Archive for the ‘Spend Page’ Category

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The Hobbit Lives In New Zealand!

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

New Zealand wants the new Hobbit films to be shot within its borders so badly that it’s changing labor laws to make it happen.

  • Just when it seemed the J.R.R. Tolkien film adaptation industry was moving to New Zealand for good, Warner Bros. almost pulled its latest project – a two-part adaptation of The Hobbit – out of the country.
  • After an actors’ union boycott threatened production, Warner Bros. management flew to New Zealand to discuss whether the movie could be made there or not. Thousands of Hobbit fans took to the streets to protest.
  • New Zealand’s government responded swiftly, promising Warner Bros. additional tax breaks on future movies, setting up a joint marketing deal, and changing the country’s labor laws to “clarify the differences between a contract worker and a movie production employee.”

Facts & Figures

  • The Hobbit film project is worth about $500 million to New Zealand.
  • Losing the film could have meant up to a $1.5 billion loss.
  • “The Hobbit,” by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first published in 1937.

Best Quote

“Making the two Hobbit movies here will not only safeguard work for thousands of New Zealanders, but it will also follow the success of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in once again promoting New Zealand on the world stage.” – John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand

Hotel Owners Not Sure About Online Review Sites

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Well, that’s not entirely true. Hoteliers with happy customers are reaping the benefits of increasingly visible recommendations. But not every hotel has happy customers…

  • The popular hotel review resource TripAdvisor.com is facing lawsuits from hotels claiming the site is bad for their businesses.
  • Anyone can post an anonymous review of a hotel on the site. TripAdvisor argues that this makes for the most honest reviews, but opponents say it creates a protected space for libel and defamation. Sites like TripAdvisor are usually exempt from these accusations because they just publish reviews – they don’t write or edit them.
  • TripAdvisor typically doesn’t remove old or inflammatory reviews, but it does allow hotel owners to post responses to negative reviews. In response to the popularity and influence of these review sites, consulting firms have sprung up promising to monitor and control online customer feedback.

Facts & Figures

  • There are 35 million hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.com.
  • TripAdvisor was sued in 2009 over a review that claimed the owner of a hotel restaurant was seen buying drinks for a prostitute.
  • Revinate, a San Francisco image protection firm, charges hotels hundreds of dollars a month to track online reviews.

Best Quote

“We have pretty happy customers, so something like TripAdvisor works in our favor.” – Niki Leondakis, President and CEO of Klimpton Hotels

The Haunted House Gets A Spooky Modern Makeover

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Looking for a thrill this Halloween? There’s a haunted house for everyone, including evangelical Christians. But a new style in New York City is catering to adults… with strong stomachs.

  • Today’s haunted houses are more complicated and sometimes much more shocking than productions of the past. The NYC Halloween Haunted House is only open to audiences 18 and older.
  • It’s more expensive to put on a large production in NYC, but the city has the advantage of a huge community of theater pros. They bring modern and impressive acting, costumes, makeup, and set design to the old haunted house.
  • Many of the new shows use creepy, psychologically troubling plot lines to set up the scares. But in the end, it’s usually all about the man jumping out from behind the curtain. Boo!

Facts & Figures

  • In “NYC Halloween Haunted House,” an actress playing a mental patient removes one of each participants’ shoes.
  • In “Nightmare: Superstitions,” in NYC’s NoHo neighborhood, participants somehow travel through huge rooms and tiny tunnels in the course of their visit.
  • Haunted houses around the country generate hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Starbucks Fishes For Customers With Free Stuff

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Would you like a free e-book with that grande caramel macchiato?

  • In an effort to boost profits, Starbucks is trying a new promotion with partner Yahoo! to bring free e-books, movies, online news subscriptions, and mp3s to customers using its free wifi.
  • The online freebies will only be accessible through Starbucks wifi networks, meaning customers will have to return to a shop to pick up where they left off with their books and movies. Alternately, they can purchase the product from the provider, which gives Starbucks a portion of the profit.
  • To make the program happen, the company has partnered with The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Apple, Patch, Zagat, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, and SnagFilms.

Facts & Figures

  • Starbucks made its wifi free to everybody this July.
  • Users logged in to Starbucks wifi over 30 million times in September.

Best Quote

“Users across the Internet are moving more into this ‘snackable behavior’ to begin with.” – Burke Culligan, Vice President of Product Management at Yahoo!

We’re a country of spenders, aren’t we?

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

SpendGrowGive helps you understand where your money goes. But do you ever wonder what the rest of America is spending on? As usual, there’s a handy infographic explaining it all! Click to see the full-size version in a new window.

where-does-the-money-go.png

(via creditloan.com)

Holiday Airfares Rebounding From 2009

Monday, October 18th, 2010

The airline industry hasn’t had it easy in many, many years. But now that things are starting to look up in the economy, airlines are happily finding themselves with more paying customers paying more for their tickets.

  • The airline industry is finally recovering from the blows dealt by 9/11 and the global economic crisis… which means higher ticket prices for everyone.
  • This holiday season – the biggest travel season of the year – customers can expect to see fare increases of 7% to 18% over last year’s prices.
  • Because many travelers have been avoiding flying to save money, recent optimism about the economy is catapulting them back into airports. At the same time, airlines haven’t increased the number of routes or planes in their fleets.

