Marketplace Murmurs is a daily collection of consumer-related news, thoughts and missives that cross the minds and desks of the CBC News: Marketplace staff...

2004

Where have the boys gone?
December 22, 2004

A screen grab from "Fable" (Microsoft/Xbox)

You've heard of television ratings, which tally how many eyeballs are glued to certain programs (watch Marketplace Sunday at 7:00 p.m. on CBC Television), and are used to determine how much advertisers pay for their ads to appear during a show (but not on Marketplace - we're ad-free. Which is sort of like cholesterol-free, only tastier).

In recent years, advertisers and television executives began fretting over the disappearance of one key viewer: "the elusive 18-34 year old male."

Now Nielsen, the company behind most of the TV ratings we hear about, says it's found those missing males: they're playing video games.

It seems gaming is the new frontier (an "underutilized advertising vehicle," in ad-speak) for advertisers hungry to tap into a new medium as the door appears to be closing on an old one.

The trouble is, no one's been keeping track of how ads work in video games - do players see them? How many ads can a player 'digest' in one game session? What kinds of ads will they tolerate?

Nielsen plans to answer those questions with a new game ad auditing service that it's launching with another company (rather immodestly titled "Massive Incorporated").

A press release announcing the project predicts that the synergy between advertisers and the gaming industry will make "in-game advertising a seamless buying experience."

And here's an article from AdAge (registration required): http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=42195

If Pac-Man were released today (and he had feet) he'd surely be wearing Nikes.

Note: It's holiday time and I'll be taking some time off. I'll return with more missives from the world of consumer news in the new year. All the best of the season to you and yours!

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 9:56 AM (ET)

Pleasure dome
December 21, 2004

"Tropical Islands" is the latest in "lifestyle experience" leisure, says its creator.

What do you get when you mix a deep-pocketed entrepreneur, a vacant zeppelin hangar and a bunch of summer-starved Germans? Enter Europe’s largest leisure resort, offering chilled Europeans a chance to laze about on the sand while lapping pina coladas and watching well-oiled bathers wade in the lagoon – all while the snow blows sideways outside.

According to its creator, Malaysian businessman Colin Au, “Tropical Islands” is the latest in “lifestyle experience” leisure. Au is banking (a reported $120+ million) that his beach theme park will herald a new era of tourism – allowing consumers sun-kissed leisure without the trouble or expense of travel.

The resort, located in a zeppelin hangar (which was abandoned when the zeppelin-maker went belly up) boasts a Balinese lagoon, pristine white sand (not to be confused with the white stuff on the ground outside), a rainforest, and a tropical sea about the size of four Olympic swimming pools. [picture]

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 11:21 AM (ET)

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Santa pics gone wrong
December 20, 2004

Because it’s that time of year, I couldn’t resist sending this along... Nothing says Christmas like photos of wee ones screaming with horror at the prospect of sitting on Santa’s knee. The wicked folks at the Chicago Tribune have compiled a fantastic collection of such pictures, which I urge you to take a look at.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 12:21 PM (ET)

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What's your posion?
December 17, 2004

Pollution is a growing problem in our increasingly chemical-dependent world.

Concerns range from food scares and asthma to species loss and mountains of toxic waste. The folks at the BBC want to know how much you know about the effects of the everyday substances around you. They've created a quiz to challenge your pollution awareness - and while I consider myself fairly informed in such matters, I only got half of the answers correct. I suppose I have some reading to do over the holidays.

Take the quiz yourself and see how your pollution smarts fare.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 09:27 AM (ET)

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Device aims to detect corporate transgressions
December 16, 2004

James Patten's Corporate Fallout Detector

For the conscious shoppers among us, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT's Media Lab has created a device that could help you navigate the maze of corporate ownership and the daunting task of translating personal convictions into good buying decisions.

James Patten's Corporate Fallout Detector looks and sounds like a Geiger counter. It scans the barcodes of consumer products and makes a clicking noise based on the environmental or ethical record of the manufacturer. The more clicks you hear, the worse the ethics of the company behind the product.

For more on the Corporate Fallout Detector: http://web.media.mit.edu/~jpatten/cfd/

Caveat: Of course, after you've sifted through the material at the above site (and watched the "infomercial" for the device: http://web.media.mit.edu/~jpatten/cfd/vid2.php), you'll know the Corporate Fallout Detector doesn't exist at all, but is a fictional product.

That said, it could exist - and it seems to me that Patten's poking at the tricky trouble that can arise when consumer activism itself becomes ... well, a consumer product. Now my head is spinning.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 03:37 PM (ET)

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Remember this when assembling Christmas toys
December 16, 2004

'When boxing up your baby, ensure the lid is on securely.'

Hilarity abounds over at the Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness, a site put together by a fellow out in Vancouver who collects strange graphics from instruction manuals and such. Since a picture is worth a thousand words (whether it makes sense or not is another matter), head on over and take a look: http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/hall/index.html

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 05:14 PM (ET)

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Playing the name game
December 15, 2004

What's in a name? Perhaps not much, at least when it comes to popular everyday products. Microsoft might well be the leader in this -- consider the starkly simple names it's given its wares: Word, Office, Project, Media Player...

What's in a name?

