The Grand Canyon turned 100 this week, or we should say the National Park turned 100, as the Grand Canyon is 70 million years old. To celebrate, a park ranger placed a typewriter at Plateau Point in the Grand Canyon and invited hikers to record their thoughts. After a six-mile hike down into the canyon, the typewriter sat waiting for them. Hikers left 76 messages: "Geologic pilgrimage," "parks are really powerful places," and "perfection," were some of the messages. And the single $5 typewriter from Goodwill found itself on media all over the country. Click here to read the NPR story.
Banksy's “Girl With Balloon” shreds after its sale. Image from Sotheby's via news.sky.com.
"We got Banksy-ed," said Sotheby's auction house in Europe. At an auction in London on Friday, a painting by the England-based street artist known as Banksy sold for $1.3 million and then immediately self-destructed from a shredder built into the frame of the painting. Banksy himself put the shredder into the frame to destroy the painting if it ever went to auction, a statement on the commercialization of art. Now Banksy is even more famous, his art is totally cutting edge (pardon the pun), and amazingly, the shredded painting is expected to be worth even more!
Click here to read the NPR story.
Smirnoff. Jack Daniels. Coca-Cola??? Well, maybe. Coca-Cola has launched its first three alcohol drinks, calling them lemon flavored "alcopops," with alcohol content ranging from 3% to 8%. This could be big, very big, if Coke puts its brand and marketing juggernaut behind alcopops. Right now, the drinks are being rolled out only in Japan, but the world is waiting. This is the first alcoholic drink in the 125-year history of Coca-Cola. Alcopops boomed in Europe and the UK with Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer, so Coke has been watching. These drinks are controversial because they are like alcoholic soft drinks and attract young people. But Coke's move is a toe in the water, to see if a gigantic new market might open up.
One incident can spark a revolution. Last month, two black men hanging out at a Philadelphia Starbucks were denied use of the restrooms and asked to leave when they didn't buy anything. An employee called the cops and the men were arrested. The arrest was captured on video (of course!) and millions saw it. Starbucks later apologized and held anti-bias training for all employees. And NOW comes the new policy: anyone can sit at Starbucks, use the patios, seating area and restrooms, and not buy a thing. You can sit and not buy, as long as you want. Starbucks has taken a risk (too many people hanging out and not paying) but it reinforces its profile as a neighborhood place and deals with a big PR debacle.
View the Los Angeles Times story.