First Lady Likes Puppets

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday.
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Take Note ... The First Lady Likes Puppets

While addressing a crowd at the United Nations First Lady Michelle Obama announced that she had just visited Sesame Street. "I'm thrilled to be here, but I was just at 'Sesame Street' with Elmo and Big Bird and I was thrilled. I'm still thrilled. I'm on a high!"

The First Lady visited the set of Sesame Street to record a public service announcement for Sesame Workshop's "Healthy Habits for Life" initiative. Look for the PSA to begin airing soon.

Pop! Pop! Fizz Fizz! Tax! Tax!
How do you feel about sin taxes? They seem to be propagating at an alarming speed in the present economic climate, since they're one of the only ways to raise taxes without provoking a general public backlash.

Thus, the Senate is taking aim at Big Soda, proposing a three-cent tax on sodas as well as other sugary drinks, including energy and sports drinks like Gatorade. Diet sodas would be exempt.

The proposal is far from a done deal at this stage, but its proponents make a powerful case, claiming it could bring in $24 billion and improve the level of overall national health. Ironically the tax would hit the country's poor the hardest. But I guess the government is trying to force them to eat healthier. Because that's the government's job ... oh, wait. No it's not.

Creative Posters Help Sell New Movie
I haven't seen the new Star Trek movie yet, but the posters are pretty cool.

 
This one was placed inside an airport. See more of them here. They're all pretty clever.

What Ads Say and What We Think They Say Can be Two Different Things

Below is an ad from an actual Web site.

Here's the ad the way I interpreted the ad.

Even if she was getting paid a modeling fee, I feel bad that she had to have her picture taken with that guy.

Clever Guerilla Marketing Vehicle

A plastic surgery clinic found a clever way to use paper cups as marketing tools.

Ballet is Sexy
A couple of my co-workers enjoy going to the ballet. But ballet seldom includes any roles for Mannequin Americans, so I boycott it.

But lately I've noticed that ballet marketing is getting sexy. In fact, publicity images for ballet companies are embracing eroticism with some ingenuity in hopes of attracting larger audiences. A brochure announcing San Francisco Ballet's season featured a female dancer in a saucer tutu and bare legs enjoying the lustful caresses of a male dancer in the back seat of a convertible. Another ballet campaign plastered a tasteful black-and-white photograph of a nude male torso, on bus shelters.

But the ads below for the Bay Area Ballet really caught my eye.  Sensual, artistic and striking. Plus they make you wonder how the photographer was able to take two different photos of the same person and match them so perfectly. More examples of the series here.

Not New Marketing ... New Melons
This bit of news is from our good friend Mark Mosio. Japan introduced heart-shaped Japanese melons, which hit the market just in time for Mother's Day. Price per melon (converted to US dollars): roughly $160.

Japan introduced square Japanese melons in 2001. To create these freaks of nature farmers grow the melons in glass boxes and the fruit then naturally assumes the same shape. Today the cuboid watermelons are hand-picked and shipped all over Japan. They cost 3 to 4 times more than a regular shaped melon.