• by Seana Mulcahy , August 18, 2003

Taking things for granted.
What a week it's been. I don't know about where you are, but Boston has been a rainy mess for the past couple of weeks. To top it all off, my modem got blasted by lightening. I spent almost three days on dial up. Sure we online advertising folk boast that almost half the online population has broadband. But what about the other half? Honestly, I don't know when it happened but I take speed for granted. I couldn't even open a media kit. I tend to think with my media cap on. You know I preach about designing the online world toward the lowest common denominator. I guess it's lower than I thought.

Lower the bar.
Although I complain about my short loss of electricity (enough to ruin everything in my fridge and freezer) and my cable modem fry-out, I lucked out. Many of you like my friends in NY were in the middle of a blackout. I think the scariest thing were the moments prior to finding out it was not a terrorist attack. There was an overwhelming sense of calm and community corner to corner. Most of my friends and colleagues had no electricity, water, or phone. Low and behold, many had an Internet connection. My hat goes off to the camaraderie and zeal of New Yorkers.

Whacky States.
While New York has the big thumbs up, California has the big thumbs down. Are these people truly mad? The Net has been laden with political campaigns, commentary, and debate around the upcoming election. I just read a press release, "Arnold Schwarzenegger "Total Recall 2003" T-Shirt Sales Soar." I guess he's "baaaaaaack," bigger than ever. Internet retailer TotalRecall2003.com has begun selling t-shirts featuring parodies of the actor's famous one-liners, including: "Hasta la vista, Davis," "It's not a rumor" and "Vote for me if you want to live."

TotalRecall2003.com co-founder Brian Phillips likened himself to Schwarzenegger as a symbol of entrepreneurialism: "We're pursuing the American dream by launching an Internet company in his honor." It's enough to give chills.

McStupid.
Okay now I've heard everything. In the midst of the ridiculous child obesity lawsuits, McDonald's has come up with a less-than-genius idea. Apparently the fast-food empire has revamped an old offline newsletter into a pilot site called none other than McMoms.com. Say that 10 times fast.

According to Media Life Magazine online, "The site will include health and dietary information in addition to coupons and childrearing tips, wrapped up in a branded package. For example, the latest Happy Meal options will be promoted, and McMoms who download coupons will be asked what they thought of the product in question. I, like many others, have worked on the McDonald's account. I don't doubt the utter strength and ubiquity of the brand. But who the heck associates nutrition and health with fast food? I certainly can't blame McDonald's for wanting to tap into the reported 75% of all mothers with kids under the age of 9 citing the Internet as their #1 source for information. However, I have a tip for moms: "If you don't want fat kids, cook once in a while and tell them to get of the couch!"

Signs of what's to come.
I admit it; I've hung my hat on the success of email marketing. I cringe as I see a new trend among the workplace: banning personal email and site access. According to Dow Jones (via Yahoo), on the advice of lawyers, Merrill Lynch began blocking its employees from outside email services including Hotmail and Yahoo. They join the growing number of companies fearing security issues, legal problems and reductions in worker productivity.

Marketers will need to pay close attention to this bandwagon. As a media planner, I look for the at-work audience for many clients to get certain demographics. Mandates like this push buyers to delve more into psychographics and usage patterns.

I don't care who hates Microsoft.
This is another thing that slowed me down. People love your IT folks. Those of us who are chief cook and bottle washer (like me) had one heck of a time downloading all the security patches so we wouldn't infect our machines with the widespread virus.

So dear readers, I cannot leave you on such a negative note. Today I'm thankful for the little things I took for granted: Electricity, water, air conditioning on a 90 degree day, high speed Internet access, security patches, and side-aching humor of our culture.