Summertime Popsicle Stick Blues

One day I went to throw away my fudge bar stick, thinking I should save all of these so that my daughter and I could make a fun craft project together.

But they are sooooo boring. Why haven’t they made some fun popsicle sticks?

Not only could they look cool, they could have fun messages or even advertise. Check out how Colgate effectively reminded consumers to brush.

Granted you aren’t going to able to make too many craft projects from these Popsicle sticks, but the idea is pretty clever.

Angry Crowd Shouts "Pepsi Sucks!"

I just came across an article on Ad Age about a major blunder that Pepsi made this weekend.

Apparently Pepsi planned to run a promotion and announced that they would be giving away 200 some free tickets to the Yankees' game yesterday.  People lined up and waited for hours, only to find out that there were less than 200 tickets and many people were, of course, a little unhappy.  So they shouted "Pepsi sucks!" and poured Pepsi products on the ground while media captured the whole thing.

Pepsi screwed up.  They know it.  Today they announced that they would be giving away 500 tickets (fingers crossed) and a bunch of free product to make up for their mistake.  Probably a good idea.

Interestingly, as I watched the video on Ad Age a couple other thoughts came to mind. 

1) The crowd really seems to be playing to the cameras, If news crews hadn't been surrounding them, I wonder if the angry New Yorkers would have gone as over-the-top with their griping (which they were most certainly entitled to). 

2) Why didn't Pepsi handle this better right on the spot?  They ran out of tickets and just said, "Oops, sorry, that's it, you can all go home empty handed"?

Why wasn't someone thinking?!?!  Grab some paper, get some pens, get people's information.  Apologize profusely, but promise to make it up to them.  Tell them you'll mail them tickets to a game. Not just tickets this time, but good tickets.  And some free stuff.  Apologize again.  And again.

Some people get to go to the game with Pepsi's free tickets, happy now.  Some leave unhappy that they were unable to attend this game, but looking forward to Pepsi making good on its promise to make it right, happy later.

Sure would have resulted in better PR.

Tour de Bike Rack Pedals Into USA Today

It was a hot, summer day – perfect for biking – when Jerry Hauck from Monk’s asked Doug and me if we’d like to help with a project for the Sioux Falls Visual Arts Commission (VAC).

The city needed more bike racks for the increasing number of bicyclists in the city. Instead of placing the traditional stands around the city, the VAC wanted to emulate other cities that had commissioned bike rack sculptures. Functional art sounded like a good idea to us, so we agreed to help get the word out.

We developed an e-mail blast Call for Entries and a poster for area coffee shops, bike stores and public buildings.

And we did a PR campaign. The Argus Leader and USA Today picked up the story idea.

What’s next? The deadline for Bike Rack Art proposals is November 20th. After that, the submissions will be reviewed by a juried panel of artists, with the most appropriate designs receiving approval for construction. Winning proposals will be announced in February 2009. The project is scheduled to be completed by July 2009.

Maybe next summer you’ll be locking your two-wheeler to a giant dragonfly or metal petunia.

Submitted by
Candy Van Dam

The Chain of Coffee Love

Yesterday morning I went to a certain drive-through coffee chain. 

If that sounds evasive, it’s because I fully support my favorite local independent coffee purveyor, Black Sheep Coffee.

Unfortunately, however, The Other Coffee Shop is located between my home and my workplace, so when I’m running late, I guiltily drive through on occasion.

When I got to the window, the barista handed me the coffee and told me it had been paid for.

“It started 12 cars ago,” she said. “Everyone has paid for the person in back of them.”

All right, I won’t lie. It made me feel good.

“So it’s my turn,” I said, clutching the pile of change I’d scraped up from the car floor, my purse, and various corners of my house.

“Only this might be where it stops,” she said. “I knew this would happen. Somebody would have a really big order.”

The SUV in back of me had a bill that was about four times what mine would have been. And I didn’t have the money. But I sure didn’t want to be the buzzkill that stopped the Chain of Coffee Love.

The barista and I were struck with the same idea. “What about the car in back of the SUV?” That bill I could afford, so I paid it. We agreed that she just wouldn’t tell the SUV occupants about the Chain.

So at least 14 people felt really great yesterday morning. And I felt more guilty than ever.

Later on I wondered whether the Chain of Coffee Love had been started by a customer  – or by the coffee chain itself.

That would be very clever marketing indeed.

by Clara Jacob

Fowl Balls

Our client, Dakota Provisions, is grabbing sports headlines today with news about their delicious new concession item to be offered at Sioux Falls Canaries Baseball games this summer. They’re called, appropriately, Fowl Balls.

Let’s jump back a few months to the day Candy and I toured the Dakota Provisions turkey processing facility. (Which, by the way, uses state-of-the-art technologies that Dakota Provisions invented for humane handling.)

Inside a room where the turkey intestines were being rinsed out, we saw an immense cart filled to the brim with what looked like turkey hearts. They were oblong and smooth, maybe an inch wide and two inches long.

I asked our burly guide what they were, and he said, “Turkey balls.” When I replied in surprise, “I didn’t think they’d be so big,” he busted out laughing. I think I made his day.

But it really was surprising. I mean, wouldn’t you expect a turkey ball to be more of a small grape-sized item than a swollen, plum tomato-sized item?

Astonished, we learned that turkey testicles are filleted, breaded and fried – and served in bars.

And now at baseball games.

It’s pure protein. South Dakota-grown. Yummy for your tummy. And while you’re waiting for those baseball players to do whatever it is they do – make grand slam dunks or get nothing but steel net – you’ll have something new to try! 

by Clara Jacob