The distributor of Nivea in Canada has been fined nearly 400,000 Loonies for marketing the “My Silhouette” skin cream as making you slimmer. As opposed to the usually vague nonsense talk surrounding skin and beauty product pitches, this one claimed users could expect a “reduction of up to three centimetres on targeted body parts, such as thighs, hips, waist and stomach.” [More]
marketing
The Limited Uses Hurricane Irene To Promote Sale
By 9.6.11
Seems The Limited is taking a page from the Spirit Airlines marketing playbook. On Friday the clothing store sent around an email with the subject line, “Take that, Irene! We’re offering 40% off again.” [More]
Pizza Flyer Stuck In Door 5 Inches Above "No Soliciting" Sticker
By 9.1.11
SJ has been battling door-to-door salesmen and flyer stuffers in his neighborhood for years. After getting fed up, the block held a powwow and everyone decided to get “No Soliciting” stickers to put on the doors. Yet the flyers still keep cropping up. Here is a recent picture SJ took of his door, with a flyer for “Shiraz Pizza” stuffed in it, right above the “No Soliciting” sticker. He diagrammed and labeled it to make it easier to understand, and sent it to the pizza parlor along with a complaint letter. [More]
Only In LA: A Bottled Water Menu
By 8.31.11
In a land where image is everything, of course there’s a fancy restaurant with a bottled water menu. Yes, I’m looking at you Los Angeles, combination chimera, sphinx, harlot, and now, purveyor of “Vichy Catalán sparkling (1000ml), Spain, $12. Ancient water with an astonishing 3,052 milligrams per litre of Total Dissolved…” More like TDBS! [More]
Triple Double Oreo Hits Shelves, Crushes Them
By 8.17.11
The new Triple Double Oreo is now on the market, bringing one layer of vanilla and one layer of chocolate creme sandwiched between three cookie layers straight to your face. [More]
The Bandit Sign Vigilante
By 8.12.11
One man has had enough and won’t take it anymore. He’s going to take cleaning up Philly into his own hands, one “We buy houses!” and “Get paid daily from home!” sign at a time. [More]
Zabar's Admits Its "Lobster Salad" Was Really Crayfish
By 8.12.11
For twenty years the famous Zabar’s deli in Manhattan has been selling a delicious prepackaged “lobster salad.” It’s beloved by devotees and a tasty treat. The only problem is that there’s no lobster inside. It’s crayfish. [More]
Domino's Brings Back Noid In Shoot-Em-Up Facebook Game
By 8.10.11
Domino’s has brought back it’s iconic 80’s character “The Noid” for a one-week appearance in an 8-bit promotional shoot-em-up Facebook game. Sadly, you lose points when you shoot the Noid. [More]
Florida Department Of Citrus Sends List Of Facts About Orange Juice
By 8.2.11
The Florida Department of Citrus sent over a few paragraphs of information in response to my post, “The Flavor Of Your OJ Is A Chemically-Induced Mirage” from last week. [More]
The Flavor Of Your OJ Is A Chemically-Induced Mirage
By 7.29.11
There’s a dirty secret in your glass of orange juice. Even though it says “not from concentrate,” it probably sat in a large vat for up to year with all the oxygen removed from it. This allows it to be preserved and dispensed all year-round. Taking out all the O2 also gets rid of all the flavor. So the juice makers have to add the flavors back in using preformulated recipes full of chemicals called “flavor packs.” Mmm, delicious, fresh-squeezed ethyl-butyrate! [More]
Supermarkets Manipulating Multiples To Get You To Buy More
By 7.19.11
Supermarkets are rolling out the apparent discounts more than ever. Ten for $10! Five for $5! And shoppers, thinking they’re getting a deal, are gobbling it up. Never mind that you can get the same price if you just bought one of the items. [More]
Pier 1 Kicks Off Christmas Creep Season
By 7.13.11
It may not be a full-fledged instance because it’s not in a physical store, but a recent email promo by Pier 1 is at very least a warning shot that Christmas Creep season is upon us. They recently sent around an email featuring a large snowman. It said, “You can now scratch “get an early start on Christmas” off your to-do list. Preview holiday fun before it even gets to our stores.” [More]
Buy Groceries From Giant QR Code Wall In Subway Station
By 7.7.11
As you wait for the subway to arrive, thoughts of errands drift through your head. Pick up medicine from the pharmacist, get package from the post office, and go get the groceries. In South Korea, Tesco has been experimenting with a system that lets you take care of that last one, right while you’re on the subway platform. It’s a wall-length billboard with photorealistic images of essential supermarket supplies. You take a picture of each item you want, grabbing its QR code, place your order, and Tesco will deliver it to your door. [More]
These Kroger "Build Your Own Sixpack" Signs Are In Conflict
By 7.7.11
Karl was surprised when he saw this printed-out sign on the beer case at his local Kroger. It informed him that it was “unlawful” for the store to sell singles or six-packs where you get a six-pack box and fill it with a variety of beers of your choosing. He was surprised because just a few away were several shelves of beers underneath a giant sign that loudly advertised “Mix a Six, $8.99, Pick your style!” [More]
Capital One Sends You Over 20 Credit Card Offers In 3 Months
By 7.5.11
One after another, they keep popping up at his door. Brad didn’t ask for them and doesn’t know why they’re there. Over 20 have showed up in the past three months. Sometimes three of the little envelopes of annoyance appear a week. They’re credit card offers from Capital One, who seem keenly desperate to acquire Brad. Each of them gets sneakier and sneakier with fewer identifying marks on the outside until they almost look like regular mail from a real person. However, “What’s really been accomplished,” writes Brad, “is I now have a strong opinion about a brand that I never previously cared about either way.” [More]
You're 475 Times More Likely To Survive A Plane Crash Than Click On A Banner Ad
By 7.1.11
New data shows that there’s a slew of things you’re more likely to do than click on a banner ad. For instance, you’re 475 times more likely to survive a plane crash. [More]
Distracted Shoppers Buy More When There's Some Negative Info
By 6.30.11
Established wisdom is that you should only talk about how awesome your product is. But a new study finds that shoppers in distracted settings tend to buy more when products are marketed with a touch of negative info, what is known as “the blemishing effect.” [More]
The First Ad Campaign That Targets Monkeys
By 6.29.11
Scientists are devising a series of billboards directed at monkeys to see if advertising works on them too, reports the New Scientist. [More]
