Gendered Condiments, The Latest Eating Disorder, A Change of Pace, Etc. takes

Let's hope "None of the above" is up to the job. In each of two recent polls conducted on the Parent Soup Web site, people were given a short list of celebs and asked to pick the "best role model" for kids. Among the female celebrities proposed as role models for girls, Britney Spears edged out Oprah Winfrey (27.9 percent versus 25 percent), while Hillary Clinton (7.9 percent), Cindy Crawford (5 percent) and Madonna (1.5 percent) didn't make it into double figures. A plurality (32.7 percent) went to "None of the above." In the race for a male-celeb role model for boys, "None of the above" polled an outright majority (57.3 percent). George W. Bush ran second (18.6 percent), just ahead of Tom Cruise (17.2 percent). Bill Clinton avoided the ignominy of a last-place finish by edging past Brad Pitt (3.8 percent versus 3.1 percent). For those of you who ponder the gender of mustards, an ad for the Two Fat Guys brand offers the definitive statement on grey poupon. If you're in the market for unquestionably masculine condiments, Two Fat Guys is your boy. Another ad in the series (via DiMeo & Co. of Chicago) advises that Two Fat Guys is "Not to be confused with the popular hip-hop mustard 'Two Phat Guys.' " Honors this week for Best Use of the Word "Farthing" in a Music Ad go to Six Degrees Records. The company makes the point that its offerings are not just multicultural but multitemporal, combining ancient and modern musical influences in one handy-dandy package. Cornyn + Partners of San Francisco created the campaign.Just when you thought it was safe to go into the kitchen, a new eating disorder emerges. As an article in USA Weekend explains, people afflicted by "orthorexia" are so obsessed with eating healthy foods (and nothing but) that they imperil their physical and emotional health. The author of a new book called Health Food Junkies is cited as saying orthorexics "give up their ability to live normally." They avoid situations in which the "wrong foods" might be pressed on them. And their diets become so rigid that they miss basic nutrients. Among the signs of orthorexia: you "spend more than three hours a day thinking about healthy foods or your diet" and you "care more about the virtue of what you eat than the pleasure you receive from eating it." Would Americans take kindly to metric measures if kilograms replaced the familiar pounds on their grocery-store shelves? Not if they share British attitudes on the matter. An item in The Washington Post says people in the U.K. are rallying to defend the "Metric Martyr," a greengrocer hauled into court on criminal charges for selling vegetables and fruits by the ounce and pound. His action violated European Union rules that foodstuffs be sold only by metric measures. Why will viewers enjoy seeing a woman drive a Zamboni over her parka-clad son as the latter lies beneath a layer of ice? Aficionados of Columbia Sportswear's campaign will realize that company chairman Mother Gert Boyle is again using her son to test the durability of Columbia's clothing. But it's the stately pace of the ice-surfacing machine that makes the spot especially fun. Amid all the quick-cutvisuals to which viewers are subjected, it's a treat to watch something happen slowly. Instead of pumping up the volume (as so many do), more advertisers might try to cut through the clutter by such a change of pace. Borders, Perrin & Norrander of Portland, Ore., created the campaign.Some economists fear consumer spending might falter amid talk of a recession. But a poll by Maxim magazine indicates that affluent young men are more akin to Alfred E. Neuman than to Alan Greenspan at this point in the economic cycle. Adopting the former's "What, me worry?" temperament, 87 percent said they're not worried about a recession. Even if there is a downturn,62 percent don't expect it to affect their own jobs. A blithe 41 percent think the economy "will work itself out." So, why all this fuss lately about a possible recession? In the view of 14 percent of those polled, it's just a case of "media hype."

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Gendered Condiments, The Latest Eating Disorder, A Change of Pace, Etc. takes

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