Stay Free! | 5 July 2001
Carrie McLaren
carrie at stayfreemagazine.org
Thu Jul 5 20:27:22 EDT 2001
Hello, the last two articles from issue #17 are now on the site:
"The GOOD News About Branding"
by Carrie McLaren
In these days when the word "brand" has become a stand-in for any
person, place or thing, speaking English can be a little depressing.
We now have two kinds of nouns: common nouns and brands. "Apple" is
no longer just something to eat, and "Yahoo!" is not what to shout
when feeling celebratory. Every day brings more brands. The chalupa
is a brand, as is Taco Bell, and of course parent company Pepsi is a
brand, owned by Tricon International, a lesser-known brand, unless
you're looking at global corporate giant brands. Ingredients can be
brands. Nutrasweet. Intel Chips. Olestra. And pretty much every thing
or place surrounding brands, from humans to mountain ranges to
countries, is brandable.
continued at:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/branding.html
"HIKING THE APPELATION TRAIL: JASON TORCHINSKY DEFENDS HIS BRAND"
After finding a right-winger using his very own name, Stay Free's
reporter persues appropriate legal action
by Jason Torchinsky
A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, but a turd by
the name of a rose would still smell like shit. This may not seem a
particularly earth-shaking revelation, but it never hurts to remind
ourselves how lucky we are that we have a different word for pretty
much everything. It is also important to be reminded how words can
become more than words; they can become commodities. The commercial
world already understands this, and is very willing to defend their
"rights" to certain words as much as possible.
continued at:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/index.html
ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB:
"MORE UNDERHANDED REPORTING FROM ABC NEWS"
http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/06/26/index.html
Great story by my friend Marianne Manilov about John Stossel's
shameless flacking for industry. This time, for a "20/20" special,
Stossel goads 4th graders into making their environmental teachers
look bad.
STUDENT FORCED TO APOLOGIZE FOR McDONALDS COMMENT
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/education/A53881-2001Jun11.html
Geez, you can't make this stuff up: When a Connecticut high school
student gripes about having a McDonald's assembly held during
schooltime, the principal forces him to read an apology over the
intercom... in which he has to call himself a "bad student...that no
teacher would really want in a classroom."
see also:
http://www.theday.com/news/ts-re.asp?NewsUID=4CDE300B-09CC-4B1E-924B-8649CC1DC3E6
"FOR BRAZILIAN WOMEN, CAESAREAN SECTIONS ARE SURPISINGLY POPULAR; TO
SAVE TIME, MAKE MONEY, MANY DOCTORS OPERATE EVEN IF IT'S UNNECESSARY"
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/public/wsj_caesareans.html
Okay, so the death rate among women who give birth by Caesarean is a
lot higher than those who give birth vaginally. And babies born by
Caesarean are more likely to suffer health problems. So why are
Caesareans as common as dirt in Brazil? According to the Wall Street
Journal, doctors in Brazil tell women that Caesarean sections will
help preserve their "honeymoon virginas." Caesareans planned for
Friday afternoon are nicknamed "beach Caesareans" so that doctors
don't have to worry about delivering over the weekend. Incidentally,
in web version of this article, the headline was changed to "Many
Brazilian Women Don't Choose To Give Birth the Old-Fashioned Way."
(Yeah, that old-fashioned, stay-alive way...)
Subscribe to Stay Free! and get the latest magazine:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/order.html
NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: If you are getting this email, you're on the
wrong list. Email me and I'll switch you to the special "paid" list.
Thanks, carrie at stayfreemagazine.org
More information about the Stayfree
mailing list