HUMMER GIVES MOM A BACKBONE

New ads for Hummer shows a wimpy woman who is frustrated and embarrassed when a pushy woman butts in front of the line she is in with her child. What does this wimpy woman do? She buys a Hummer. The ad shows her feeling bigger and stronger than someone driving a smaller car.

Hummer "Slide" Commercial
Humer "Tofu" Commercial


MOLD-TO-YOUR-FEET CROCS ARE MOVING FROM SPORTS TO EVERYDAY USE

In just three years, Crocs has become a phenomenon. It started with boat shoes, now they’ve introduced Mary Janes and rainboots. In 2005, Footwear News named Crocs "Brand of the Year" to honor the company's success in the retail industry and the overwhelmingly positive response to the brand from consumers.

All Crocs shoes feature Crocs' proprietary closed cell resin, Croslite, which warms and softens with body heat and molds to the user's feet. The proprietary resin is slip-resistant, non-marking and anti-microbial.

http://www.crocs.com
http://www.crocfans.com


PUMPED TIRE PERFORMANCE

Oxygen is your tire’s worst enemy. Air is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other. Nitrogen is inert, non combustible, and non corrosive. Oxygen on the other hand is a destructive element. When tires are exposed to air, a long term and continuing deterioration begins - the oxidation of the rubber in the tire. What happens to a rubber band over time? It loses its elasticity and strength. This same process occurs in tires inflated with air as the oxygen attacks the rubber molecules, working from the inside out until the oxygen permeates the tire structure and ultimately the tread.

http://www.tirelast.com

ANTIMICROBAL COVERINGS FOR SPORTS

Public arenas are beginning to deploy antimicrobial coverings to protect people from germs and bacteria. As the 2006 training camp begins the Washington Redskins are the first team in the NFL to apply SportsAide.

SportsAide is a state-of-the-art antimicrobial treatment for sports equipment and facilities that controls the growth of a wide range of all known bacteria, mold, fungi and algae. It is one of a trio of products in the Sports Antimicrobial System by SportCoatings: TurfAide, SportsAide and SportsAide Fabric Conditioner. Registered with the EPA, the treatment imparts an invisible layer of antimicrobial protection that will not leach any chemicals or heavy metals into the environment and will not rub off onto a player's skin.

http://www.csgsport.com

QUICK COOL DOWNS

Cool down misting systems used in places like Las Vegas are gaining popularity for home use. Big Fogg’s residential misting systems, for example, are capable of reducing outdoor temperatures by as much as 25 degrees. The systems are prolific. Big Fogg Misting Systems will provide sideline misting for the first Sunday night NFL regular season game on September 10th. In 2006, the systems were purchased by a few teams in the MLB: Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, and the surging Detroit Tigers. Big Fogg has also sent equipment to the Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, H.E.R.O. for a day in Atlanta, GA, on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean III, UCLA Jazz Festival, and overseas, to our service men and women in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and to our troops in Iraq. Who knew?

http://www.bigfogg.com

ENGINEERING SILENCE

Consumers are moving back into urban centers, yet they still want the tranquility of a remote island. Pella Designer Series windows and doors with triple-glazing and laminated glass can reduce exterior sounds as much as 85 percent. This is at least double the sound performance of a single-glazed window. By comparison, an eight-inch concrete block reduces sound by 95 percent. Washington, D. C., homeowner Fritz Faerber recently replaced his 1923 brick row house vinyl windows with Pella. “When you open the front door and hear all the sounds you weren’t hearing before – that really impacts your quality of life,” says Faerber. “We’re sleeping a lot better.”

http://www.pella.com



BLOOD AND BONES ORGANIC

Organic gardeners emphasize the concept that "the soil feeds the plant." What better to enrich soil than with blood and bones? So thought the guys at Miracle-Gro. Their new Organic Choice Blood Meal and Bone Meal contain all organic ingredients, with the Blood Meal providing an all-organic nitrogen supplement to promote vigorous growth in flowers and vegetables. The Bone Meal is an all-natural phosphorus source to promote strong root development in roses and flower bulbs.

http://www.scotts.com



MAPPING PHOTOS VIA GPS

Critical mapping has evolved beyond time and date now that consumers can pinpoint the location of all things via GPS. As the lines gray from leisure to work, time loses relevance on its own while geography gains meaning. Together, time and location are powerful. Using time and location recordings from Sony's GPS-CS1 GPS device and the time stamp from a Sony digital still camera or camcorder, photo buffs can plot their digital images to a map and pinpoint exactly where they've been. The 12-channel GPS unit is 3-1/2 inches long, weighs two ounces. Once synchronized, photos can become virtual push pins on an online map by activating the Picture Motion Browser software bundled with the latest Sony cameras and camcorders released after July.

http://www.sonystyle.com/retail

SUPERSIZED KETCHUP

Faced with fears of limited supply of water, rain forests, fresh air and oil, consumers tend to conserve on all things—even condiments like ketchup. To get past this, H.J. Heinz Co. launched a fresh advertising campaign for ketchup to promote the company's new supersized bottles. According to a Wall Street Journal article, “Television commercials to begin airing next month show an apple-cheeked, brown-haired boy squirting ketchup onto a hamburger out of one of Heinz's new "Fridge Door Fit" bottles. The 46- and 64-ounce bottles are intended to boost ketchup consumption…The new campaign is the first exclusively for ketchup since Heinz's 2002 introduction of an "upside-down" bottle designed to limit spills.”



MEGA GARAGES

As consumers surrender spaces of excess like formal dining rooms, they seize the spaces that speak to their self-interests whole heartedly. Today, 15% of new homes have a garage large enough for three cars or more, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In 1992, it was just 6%. A Business Week article reports, “Archway Press, a New York company that sells detailed blueprints for houses and garages, has been ramping up the size and complexity of its garage designs to meet demand. For example, one Archway blueprint gives plans for a free-standing, 10-car structure with a 2,700-square-foot apartment above it.”

BusinessWeek article

BANDAGES GET HEAVY DUTY

Duct tape came into the limelight as everyone rushed to buy it to seal windows post-9/11. In collaboration with 3M, Nexcare introduced Duct Tape Bandages. The packaging says they provide "heavy-duty protection for minor cuts and scrapes," and are longer in length to accommodate meatier fingers.

http://www.nexcare.com



NEXT GENERATION PLAY CONCEPTS

In the midst of an epidemic of obesity, manufacturers are scrambling for solutions to get consumers in shape. Some have started with kids. PlayPower Inc., a manufacturer of commercial playground equipment, has introduced Nexus, a next generation play concept for kids ages 7-14. Constructed with complex curves and angles, Nexus features a modern, high-tech look heavily influenced by futuristic sci-fi movies and cyber-culture. The Nexus Velocity, in particular, is all about moving fast and satisfying the youthful need for speed.

http://www.playpower.com/Nexus