Silly Mexican Drug Dealers Chopping off Heads and Ruining it For Everyone

Since I won't be in this company's service much longer, let me share with you some "feedback" from one of the "stakeholders" on a current job.

We are really trying to push the family aspect of Cancun. We have been told that many people are fearing Mexico at this point and the more family imagery we can push the better.  

You have been told? Someone had to TELL you this? You're never going to lose the "Assistant" prefix to your title of Marketing Manager if you don't start figuring this stuff out. Now I'm sure Mexico is fine, by and large, but it's hard to avoid the stories coming out of that country. When someone is considering a vacation these days, "possibility of beheading" is not what they're looking for in a destination. But I like how you solved this problem of "people fearing Mexico", Assistant Marketing Manager. Let's "push family imagery" to allay those silly fears.

Yes, the poor anonymous person working for the anonymous company quoted above is just trying to sell what he/she's been told to sell, so please don't jump to his/her defense or to the defense of marketing in general. The point I am making is that there is, or CAN BE, I should say, a very sleazy side to this business.

The image below is called "Pinche Gringos - Cozumel, Mexico" and is the latest from my Saturated Street Scenes gallery.

Let Me Be Your Bucket of Cold Water

A local marketing group I'm part of on Linked-In is discussing how to make a video "go viral." I'd weigh in with my point of view, but the seriousness with which they are tackling this subject lets me know that I would once again be the bucket of cold water guy to this group of "professionals" who are every day trying to take on "important" issues, discussing them in the most banal and nauseating terms, all while getting in plugs for their own experience and awesomeness. Yesterday they were talking about how to best "leverage" social and mobile within the new high speed rail trains and stations that are someday going to make traveling to Tampa from Orlando a little easier. I pointed out that the thing won't be done until 2015, if we're very lucky, and to even discuss apps as they exist today in relation to 2015 would be like putting all your ad dollars in MySpace five years ago. As the thing nears completion, maybe we can look to Europe or Asia and find out what they're doing. I was quickly and politely dismissed as "short-sighted" by some "executives" with very serious and professional profile pictures. This has always been my problem among marketers; I tend to tell them they are full of shit and they tend to exclude me from their games. From what I can tell, Linked-In is becoming an incestuous cesspool of blowhards all blowing one another. No one speaks real, they are all there to impress, land consulting or speaking gigs, get jobs and tout how important they are. I realize it's not Facebook, but the masquerade is not something I enjoy. 

Seriously, it's 2011. Are marketing professionals still talking about how to make something "go viral?" Didn't we dispense with this notion a few years ago? It just points to the sinister (or perhaps simply clueless) nature of so many in this business. They approach marketing as "How can we fool you?"

Forgive me if you've heard this before, but here is my marketing philosophy:

Let's not talk about "engaging the consumer." Let's not talk about "maximizing the customer experience." While we're at it, let's avoid a discussion about "interacting with the brand." Let's make it simpler. Let's talk about something else.

Respect. And honesty.

We've lost it. Or maybe we never had it to lose. We still think we can pull the wool over the eyes of our audiences and somehow smooth-talk them into acting. And if we can't smooth-talk them, we'll baffle them with big words and giant promises that are cleverly covered by the legal department with fine print denoted by an asterisk.

People sense it. They know it when they see or hear it. And believe it or not, the principles of Respect and Honesty can even be applied in the most shameful advertising known to man; Direct Mail.

There. I've just given away my secrets. I guess you won't need me now for creative consulting.

(I'm actually holding another couple cards up my sleeve, but really, those two are the Aces.)

Or maybe I'm just in the wrong line of work.

Larry King's Forthcoming Sex Tape (and Everything Tastes Like Chicken)

It was my pleasure to hang out for an hour or so yesterday with Bill Green of Make The Logo Bigger, the most prolific, insightful and WTF-inist blogger in our industry, and Her Excellency, the excellent expatriate Angela Natividad, of Live and Uncensored, on the 28th edition of AdVerve.

We hardly touched on industry news, which was fine with me, but strayed into just about everything else. Though I've never personally met either of these fine people, it was like having lunch with old friends. At a very large table that stretches from Paris to Bridgeport to Orlando. If Bill could add some restaurant sound effects to the podcast, you'd never know we weren't all in the same room, such is the clarity of Skype. Sometimes. When it decides to work. But such are the inconveniences of free stuff. As Bill's Skype profile reads, "Everything is amazing and no one is happy. Take Skype for example." (Angela's reads, "I have some wonderful hams for you.")