Facts & Figures

  • The airline industry lost $58 billion between 2001 and 2009.
  • For the first time in 10 years, 86.3% of all available seats were filled on major airlines in June.
  • An estimated 41 million Americans will fly this November and December.

Best Quote

“It’s all about supply and demand. When people want to travel, it’s going to be more expensive.” – Tim Smith, Spokesman for American Airlines

Cabbage Shortage Causes Big Kimchi Problem in Korea

Friday, October 15th, 2010

In an interesting spin on food consumerism, Koreans are universally appalled at having to eat commercially-made kimchi instead of the homemade variety.

  • There’s a shortage of Napa cabbage in South Korea, and it’s threatening the national dish. Kimchi is a spicy fermented cabbage concoction used as a condiment, a main dish, and an alternative to salad. It’s eaten at pretty much every meal, every day.
  • The shortage is probably related to heavy rains this year, which reduced the cabbage harvest. To compound the problem, farmers may have planted fewer crops this year in response 2009′s overproduction (which resulted in lower profit).
  • Traditionally, kimchi is made by women at home. Whole heads of cabbage are salted and spiced, then buried in earthenware jars until they have pickled. When they’re opened – voila! – kimchi.

Facts & Figures

  • In 2009, the price of a head of Napa cabbage was about $1.40. Now it’s about $14.
  • Homemade kimchi can cost twice as much as pre-made.
  • A typical batch of kimchi includes cabbage, radishes, red chili peppers, salt, and garlic.

Best Quote

“The prices will go down. Sometimes they’re high, sometimes they’re low. Easy come, easy go. That’s life.” – Lee Young-ae, Food Vendor at Mo Rae Ne Market

In Exhibition Soccer Matches, Everyone Wins

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Practice in new climates isn’t the only reason teams are playing in distant locales.

  • More and more, national soccer teams are playing exhibition games (called “friendlies”) in unusual places, often far from home.
  • The practice is basically a money-maker for everyone: the agents that manage a team’s exhibition games try to maximize profit for the teams, the game broadcasters, and sponsors. They manage to make a pretty neat profit for themselves, too.
  • Teams are sent to play friendly matches wherever they’ll get the biggest audience – live or on television. Brazil recently played a friendly in Derby, England that was viewed live by only 13,088 fans but broadcast to 120 different countries.

Facts & Figures

  • In October, Argentina traveled to a friendly match in Japan, Chile traveled to Oman, and Brazil played Iran in Abu Dhabi.
  • Since June 2007, only one of Brazil’s 18 exhibition games has been played in Brazil.
  • As a result of their deal with sports rights agency Kentaro, the Brazilian soccer federation receives approximately $3 million.

Best Quote

“This is the new landscape of international football. Friendly games used to be a chance to try out new players or different formations. Nowadays they’re about making money, which means going wherever you’ll get the biggest audience.” – Tony Cottee, Football Analyst and Former Player for the England National Team

Microsoft Fights For Space On The Smartphone Stage

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Microsoft basically threw its old smartphone operating system out and tried again. Worth it? We’ll see…

  • Microsoft has just unveiled seven new smartphones it will be launching in partnership with several cell phone companies (AT&T, T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom AG) over the next few months. So far, the new technology isn’t compatible with Verizon or Sprint Nextel networks.
  • The handsets are produced by different manufacturers, but they all run on the new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. The system has been totally redesigned in an attempt to compete with the more popular iPhone and Android.
  • Windows Phone 7′s interface is inspired in part by the company’s Zune mp3 player, and will feature an optional paid service (U-Verse) that allows users to watch cable shows on the device.

Facts & Figures

  • The seven new devices go on sale beginning November 8th
  • Three of the AT&T-branded phones are priced at about $200 with a 2-year contract
  • In the 2nd quarter of 2010, Microsoft’s piece of the smartphone OS market pie dropped to 5.5%

Best Quote

“The phones are always delightful, and wonderfully mine. This is a different kind of phone.” – Steve Balmer, Microsoft Chief Executive

Air Travelers Pump Up The Crankiness

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

See? Someone is listening.

  • The Department of Transportation received 8,797 complaints about airlines from consumers this year. That’s 32% more than last year.
  • This sharp increase in complaints is strange, since airline performance doesn’t seem to have decreased since last year. Planes are taking off more or less on time and keeping customers in their seats. This year’s complaint levels are at about the same level as in 2008. Airline service improved in 2009, resulting in fewer complaints.
  • The DOT explains that this year’s spike may be a side effect of an easier online complaint tool. Airlines blame bad weather. Customers blame the airlines. They say that when problems do arise, customer service is bad at best and hostile at worst.

Facts & Figures

  • Delta was the target of the most DOT complaints this year.
  • Complaints about airlines’ failure to provide alternate transportation have increased 82% this year.
  • “Misinformation” complaints have jumped 70%.

Best Quote

“This was so egregiously outrageous.” – Patti Sachs, burned United Airlines customer

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