The Spin Within

I would have to imagine most everyone has jaywalked at some point in their life. Some more than others. I’m one of those “some”. Especially when I’m in New York City, where pedestrians seem to rule the road. Perhaps it’s the “comfort in numbers” mentality. Perhaps it’s part of the culture. Or perhaps it’s just stupidity.

Whatever it is, NYC is doing their part to curb (pun intended) the trend and attempt to cut the number of traffic/pedestrian accidents.

The NYC Department of Transportation is installing 144 street signs at high-crash … Continue Reading

Look, call me un-American if you must, but I hate Black Friday. I hate everything about it, especially the negative spirit that surrounds it. Nothing I can buy at Walmart is worth getting tasered and/or pepper sprayed for – am I right? I also find it sad that people who just want to give their kids a nice Christmas but have a small budget are made to fight, some even to the death, to get a good deal on some new electronic because this is the one short day retailers will lower their prices on hot-ticket items.

So that’s … Continue Reading

The Penn State scandal centering on child rape allegations against a former assistant football coach certainly has served to raise national awareness of child sex abuse. Among the eye-openers I’ve come across, none has been more intriguing from a public relations standpoint than the revelation that pedophiles have an advocacy organization called B4U-ACT.

I learned of Maryland-based B4U-ACT in a column by Janice Shaw Crouse, director of the conservative Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute. Crouse’s main point was that B4U-ACT is lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to declare that pedophilia should not be included on a list of abnormal  … Continue Reading

Amid the flurry of TV commercials, online banner ads and newspaper circulars it’s tough to miss the fact that this week is Black Friday. Shoppers will pummel the doors of major retailers, some as early as midnight on Thursday, in search of unbeatable bargains to satisfy whatever is missing in their inner core of existence. Let’s hope shoppers do well for the sake of our economy and no one gets injured (or worse) in the stampede.

However, before we all shuffle off to Best Buy let’s take pause to remember what this … Continue Reading

When I was little, I was all about The Muppets.  I never missed The Muppet show and I wore out the record (yes, record) of The Muppet Movie soundtrack on my little Fisher-Price record player.

When I first heard there was another Muppet movie coming out, the kid in me was positively giddy to see The Muppets back in action.  The grown-up marketing professional in me marveled at how well The Muppet Studios have been staging this comeback – long before the movie was even announced.

(Not that The Muppets were ever really … Continue Reading

Disenchanted employees of Target, Best Buy and other retailers who are facing the prospect of working Thanksgiving evening – and we mean all evening – should stop complaining to their managers and instead write their councilmen.

Lawmakers do have the power to control store hours, at the end of the day. Just ask the folks at Best Buy in Fox Point, Wis.

The retailer plans to open its network of stores at midnight on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, following the lead of Target, Macy’s, Walmart and Kohl’s. But Best … Continue Reading

With next week marking the “official” start of the holiday shopping season, the Salvation Army volunteers will be grabbing their bells and heading out in full force, encouraging shoppers to share some holiday cheer with those less fortunate.

And in select markets, they’ll be grabbing their smart phones too.

The Salvation Army recognizes that, while many people may still have the giving spirit during the holidays, they often don’t have any money in their pockets these days.  I know I’ve walked by many a bell ringer in recent years, feeling a little … Continue Reading

According to Chief Marketer, last November American Express OPEN spent exactly two and a half weeks pulling together its first “Small Business Saturday” campaign. The merchant services division of Amex leveraged primarily Facebook and a few brand partnerships to set up a program rewarding cardmembers for carving out time between Black Friday and Cyber Monday to shop their independent local stores.

It’s back again this year, on Saturday Nov. 26. complete with a robust marketing effort that includes television commercials, an endorsement from The Today Show’s Al Roker, and a robust social media strategy designed to capitalize on last year’s … Continue Reading

In her first TV interview since being shot, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was asked Monday by ABC’s Diane Sawyer if she’d like to return to Congress. As she struggled to answer and with the help of her husband, Mark Kelly, she said she wouldn’t return to Congress until she was “better.”

Physicians, family and friends—and now the public—marvel at her progress since the January 8th shooting that left her with severe brain damage. With many wondering if she’ll be “well enough” to run again as Arizona’s state representative in 2012 it leaves me … Continue Reading

As an American, I’m a firm believer in free speech and our right to peaceably assemble. However there are times when I believe it goes too far and those rights are abused.

One instance is the Westboro Baptist Church. But I won’t even go there. They’re not worthy of the space in this blog.

The other movement: Occupy Wall Street.

Yes, I’m the 99% too. Yes, I was unemployed at one time. Yes, I have great concerns about our economy. But pitching a tent downtown and living in a park does nothing to change … Continue Reading