Four (or Five!) Reasons Why

….Organic Food is Over-Rated

1. Who really knows if organic is really organic. The standards to declare something organic are all over the place. In fact, you could probably make up your own rules, and no one could really call you on them. I’ve run across eggs described as organic but they’re really produced by free-run hens, who do, in fact, get to run free but are probably pumped with antibiotics and hormones.

2. Organic food is expensive. You want to be healthy and you want to support food production methods that are environmentally-friendly BUT you have to pay a premium to do it. Come on, $6 for a dozen eggs and $9 for three bags of milk; that’s a huge premium to be organic. All of which means being organic is something really available to the rich who can afford to do their grocery shopping at places such as Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck)

3. Just because something is organic doesn’t mean it’s environmentally friendly. How can you really justify eating an organic avocado flown in thousand of miles from South America? You’d have to do an awful lot of bicycling to offset the carbon load for the pleasure of off-season, imported organic vegetable or fruit. Maybe we should be buying local and organic, or just local.

4. Sure, there are credible people producing and selling organic food because it’s apparently the right thing to do, but there’s also a growing number of entrepreneurs and, increasingly, large corporations selling organic because the profit margins are extremely healthy. A lot of food producers and retailers are push green because of the green (money).

5. What’s pushed being as organic is a little crazy. Organic, mass-produced apple sauce? Organic potato chips? Right.

For more, check out this BusinessWeek story entitled “The Organic Myth”, and Robert Kozinet’s blog post on whether organic is just a branding scam. To be fair, The Great Beyond has a post on a European Union study that assets organic food is better for you.

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…Mike Tyson Never Stood a Chance

1. With his father walking out on the family when he was two, Tyson’s childhood was marked by unhappiness and abuse. His reputation as a fighter got him kicked out of junior high school, only to pass through a series of juvenile detention centres. Mugging and purse snatching his way through New York, he was arrested 38 times by the time he was 13.

2. Having recognized his pure fighting skills, Cus D’Amato removed Tyson from reform school to train him full time, and later became his legal guardian. From that point on, Tyson was molded into the form of a prize pugilist, with few other life skills to speak of.

3. Don King. Considered the ultimate boxing promoter by some, he leveraged his position to become the head of an unregulated boxing environment. As he did with most of his boxers, Tyson received little legal protection from King, who manipulated his power much to the detriment of those he was promoting.

4. What happens when you give a young kid with little experience outside of boxing a whole pile of money? Nothing but trouble – and ultimately bankruptcy. With money separating Tyson and his minders, Tyson couldn’t help but find himself in harm’s way. Despite having earned over $300 million during his career, Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003 and recently served a 24-hour sentence for drug possession and DUI.

5. Holding the Heavyweight title for nearly 13 years and once pegged as the most recognized athlete (and physically powerful man) in the world, Tyson probably developed something of a God complex, thinking he was indestructible. You couldn’t really get farther from the truth and he always was a deeply troubled and abusive kid trapped inside a man’s body.

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….Charity Fatigue is Growing

1. It’s impossible to avoid charities these days. They’re on the street, they’re knocking on your doors, they’re mailing you stuff, they’re calling during dinner, they’re sending fund-raising information home from school with your children, they’re on television, they’ve got children selling candy bars in front of the supermarket, and….

2. Charities have embraced the Web as an efficient distribution and marketing tool. What better way to raise money for a cause than by attacking your in-box. Charities have armed people with easy-to-use online tools so they can blast out “please, sponsor me” e-mails to friends, family and colleagues in minutes. Just take your address book, upload it to our user-friendly solicitation tool, and you can spam people for donations in minutes.

3. Charities aren’t coordinated. They’re all acting in isolation, which means you get dozens of groups pursuing you night and day. How come you can’t have one giant charity group ask for a donation? You would get to say “yes” or “no” once, and that would be the end of it - at least until the next year.

4. Isn’t government supposed to be supporting good causes like cancer research? Isn’t that why I’m paying more taxes? Sure, the government has other things to pay for - social services, sending troops overseas, education, health care, etc. but they should have a few bucks left over for charity.

For the official definition of charity fatigue, check out the Urban Dictionary. The Christian Science Monitor has a story on how charity fatigue has seen the number of volunteer declined by one-third in the U.S. since 2005.

Technorati Tags: Charity

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…Sportsvision Has Revolutionized Televised Sports

1. Way back in 1996, Stan Honey invented a way to highlight hockey pucks on-screen and display a trail when the puck was moving rapidly, assuming hockey fans are idiots and can’t follow the puck. Known as FoxTrax when launched by the Fox Network, it was less than successful (and that’s being generous). However, this technology lead to the formation of Sportvision in 1998, which then went on to develop the 1st & Ten system - technical brilliance that generates and displays the yellow first down line during football broadcasts!

2. The company has won eight Emmy Awards, including three for its signature broadcast enhancements, the virtual yellow 1st & Ten Line and KZone, and three for its work with NASCAR.

3. You can thank Sportvision for the roll-out of virtual ads. Of course, the average viewer probably doesn’t even know that they are virtual. The best example can be seen during baseball games, when an ad can be seen behind home plate. Players on the field don’t actually see the ad, but millions of viewers can. According to the company’s web site, “Branding is no longer limited to commercials during breaks in the action — now it can be executed anywhere. Virtual ad and insertion solutions can be customized for any sport, offering a cost-efficient and exciting solution to ensure a product or brand message can’t be missed.” Marketers must love that what was previously seen as wasted space has been converted into high-price advertising real estate.

4. With the introduction of PitCommand, TourCast and IceCast, Sportvision has brought dynamic data tracking and analysis to sporting events as they are broadcast live on the boob tube.

5. Sportvision is a private company and lists Motorola as one of its investors. This suggests that there is a lot in the pipeline dedicated for mobile telecasting. Watch this space!

Sportvision’s technology is truly astounding. Check out their product lines at www.sportvision.com. For a recent interview with the company’s CEO, Hand Adams, click here and here for a behind the scenes look.

More »

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….Gift Cards Are a Bad Deal

1. A lot of gift cards are never used - 25%, according to Consumer Reports. People get them as gifts, and then forget to use them, lose them or let them expire. Meanwhile, retailers rack up millions of dollars in interest from cards that are never used. Seth Godin suggests $8-billion was “wasted” on gift cards last year that went unused.

2. When people actually take advantage of a gift card, they usually spend more at the store than the gift card is worth. So, the retailer really scores twice: one, when someone buys a gift card, and two, when it’s cashed in.

3. Giving someone a gift card is like giving someone cash, so why not just give them cash so they can spend it where they want.

4. Gift cards mean you either have no imagination/creativity, or you’re just going through the motions so perhaps you should not even bother giving a gift. Yes, it’s a harsh assessment but it is what it is. Then again, giving someone a gift card from Starbucks is a fine idea because everyone could use a good cup of coffee.

For more, check out the NPR News Blog, which suggests U.S. consumers will purchase $26.3-billion worth of cards during this holiday season. If you have unused gift cards, Unused Gifts Cards offers a service where you can sell or trade gift cards that have been lying around. You can also donate an unused gift card to charity using Donate a Gift Card.

Update: Is this a coincidence or what - Ticketmaster has launched a new gift card program in Canada and the U.S. in denominations ranging from $25 to $250. Bet you can’t go to too many shows for $25. For more, check out Consumer Reports, which provides some useful information on how to buy and use gift cards. TechCrunch also puts the spotlight on a start-up called Leverage that will help you track the gift cards you have, including how much is left on each one. You’ll also be able to buy gifts cards and trade them.

Technorati Tags: Gift Cards

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