Top Chef Las Vegas: Episode Two

I didn't write about last weeks' episode because I was seriously too excited to do anything else. I also reaaaalllly wanted the people I was watching with to not talk during the show...but I feel like a jerk shhhh-ing people. 

So here's my advertising thoughts on tonight's episode:

Whole Foods - They seem to be the absolute go-to for every single cooking show. I wonder how they arrange that in all shows on different networks. I thought at first that they give them free food and then get exclusivity on the show. And then I realized I was dumb, there's no way they would give that away for so little. Apparently Nielsen ranked Whole Foods, (among Food + Wine Magazine & Glad) among the Top Ten Most Effective Product Placements in 2008.

This really is excellent brand strategy for Whole Foods. They win over both the chef crowds, (which admittedly probably isn't their largest target), but by showing people that chef's show there, it makes people want to become mini-chefs in their own kitchen. Voila! Go to Whole Foods, the purveyor of all things culinary and gourmet. 

Le Creuset - I think I noticed them on the top shelf of the storage rack. Do you think there are people somewhere in a bidding war each of those shelves? Le Creuset this week, Revereware the next. 

Vegas Hotels - Big Winner this week, probably will be over the season. They showed that front view of the hotel like six times, which ultimately made me wonder: What the hell is the M? I thought it might be a re-branding of the Mirage, turns out it's it own thing. MGM, Mirage...M....

What's with the faux "back to the shows?" It keeps fooling you. You settle back into the show, they flash Glad across the screen and then you're back to commercial-land. Not a fan of this. 

U2 Blackberry Switch - I have been thinking about this one for a while. I remember researching my first iPod during the tail-end of my U2 fanatica and seriously contemplating the U2 edition. Ultimately, I decided that I might feel a little lame with that. Anywho, that is why I found the U2 Blackberry Ads so surprising. I expected them to be iPod commercials in the vein of "Uno, Dos, Catorce!" and Coldplay. 

Crocs crocs crocs crocs 

Guardasil targeting younger women

GE Monogram Placements (I wasn't paying that much attention): 1

 

The Real World : Year One

Well I have been a contributing member of society for an entire year now. It seems like I have been doing it for longer :0. I worked it out, and what a year means is about 450 loads of dishes, 6000 cups unloaded, and 1 million phone calls. 

I now know how to fend off salespeople,

Pay my bills, (mostly on-time),

Make excellent foam on a latte,

Pack the tightest dishwasher ever,

Order enough meat for 25 computer developers.

I haaave a degree, I haaave a degree. 

Woot. 

Fat Years, Lean Years, It will Rain: The Return of Mad Men

This is going to be a long post, so much so much! 

I've been anticipating the return for a few weeks, just got done re-watching the 2nd season last week. There was a great article in Fast Company regarding the reality of Mad Men, and what they get away with that simply wouldn't fly today. 

So as we know, Don "Dick" Draper's mom was a business lady too. That's apparently where he gets his savvy. I enjoyed seeing a bit more about his mother, but sometimes I feel like Don relies too much on his past to explain his present actions. We finally find out where "Dick" comes from...hilarious and awful at the same time. 

Where on earth was Duck? I was Duck hunting all episode. You'd think the person who orchestrated the merger would be around. Maybe he's hanging at a bar with his friend from "The Nanny." I smell a flashback to this Duck absent time.

I have to admit that I really love Burt and his appreciation for modern paintings. I like that he uses them to make people uncomfortable. I can only imagine what that Rothko painting is worth these days. I'm not quite sure I understood his analogy about the Japanese painting and their business. 

Job sharing...brilliant. This will be a fun struggle to watch over this season. Especially because Pete is such a little bitch. What does Ken Cosgrove do? He mostly just shows up to contribute dopey but like-able dialogue. I feel like he's on the Don Draper career-development plan, (albeit not as naturally suave as Don). I wonder if this means that Duck pulled Ken aside as well? 

I don't think I can even handle my disappointment with Don. On one hand I am so disappointed that after everything he'd go after that stewardess. Yet from a character standpoint, I kinda like the return to Draper: The Legend. I guess he has to wean himself. 

I disagree with #'s 

1. Fisherman's Wharf

2. Petrified Forest

5. The Alamo 

I don't really care about the rest. 

