I rather wear fur than go naked.. but I can settle with faux fur too

PETA has its own special way of getting people's my attention. One of their campaigns that gets the most attention is the " I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign. Why? Well because they are smart enough to enlists attractive very very attractive celebrities to pose nude for billboard posters. These ads are impossible to miss- it does not matter if you are a man or a woman, your eyes will glue themselves for 10 seconds to the picture and without even reading the text you will know it is PETA's dirty work. They are basing their campaign on the "sex sells" idea in order to draw attention to PETA's values I think many brands follow that idea PETA and as a result it has indeed created a lot of buzz for the organization. If you think about it, all the organization is doing is appealing to our basic animal instinct touché PETA. Still, I do often ask myself as I stand next to a drooling man eying the poster; is this type of person who enjoys ogling naked women going to care about the sufferings of a Bugs Bunny? Further, a lot of people go on the organization website to view these naked photoshoped bodies and, strategically, PETA places several disturbing animal cruelty videos along the way is the message "lust comes and goes, but disgust is forever"?

On their website, www.peta.org, you can view all the celebrity that have endorsed the collection of SKIN campaigns that PETA currently has. There is the "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign, the Ink Not Mink campaign, Bare skin not Bearskin, the Save the Seal campaign save the octopus, save the bum with the guitar walking on Boylston St the list is endless. The idea to have so many famous celebrities endorsing their SKIN campaign has helped PETA become very successful and less crazy eye looking. Suddenly throwing paint on fashion designers is actually trendy.

My PETA moment no, I did not pose nude happened over Christmas break when I went to visit my family in St Petersburg I am not allowrd to complain about it being cold in Boston.
As soon as I stepped out from the airport the fur cadaver extravaganza began robbing in my face. Every single woman in Russia posses some sort of fur piece. It can be everything from a mink coat to a fox vest or a hat made out of her husband.
Personally, I am an animal lover you can say that in English without sounding gross, right? but I am also a fashion lover and Russian on top of that. Of course the dilemma grew as I tried on fabulous silver fox vests when I was in one of the fur stores on Nevskij Prospekt  there are 8 women for every man and 5 fur stores for every woman in Russia but I tried to resist myself from temptation. I felt like an alcoholic going to a wine tasting session that never actually got to purchase a bottle.  The extreme physical or mental suffering!
Nevertheless, I held my promise to the animal kingdom and returned to Boston empty handed.

Then, later, I decided to visit Filene's basement for some bargain hunting that's after I typed, printed and signed a contract with myself stating I am no longer allowed to spend money on clothes and as I was roaming the halls of amazing brands mixed with mockery pieces, I came face to face with what I believed was the enemy of all Russian women- FF not the Ferrari station wagon Faux Fur.
I began to wonder if maybe, just maybe I should try on the horrendous thing hanging on the hanger staring me up and down.
I swallowed my Russian pride and decided to try on the gray ball of fur.
Well let's just say I ended up purchasing two pieces of faux fur and honestly.. I love them both.
They are soft, stylish and best of all -my conscious feels good I do not need to go to church on Sunday
The importance is to find a brand that specializes in faux fur. Good quality faux fur might be pricier but it will definitely look and feel great!

Remember: If I as a Russian am willing to wear faux fur- so should you!

Ferrari's super fast...station wagon and its brilliant ad

Car: Ferrari FF
Price: not been announced (estimate around $320,000)
Facts you ought to know and google if you have no clue what they mean- I know I do it all the time: front-mounted 651 hp 6.3-liter V12, features Ferrari’s first all-wheel-drive system which is said is a unique design that weighs 50 percent less than conventional systems, the cargo compartment holds 15.9 cubic feet of miscellaneous things kids hockey sticks, dad's golf gear, mum's shopping bags, grandpa's wheelchair, neighbor's IKEA assemble-yourself desk..

