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If You've Looked Up An Old Flame On The Internet, You're Not Alone


Source: Classmates Online, Inc.
Poll Results Revealed for Valentine's Day; Over 90 Percent of Respondents Thought About or Want to be Contacted by Past Loves

RENTON, Wash., Jan. 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Valentine's Day is fast approaching along with thoughts of current romance, but also past loves. Classmates.com, a leading online social networking service, polled its community of more than 40 million members and found that more than 90% of respondents either thought of their first love or high school sweetheart in the last year or would like to be contacted by an old flame.

But even if that old spark has burnt out, the flame of curiosity is still strong. Fifty-six percent (56%) of poll respondents said they have used the Internet to look up an old boyfriend or girlfriend, and 65% did so because they were curious as to what their ex was doing today.



And how did they break the ice with their old flame? "It's been a while, how are you?" was the favorite opener with 48% of respondents.

Differences between men and women were revealed in their answers to the question "What would you most like to receive on Valentine's Day?" The number one answer for 23% of male respondents was "a kiss." But "flowers" was the number one answer for 16% of female respondents, followed by 15% hoping for jewelry while 10% would be content with "a kiss."



Classmates.com 2008 Romance Poll results include:

-- 55% of respondents thought of their first love or high school sweetheart in the last year.
-- 43% of respondents said they would like to be contacted by an old flame.
-- 34% of respondents said they have been contacted by an old flame in the past five years.
-- 53% of respondents would go out on a first date on Valentine's Day.
-- 27% of respondents think Valentine's Day is a time to think about loved ones.
-- 27% of respondents think Valentine's Day is romantic.
-- 20% of respondents had met their true love in school (K-12).
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Super Bowl Rings, The Bling For The Past 44 Years



above: The most recent addition to the years of superbowl bling is the 2009 ring above awarded to the New Orleans Saints for their victory over the Indianapolis Colts from Super Bowl XLIV on feb 10, 2010 photo by Derick Hinkle

This post has been updated to include the rings from 2007, 2008 and 2009, so now that's 44 rings.

Original post:
I honor of yesterday's 42nd Super Bowl, I thought I'd share with you the Super Bowl Championship Rings, awarded to each member of the winning team as well as the coaches, from 1966-2006. The majority were manufactured by Jostens (you know, the college class ring people?), and the rings have varied quite a bit over the years.



Above: the final score of the 42nd Super Bowl

The rings almost always include the team's name, logo, and Super Bowl number (usually in Roman numerals). Most of the rings also have larger diamonds or diamonds made into the shape of the trophy, that represent the number of Super Bowls that franchise has won (e.g, Pittsburgh's 2005 ring has five trophies, representing the five Super Bowls they have won).

I don't know how much the total carat weight varies year to year or the value, but here are some little facts about the rings (courtesy of Wikipedia):

•The NFL pays up to $5,000.00 per ring, with up to 150 rings per team. If the rings are over the $5,000 limit, the team owners must make up the difference.
•Recent rings have been appraised in excess of $20,000 but manufacturers keep this information confidential.
•The rings are made by the company of the winning team's choosing. Many Super Bowl rings have been manufactured by Jostens in Denton, Texas. The Indianapolis Colts' •Super Bowl rings were manufactured by Herff Jones (based in Indianapolis), at their Warwick, Rhode Island ring plant.
•Austin, TX based Balfour Company has manufactured numerous Super Bowl Rings

Tasteful? No. Impressive? Yep.

All the Superbowl rings to date:


Above, left to right, rings from 1966-1974

Above, left to right, rings from 1975-1983

Above, left to right, rings from 1984-1992

Above, left to right, rings from 1993-2001


Above, left to right, rings from 2002-2009


To read stories that accompany each ring and winning team, click here.

Product Pick Of The Week: The Starck X Collection Modern Bath




The copy and descriptions below are taken from the Duravit catalog

Not Starck. Starck X. In mathematics, the letter X stands for an unknown quantity. In Chinese Taoism, for elevation to the divine. In bath design, it represents the start of a new era. In his Starck X series, designer Philippe Starck maximizes minimalism.




This vision called for extraordinary expertise in working with ceramic: unusual basin divisions, redesigned mixer positions and combinations with surfaces such as yellow and platinum.





The bathroom furniture sparkles with brightly lacquered inserts; mirror elements shine with innovative illumination. Because overflowing water is not a problem, bathers can immerse their entire body.




Talk about relaxation - and a novel bath design, from the individual layout of the surrounding "moat" to the optional remote-controlled lighting.




Even the faucets are treading new and unusual paths: flat, sculptured chrome surfaces echo the pure geometry of the faucet body. The water gushes forth as though from a natural spring, making the ritual importance of water tangible.




New dimensions have appeared in the Waterwall shower system - the perfect blend of minimalist contours and maximum shower comfort.


Is it luxury? Is it extravagance? Is it decadence? No - it’s Starck X.



