Sun Chips earplugs

The marketers of Sun Chips in Canada aren’t going to get rid of their noisy biodegradable bags yet.  They’re offering ear plugs to those who are offended by the bags’ crinkles.

“We screwed up”

Consumerist has a post talking about the effectiveness of advertising that focus on company and product failings.  The article talks about successes of Toyota after a major recall and of Domino’s campaign to let people know that their pizza is better than it was.

Another company that talked straight to consumers about its errors was Maple Leaf Foods. CEO Michael McCain went on air to admit that processes to keep food safe weren’t successful in the wake of an outbreak of food born illness linked to the company’s meat products.

I respect company’s that can admit fault and try moving beyond problems without hiding the,

Marketing via good deeds

I don’t have  a coffee maker and its rare that I get my caffeine fix with coffee, but I’m still impressed with Maxwell House’s Brew Some Good campaign which funds charitable organizations in an effort to create positive brand image by doing good.

Pepsi (the beverage’s diet variant is my caffeine ingestion tool) is using social media to promote their products and community works projects. I’ve been a Pepsi guy ever since my brother declared his love of Coke in our youth. I’m not drinking more cola due to this campaign, but I do think this project does reinforce Pepsi’s brand identity of being “less about brand” than other beverages.

I like the idea of companies spending on the community, even if its just a ploy to sell product, after all, if the ends don’t justify the means, what does?

Rules for using sidewalks and walkways

I came across a great website called Violation Report. The site, with a tag line of modern, real life public shaming, is dedicated to the unwritten rules of social interaction.  The site also writes down some of these unwritten rules. 

Definitely worth a read: their manual on sidewalk and walkway usage. One tip on the site that would be useful for most people to follow is that one should treat the sidewalk like a road – imagine lanes and allow for proper traffic flow.

Hipster Puppies

If you like cute animals dressed up and making fun of hipsters check out Hipster Puppies.

Another lotto survey

Atlantic Lottery must be planning to launch a new marketing or PR campaign, because I just did a second survey on the commission. 

This one seemed a bit more reasonable, allowing for neutrals.

Lotto Survey

If Atlantic Lottery releases survey results showing support for online gaming, I’ll be skeptical of this data.  I just did a survey by Bristol about online gambling and was annoyed by a series of questions that required a “more likely or less likely” answer.  There was no neutral, thus making my answers less than accurate.