While I'm pretty sure no one even listens to podcasts anymore (JOKE, guys, though I gave up on my own in 2006 and predicted the death of the corporate podcast in 2007) you can download or stream Angela and Bill's "AdVerve" over at their site. And even though I likely come across as a cynical bastard with a grim outlook, I would happily do it again.

Who Wants to Start a Brewery?

Or at least get an existing brewery to pick up a new brand. New World Beer. (Not to be confused with a home brew strain by the same name.)

Taste? What does taste have to do with anything? You gonna tell me Dos Equis is a great beer? 'Course it ain't. But it's got a great campaign behind it. I think I have a good name for a brew here, in honor of the guy who planted a flag in the Dominican Republic a few centuries ago. We can mess with the label art and all that, of course. And once we've got all the REAL work done, THEN we make a beer that isn't half bad and we tell everyone it's awesome, will make them cool, get them laid and define their lives.

mas grande

How to Use Social Media: Another Blogger Weighs In

Much has already been written on better blogs (and spoken about at numerous conventions) on the subject of social media and the marketer's place within them. My turn. Nothing said here will be anything that brighter minds haven't already thought about; I'm just giving my take as a marketer.
Let's start with: What the Hell is Twitter?

I was skeptical even to adopt it as a user. I've always fed my latest blog posts to it, but to actually "tweet" seemed silly. I used it as a one-way news feed: "Go here and read my blog." But as more people started to follow me, I started to follow more people. I've quickly un-followed the people who are using Twitter as a blatant marketing tool. The people I follow tweet the oddest things. Some are hilarious, some mundane, some informative and others as random as possible. It eventually occurred to me that this group of people, from Dave Matthews to Bad Banana to Daryl Ohrt, were on Twitter to be friends, to have contact, to share information and to just basically hang out. It's not unlike early Internet chatrooms. Daryl also uses it to communicate with colleagues and to occasionally plug his brand, Plaid. In the case of someone like Matthews, Twitter is a tool for maintaining contact with his customer/fan base; the Dave Matthews freaks who trade bootlegs of live shows or love hearing about snow in the Virginia mountains at Christmas via Dave's tweets.

The few I follow, (some 40-odd) will on occasion mention a product or a company. It might be a good mention and it might be bad, and it can even be neutral. "I just used Acme Instant Hole and it sucks," or "Anyone looking for a good instant hole, Acme is awesome," or "I'm looking for a good instant hole. Anyone know one?"

Here's the only place, as far as I can tell, where a marketer has any business being on Twitter. If you subscribe to any sort of Twitter alert, you can easily find out when Acme Instant Hole is being tweeted. And you can jump in when it is mentioned. But will anyone ever actually follow Acme Instant Hole? Very unlikely.

And here's where marketers fail: They don't see the revenue stream. And here's what they don't want to hear: There is no revenue stream. Corporate blogs failed for the same reason. No one wants to write a company blog (and even fewer want to read it) that amounts to nothing more than spider food, especially when you have the comments feature disabled. This is about customer service, brand management and the "taking care of the little things" that no one wants to do. You want revenue? You want sales? Good customer service breeds sales. It's foundational. Everyone knows that. Treat me right and I'm likely to be loyal to you.

In preparing this post (which is a painstaking process involving sitting out on the back porch with a glass of wine and thinking about this post) I was trying to think of a product or service to which I'm loyal. The first one that came to mind was Formula One Firestone. It's a garage just down the road where we take the cars if they need help beyond the routine oil change. They have never been unable to fix a problem, their walls are lined with certifications and they are straight with me. I'm sure I can find cheaper car service somewhere, but this crew has proven itself. Craig, Al and Pete lead the show down there. I'm not good with names, but I know their names, and I see them maybe once every five months on average between our two aging cars.

I saw a couple of tweets from Bill Green, a social media advocate if ever there was one, where he scathingly and humorously rips United Airlines three or four new ones for screwing up his flight plans and failing to help him resolve them. All within the allotted 140 characters. Now if I'm United, my TweetBeep goes off and I go find this guy. I reply: "Hey, Sorry to hear about your experience. Hit me back by DM and I'll give you my email addy. See if we can't fix this.(Yeah, I work for UA)" That was 140 characters exactly. Bill invited that discussion by dissing my brand and I responded. You can call that "engaging the consumer" at your next conference speaking engagement.

