Let’s say you have a terrific natural liquid fertilizer, courtesy of healthy llamas and alpacas. It’s free of additives, preservatives and pesticides, and it’s available in virtually inexhaustible quantities. Green? You bet – in the gardening sense, and also in the way you’re selling it in reprocessed plastic bottles. Your product has Win written all over it.

Now all you need is a catchy name to hook the greenest green thumbs. How about…Llama Brew?

At first I wondered: is it just me that feels a shudder of horror? After all, I’m …

Tags: fertilizer , food and beverage , llama brew , llamas , marketing , natural gardening methods , organic gardening

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Badgley Mischka Red Carpet (2008)

As an international icon, Barbie has been lucky enough to have designers like Anna Sui, Diane Von Furstenberg and Derek Lam custom-create both lavish ball gowns and wardrobe essentials. I can only hope that of these hip designers, there will be one or two visionaries helping the immortalized Barbie evolve into something more substantial – if she has to be part of our toy line-up, at all.

In April 2010, Barbie will get …

Tags: Barbie , Diane Von Furstenberg , eco-Barbie , Elle , excess , fashion industry , green trend , little black dress , marketing , Mattel , sustainable , TFI New Labels , Toronto

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“It’s funny how new furniture has a way of restoring people,” says the sweet, pastel-coated spread (above) appearing in online and print magazines.

Why the reminder to hug a couch today?

It’s all part of a $20 million ad campaign launched by Ogilvy & Mather to spur Americans to focus on the bird in the hand, namely homes they now own and can play with even if the economy ain’t recovering and we can’t bid on new real estate.

Decor spending is in the toilet with showrooms hurting and closing in …

Tags: ads , advertising , chairs , decor , design , furniture , High Point , housing , Las Vegas , marketing , North Carolina , recession , showrooms , sofas , sweepstakes

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) does not see fit to extend the same moral courtesy to human animals, specifically the female kind. In the organization’s latest sexist campaign for vegetarianism, an overweight woman in a bikini is faced with the emboldened slogan: “Save the Whales”. Beneath the words runs a helpful tagline: “Lose the blubber: go vegetarian.”

Come on gals, take a joke. What’s a little fat-shaming in pursuit of a good time?

There’s no shortage of adjectives (or profanities) that come to mind to describe such a …

Tags: animal rights , marketing , misogyny , peta , sexism , vegetarianism , women

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We go because we love movies. We go for the delightful or frightful experience of being swept into another reality for a couple of hours. We go crazy when bombarded with highly stylized Mercedes and Coke ads before previews and a show.

The big screen in a darkened room has always had a dramatic impact on the captive viewer, more than a television screen and much more than a computer monitor or iPhone. And they know it. They bet on it. They exploit it. They profit from it.

They are corporate advertisers for soft …

Tags: banning commercials , buying , children , commercials , conserving , corporate advertising , HBO , marketing , movies , Showtime , television

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We’ve got our eyes on you, KFC.

For years now you’ve been a cornerstone of the fast food movement, bucketing out deep-fried meat and refined carbs in every direction and every conceivable portion size – relentlessly filling American faces for decades.

You’ve taken criticism on the chin, which was brave of you because there’s been plenty of it – from health organisations despairing at your liberal use of hydrogenated oils (prompting you to recently switch to trans fat-free oils, along with all your competitors, of course) to PETA’s fury over your …

Tags: calories , chicken , fast food , fat , food , greenwashing , KFC , marketing , wellness

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True or false? Your local grocer employs a scheming team of experts who work behind the scenes to orchestrate every little detail in a devious effort to squeeze every cent they can out of you.

It’s true. Even your favorite organic food stores are guilty of this. So, how can you beat them at their own game? Here’s what you need to know:
Baked Goods – Not So Fresh

Although there are exceptions, most of what you …

Tags: consumers , grocery store , marketing , save money , shopping , tricks

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