Friday, February 21, 2014

True Stories in the News –no, really!

In January, Wal-Mart in China recalled its "Five Spice" donkey meat sold in some locations because the popular snack was found to be tainted -- with fox meat. 

The French social security agency URSSAF initiated an enforcement action in December against the Mamm-Kounifl music bar in the town of Locmiquelic for underpaying employee contributions -- in that the tavern encourages customers to bus their own tables and thus reduces its need to hire more servers. The owner denied he was trying to save money. "It's (just) our trademark. We want the customer to feel comfortable, a bit like he's at home." 

The makers of a product called Poo-Pourri garnered a "coveted" advertising award from USA Today in December as one of the five worst ads of the year. Toilet users concerned about smell are encouraged to spray Poo-Pourri on the commode, pre-use, and in the television ad, a British-accented female sits on the throne, extolling the product. Opening line: "You would not believe the mother lode I just dropped." (Nonetheless, USA Today still found two other ads that upset its editors more.) 

Nelson Thabo Modupe threatened a lawsuit in January against South Africa's Eskom electric utility unless the company paid him the equivalent of about $22.3 million for "saving" the firm that amount during the weeks of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Modupe reasoned that he had joined the Zion Christian Church just before the event and had prayed ("successfully") to God to spare the utility from blackouts and power reductions during that period (which would have cost Eskom millions more). Modupe, open to negotiation, said he would accept a partnership in the company as a compromise. 




Today’s Reflection: 
I love the sound you make when you shut up...


Live Long and Prosper…

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