If you're Bill in the above scenario, you're freaking out that a giant, uncaring corporation just found you badmouthing them and is now trying to fix your problem. On Twitter no less. You are definitely DMing me and getting my email addy. Chances are better now that Bill might fly United again, even if I can't fix his problem to his utmost satisfaction. I was there. I showed him I'm listening. What does that cost United? Hell, I'll do it for you, United, as your highly-paid social media consultant. But the money I save you in salvaged customers might well offset the salary and perks (free flights for life, first-class) that you pay me. Will Bill now follow United on Twitter? Who cares? Numbers of followers is not the point, unless you're tweeting stuff like, "First five people to reply get free round trip tickets to anywhere in the continental US."

Twitter is the latest social media application that marketers will fast ruin. Look back a year or two. What happened to MySpace? It got overrun with tools and shills, getting in your face or spamming you. Where did everyone go? Facebook. And they'll be leaving that soon, too. Anyone use AIM anymore? Yeah, I didn't think so. All those "buddies" you kept getting who were really companies? Skype? Had its day. We run from the marketers - because they're always marketing; always looking for a way to slap us in the face with a banner or yell at us with some unsolicited blurb. Or worse, they pretend to be our "friends."

They'll find a way to find you. (We always do.) But until the marketer stops using social media to sneak up and pounce on the target, the target will continue to find new places to hang out, running from them.

You want to use social media? Look at them this way: social media are places where you can strengthen the ties you have, repair the ones that are severing and maybe in the process (but only by luck) build a few new ones.

And Twitter, you don't really have much hope of becoming a money-making operation in the traditional sense of selling ads. Most Twitter users don't even see the Twitter.com site; they're using mobile devices or second-party widgets embedded in their iGoogle homepages. You're going to have to "think outside the box" since you already blew your shot at making serious money when you turned down Facebook's $500 million offer. Whatever you do as you explore how to make money from this fast-growing application du jour, take a lesson from those who've blown it in front of you: Stay out of the users' faces.

Even as marketers, what do we always think of the marketer who is trying to force his way in? We think, "Get out of my face!" Here's an opportunity for us to do just that.

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

I've been the recipient of some nice cards and gifts from people I've never met this season. Among them, I got a card from the man with three "M's" in his name, M. M. McDermott of The Renegade Agency Confessional. Thanks, MMM. Kind of you.

From Atlanta came a package yesterday from "Aunt Mary," the deceased and eccentric relative of Fred Leo, better known as Every Sandwich, a guy I have much in common with and with whom I have collaborated on some fun stuff. Fred continues his aunt's tradition of sending weird and somewhat depressing gifts to friends and relatives. (Click "Aunt Mary" above for the full story.)

I got a bootlegged copy of "Century of the Self," the documentary by Adam Curtis, the first five minutes of which will confirm your long suppressed fear that if you are employed in marketing or advertising, you work for Satan. It also explores the relationship between advertising and politics and confirms that we are a stupid people, easily swayed by meaningless messaging. I'm looking forward to the remaining three hours of this career-affirming festival of joy.

Aunt Mary also sent this fine can, which I will keep in a safe place, to be consumed for a future Christmas dinner in a post-apocalyptic, desolate landscape of starvation and chaos, where the roving bands of marauding, radioactive zombies seek people to rape and dismember; where the streets run red with the blood of the saints and any glimmer of hope is lost; where carols around Christmas trees are but bitter memories of our lives wasted in the pursuit of things we didn't need.

Be Sure Your Spam Will Find You Out

I don't remember signing up to follow Bobbi-Jo Frazier on Twitter, but I'll be sure to remove her now.

Attention, Bobbi-Jo: You're doing it wrong. You're going to kill Twitter with this type of tweet. If you get ANY business from this method of soliciting your "friends," I will write a blog post on your success as a Twitter marketer.

I don't expect to have to write that blog post.

Rush Hour Traffic Alert for Central Florida

A long time ago, when Obama was hurting in his bid against Senator Clinton, I made the unwise decision to send his campaign an email suggesting some strategic and tactical moves they might employ. Big mistake. Now I'm on a mailing list that brings me at least three emails a day, all very friendly and personalized and almost always concluding with, "And can we have $5?"

