Sure, you think you have more entertaining things to do over a long weekend. But where else can you read about World Nutella Day, pizza-scented DVDs and lightning strikes?
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Amber Broeckel
Multi-Sensory Advertising: Domino’s Pizza-Scented DVDs: Marketing has gone to a whole new level. In Brazil, Domino’s has created pizza scented DVDs. The smell of pizza fills the room as your movie is played thanks to thermal ink and scented varnish. Is this too much? Or extremely creative?
3-D Printer Makes Life-Saving Splint For Baby Boy’s Airway: It’s amazing what a 3-D printer can do! A lot has been said about these printers in respect to gun control lately, but I thought this article was a great reminder of the good that this technology can do. A little boy’s life is saved by a device created by a 3-D printer.
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Justin Nyquist
Free Product For Life: Ok. So this is going to get ridiculous from here on out. Charles Ramsey, the neighborhood hero in the recent Ohio kidnapping story, has been given a years’ worth of free McDonald’s. During his interview, he mentioned how he put down his McDonald’s cheeseburger to go save the captives.
On top of McDonalds, more than a DOZEN other restaurants have offered Mr. Ramsey free burgers FOR LIFE. This is about to get out of hand.
I am intrigued to see what other restaurants or brands get mentioned during future interviews with victims, heroes and normal everyday people. This could be the beginning of a trend where consumers who happen to be interviewed on live TV will name-drop their favorite restaurant and/or store.
Pocket Dialers Anonymous: Well, it happened again; some criminal pocket dialed 911 during a crime and is now in prison. This new inmate to the correctional system dialed 911 just as he was discussing a murder plot. I remember this happening a few months ago to a drug dealer.
This just goes to show that technology is sometimes evolving at a quicker rate than the population that creates it.
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Jenn Connor
Demetri Marchessini: Women Wearing Pants Is ‘Hostile Behavior’ To Men: I almost choked on my tea when I read this article. Not just because I wear pants nearly every day of my life, but because this is some of the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve ever read. Marchessini’s book ‘Women in Trousers: A Rear View’ was written in 2003, but as Amber reminded us in her Abercrombie post last week, for better or worse, thanks to the internet things live forever. The Guardian revisited Marchessini’s nonsense earlier this month because of his donor status with the United Kingdom Independence Party, Ukip, which seems to have a knack for attracting supporters that should keep their thoughts on ‘women’s issues’ to themselves.
Has Nutella-Maker Ferrero Put an End to World Nutella Day? What?! There’s a World Nutella Day?! I was unaware that Nutella had it’s own holiday, but more than 40,000 people are fans of the Facebook page created by Nutella-lover Sara Rosso. Rosso created the holiday in 2007 and people all over the world have been celebrating the chocolatey goodness of Nutella since then. This year, Nutella’s legal team sent Rosso a cease-and-desist order insisting that she take down the website and Facebook page by May 25. Why? A violation of their trademarks and images. Nutella fans weren’t too kind on social media. Then, the company did an about-face. World Nutella Day will continue in 2014. Of course brands need to be protective of what they have created. But, isn’t brand evangelism what every company longs for? Customers that are such avid fans of your product and brand that they create their own holidays, songs and celebrations around them and drive social conversations without the company paying a dime? A lesson for corporate legal and PR teams things that would never have been news before quickly spread over social media (gasp!). It’s time to collaborate more closely and understand the impact a legal action, no matter how small, will have on your company’s image and reputation. Make sure it’s worth it. Would the cancellation of World Nutella Day have led to mass exodus of Nutella customers around the globe? Probably not. I’d venture to say that the vast majority of Nutella’s customers don’t even know there’s such a thing. But, had the company not reversed it’s position and Rosso and her 40,000 World Nutella Day followers and supporters decided to launch a social campaign that called for all lovers of chocolate hazelnut spread to cease-and-desist their Nutella purchases because of the big, bad corporate lawyers trying to silence the little guy, the makers of Jif would be doing a happy dance.
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Chad Biggs
Giving It Away (TED Radio Hour): I’ve been thinking a lot lately about charities and their effectiveness. After listening to the most recent TED radio hour podcast I’m inclined to agree with Dan Pallotta that our mindset about charities needs to be kicked to the curb. Our ideas about minimal overhead and operating as the opposite of a business in every way are shortsighted. If our charities are focused on solving the world’s toughest problems, why shouldn’t these organizations aspire to Apple-esque goals. Why can’t they attract some of the top minds to lead their efforts, not only with the ability to make a difference but with a salary that prioritized their contributions? Pallotta shares the tale of his wildly successful efforts when he operated his business to raise funds for AIDS through grandiose events that raised more than 100 million for research. Then the bottom fell out as media targeted the amounts of money spent on overhead instead of the money raised for the cause, sending sponsors to the exits and crashing the business. If we want charities to achieve their mission and solve the world’s problems, we need to eliminate our biased expectations of how a charity should operate.
I was struck by lightning yesterday—and boy am I sore: I’m originally from the Midwest and love me some lightning storms, but this story will probably keep me inside for future viewings. Jason Marlin, the technical director for Ars Technica, recounts his experience – to the best of his ability – of being struck by lightning. Two hidden gems in this story from my perspective. First, he was surrounded by electronics at the time, none of which were damaged. Second, a seriously buried lede that his grandmother was struck by lightning too – twice.
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Gloria Miller
Watching the aftermath of the massive tornado that struck Okalahoma/Texas this past week has been horrific. Even in the wake of something so disastrous, its been heartwarming to see individuals helping complete strangers, even through social media. This is a story from NBC News where a group was created on Facebook to enable folks to claim personal belongings, such as priceless family photos, that had fallen into other people’s yards/property. What touched me most was a photo of a child’s drawing with her mother and a handwritten note. It read, “Mamma, I love you mom” with a message from the lady who found the drawing, “Found in our pasture between Stroud & Depew. Would love to find the momma this belongs to.”
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