Category Archives: commerce
No doubting American idleness
Yep, America’s Idle … or at least a sizable chunk of it is, if The News & Observer’s relentless barrage of shout-outs to American Idol local fav, Scotty McCreery, is any indication. It’s ironic to think a decision-making process once … Continue reading
War: Made in the U.S.A.
Last weekend, I bought a Sears-brand, Kenmore microwave that wouldn’t even light up when plugged in, as if its circuitry had been entirely omitted. Apparently, the Chinese plant that built it [Have you tried purchasing anything lately that’s NOT cheap … Continue reading
What’s in a name? Why, sales potential!
Raleigh’s city council has been needlessly unimaginative confining the field of naming sponsors for our spiffy new amphitheater to one maker of a low-cal beer. [For those who aren’t fully briefed, Anheuser-Busch has bellied up to the bar with $1.5 … Continue reading
Filed under civics 101, commerce
Energy Star fraud dim on paper’s radar
Talk about reporting in stovepipes! I can’t recall a more glaring example of staff writers donning blinders than Wednesday’s News & Observer article-cum-advertisement on the Energy Star appliance rebate campaign (Shoppers may snap up state’s appliance rebates), wrapping up its … Continue reading
Filed under commerce
Be counted, early and often
Well, I received my U.S. census questionnaire in the mail this week … again! I mailed the first one back weeks ago, two days after it arrived, in fact. But now I suppose Uncle Sam’s not content to count me … Continue reading
Filed under civics 101, commerce, spleen
Public Relations Defined, Part II
* * * Public relations is the systematic study and strategic design of organizational identity and behavior in relation to all else, human or otherwise. * * * So, what is public relations? It’s a question I’d vowed to answer … Continue reading
Filed under commerce, public relations
Health care reform to fatten and delight the rich
Judging from the way the health care debate is shaping up around Capitol Hill these days, whatever reform eventually emerges — if, indeed, any ever does — promises to be the realization of every insurer’s wildest hopes. Measure by measure, … Continue reading
Filed under civics 101, commerce, man of letters
Press lets Bell-Boeing fly the coop on Osprey
What, in the name of all that’s sacred in basic journalism, caused the News & Observer’s Washington correspondent, Barbara Barrett, to miss the target on Wednesday’s military piece about deployment of the Osprey to Afghanistan? Here’s a dramatic story packed … Continue reading
Filed under commerce
Defining public relations … almost
My earlier post of May 29 , which touched on the issue of mislabeling propaganda as public relations — Capstrat and its BCBS storyboards being the illustration at hand — might have left readers begging the question, “So, Andrew, what … Continue reading
Filed under commerce, public relations
Not PR, just plain propaganda
If there’s one thing that nags the bejesus out of me, it’s when I hear something characterized as “public relations” when it doesn’t even closely resemble that discipline … which is quite a lot of the time, frankly. The Washington … Continue reading
Filed under commerce, public relations
Bailouts already bloating federal payroll
Practically from day one I could see it coming, when Congress started signing over billions of tax dollars to subsidize the financial and insurance industries that were barely treading water on account of their own misdeeds. Because wherever staggering sums … Continue reading
Filed under civics 101, commerce
Smart commuters challenged at every turn
When the SmartCommute Challenge kicked off on Wednesday, I could’ve told campaign planners and sponsors that the biggest challenge would be getting participants — specifically, anyone trying to ride a bus — where they needed to go on time. But … Continue reading
Filed under civics 101, commerce
All dressed up
Samantha Thompson Smith’s article in today’s News & Observer, “Sending the right message” — one of a seeming string lately related to workplace fashion — sure sent a message, alright: the world of commerce is either a sick, sick place … Continue reading
Filed under commerce, man of letters