I've yet to send a single dollar and I'm sure I won't, but I remain on the list out of curiosity and as a student of politics and marketing. Last night I got an email from Big BO himself! Barry said, "Hi, Dave! I'm going to be in Orlando tomorrow! Hope you can come out! Event is at 6 pm, but try to get there at 3 pm."

He'll be at the Amway Arena of all places. Ugh. Amway.

RSVP to Barry: Uh, sorry. Can't make it. Something suddenly came up*. I'll be avoiding that crazy mad throng of worshipers, all throwing their babies on your altar in some sort of orgiastic satanic-socialist cult-of-personality ritual while you and your frothing band of America haters and welfare recipients try to besmirch the good name and solid reputation of Her Holiness, Sister Sarah of Alaska (and her running mate, that old guy she will replace as soon as he breathes his last come January). And I'm not interested in a "management opportunity" in your "new business" either, you multilevel marketing community organizer.

As a public service, I've created this traffic map for my fellow citizens, effective from now (2:45 pm) until tomorrow morning at 5:30 am.

• Red: Pack your dinner and plenty of water. Hope you have a Pringles can to pee in or you're wearing Space Diapers. You'll be stuck in this mess for hours to come. Resistance is futile. Might as well just accept his rule, since he rules your next 12 hours anyway.
  
• Orange: Have you ever seen so many Obama bumper stickers on one commute? To avoid confrontation, McCain supporters are urged to keep their eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. Do not make eye contact with The Obama People.
  
• Yellow: As you curse the socialist mob and their antichrist messiah for ruining your evening, tune in to Sean Hannity for cathartic release. Violence is not an option and you will only end up in jail. Then again, if you're a true patriot in the Hannity tradition...well, I think Sean would understand if you were forced to show your love for your country by vandalizing Obama cars and screaming wildly at the occupants.

* Friends of Maureen know what I mean.

Idiocracy & Caribou Barbie

The term "Caribou Barbie" (in quotes) searched on Google nets 15,300 results. That sure didn't take long.

Nevermind that she took little Wasilla, Alaska from a debt-free city to $19 million in debt in her short term, the Rove Machine is selling her as a "fiscal conservative."

Say what you will about the manufacture of Obama, how he is a creation of the Axelrod marketing machine. I have said so much myself. But what we see happening right now is surreal. A total unknown (about whom much more is becoming known) is being sold to the American voting public as a "revolution." Energize that base, "Base" being an excellent synonym for "totally base."

While Mrs. Palin is hiding from the media and learning foreign policy from Joe Lieberman, Obama's star is fading in the afterglow of America's initial introduction to Caribou Barbie and her one speech, written by Bush's speech writers and delivered artfully by the former sportscaster. A quick study, Mrs. Palin will emerge from hiding and dupe millions into thinking that she is a thoughtful, experienced and poised leader, ready to assume the office of President of the United States tomorrow.

If this country elects McCain, (who has sadly been eclipsed by his running mate) we are much closer to Idiocracy than I thought. But I have every expectation that my brain-dead countrymen will do just that.

Now might be a good time to watch that movie.

Set Phrases on Stun

Charles Blow has a great piece in today's New York Times blasting Obama for forgetting that politics, like advertising (same thing) is about slogans and gimmicks. He cites McCain's "Drill Here Drill Now" mantra as an effective example of how to jump ahead in the polls, "Because it was concise, catchy and positive."

Regardless of the fact that McCain's "Drill Here Drill Now" was invented by Newt Gingrich and then championed by Sean Hannity until it became McCain's, Blow is right. Obama is going to sink like a rock if he keeps up his professorial put-em-to-sleep stuff. Sadly, he had to go that route because the opposition was accusing him of being nothing but lofty words. Now that he's proven he can think and reason like a bright, clean and articulate guy, it's time to go back to lofty words.

Americans are stupid. We need gimmicks and junk, catchphrases and bullshit before we buy. "Drill Here Drill Now" is proof of this. I even saw a bumper sticker with the phrase this week. It's a phony policy that won't do a thing to make us "energy independent." But America believes it will. If you say it often and if you say it loud it becomes truth. Top it off with the House of Representatives stunt with all the "rogue" lawmakers demanding a Drill Here Drill Now vote and you've got a movement. While it is stupid to neglect Alaska's oil in the interest of saving some frickin' caribou - who are migratory! They'll MOVE! - most experts agree that all the oil in Alaska will make a very minor dent in our national consumption.

