The tipping point came last night when I saw an ad for Kellogg in the box on my Yahoo home page where the weather usually resides. It promised $10 in "exclusive coupons," recipes, special offers, nutrition tips, etc., etc., all in return for identities and addresses -- online, offline and mobile (optional). No problem. Everybody loves a bargain. I now get $1.50 off if -- and a very big if -- I purchase any THREE packages of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and/or Frosted Flakes Cereals.

If Howard Luck Gossage, the deft copywriter, were starting out today, I bet he'd be writing for Groupon.

Did you notice the story last week about the government of Hungary selling off remnants of the communist regime? Busts of party stalwarts, paintings of industrial complexes and kitschy propaganda were all up for grabs.

You got to admire the public relations genius who came up with the idea of Pantone sponsoring an annual bestowing of Color of the Year honors on some unsuspecting hue that was just minding its business in the middle of the 1,925 colors that make up the Pantone Fashion + Home Color System.

Has it really come down to a megalithic Barnes & Borders with a scattering of independent bookstores struggling to hold on? Opinion is basically split down the middle in a Wall Street Journal online poll that asks readers if Borders will be stronger if it buys Barnes & Noble. As of very early this morning, 50.1% of 1,344 respondents say yes. But you've got to wonder if this is not a consolidation of buggy-whip shops, no?

According to a Packaged Facts report issued in January 2009, U.S. pet food sales were $17 billion in 2008 and the research company projects steady growth through 2013. In a later survey, "Natural, Organic and Eco-Friendly Pet Products in the U.S.," 40% of dog owners and 38% of cat owners say they purchase natural/organic pet product. Nearly half would buy more natural/organic pet products if they were more affordable; almost two-fifths would do so if they were more available.

There I was, barreling through Costco the other day, for instance, when I stopped dead in my tracks, arrested by an end-aisle display of fire-engine red, three-box box sets of a favorite snack in our household. Flatbreads. It wasn't the wall of color that attracted me, however. It was the phrase "with olive oil and sea salt" on the Keebler Townhouse Flatbread crackers.

Dear Mr. Post: I've purchased two pairs of Vibram FiveFingers in recent weeks -- first the EOS, then EOS Trex. Sure, I've been told I look like everything from a monkey to a cat burglar but, from day one, I've felt myself transmogrifying into one of those wackos capable of saying things like, "these shoes have changed my life." To wit, I actually enjoy running.

What is Jeff Goodby up to? I mean, he's telling us what he's up to in seemingly honest, sincere and straightforward prose in this Huffington Post post, "Wish Us Luck: We Are Chevy's Advertising Agency." But what's he really up to?

A front-page article in the New York Times yesterday talked about the growing competition in the baby sports market. That's right, the baby sports market. Infants as young as four months old are being enrolled in exercise classes. And Doreen Bolhuis, the entrepreneur behind Gymtrix training DVDs for kids 6 months to 11 years, tells Mark Hyman: "With the babies in our family, I start working them out in the hospital."