivism shapes consumer habits:

“So deeply rooted, says Doctoroff, is the Western belief in individual freedom, that it is nearly impossible for us to accept the fact that in Chinese culture, the individual does not exist outside of her network of familial and communal obligations. Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign, for example, wouldn’t appeal to Chinese consumers, who prefer to ‘stand out by fitting in.’ In China, conspicuous consumption … is a sign of upstanding citizenship rather than a mark of personal distinction.”

“Haagen Dazs … has adapted its brand to the Chinese market, focusing on public parlors where consumers can demonstrate their sophistication publicly by paying premium prices for ice cream, something they would never do simply to scarf down a pint in the privacy of their own homes.”

“How to Get Ahead in Chinese Advertising,” Jason Gots, Big Think

More:

“Marketing in the Middle Kingdom,” Richard McGill Murphy, Fortune

Tom Doctoroff, JWT webpage

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Image (“Blogs Go Better with Coke!”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Sports Drinks

What’s big at the 2012 Olympics? Pseudoscience, bad medical research, and  hucksterism. Products like “sports drinks” Gatorade and Lucozade, sponsors of the international athletic event, claim to improve endurance and/or performance. A special feature of BMJ (the British Medical Journal) judged the claims and awarded low scores all around:

“There is a striking lack of evidence to support the vast majority of sports-related products that make claims related to enhanced performance or recovery, including drinks, supplements or footwear.”

More:

“The truth about sports drinks,” Deborah Cohen, BMJ (related content here)

New Model Year at the Auto Show

It’s that that time again. Gleaming new automobiles are being previewed at auto shows, and pretty young girls are leaning on them. This symbolism sends messages you won’t find in manufacturers’ specifications. Men: buy this car, get that girl. Women: buy this car, be that girl.

Back in the last century, when the USA manufactured real products instead of just bad business deals, the auto show circuit started in Detroit, the Motor City, and fanned out around the country. Today the auto industry is globalized, and so is the car show circuit. The U.S. may not sell many American cars abroad, but the Girls-Leaning-on-Cars concept is a hot export. Compare the ladies of the Detroit, Delhi, Tokyo, Geneva, Guangzhou, and Qatar auto shows.

The meme has permeated all levels of American culture. See selected Flickr images from family photos, movie mags, and amateur hot rod shows in these galleries.

Big Savings!

The Friday after Thanksgiving or ”Black Friday“ is reserved by global corporations for whipping Americans into a frenzy of over-consumption.  Millions camp out and line up for hours hoping for bargains. Most end up buying things they don’t need at prices they can’t afford.

Save big today. Don’t buy a single thing. If you want to spend something, spend the day with friends and family. Spend time at the library; borrow a book and spend time reading it. Spend time making something. You’re not what you buy. You’re not a “consumer.” You’re a human being.

More:

“Buy Nothing Day: #OCCUPYXMAS,” AdBusters

“Buy Nothing Day,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BuyNothingDay.org

“Black Friday: Who has money to spend when the economy is in the dumps?” Anastasia Christman, The Christian Science Monitor via Alaska Dispatch

“5 Reasons to Skip Black Friday Sales,” Kimberly Palmer, U.S. News & World Report

“The Limits of Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” John Jannarone, Wall Street Journal

“Just A Holiday Reminder: Black Friday Sales Are Utterly Meaningless,” Charles Hugh Smith, Business Insider

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Herman Cain’s Tax on the Poor

Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has been getting lots of attention for his bumper-sticker-sized economic policy, the All Meat Combo Original Jumbo  “9-9-9″ tax plan. Easy to remember; easy to misunderstand the burden it would place on working people and the poor if the government was wacky enough to implement it.

Here’s where those “9s” in the slogan come from. Throw out the unwieldy U.S. tax code, then replace it with a 9% tax on corporate profits, 9% on personal income, and a 9% tax on consumption.

What’s a “consumption tax?” A 9% federal sales tax or VAT on top of your local sales tax. If you live hand-to-mouth, you would pay 9% on 100% of your income as you earn it, then another 9% on what’s left of those dollars as you spend them to cover your family’s expenses. Result: Americans who earn the least would pay the most in taxes.

China Googles, Finds Capitalism

The Google search engine has been available in China since 2006, but the firm complied with government censorship restrictions (‘The Great Firewall of China“) until 2010. Disclosure of this fact resulted in Congressional hearings and a Google redirect from China to its Hong Kong site. The conflict was uneasily resolved later after the government realized that 70% of the country’s Web surfers use China’s homegrown search engine, Baidu.

Google China recently had its license renewed, dodging further censorship conflict by building a Chinese version of the DoubleClick advertising delivery platform as its core in-country business.

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Dog vs. Dog

In 2009, Oscar Mayer ran an ad campaign claiming its Jumbo Beef Franks beat out Ball Park Franks in a national taste test. Ball Park Franks manufacturer Sara Lee countered by claiming that Oscar Mayer did not cook Ball Park wieners correctly during the tests and falsely stated that its Oscar Mayer tube steaks are “100 percent pure beef” when they are not.

Sara Lee is suing Kraft, accusing the rival firm of “willful, false, misleading, deceptive, defamatory, and unfair commercial advertising.” The suit has reached U.S. District Court in Chicago, and newspapers have been serving up hot, juicy puns: