The Sex and The City cast will be in theatres on May 27.Craig Blankenhorn
1. The City of Philadelphia needs to get its story straight. This week it touted its "With Love Philadelphia XOXO" campaign, promising much love and affection for tourists this summer. Clearly the NHL playoffs must end first. Montreal Gazette hockey columnist Pat Hickey left the Wachovia Center Sunday night to find the tires slashed on his Honda Accord. Rowdy Flyers fans broke a hubcap, tore off the bug deflector, soaked the windows with beer and stole his licence plates. A T-shirt given to fans earlier in the evening read: "Relentless in the pursuit of history," but Mr. Hickey suggested "relentless in the pursuit of idiocy" might be a better slogan.
2. A Washington, D.C. group angered by Craiglist's adult advertisements is taking on founder Craig Newmark in his hometown. The Rebecca Project for Human Rights bought a half-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle calling Craigslist "the choice" for buying and selling sex with underage girls. The ad, an open letter to Mr. Newmark, featured the stories of two girls identified as "AK" and "MC" who claim they were forced into prostitution and "pimped out" on Craiglist. This week an Atlanta research firm released a study that showed Craiglist ads receive three times the response of similar ads and is known as the place to buy sex from young girls.
3. We can't resist sharing the efforts of a Vanity Fair blogger who set out to see what tacky products are tying in with the Sex and The City sequel, in theatres May 27. After a brave trip to the HBO store on 6th Avenue in Manhattan, Juli Weiner called her findings a "terrifying hellscape" and "altar to emptiness." Pink wedding albums to hold your SATC DVDs, all manner of detritus emblazoned with all the lines such as "single and fabulous," "shopping is my cardio" and "have you seen my shoes?" - on T-shirts and coffee mugs; SATC-inspired lingerie, including a leopard-print corset (the Samantha line, natch); and some tacky bras. It used to be a good show, it really did.
4. The recession battled booze brands, like everything else, and when it comes to alcohol the bigger they come the harder they tip over. According to the Power 100 report on wine and spirits out this week, the 15-year-trend to premium reversed and we started drinking the cheap stuff. Every brand in the top 10 lost considerable value - as much as the remaining 90 brands combined. The top overall brand, Smirnoff, dethroned former powerhouse Absolut in the vodka category, while rounding out the top five were Johnnie Walker, Bacardi, Martini Vermouth and luxury brand Hennessy. Just goes to prove that while the classic behemoths of booze are vulnerable in tough times, they aren't going to fall to cheap hooch any time soon.
5. But ... countries around the world are pledging to get tough with companies that market beer and liquor on social media networks such as Facebook, warning that such promotions threaten to entice a new generation into harmful drinking patterns. Brewers and liquor manufacturers have trumpeted their brands online, and their sites on Facebook are booming. Heineken counts 400,000 people who "like" its beer, while vodka maker Absolut and alcopop brand Smirnoff Ice are nearing a half-million each. In a 24-page report, WHO warned that alcohol was being "marketed through increasingly sophisticated advertising and promotion techniques." Sports, concerts and sponsorships are being joined by e-mails, texts, podcasting and social media to reach consumers, some of them underage.