In Safeway this week I was engaged in one of my more depressing shopping tasks: Looking for an edible breakfast cereal.
It's difficult. To my taste, most cereals are so bland and overprocessed that I can't ever finish a whole box. But I need a day-starter of some kind, so there I was again, dully surveying the aisle where I have been burned so many times before, when my eye was drawn to a bizarre apparition: an all-black box adorned with the glowering face of NBA star Kevin Garnett, illuminated with police lineup lighting effects and positioned over the logo of one of America's oldest breakfast food brands: Wheaties.
A box of Wheaties Fuel was before me, standing out among the vast palette of beige, white and primary-colored boxes in the breakfast aisle like Snoop Dogg on the Martha Stewart show. I stood there an blinked for a few seconds trying to fathom the concept. This cereal is supposed to be wholesome, American, jock-y and very, very orange. And now: "Wheaties – Breakfast of Gangstas"? Whoa. My hand reached for the box like the root of a plant seeking water.
As I hefted the slimline cardboard packaging I said to myself: I have to have this cereal. Partly to eat it (maybe), and partly because every instinct in me told me that there was some relentless social marketing push for this re-branding, and I was burning to know about it.
I'm not a big fan of Facebook memes. The ones my friends send me are usually attempts to mine data employing gimmicky concepts that are built on transparently oversimplified algorithms. And applications from most businesses based solely on shopping don't really give me much value.
But one Facebook application I do like is Hallmark SocialCalendar. This app keeps tabs on important dates, including the birthdays of your FB buddies. For someone like me who is horrible at remembering birthdays, it's a great thing to have. Not only does it remember the birthdays, but gives you the opportunity to send e-cards - many of which are free - and buy virtual gifts.