I thought Axelrod was a marketing genius, but he's losing his touch. It's already time for Obama to rebrand.

The Manufactured Horse Race That Wasn't

DISCLAIMER: I have watched presidential politics with interest this season mainly because the Obama campaign is a textbook study in marketing. I've not decided how I will cast my vote and I'm finding the daily gaffe-watch to be disgusting on both sides. If I could get away from it, I would, but as a political junkie, I can't put it down.

As recently as last autumn, a pollster desperate to shatter the myth that polls don't accurately measure the growing population that has given up land lines in favor of cell only, said, "They don't vote."

Dream on, white boy - and wake up to a brand new day. The proof is pretty easy to find: it's the number of people showing up.


The media needs a horse race, which is why we are hearing today that Obama and McCain are statistically tied. Don't believe it. A person in their mid 20s, who has only known a cell phone since high school is unlikely to waste money purchasing a land line service. And a growing number of people, myself included, have realized that the home phone has become simply a means for solicitors and pollsters to call you. And we are opting out. Anyone who needs me has my cell number.

File pollsters into the growing category of professions rendered useless by technology.

Let Them Eat French Toast

With all the ridiculous excuses marketers make for sales and celebrations in this country, it's odd that we leave out today, July 14th, in the national calendar of Reasons to Throw a Party and Make You Buy Stuff.

Maybe it's our not-so-secret national hatred of France that causes us to overlook Bastille Day, but up in Seattle, they're trying, complete with this curious Leaning Eiffel Tower of Space Needle logo.

We all pretend to celebrate Mexican Independence on Cinco de Mayo, even though that is not Mexican Independence Day and we go all out for the Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

So I say everyone go out and buy some...some....uh...Oh, crap. I guess here's the problem. What are we going to do? Eat Brie? Drink Champagne?

Remember the run-up to the War in Iraq? France was warning us not to do it. We didn't listen.

A Marketing Study in Contrasts

McCain can fill a town hall, Obama can fill a town.

In searching for images for this post, I searched "McCain rally" in vain. There really is no such thing as a McCain rally. There are only McCain "events," and they usually look like somber gatherings at the local funeral parlor. Unfortunately for McCain, he often looks like the very made-up and freshly-embalmed guest of honor.

Has the rise of Obama been all about marketing, image and messaging? Has it been all about nice logos and trendy street art? Has it been about unsolicited virals and savvy Internet strategies? Catchy slogans and lofty rhetoric? Yes, yes, yes and yes.

But the contrasts that separate Obama and McCain are not all about Obama's positives; they are about McCain's negatives as well. You can only tout your POW status for so long before it begins to sound like sad pandering. When your most prominent banner ad is a Flash movie of you limping off a plane and saluting 40 years ago, you've staked your political future on a strategy most officers of the Armed Services find undignified at best and disingenuous at worst. Not that anyone does not grant McCain his due honor for serving and enduring untold suffering, but to capitalize on that service and endurance is to tarnish that honor.

When you were once the "Maverick," until a real maverick stole that thunder, you appear ridiculous to now claim to be the candidate of "Change." When you were once the "straight-talker," until an even straighter talker robbed you of that mantle, you appear shrill to be demanding instantaneous "town hall" styled meetings, the format your advisers suggest will make you look better.

Much has been made of "the Obama brand" or "the Republican brand" this season. Sadly for his team, McCain has no brand other than "I'm not that young kid who has all these people energized and excited about the political process. I'm not the naive lad with a questionable past who may or may not hate America but has nonetheless just beaten the most formidable force in American politics in the form of a former popular President and his inevitable wife. I'm a war hero and I am a warrior and I WILL NEVER SURRENDER."

And that sort of marketing energizes tiny rooms of long-time supporters. It doesn't create new customers or even get those still wondering what to buy out to the store to look at the product. There is no energy and no excitement. There is just an ever-shifting, tentative and increasingly jealous message.

Only thing left to do is smear the other product.