Of course these strokes of straightforwardness are not accidental - they're the result of strategic marketing efforts that triumph strong, simple branding and finely focused messages. But I think there's something intriguing in the more subtle approach taken by merchants of days gone by.

Consider 7Up, the lime-flavoured soda favoured by stain-wary moms at birthday parties. 7Up has been around for 75 years, but why it's called 7Up, and what 7Up means (if anything, for that matter), remains a frothing debate to this day.

As Barbara "Queen of the Urban Legend" Mikkelson reports on her website, Snopes.com, several theories exist about the origins of "7Up".

One story claims the name came from a stroke of luck the drink's inventor had at the craps table (he apparently rolled sevens all night, and invested the winnings in getting the drink to market - but there's no evidence to back this up); another story cites the fact that Seven Up has seven letters (but, then again, so does "Six Down" and "Cat Food").

In the end, the truth of how 7Up got its name was taken to the grave with the soda's creator - and the mystery lives on ...

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 04:13 PM (ET)

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More weird stuff you can buy online
December 15, 2004

For sale: 28 authentic human gallstones. (Although only 21 are pictured here. Along with an American penny.)

Because people will try to sell anything, and there always seems to be someone to buy it - check out this website: Who Would Buy That?

WWBT is a blog run by a pair of online auction trawlers, Drue and Shauna, who surf sites such as eBay and Yahoo Auctions for peculiar items.

Drue and Shauna used to swap emails about the odd things they found for sale online. Now they share the weirdness by posting the curious details with anyone who cares to drop by http://www.whowouldbuythat.com.

Recent contributions include: a full set of acrylic teeth, 28 authentic human gallstones, and a larger than life mosaic of George W. Bush made entirely from lego blocks.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 4:46 PM (ET)

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Camera phone etiquette
December 14, 2004

Once upon a time, a phone was just a phone. I don't mean to diminish Alexander Graham Bell's tireless work (see The Greatest Canadian for more on his accomplishments), but one wonders if he'd even recognize his invention if he saw it today.

Today phones are mobile. They more often play bad show tunes than ring. You can use them to surf the web, play a game of Tetris, and snap photos -sometimes even videos- of the people and places you encounter through your day...

But along with these new options available at consumers' fingertips via their cell phones come some challenges of ethics, privacy and common decency.

Recently, the Consumer Electronics Association (a trade group for gadget makers of all types) published a set of voluntary guidelines for consumers that urge 'responsible use' of the photo/video capabilities offered by today's phones.

The "Camera Phone Code of Conduct" [PDF] includes seven rules meant to balance digital imaging ubiquity with privacy and other concerns. And while the guidelines are only voluntary, the CEA hopes the code will promote civility between cell phone users and those around them.

More information is available at the Association's website.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 2:22 PM (ET)

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Teddy bears can kill
December 14, 2004

Beware...

For the paranoid alarmist, hypochondriac and skeptical stats lover, there's a new book that lists the 100 deadliest things lurking in our everyday life.

For instance, did you know that "more people are killed annually by teddy bears than by grizzly bears"? Or how about this: "almost 70,000 people are injured every year in Britain while doing the garden - including an estimated 4,000 flowerpot injuries."

The book, 100 Most Dangerous Things in Everyday Life and What you Can Do About Them, is by British author Laura Lee, who spooks readers with stats relating to everyday threats - from rubber bands to wading pools to underwire bras.

But Lee also provides expert advice on how to best minimize the hazards. For example, to avoid wrecking yourself in the garden, "reduce the chance of sprains by stretching your muscles before digging, and wear a sun hat, hard-toed shoes and gloves." But beware while putting on your sun hat that it doesn't poke you in the eye.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 4:42 PM (ET)

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Cats are already weird enough, aren't they?
December 13, 2004

You might remember a story Marketplace brought you last season about a company that was producing "GloFish" -- genetically modified pet fish that glow.

Frankenkitty?

Recently, a Los Angeles company announced that it will create its own genetically modified pet - a critter it claims will be "the world's first hypoallergenic cat."

Allerca Inc. says by 2007 it will begin selling cats that are genetically engineered to be nearly free from the allergy-causing proteins that plague millions of people.

While some wonder if the plan will run up against federal regulators in the U.S., Allerca's president, Simon Brodie, says he doesn't expect there will be any problems. Brodie figures a precedent was set in the GloFish case (neither the Department of Agriculture nor the Food and Drug Administration stepped into regulate GloFish because the fish weren't meant for human consumption).

"Obviously, things can change," Brodie told the Associated Press. "But as long as people don't start eating cats and they don't enter the food chain, then we should be handled like the GloFish."

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 10:19 AM (ET)

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Keeping track of the kids ... with RFID
December 13, 2004

'Gotcha!' is a 'child monitoring system' based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Basically, a palm-sized unit is clipped on the child and a second on the parent. If the curious kid wanders "beyond the adjustable, predetermined safety perimeter," the system alerts the parent with a shrill alarm.

It all sounds fairly innocuous, but if you do a web search under "RFID" and "privacy" you'll see RFID technology -and the ubiquitous applications being developed for it- is piquing the concern of privacy watchers and putting its advocates on the defensive.

posted by Tessa (Online Producer, Marketplace) | 12:40 PM (ET)

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