Axor- HansgroheAG
P.O. Box 1145
D-77757 Schiltach
Phone +49783651-0
Fax +49783651-1300
info@axor-design.com
www.axor-design.com

Duravit AG
P.O. Box 240
D-78128 Hornberg
Phone +49783370-0
Fax +4978338585
info@duravit.de
www.duravit.com
www.starckx.com

Marketing Does Matter: Matter Does Marketing




What Is It?
As described on their site:

"Matter is a new and unique idea in communications that brings companies and people together around real, physical stuff–things you can hold in your hands, keep in your drawer, or give to your friends. It's a new way for companies to introduce themselves by giving you something you might like.

Matter works a little like a magazine by creating specific boxes for different audiences, except each bit of 'content' is in fact a different object each created by a different company. Matter works with each company to create items you'll enjoy getting, which might be something that explains what the company does, its ideas or its values, or simply something to try out.

Matter is a refreshing interlude to the fast-moving blur of modern media. It's stuff you can read, play with, or try at your leisure. But becasue Matter is carefully created it's also a thoroughly modern concept–it's advertising you'll want to keep."


Those of us who've been in marketing since pre-digital communications may recognize this as good old fashioned co-op targeted direct mail comprised of samples - only packaged in far hipper way.



Matter is a collaboration between Artomatic and Royal Mail.

Click here to read more about them.


What was in the first Matter Box?
(Which, by the way, arrived at homes just yesterday!)




The descriptions and images of the items in the box below are reprinted from matter.co.uk:


Sony Ericsson.
Iris were the first agency to get onto the Matter trail with the Music Monster, a cult-ish figure that represents your personal musical desires that becomes real in its own straw-lined packing case complete with bite-marked brochure. And after an extended amount of will-they, won’t-they anxiety, Andy Smith made it happen.

Stolichnaya Vodka.
Peter Riley at 20:20 was unwavering in his willingness to join the Matter trial and created this intricate and ornate enamel lapel badge along with a miniature guide to Russian cultural icons. The badge is a jewel and the tiny format brochure is perfect in its red-stitched execution.


Nintendo Wii.
conceptual thinking guns-for-hire Rebecca and Mike helped with the idea for this, which turned out to be easier to make than expected. The defining characteristic of the games console is perfectly communicated in a single, simple object–a Wii wristband.

EVO Magazine.
The original idea was to create the ‘EVO Apex Finder’, a self-adhesive road stud similar to ones they use in Motorway contra-flows which would have allowed car enthusiasts to mark their favourite turn-in point on any corner. However, social-responsibility issues this raised their head and the idea was swiftly abandoned in favour of a game of EVO trumps which more accurately reflect EVO’s position as an unrivaled source of automotive knowledge.

Original Source.
This shows that Matter can also work as a sampling channel, which I’m happy with–providing there aren’t too many samples and they’re the right ones.

Virgin Atlantic.
Martin Muir at Start Creative helped secure this contribution–an award-winning calendar about how the airline’s changing–and even pursuaded the client to offer Matter recipients an exclusive invitation to use the new Upper Class Lounge on their next Virgin Atlantic flight. Nice.

Nissan.
Daren Kay at TMW brought his team together to create this item to prompt people to think harder about the Nissan brand. It’s brave in that it’s about the Nissan brand and not any specific model. A set of crayons that are really soap tell a story about how Nissan’s not what you expect.

Sony Bravia.
Paul Beier at Iris helped bring this idea to reality just minutes before the client disappeared for three weeks. Pots of Play-Doh allow people to create their own version of the award-winning Rabbit TV commercials.


Jordans Cereal and Penguin Books
Mark Waites at Mother has long been interested in Matter and his colleagues Jo Forel and Iskra Tsaneva came up with the idea for Cereal Poetry, which turns breakfast into a new literary occasion–because everybody always reads what’s on the cereal box.

Cool, huh?
The next box goes out sometime this summer.
Interested in either advertising in the next Matterbox or in receiving one?
Click here to learn more about it and Matter.

iShoes: Motorized Roller Skates






What They Are:




What They Can Do:
Specs:
* Top speed of 13.5mph
* A123 Lithium-ion battery pack
* Recharge in 2 hours
* Colson Sure Grip wheels
* 11.8lbs for the pair

What They Cost:
* Price : $599

Who Designed Them:
The inventor of the iShoes, Ilya Kaganovich is from Plymouth, Minnesota. On a trip to New York, he thought of a new way to get around town: motorized shoes. With the help of his brother, Boris Kaganovich, an aerospace engineering student, they developed prototypes to test the concept. As iShoes moved forward, they are committed to excellent quality. Excellent quality is achieved by creating the best designs, using the best technologies and executing with the best craftsmanship.



I deleted the video of the ishoes here because it was causing javascript errors in my browser. To see it, please go here.

Where you buy them:
Here.

For questions or comments, please contact :
Email: info@theishoes.com

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 41833
Minneapolis, MN 55441
Phone: 612.867.5573

Victoria Beckham: Out of The Bag And In the Flesh



Most fashion savvy people know that Victoria Beckham has signed on to be the spokesmodel for Marc Jacobs Summer 2008 ad campaign. As a result of that collaboration, photographer Juergen Teller shot these 'fun' and funky photos of Victoria Beckham (below) posing as 'product' for Marc Jacobs with her emerging from Jacobs' bags and boxes. They have spread like wildfire across the net, so you've probably already seen them.

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