As you may of heard Ferrari just recently unveiled their new take on the growing number of exotic "four-door coupes" on the market today- by launching the Ferrari FF.
Basically, the car that will scream "I am a successful man with a Ferrari.. but not successful enough to get a weekend sports car and, therefore, need to share this one with my wife and three kids".
Ferrari claims that this station wagon has a top speed of 208 miles per hour and that it is able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds.
Do not get me wrong, getting to the nearest Home Depot in 10 minutes is extremely impressive but I suggest to leave that job for the Porsche Panamera.

Also, when looking at the company's video regarding the FF, they heavily advertise that this machine can live through extremely snowy and icy conditions. So if you are planning on taking the family for a quick visit to Sears in Alaska- well then this car is for you! Nevertheless, I will admit that the Ferrari's marketing team has done a great job creating the ad for this car. They use classical music to create a feel of nostalgia while at the same time showing all the rough terrains this car can fly through smoothly. With this solely two minute long ad, the marketing team has set an extremely high bar for this machine.  In the ad, it was an excellent marketing idea for Ferrari to take their new car to different corners of the Earth in order to not only show the cars capacity but also to connect with a wider target market which is in the end the whole idea behind launching this new car. 

However, I am still trying to comprehend this trend of abandoning the true essence of the sports car image (just you and the car connecting with every gear change) and turning it into a, dare I say it- family affair.

As a good friend of mine said- at this time Enzo Ferrari is probably rolling in his grave can you hear him rolling? cause I sure can.

Mercedes Benz - checkmate in marketing

It does not matter if it is an A class, a C class or a D class or a Q class, a H class or a Z class, Mercedes-Benz marketing team always ends up on top with their brand campaigns.

Mercedes-Benz marketing strategy has always been brilliant in Europe. However, in the United States it has reevaluated its branding technique. What was once centered on the safety, luxury and precision engineering of the car has now changed to a more life style oriented strategy.

Finally, Mercedes is now focusing on presenting the more fun loving, approachable and energetic side of their brand I think there comes a time when we all get tired of the image the mob wannabes gave the brand with their black tinted ‘92 D class.

Mercedes needed to reevaluate their strategy with the increase competition in the luxury car industry with companies such as BMW and Audi as well as the changing consumer attitudes older men wanting to feel cool without the need to drive a mustang towards the brand. This changing marketing evolution, I believe, is due to the expansion of the brands target market. No longer does it only include baby boomers and the man with the gold aviators, dark mustache and sleek back hair but now it includes individuals twenty five to thirty five years old. Mercedes provides its customers with competitive prices, superb customer service, excellent machines and above all brilliant marketing campaigns.

Below I am posting some Mercedes ads that have recently come out. Watch these on a large TV screen Samsung 64’’ class/ 1080p/ 600Hz/ 3D Plasma HDTV and the surround sound system on in order to receive the full Mercedes-Benz advertisement experience.  

This is one of my absolute favorite ads- can you feel the thrill?... anyone?

                                                                                                                                                        

Mercedes is know for its witty and humorous (and sometimes risky) ads

An example of focusing on the new target market 

This Super Bowl ad generated a lot of positive buzz

Innovation can be fun but not always practical

I often find myself searching the web for new creative and innovative products. While often I discover some absolutely absurd and questionable products such as this two-headed beast umbrella,

other times I find interesting innovations that I see as useful everyday commodities.

 Some of us a.k.a moi do not have the luxury of waking up to the morning sun rays caressing our face or to the sound of the tropical breeze playing with palm tree leaves, no, instead we a.k.a moi again jump up to the sound of an alarm in my case church bells courtesy of the iPhone. So could this morning burst of artificial sun light be the answer of to our prayers?

I personally find this storage idea brilliant. Very often we have to always see shoes laying around the hallway and some of those shoes are better of not be seen you know what I mean. Thus, this is a great alternative to not only avoid those hideous shoe racks but also avoid seeing mum's embarrassing 1950s tap dancing shoes.

 Well...hmm... Oh come on! you all know you want one.