Mark Dolliver's Takes: Mixed Blessings

Bono who? Amid endless media coverage of celebrities, we sometimes forget that lots of people wouldn't recognize lots of celebs if they tripped over them. A survey by The Barna Group provides a useful reminder of that fact. The polling asked adults whether they have a positive or negative impression of leading figures in entertainment, politics, business and religion. But the most intriguing finding was that many people simply didn't know who these celebrities are. Bono, for example, was viewed favorably by 40 percent of respondents and unfavorably by 10 percent—but was an unknown to 50 percent. Among other household names that are unknown in a significant number of households: George Clooney (20 percent), Donald Trump (15 percent), Britney Spears (12 percent), Bill Gates (12 percent), Rosie O'Donnell (11 percent) and Mel Gibson (10 percent). And try to restrain your envy of the 22 percent of respondents who've somehow remained oblivious to Paris Hilton. The population continues to age—the population of motor vehicles, that is. A new "vehicle population report" from R.L. Polk & Co. says the median age of passenger cars in operation hit an all-time high last year, at 9.2 years, up from 9 years in 2005. For light trucks, the median age rose to 6.8 years, from 6.6 in 2005. Just 4.9 percent of passenger cars were scrapped last year, close to the all-time low. For light trucks, the scrappage rate was 5.2 percent. And here's a figure to reduce automakers to tears: 35.8 percent of the light-vehicle population is at least 11 years old. Polk notes that vehicle durability keeps improving—good news for people who like to hang onto their aging cars, but not for companies that need to sell new cars each year. When kids think of what they want to be when they grow up, "caregiver" isn't the word that pops into their minds. For many adults, though, that's the role that can dominate their lives for years. A CBS News poll gives an indication of the vast number of Americans who are involved, to one degree or another, in caring for their aging parents (see chart at lower left). It's a role that many adults look on with apprehension, whether they've had to adopt it yet or not. Forty-three percent are "very concerned" about having to care for their elderly parents, with another 21 percent "somewhat concerned." One sign of the strain that caregiving exerts on those who engage in it: Among those who now care for an aging parent or have done so in the past, 43 percent said it "caused disputes among family members." People worldwide are drinking themselves into not-as-early graves, or so they hope. An ACNielsen Global Services survey finds strong interest in many countries in "beverages that support healthy diets." Drinkable yogurt led the list of major categories in sales growth between mid-2005 and mid-2006, posting an 18 percent gain. Other dairy-based drinks (including fruit-flavored milk and kefir-based beverages) also fared well, with this category growing 10 percent worldwide. The U.S. was a laggard in embracing drinkable yogurts, with that sector growing by a lackluster 5 percent. But spoonable yogurt was the fastest-growing item in the dairy category in North America, posting a 7 percent sales increase. A separate report, by Mintel, points to an important competitor for drinkable yogurts: the smoothie. Mintel says U.S. sales of made-to-order and packaged smoothies topped $2 billion last year. The report also says that "more than half of consumers agreed or strongly agreed that 'smoothies taste better than yogurt drinks.' " Proposals to "soak the rich" through taxation used to be more an expression of populist ire than of serious public policy. No matter how thoroughly soaked, there simply weren't enough rich folks around to make them a major source of revenue. Maybe that's not true any longer, though. A report from Phoenix Marketing International's Affluent Marketing Service puts the number of U.S. "millionaire households" at 5.4 million, a rise of 56 percent since 2003. (Defined as households with "at least $1 million in liquid or 'investable' assets," their number doesn't even include those whose home equity must be counted to elevate them to the millionaire ranks.) There's also been a steep rise in the number of what Phoenix refers to as "penta-millionaire" households—those with at least $5 million in liquid assets. There are now 755,000 of them, up 47 percent since 2003.It's getting so you feel like a rube if you have a landline for telephone service. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics has a report on the variations in the degree to which different sorts of people have clambered onto the wireless bandwagon. As of the middle of last year, 44 percent of adults living with unrelated roommates were in wireless-only households. So were 23 percent of people who rent their home (vs. 5 percent of those who own), 23 percent of those age 18-24 and 13 percent of those age 25-44. It is billed as "the world's shortest double feature," and this seems to be a commendable instance of truth in advertising. A commercial for Rogers Auto Group in Chicago squeezes two deathless epics—a kung fu film titled Towels of Death and a spear-and-sandals saga titled Beard of the Gods—into the confines of a single 60-second spot. Odds are that neither film suffers much from the severe editing. A voiceover gives the premise: "We know your time is valuable. So please enjoy the world's shortest double feature. And when you're ready to buy a car, we'll be just as considerate with your time and money." The Ungar Group of Chicago created the spot. In less sophisticated times, "culinary travel" meant going to grandma's house and enjoying her apple pie. In our tonier era, millions of Americans make a point of seeking out exotic cuisines when they travel. A survey conducted for Gourmet magazine, the Travel Industry Association and the International Culinary Tourism Association determined that 17 percent of American leisure travelers have engaged in food- or wine-related travel in the past three years. Among these people, nearly half were classified as "deliberate" culinary travelers—those for whom the availability of culinary activities was a "key reason" for their choice of destination. The top U.S. places for food-related travel were California, Florida, New York, Texas and North Carolina. California was also the most popular destination for wine-related travel, but the top five included such unlikely venues as Missouri and North Carolina. When serious culinary travelers were asked how familiar they are with some foreign countries in which to pursue their avocation, Italy garnered the top score, followed closely by Mexico and France. Predictably, Britain was near the bottom of the standings, though ahead of Ireland and Australia.

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Mark Dolliver's Takes: Mixed Blessings

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Mark Dolliver