Long-overdue clarification from the Associated Press:
do’s and don’ts
firsthand (adj. and adv.)
problem-solving
stand-alone (adj.)
Other notable new entries:
bedbug
unfriend
drive-thru
website (previously Web site)
November 2010
Patagonia is incredibly good at making outdoorsy types feel okay about indulging in luxury. They speak to people who want to think of themselves as hard core—even when they’re buying a $149 cardigan. Check out this product description from Patagonia.com:
The hero of the duffel—pair it with a T-shirt for town, a button-down for the job interview and a shell when you bolt to the mountains. Naturally soft and beautiful, this cardigan is made of finely knit premium merino wool with rib-knit panels down the sides and under the sleeves to enhance mobility. Merino naturally resists odor, moves moisture away from the skin, regulates body temperature, and stretches as you move. With a reverse-coil front zipper and hand pockets. Recyclable through the Common Threads Recycling Program.
Patagonia flatters its customers very well. In this case, the typical buyer will wear the sweater to a sedentary white-collar job, but the product description evokes action (“knit panels down the sides and under the sleeves to enhance mobility”), duffel-bag adventure (“for when you bolt to the mountains”) and social responsibility (it’s recyclable!). In a nod to their self-styled ‘dirtbag’ identity, they mention the sweater’s ability to resist odor and wick moisture—because this cardigan will join you on road trips to the Canadian Rockies.
I’d put Patagonia up there with Nike and Apple in terms of its success in creating and assiduously maintaining a brand identity that evokes a not just a lifestyle, but an entire ethos.
Whoa. These are bold. Check out the FDA’s proposed cigarette product warning labels.
Designed to cover half of a pack’s surface area, the labels are intended to spur smokers to quit by providing graphic reminders of tobacco’s dangers [e.g., guy taking a drag via throat hole]. The labels are required under a law passed last year that gave the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products for the first time.
The Awl’s Alex Balk (a smoker) offers this:
I’ll tell you what: As a smoker, I have no objection to this. I know I’m going to die. (So are you, non-smokers!) I don’t have any illusions that when I’m drawing that sweet nicotine into my lungs I’m actually doing something healthy for myself. So this is fine. I’m happy to see a little extra graphic design on my pack of cigarettes. It’s pretty bland right now, it’ll be nice for them to shake things up a bit.
Matt from 37signals admires Conan O’Brien’s handling of last year’s late-night-show drama, in which he turned what could’ve been a major career setback (getting bumped by Leno) into a career-solidifying opportunity.
When you think of great writing lessons, you usually don’t think of late-night TV hosts. But Conan O’Brien’s “People of Earth” letter was a pitch-perfect response to a crisis situation. It became big news and set the tone for everything that happened afterwards in the NBC/Conan/Leno debacle. And it offers lessons for anyone who needs to put a public face on a shitty situation.
On Writing: How Conan wrote his pitch-perfect “People of Earth” letter – 37signals.