But you get our point. Landlines are rapidly going the way of buggy whips and, well, TV sets — at least in consumer’s minds.

TV sets? you say. Yes, TV sets. This from the Pew Center for Media Research:

Landlines And Television Sets Losing Importance

According to a new nationwide survey from the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project, reported by Paul Taylor and Wendy Wang with Lee Rainie and Aaron Smith, only 42% of Americans say they consider the television set to be a necessity. Last year, this figure was 52%, and in 2006, it was 64%.

After occupying center stage in the American household for much of the 20th century, says the report, two of the grand old luminaries of consumer technology, the television set and the landline telephone, are suffering from a sharp decline in public perception that they are necessities of life.

The drop-off has been less severe for the landline telephone. 62% of Americans say it’s a necessity of life, down from 68% last year, but 47% of the public now say that the cell phone is a necessity of life…

Note, first, that Pew, or at least the respondents, are using “need” and “necessity” in ways that would have puzzled our hardy pioneer ancestors. Note also that while fewer people see TVs as a necessity, they’re still buying them like crazy:

Even as fewer Americans say they consider the TV set to be a necessity of life, more Americans than ever are stocking up on them. In 2009, the average American home had more television sets than people, 2.86, according to a Nielsen report. In 2000, this figure was 2.43; in 1990, it was 2.0; and in 1975, it was 1.57.

The disconnect between attitudes and behaviors, opines the report, may be that the TV set hasn’t had to deal with competition from new technology that can fully replace all of its functions. If a person wants real-time access to the wide spectrum of entertainment, sports and news programming available on television, there’s still nothing (at least not yet) that can compete with the television set itself…

So don’t write the obit yet. But as for landlines — exactly why DO we still have one? So we won’t miss the telemarketing calls?

I am noticing a very distinct change in creative these days. The complication, hyperbole and “fanciness” of the last few years have been replaced by clean, truthful, straightforward advertising….

You need to rethink the creative process in your agency. My guess is that agencies of the future will not be successful because they buy media better, or can hammer a vendor into submission, or even because they know how to affiliate themselves with their clients in a more strategic way—although these agency skill sets will never go away. Instead, agencies in the future will be most successful when they lead through ideation, creative execution, clear copy points, and most of all, truth and honesty.

As Paul McCartney sang in “Penny Lane,” “It’s a clean machine.” Very clean.

Friday, August 27 is Dollar Donation Day!

Sounds simple, but it is so rewarding. We are asking supporters and fans to donate $1 or more in our one-day dollar donation drive. The best part is that everyone can participate from your desk, home or wherever! We have over 4,000 members of our email community—imagine if each person gave $1.00 on Friday. What about $5? Or $10?

We’ll be tracking donations all day on our facebook page and posting pics of the sweet animals you’ve helped, so be sure to check in there often.

Where will all of the money go?  Once we rescue dogs and cats from the county municipal shelters they still need a lot of care before adoption.  All of our pets receive their annual vaccines, spay/neuter surgeries, a microchip, and heartworm and flea preventive before they hit the adoption events.  However, sometimes the needs are greater. Some need heartworm treatments (up to $500), some need dental procedures (at least $200) and others need to be nursed back to health.  We do not give up on any of our animals and we do everything it takes to make them healthy and happy once rescued. Help us help them this by donating $1 or more today.

Donate now

Just look what we can do with $1:

- If 20 people give $1 each, that will pay for kennel cough treatment for one dog

- If 100 people give $1 each, that will provide 3 cats with special-need diet food

- If 500 people give $1 each, that will pay to treat one dog with heartworms (we currently have 6 dogs needing treatment)

- If 1,000 people give $1 each, that will let us save 10 additional lives

Click here to donate now or follow our facebook updates.

Help us spread the word by forwarding this message to your friends.

Maybe we’re no Austin Meyer, but even we can afford to kick in a buck for the cause.

Last week, we had a great event at the Ndoki Lodge at the Riverbanks Zoo to talk about “Famously Hot” with some Midlands mayors and other local dignitaries.

Lanier addressed the group, and everyone listened politely before going back to the free food and drinks.

Oh, and excuse the quality of the photo. It was taken with a Blackberry. If it had been taken with Lora’s iPhone, it would have been way better…

The above was seen at Wet Willie’s this past week.

In case you don’t have on your bifocals, it says:

PUT YOUR

FAMOUSLY HOT BUTT

RIGHT HERE

South Carolina Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross

Ranked #1 in the Nation

Columbia, S.C.— The South Carolina Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross has been named the top performing region in the national Red Cross system. The South Carolina Region is one of 36 Red Cross Blood Services regions in the United States.

American Red Cross Blood Services regions across the country provide blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals, making the Red Cross the largest single blood provider in the United States. The South Carolina Blood Services Region serves 54 hospitals in South Carolina and parts of Georgia.

The South Carolina Region was rated for high performance in areas including growth of red blood cell donations and distribution to hospitals, quality control, cost effectiveness and hospital satisfaction.

“We’re proud to be named the Red Cross Region of the Year,” said Delisa English, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Blood Services Region. “This accomplishment is only made possible by the tremendous support of our staff, volunteers, blood donors and blood drive sponsors who work hard each day to ensure blood products are available for patients in the South Carolina Region and across the nation.”

Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. The American Red Cross South Carolina Blood Services Region must have 500 people give blood and platelets each weekday to meet hospital demand. Accident victims as well as patients with cancer, sickle cell disease, blood disorders and other illnesses receive lifesaving transfusions every day. There is no substitute for blood and volunteer donors are the only source.

How to Donate Blood

Simply call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. Blood can be safely donated every 56 days. Most healthy people age 17 and older, or 16 with parental consent, who weigh at least 110 pounds, are eligible to donate blood and platelets. Donors who are 18 and younger must also meet specific height and weight requirements.