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-29489009;_ylc=X3oDMTE1dDB2bmFrBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjcxOTQ4MQRzZWMDZnAtdG9kYXltb2Q-

These are the shoes I just bought. I have been wanting them for months and low-and-behold they are on super clearance!! $15 free shipping. They are also a testament to how well Facebook ads are targeted. Below is another one they totally got me on. 

www.simpleshoes.com 

I haven't purchased it yet...but I think I will soon. 

www.modcloth.com

Logging In

I learned two things just now while logging into my blog after a 7 month absence. 

1. Blogger is owned by Google. This totally doesn't surprise me and completely reinforces my belief that Google is the most dynamic company around. They are also amazing because they have so many great products that people don't even recognize as Google-owned. How very Hershey of them. 

2. I learned what those awful "Type the letters below" are called. Apparently they are called "CAPTCHA" 's which stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."

It sort of surprises me that technology is so amazing, and there isn't a work around for computers to solve these little fuckers. Correct me if I'm wrong programmers. 

Anywho, it feels good to be back. 

A Letter to Bernie Madoff: The Angel

Mr. Madoff,

The other part of me has to write this. While I have never run anything near a hedge fund, I have found myself in moral qualms & clusterf*&^s. "What to do about this coffee situation!? Tell them it's decaf or hope that they won't notice?" * What is your explanation? Is there an explanation?

I have to wonder, did you find yourself in such a situation that you had no choice but to invest this way? Did you know you were setting this up? Is it inevitable at that level of pressure? I have heard time and again how insane the hedge fund market is, how stressful it is. 

Part of me doesn't care about how much pressure you were under, or what your reasoning was. IT WAS WRONG.  

I don't want to give you the benefit of the doubt. This is my attempt to give you a chance. I don't know much, but screwing people out of $50 billion requires a hell of an explanation. 

Yours,

The Begrudging Business Dilettante

Reader: Please contradict me and tell me this guy's a crook who knew what he was doing. 

*Note to my coworkers, that was a bad attempt at a moral qualm. You know I'd never fool you about coffee. 

A Letter to Bernie Madoff: The Devil

Mr. Madoff, 

While my relatively fresh business mind is still reeling on the details of what exactly a Ponzi Scheme is, I also am still in shock that the affects of your scheme, Sir, could reach a 23 year old receptionist. In my relatively short tenure in the job world, I have been through 3 layoffs. One at AOL that I don't really count because I was a lowly intern (& it's AOL...duh), but 2 at my current job. You touched the latest one. 

We had a lucrative project in the works, and miraculously ! the funding went away because the lead investor lost all of his money in your investments. As a result, we lost an additional 6 employees (10%), my friends and coworkers. While this affects them much more than it does me, I just can't wrap my head around this tabloid, nightly news headline affecting my world. Since when has anything Brian Williams said affected my life? 

My question to you is, did you ever think you'd reach me? Did you know what you were doing? Is it bad that I am thrilled to see your name among the A/B list celebrities and business leaders cited among victims? 

Here's hoping there isn't any room in white collar prison,

The Business Dilettante

Does anyone else find this picture hilarious? 

The Business Dilettante - A few words

- dilettante - noun. 

1. An admirer or follower of the arts

2. A person having a superficial interest in an art or branch of knowledge

I had this whole other overly poetic reasoning behind my name, I still think it's true, but I just couldn't stand the way it looked in print. I felt a bit of an ass. The truth is, those two definition of dilettante both apply to me. I do love the arts in all their forms. I am also a person who has a superficial interest in a branches of knowledge, especially business. My degree (Marketing), has trained me about how to look at the world with a business filter. Plus it makes me laugh to call myself a professional dilettante.

I tend to really like things for a short period of time before I am ready to delve into another endeavor. I feel like this name is appropriate for my blog because I tend to think about business things all the time.  "What is the reasoning behind this strategy or that advertisement, but it never lasts long because I move onto the next . (Who bets this blog will be a short experiment!?)

I guess through this exercise I hope I can develop an approach to developing my thoughts, explore them at depth, and have them written down before I forget them and it drives me crazy trying to remember, "What was that thing I was thinking about earlier?" 

What I hope to get from the readers (If I ever have any) is your take on things. I tend to focus on details and would love to hear your thoughts and opinions. Please call me on my shiz, I need it every once and a while. 

Welcome to the Business Dilettante. 

Maybe one of these days I'll post the overdone original explanation, but only if I'm desperate.