Nothing Says "Taste" Like Dead Guy Chocolate

We're all familiar with creepy Orville Redenbacher being resurrected to shill again for his popcorn, and Kurt Cobain selling Doc Martens from heaven. Here's another cheap stoop at a dead legend on the part of Hershey's.


Saw this item in the checkout lane tonight at the grocery store and had to snap it up, seeing as it is a "collector edition" chocolate bar. (DOH! I cheapened my investment by opening the package. Crap! Guess I'd better go buy another and keep it in the freezer so I can sell it on eBay in 19 years, when it'll be worth $1.45.)

Look at that classy embossed chocolate likeness of Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR legend. That is freakin' awesome. I'll bet he tastes so good. This is only the second in the series of three collector's chocolate bars from Hershey's. Keeping my eyes open for numbers one and three.

Previously in shameless dead marketing

Previously in NASCAR

Tuscanize Your Brand

Just as we Americans are total suckers for an English accent when it's used in broadcast advertising, we are also drawn to all things that have the mysterious "Tuscan" tag affixed to them. I'm not sure when The Tuscan Trend™ (or TTT™) started, but I suspect it was around the time of the release of Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which was filmed in Tuscany. Whenever and however it started, TTT™ shows no signs of dying. Label it "Tuscan," marketers, and Americans will buy it.

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, build your new home at Tuscany Ridge.

There's a Tuscany Ridge in St. Augustine, Florida.

How about The Estates at Tuscany Ridge in Tampa, Florida?

Maybe a West Virginian notion of a Tuscan Ridge is more to your liking.

Perfect your game at the Tuscan Ridge Golf Club in Paradise, California.

And what happens in Tuscany Village, Las Vegas, Nevada stays in Tuscany Village.

Visit Disney here in Orlando and stay just minutes away at a vacation home in Tuscan Ridge.

After a busy day at the parks, head over to Outback Steakhouse for the Chargrilled Tuscan Ribeye.

Dine at the Tuscany Grill in Suntree, Florida.

Or dine at the completely unrelated Tuscany Grill in Middletown, Connecticut.

Or dine at one of the 26 Brio Tuscan Grilles in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas or Virginia.

Would you like to view The Chardonnay floorplan at the Tuscany Ridge Apartments in Temecula, California? (They also feature The Chablis, The Merlot, The Cabernet and The Bourdeaux. Classy.)

Slightly more affordable are the Tuscany Ridge Apartments in Peoria, Arizona.

I have not even scratched the surface of the Tuscan Naming Craze. Those were just random Googlings of the phrase "Tuscan Ridge." Try "Tuscan Hills" and you'll find another few hundred thousand.

Be it tile, paint, furniture, real estate, food or drink, we will somehow attach this image to any item named Tuscan: A Sunny Afternoon Feast spread out on a Big Oak Table Outdoors with a Rolling Hills Countryside Background while a Gentle Breeze Blows through a Renaissance Romance. Ah, yes. People will pay for that image. They will pay more than whatever you're selling is worth.

Maybe it's me, but when I think of a Tuscan apartment, I've got something more like this* in mind.

(And this reminds me that I need to do a post on the whole Olde English way of spelling stuff in new developments here in America, like towne, centre or shoppes.)

*Not really in Tuscany, but further north in the Pennavaire Valley, in the town of Colletta, being billed as a "Medieval e-Village" with Broadband for everyone. Exceedingly cool.

Recyclable Paper Plates!

Winner: Most Misleading Packaging and Product Naming

"Nature's Own." "Green Label." And the kicker, "Made from 100% Paper, A Renewable Natural Resource."

This is almost as bad as the 400 pound man who owns a car dealership and can therefore call himself "The world's largest Chevy dealer."

Through a Glass Darkly

"In the past, we would only let specially trained janitors and housekeeping staffs use this highly Powerized cleaning product, but we have decided to start allowing you, the untrained amateur, to experience the streak-free shine of our Commercial Line™ of cleaning products on your glass surfaces. Please use responsibly."

I might've known...they even have a website. And people actually write to them with real life stories. I am a little disappointed that they don't include AIM icons, desktops or screensavers, and they aren't sponsoring a user generated video contest. Also, no Windex blog. Wow. So behind the times. But they were forward-thinking enough to include a game called Shine Time.

The sad drawback is Shine Time works only with the Windows 95 and Windows 98 operating systems.