Food For Thought.

As many of you know, I have written food reviews for more than a decade.

Newsweek has an interesting cover story this week called "Our Dinner Divide" on how our "food obsession is driving Americans apart."

It's really about the growing class divide, who's "food insecure" and who has access to  nutritious food. 

Check it out at:  http://www.newsweek.com/2010/11/22/what-food-says-about-class-in-america.html

Way to Recast Grandma's Jewels.

Rose gold used to be the futsy (and undervalued) tone your grandma wore.

But in a clever new campaign in collaboration with Macy's, Le Vian is marketing chocolate diamonds with "strawberry gold."

Taking something old-timey and turning it into a trend from Hollywood  to the local mall?

Marketing gold.

Not Bored (Yet).

On HBO's first season of Bored To Death, Ted Danson's weathly, pot-smoking character drops such bon mots as "martinis heal all wounds" and dubs a dull party as "death by a thousand conversations."

His dry, sardonic delivery and that silver mane: comedic genius.  

And a reminder of how to improve on a good line.   

Rescuing Obscure Words.

Did you catch this report on NPR a week ago about what you can do, as a word lover, to rescue arcane words from being forver lost?

The website, http://www.savethewords.org/, was created by an ad man. 

Listen to the story at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131194735.

Don't Give Your Dog a Dumb Name. (A Cautionary Tail/Tale).

While walking in the park yesterday, I heard a man shouting for "Trouser" while chasing after an unleashed pooch. 

Wouldn't you run?

Naming--whether a car, a prescription medicine, a lipstick or a restaurant--is critically important to how the product is percevied in the market.  The right name can mean the difference between failure and success.

As a writer, I am often asked to help name a product or service.  More often, I am asked to ignore a bad name.  Unlike Trouser, I can't actually run away. 

Incidentally, Carlos is a good name for a dog.

I'm Lovin' It. (McDonalds, 2003-Present.)

Admittedly, McDonalds has had better taglines over the years; You Deserve a Break Today comes to mind.

Sometimes clients ask me to write (or just tweak) their taglines. Problem often is, they aren't willing to go quite far enough to yield something that connects with consumers.

Just saw this tagline for The Cosmpolitan, an upscale hotel in Las Vegas:  Just the Right Amount of Wrong.

Cheeky.  Effective.  Memorable.

Bingo!

Big Three.

In the past week, I've heard or read these three $10 words and wanted to share them with you:

* Maw:  informal for mouth
* Brio:  the quality of being spirited, vigorous
* Self-Abnegation:  renunciation of your own intersts in favor of others' interests

Copywrapper.

Grabbed lunch today at Chipotle Mexican Grill (carnitas burrito) and was surpised--and impressed!--to see that they are touting the benefits of their "Food With Integrity" (i.e., the role of farmers and responsibly sourced ingredients) on the brown wrappers that line the plastic baskets and the to-go brown bags.

Talk about maximzing your message on available space!