Marc Sirkin's Mindnumbing Thoughts

I love this... I made my own McDonald's banner

My 6 year old told my wife last week that she had to bring in money to school so she couold pay another kid for a Pony. Apparently, some little brat was trying to "scheist" my daughter and her friend out of some loot. After my wife told me about this I cautiously had a conversation with my little girl - who immediately clammed up and didn't say much at all. She sort of acknowledged that she knew better and that there was little or no chance that another 1st grader had access to a Pony. Besides, where would we keep a Pony! I was pretty satisfied that she wasn't going to go in and give up her money to some punk-ass kid. A few minutes later, just before we left for school, I found out that my daughter had an envelope with the kid's name on it - my wife and I looked at each other with huge eyes and I "felt" the envelope, thinking rapidly to myself that I needed to somehow TRUST that she was doing the smart thing and not lying to us about giving this ki...

Spent the day in NYC yesterday with the family and experienced FIRST HAND what "the brand is the experience" means. First stop was American Girl - the store. These people have perfected experiential marketing and taken it to an entirely new level. You can not only buy a doll that "is" just like your kid, you can get clothes to match so your kid is wearing exactly what the doll is wearing. Sick, but apparently effective. Next up is the salon - no, not a salon like at Harrod's where your kid's hair gets styled, but a salon where your kid's doll's hair gets styled... yep, you read that correctly! They had 7 or 8 stylists lined up making those dolls beautiful. From there, we headed upstairs where they have a "cafe" where you can dine like an aristocrat. Complete with a high-chair for your doll, I couldn't actually believe what I was seeing. You can also buy dolls that are culturally appropriate and era-focused (Early American, ...