Spent 5 hours at the free event today; I felt pretty happy about getting a Spotted Pig burger instead of waiting 4 hours for a table, but the 200 people in line for Luke's Lobster was incomprehensible. What really bothered me, though, was the atrocious AT&T and Verizon service.
Burritos, and Guacamole, and Bikram- O MY!
Foursquare has a new video on their logged out Homepage which I have embedded below (HT AboutFoursquare). The video promises that you can find great burrito places to enjoy with friends, and "Don't forget to work off that burrito by doing an hour of bikram yoga next door."
Challenge: think of something more gross than eating a big guac-filled burrito and then doing bikram yoga. I did a little research on the subject and even Hot Yoga of Delaware specifically recommends against:
we recommend that you do not eat a big burrito right before class. In fact, you’ll probably be better off with no large meals for 2-3 hours prior to practice.
Here's the video:
Are there, perhaps, other recommendations that would be better? How about a great boot camp class in the park and a post-workout smoothie?
Hi! I want to learn more about foursquare! from foursquare on Vimeo.
Marketing healthy foods is not like marketing regular food
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Oct05/book.wansink.ssl.html
Kind of dated, at this point but still an interesting idea that “Unfortunately, many people will not eat any better even if we can get them to pass a nutrition quiz." In this particular case, inasmuch as I personally can make a good food choice, i might not always be in control of the meal's preparation. Cornell researchers are studying this and other issues at the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab
This is probably why I like eating at The Pump so much. I know that when I order grilled chicken, brown rice and black bean chili, that is exactly what I will get. I know that I'll always get wheat instead of bleached flour products, and no butter or other unhealthy stuff.
Other restaurants don't promise as much, so when you order their chicken sandwich, what kind sof marinades, condiments, sides and additives will you get? I thought the idea of payting such close attention to the foods I eat was kind of creepy until I tried it. Now, it's how I live my life.
I think in a lot of businesses there is a
legitimate question about who should receive the marketing message- sometimes
it’s not the consumer.
Interesting FT Comment
There was a great case study about Starbucks and their corporate real estate planning in the NYT over the weekend. Today I read something interesting about "the genius of Starbucks" in the context of teh supposed "benefits" of green tea:
"Thus weak studies pointing to weight loss – and the fact that the Japanese seem thin – allow green tea to be sold as a psychic cancellation stamp on foods we love and know to be bad for us. The large version of Starbucks’ Green Tea Frappuccino has 560 calories not counting whipped cream. (The unappreciated business genius of Starbucks is not charging $4 for a latte, but rather giving adults the permission to drink milkshakes, on the pretext that they are merely tea or coffee.) This is exceeded by the 640 calories in the “power” version of Matcha Green Tea Blast at Jamba Juice, a franchise chasing Howard Schultz’s caffeinated footsteps."-Green tea, the elixir of false virtue [Jacob Weisberg, FT.com, April 4 2007 ]