displays

What Inappropriate Or Perfect Mother’s Day Merchandising Have You Seen This Year?

What Inappropriate Or Perfect Mother’s Day Merchandising Have You Seen This Year?

Stores usually mean well. They just want us to expand the definition of what we think of as an appropriate gift for Mother’s Day. Instead of the traditional flowers, jewelry, and gift cards, they want us to consider buying our mothers a tablet computer. Or clothing. Or laundry detergent. Wait, laundry detergent? Isn’t giving your mother cleaning supplies completely against the point of the holiday? [More]

Back on slippery track

Walmart Will Kick-Start Your Fitness Regime With Chocolate Bark And Crisco

Kelly noticed a display at Walmart with signs that said “Get back on track,” which she assumed meant health foods and workout equipment. What else could it be? (Well, maybe NASCAR merchandise.) Instead of protein supplements and Shake Weights, she found cake mixes and cans of Crisco. Pretty much the opposite of what she was expecting. [More]

HDTV Lies Exposed By Industry Expert

HDTV Lies Exposed By Industry Expert

The next time you go shopping for a new HDTV, keep in mind that the brightness and contrast settings don’t adjust brightness and contrast, and most of the fancier-sounding image quality controls don’t do anything except possibly degrade the image. Also, motion blur in live video is largely imaginary, which is good because advertised response times are highly exaggerated. And hey, that impressive “dynamic contrast ratio” the manufacturer is crowing about? Most of the extra contrasty goodness happens when there’s no image on the screen. [More]

Walmart's "Junk Food In The Toy Aisle" Mystery Officially Solved

Walmart's "Junk Food In The Toy Aisle" Mystery Officially Solved

Yesterday we posted a photo a reader sent in of a toy aisle in his local Walmart that was packed with junk food. We all got commenty on what exactly Walmart was doing—was it a one-off paid promo by Pepsi? A marketing experiment? A power-mad store manager driven crazy by shelving issues? Nah, it’s actually an intentional choice mandated by corporate.

Walmart Sample XBOX 360 Demonstrates The Red Ring Of Death

Walmart Sample XBOX 360 Demonstrates The Red Ring Of Death

Reader James says:Just went down to my local Wal-Mart the other day (La Quinta, Ca) and saw a Red Ring Of Death xbox 360 on display… thought it was worth a picture.This isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the product, is it?