Friday, Black Friday
I can’t believe the news today. Walmart has announced that its Black Friday sales will start at 8pm on Thursday. In other words, on Thanksgiving evening, right after dinner. Holding big Christmas sales on...
Category: Business
There Will Be Bureaucracy
To those who decry government inefficiency, I’ll see your DMV and raise you a cable guy. Or a tech support voicemail system. Or how about a stack of TPS reports with outdated cover sheets?...
Manipulation and Marketing
All marketing involves manipulation, at least to a certain extent. After all, if you’re trying to convince someone to support your brand or buy your product, you’re going to have to tie into human...
Advertising Cliches
Sometimes advertisements have a language of their own. Some gimmicks are obvious: phrases like “sale”, “call now” and “free”. Others are more subtle. Here are some of the marketing and advertising cliches that annoy...
The Supermarket Casino
Walking into a supermarket nowadays is like walking into a Las Vegas casino. In both cases, the environment is designed to overwhelm your senses and distract you from how much money you’re spending. And...
Marketing Gimmicks That Need to End
Having worked in marketing for a number of years, I keep seeing the same mistakes made over and over. When it comes to gimmicks, some approaches have stood the test of time, like the...
Analog Thinking in a Digital Age
I noticed it first in an office setting: people who insist in emailing files even when there’s a networked drive available. It’s a much better use of time and brainpower to leave the file...
Playing Office
Are you working. Or are you playing office? There are an awful lot of office workers out there who “play office”, like a little kid imitating her parents. This is a subtle and pernicious...
27 Kinds of Cheez-Its
Cheez-It Crackers piss me off sometimes. Don’t get me wrong: they’re delicious. But there are too many kinds. Go to your local supermarket, and you’ll find half an aisle of them. Just out of...
Workplace Adventures: Door-to-Door
One summer, just before I started college, I got a job for an environmental lobbying firm. I’ve always had a bit of an activist streak, from grade school to college. So if I could...
