As a former English major, professional writer, and fan of books, I was happy to read in The New York Times that "small booksellers not only survived the pandemic, but many are thriving." More than 300 new independent bookstores have sprouted across the United States in the past couple of years. Given how bookstore sales fell nearly 30 percent in 2020, things could have turned out differently. “It’s kind of …
The Best Gifts Don’t Come from Amazon, They Come from the Heart
Amazon.com is the information economy’s superstore. One can buy just about anything one desires from Bezos and company. If you’d like, Amazon's Prime will even rush it to your doorstep. Such is the state of retail today. The mass appeal of fast-moving goods (that are just a click and a local warehouse away) is a winner for the consumer goods-based economy, and for Amazon and its investors. Sadly, the obliteration of …
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Walgreens Is Doing Its Part—And Then Some—To Save Lives
Did you know that approximately 78 percent of the U.S. population lives within five miles of a Walgreens? The company operates approximately 9,021 drugstores with a presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Walgreens interacts with approximately 8 million customers in its stores and online each day. This is a company with reach, and the brand is using its reach to …
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Speed Up, It’s Time for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway
Branded events and pro sports with a limited number of fans in attendance are back. This Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Darlington, South Carolina for The Goodyear 400. It's also NASCAR's Official Throwback Weekend and while this adds a festive nature to the race, the reality of COVID-19 (and the need for widespread vaccinations) continues to determine the need for responsible conduct. Fans will be asked …
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Start Your Comeback in Los Angeles
Los Angeles wants you back. According to this new ad campaign from the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, the city is now safe for shopping, dining, art viewing, and roller coaster riding. https://youtu.be/_rZDH5P0VCQ https://youtu.be/slb9kX--M9s https://youtu.be/TFQbxwQsoVE Are You Ready to Book? The line, "Start Your Comeback," does not move me. A comeback means you were once gone or …
Blue Shield of California Promotes Vaccines for All the Right Reasons
For millions of Americans, a COVID-19 vaccine is a lifeline and a prayer that we can gather in public again. For millions of Americans, a COVID-19 vaccine is a conspiracy or worse. I can't seem to wrap my head around how the denial of science and fact-based reality continues to mutate, spread, and cause real harm to the people of this nation and the world. Thankfully, healthcare providers like Blue Shield of …
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New Public Service Announcement Delivers A Big Shot of Optimism
Sports, concerts, and all live events are shared celebrations of American culture and We, the People, have been missing them dearly during this time at home. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. Vaccines are fast becoming widely available and highly effective remedies for those who are sick with COVID are also now available. To encourage people to seek out a vaccine, The Ad Council and COVID …
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From Cannes to Austin, The Festival Season Clicks Into an Unknown Future
Live events like concerts and trade shows do not translate well to online formats, a factor that has devastated many businesses in the sector since COVID-19 began to ravage and kill people last March. Cannes Is Not Exactly Roaring Like A Lion Cannes Lions' London-based parent company Ascential issued its full-year 2020 financials this week, noting that the Festival will likely be a hybrid digital-live format, with …
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The Year in ‘Pulp: Twenty Twenty
Disruption is an opening. It's also a closure. This was true for many people and many creative companies this year, as success stories ran parallel to the stories of business failure and industry-wide pessimism. Here on Adpulp.com, we put in much time and effort and saw positive results. We introduced the Emerging Voices series to help find, pay, and elevate new writers on the Marcom beat. We published four …
Farmdrop Is Celebrating England’s Hard-Working Farmers
This is a call to action: Enter Food Euphoria. The call comes from Farmdrop, an online grocer in England that delivers fresh organic produce and "everyday groceries" using electric delivery vehicles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Farmdrop sales have skyrocketed. Consequently, the company has been able to help keep smaller farms and producers up and running after demand collapsed from the restaurant trade during …
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The United States of Disarray
Winners and losers—America and its economy are full of them. Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, employing nearly half of the private sector workforce. But many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat. According to the World Economic Forum, geography makes a great deal of difference in the proportion of U.S. small businesses that have flipped their open sign. In the U.S. as a whole, data …
Remote Workers Are Holdin’ It Together, In Advertising and Elsewhere
When was the last time that you spent time with your closest colleagues in person? For many of us, the answer is last March. For me personally, I work most closely with two people in Omaha, a.k.a. "Joemaha." I have not seen either of them in person in three or four years, which is a stretch too long. At the same time, we've worked remotely as a team since the aughts, so we got this. Due to the disruption …
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