About the American Red Cross

Governed by volunteers and supported by giving individuals and communities, the American Red Cross is the single largest supplier of blood products to hospitals throughout the United States. While local hospital needs are always met first, the Red Cross also helps ensure no patient goes without blood no matter where or when they need it. In addition to providing nearly half of the nation’s blood supply, the Red Cross provides relief to victims of disaster, trains millions in lifesaving skills, serves as a communication link between U.S. military members and their families, and assists victims of international disasters or conflicts.

# # #

First we have the national champion baseball team; now this.

Our director of communications/PR wants to claim a measure of credit for this latest honor. He claims that the blood he, personally, has given “has contributed mightily, if only in terms of sheer quality of the blood collected here…”

That, ahem, remains to be seen. We prefer to give the credit where it’s due — to those fine folks over at 2751 Bull Street.

Lanier shared this photo with us, with the above headline. To which we will add no words…

This post is about one thing — the fact that that headline struck me as funny. I got it from the above video, done by an Air Force pilot (a guy who you would expect would be used to noise) who is really fed up with noisy chip bags:

Frito-Lay makes a lot of noise marketing its Sun Chips snacks as “green.” They are cooked with steam from solar energy, the message goes.

But its latest effort—making the bags out of biodegradable plant material instead of plastic—is creating a different kind of racket. Chip eaters are griping about the loud crackling sounds the new bag makes. Some have compared it to a “revving motorcycle” and “glass breaking.”

It is louder than “the cockpit of my jet,” said J. Scot Heathman, an Air Force pilot, in a video probing the issue that he posted on his blog under the headline “Potato Chip Technology That Destroys Your Hearing.” Mr. Heathman tested the loudness using a RadioShack sound meter. He squeezed the bag and recorded a 95 decibel level. A bag of Tostitos Scoops chips (another Frito-Lay brand, in bags made from plastic) measured 77….

I haven’t checked them out, but those must be some noisy chip bags. And as a guy who is hypersensitive to that kind of noise — it can drive me up the wall — I don’t think I ever DO want to check them out. Part of what amuses me about this story is the notion that there are people out there — such as the guy who made that video — who get more worked up about such noise than I do.

– Brad Warthen

We’ve really gotta hand it to the ad wizards who managed to sell Camel on THIS campaign. Mind you, it’s the sales side that’s impressing us here, not the creative.

You only come away from this item wondering two things:

1. Does “Snus” rhyme with “news” or with “fuss?” And whichever it is, what the heck does it mean? Where’d it come from (we get the “snu-” part, just not the “s”)? Does it describe or suggest something camels do?
2. Come on, can’t you GUARANTEE that we’ll suffer gum disease and tooth loss? That “can” seems a bit weak.

I mean, really — if the warning’s gotta be that bold and so much more readable than anything else on the document, why go to the trouble of crafting this item? Are you TRYING to lose market share? Or is it that you assume that anyone who uses your product is so amazingly stupid that they can be relied upon to ignore the warning, and be dazzled by the garish colors? Or, is it that you’re assuming that they know ALL such products will give them horrible diseases, but you think this will still inspire them to choose your product over the others? And if so, what precisely in this particular communication do you think is going to reel them in?

The coupon, perhaps. Yeah, that’s the ticket. It’s gotta be the coupon…

Project Pet has been around since 1999. It started with the activism of some well-connected local folks such as Deloris Mungo, Samuel Tenenbaum and a host of others. With the groundbreaking today for the organization’s new home on Bower Parkway (near Harbison), it’s about to take a giant leap into realizing the dream of the founders and others who have worked to advance the cause over the past decade. Here’s an excerpt from the Web site:

In 2008, more than 23,000 companion animals entered the municipal animal shelters in Richland and Lexington counties. More than 19,000 of these animals were euthanized.

What we are all about is reducing that number to zero. That’s the dream, and we’re going to make it a reality. Actually, perhaps “dream” is too insubstantial a word. We are approaching our goal systematically and pragmatically. We have developed, and are well on the way to implementing, a solid plan employing specific, identified solutions – solutions that have been proven to work. Wishful thinking is not our way.

How will we know we’ve succeeded? When no healthy, treatable, adoptable pet is euthanized in Lexington or Richland counties. A giant leap in that direction was the ground-breaking Aug. 12 on our new facility on Bower Parkway – the Meyer-Finlay Pet Adoption Center of Lexington and Richland Counties.

Of course, we’ve already accomplished a great deal. Since 1999, Project Pet – now Pawmetto Lifeline – has been the conscience of compassion for the Midlands community and a vital area resource for humane care for our abandoned and homeless animals. Our legacy is one of devotion to responsible and compassionate care for the homeless animals of our community, and of fostering the animal-human bond. The core purpose of Pawmetto Lifeline is to promote and practice the principle that every life is precious.

Since our founding, we have rescued over 6,000 animals that would have been put to death otherwise.

When our new home is ready, we’ll be able to do so much more.

We will be able to rescue an additional 2,200 cats and dogs annually from shelters – up from our current rate of 800 annually – which means 3,000 animals that otherwise would not have a chance will live full and healthy lives. More than that, we will be working to break the cycle that has in the past led to hopelessness for so many helpless creatures: With the addition of full-time vets and a medical clinic housed in our new building, we will be able to spay and neuter more than 30,000 animals annually.

In our new building, one staff veterinarian will be able to spay or neuter 7,560 animals each year. But we aren’t going to have just one vet – eventually, we will house four. That adds up to a potential 30,240 procedures per year!

An important thing to note: This operation is a public-private deal. Richland and Lexington counties have formed a partnership with Pawmetto Lifeline to address the over-population issue of companion pets in the two counties. The counties are depending on the organization to provide: