August 2009

August 2009

• Classified listings have arrived to the Twitterverse with iList Micro, an app that automatically picks up classified tweets (as denoted by hashtags "#ihave" and "#iwant" to create and search for listings, respectively) and adds them to its listings site. For those who follow @ilistmicro, the service even alerts posters to potential matches, connecting those who have with those who need.
• Twitter is lending a hand to those who can't visit the 2,000-year-old Western Wall in Jerusalem to place a prayer, written on a small piece of paper, into one of its many cracks. Tweet Your Prayers is offering to collect short requests to the divinity via Twitter, print them out and deliver them to Judaism's holiest site. It's a free service, though donations are encouraged.

• Natural-health beverage company Odwalla recently released Wholly Grain!, a fruit smoothie with 32 grams of natural whole grains in a tropical medley of orange, pineapple and mango juices. Odwalla Wholly Grain! Tropical Medley contains whole grains, fiber, Vitamins B1 and B2 and antioxidant Vitamins A, C and E. It will be available at Whole Foods and other natural food stores nationwide.
• Coca-Cola Freestyle is a new self-serve soda fountain that can dispense up to 100 different drink flavors. The machine is being tested this summer at fast-food restaurants in California and Atlanta, with plans to roll out more units across the US early next year. A touch-screen interface allows customers to select flavored teas, waters, juices, and soft drinks based on brand, calorie content or caffeine levels. Many of the flavors on offer are new to the US market. By tracking sales, Coca-Cola gains valuable insight into which drinks would be most successful if offered bottled or canned.

• Cary, North Carolina recently welcomed the state's first "green" McDonald's. Both the interior and exterior were designed with sustainability in mind: tables and décor utilize renewable materials, lighting fixtures automatically adjust to changing light conditions and kitchens and bathrooms were designed to minimize water use. There are also preferred parking spaces for hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles, along with ChargePoint stations offering free electricity for plug-in cars.
• New York's water-carrying crowd has a convenient new way to be sustainable while staying hydrated, with tap-water refilling service TapIt. TapIt is a community program that enables people to refill their water bottles at participating cafes, free of charge. Any restaurant or café with a soda dispenser or tap that gives clean drinking water can sign up as a partner. Thirsty consumers can find taps online or via TapIt's iPhone app, and are provided with information on the type of water that's available (filtered or non-filtered, room temperature or chilled). The initiative is currently only up and running in New York, where it now has over 100 locations.

• Coach plans to introduce a stand-alone, luxury clothing brand next year called Reed Krakoff, named for the brand's executive creative director. Krakoff oversaw Coach's evolution from a utilitarian leather goods maker to a fashion brand whose products range from bags, jewelry and perfume to scarves, sunglasses and shoes. The newReed Krakoff linewill be sold in a small number of stand-alone stores and a limited number of boutiques and specialty stores, ranging in price from $495 to $1,195. The linewill alsoinclude accessories, jewelry and handbags.

• Dumpster diving has taken on a whole new meaning this summer, as artists in Brooklyn have converted old dumpsters into urban swimming pools. Each dumpster is cleaned, lined and then installed, complete with sundecks, in empty lots or backyards where swimmers can splash around for free.

• Through the Omni Flips for Summer campaign, running through September 6^th, families staying at any of the U.S. Omni hotels and resorts can borrow a new pocket-sized Flip Ultra video camcorder free of charge. When filming is done, guests can upload their video to their own laptop or use the hotel's business center free of charge to upload their memories to a thumb drive to take home. Guests are also encouraged to upload a three-minute video to Omni's Local Scoop social-networking site for a chance to win a free trip for four to the Omni Bedford Springs Resort in Pennsylvania.

• True Blood, HBO's hit vampire series, has inspired a new beverage modeled after the bloody drinks consumed by the show's lead vampire. Slated for release in September, the "Tru Blood" drink will be a flavorful, blood orange soda. A 4-pack will retail for $16.00.

• Conde Nast will shut down web-only brand Men.Style.com (launched in 2005) when it gives GQ and Details their own websites in October. After the launch of both sites, Men.Style.com traffic will refer to GQ.com. Details material will transition to Details.com.