TresSugar

Do Tell: Are You Enjoying the Simpler Life?

DearSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Layoffs, pay cuts, and stock market losses, oh my! It's a scary time for all, and though we left many bad times in 2008, we've still got a long way to go before we recover from these trying times. And since we're all undoubtedly money-conscious these days, many of us are going back to the basics. Reclaiming the simple things in life has been surprisingly gratifying to me, but do tell, are you enjoying the elementals again?

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Front Page: Carrie Prejean Is Offered Millions For Sex Tapes

TresSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:50 -0800

Porn distributor Vivid Entertainment is offering Carrie Prejean millions of dollars to distribute her sex tapes. - Gawker
Speaking to students in Shanghai, President Obama said it's better for society when everyone can use Twitter freely. - CNN
The UK version of the marketing poster for Couples Retreat doesn't include the movie's black couple. - Huffington Post
Courteney Cox has signed on for Scream 4. - AP
2012 came in number one at the box office this weekend. - BuzzSugar

Front Page: Oprah Opens Up About Interview With Sarah Palin

TresSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:06 -0800

After wrapping up her interview with Sarah Palin, which will air next Monday, Oprah gave fans an idea of what to expect. - Twitter
At least 4,000 swine flu deaths have been reported in the US. - MSNBC
Balloon Boy's parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, are expected to plead guilty to criminal charges. - NPR
Recent sales suggest the art market is rebounding. - Blomberg
President Obama will not accept a plan for Afghanistan unless it involves details for a US exit. - ABC News
After Lou Dobbs revealed he was leaving CNN, the network announced John King will replace him. - Huffington Post

Uh Oh! Counterfeit Condom Factory Discovered in China

TresSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

Condoms might top the list of things that should never be counterfeited. Unfortunately, there may be as many as one million ineffective knock-off condoms on the market in China right now.

Four people were arrested this week at a factory allegedly producing and selling condoms that provide little to no protection against disease or pregnancy. What's worse? Authorities said they found "bare-chested" employees using vegetable oil to lubricate the condoms that they then packaged without any sterilization. Whoever came up with this fake factory sounds like they were fulfilling some sort of bizarre fantasy.

This story is scary enough to make someone outside of China paranoid. If you're freaked out, just make sure you never buy condoms labeled as "Jisson, Durex. Rough Rider, Six Sense and Love Card."

Say What? Recession or No, Women Love Their Sex Toys!

TresSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

"[Y]eah, money's tight. If people are going to spend their dollars, they want to know it's a good product. People are staying home more, so we've directed more marketing efforts toward cheap date nights - for the price of a movie and dinner, buy a vibrator, stay home and have fun."

- Good Vibrations rep Jackie Strano, responding to a question about what the sex business is like during the recession. Good Vibrations is a popular woman-friendly adult sex toy store in San Francisco, CA.

Photo by Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera

Do Tell: Who Was Your Favorite Teen Heartthrob?

TresSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

A heartthrob is defined as a man, typically a celebrity, whose good looks excite immature romantic feelings in women. Immature or not, almost every woman I know once crushed on a fresh-faced famous person with heavily-marketed sex appeal. In fact, some grown women currently lust for ~~Edward Cullen~~ Robert Pattinson. Who got your heart throbbing when you were a teen? (And if you're nostalgic, note that you can still check out Tiger Beat and Bop.)

Being Dumped: You May Want Him More - But Like Him Less

TresSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:30:00 -0700

The Rolling Stones may have understood that you can't always get what you want - but it took a group of market researchers (who perhaps understand human desire better than Lacanian psychoanalysts?) to demonstrate that you don't always like what you want.

Although you may pine after and begin chasing someone who dumped you, a new study from the Stanford School of Business shows, you may not like him or her or lose interest once you get them back again.

“For many people, wanting and liking are two separate things that can become contradictory," according to researcher Baba Shiv, professor of marketing at SGSB. "When someone is thwarted from obtaining his original desire, he, in fact, comes to find the attractiveness and appeal of his target to be diminished. Yet, perversely, he may feel he wants it even more. The thrill becomes the chase."

Who’s more susceptible to this perverse push-pull motivation? People who tend to express emotions with lower intensity and, according to researchers, that means more women than men. Hotheaded people, if rebuffed by someone, tend to respond by turning down their interest and their desire. Their attitude, says Ab Litt, the doctoral student who co-authored this study is, “It’s not so great, and I don’t want it anyway.” (They generalized that although women may experience emotion more richly, they are less "emotionally reactive" while men tend to act with more "raw intensity.")

Ever wonder why that new bag or random trendy gewgaw may be unavailable even though you showed up at Barneys first thing in the morning to get it? Because marketers like those at Stanford are studying your love habits and deciding that you'll want something more if it's made scarce! Good thing I'm a hothead.

Are you a "want more/like less" type or a "can't have it/didn't want it anyway" type?

Source

A Doll of One's Own: Mattel Rolls Out New Black Barbies

TresSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:15:00 -0700

Mattel has launched some new black Barbie dolls, and they're getting praised and dissed in equal measure. Grace, Kara, and Trichelle, created by Stacy McBride-Irby to give her daughter and other African-American girls dolls that resemble them, have been criticized by some for not being "black enough."

"I love the black Barbie. It's about time," said Jua Simpson, a reporter for CNN's iReport. "But the hair is still a step backwards, since most of our hair is not straight and light brown." (Check out BellaSugar's review of Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair, which addresses this loaded subject for black women.)

These new black Barbies could be said to be a step in the right direction for a couple reasons. First off, it's important that there's not a monolithic (i.e. white) sense of what's beautiful, and studies have shown that little girls of color do absorb the idea that white equals beautiful.

Also, it sounds like more thought was put into creating Grace, Kara, and Trichelle than the Oreo Barbie (hand smacks forehead!) that Mattel came out with in 1997. I guess with all the focus groups and marketing Mattel must surely do, no one bothered to tell them that "Oreo" is a term used by some in the black community to denote someone who is black but "acts" white. (I'm guessing the Oreo Barbie tanked?)

My question is, should we be pushing dolls (of whatever color) on girls at all? Don't dolls just get them to focus on how they look, as opposed to toys that would invite them to invent, think and do things, like boys' toys? (I mean, boys have ~~dolls~~ action figures, but yeah, notice the emphasis is on action, on doing things rather than on just being pretty.)

What do you think about the new black Barbies and about dolls as girls' primary toys in general? Do you think it's outdated to push dolls on girls, or do you think girls gravitate to dolls naturally?

Source

Grab Bag: The Top 10 Things Guys Don't Get About Women

TresSugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0700

The top 10 things men don't get about women. First on the list? Astrology. - Lemondrop
How the Internet has affected women's love lives. - Self
Dudes tell women what they think of "the reach." - Glamour
Reader says, "He's perfect - except for the sex." - Em & Lo
How much PDA is too much PDA? - The Frisky
The underground market of sperm donors. - Double X
He's perfect - so why don't I like him? - Your Tango

iPhone App Helps Men Keep Score of Chicks They've Scored

TresSugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Pepsi's Amp Up energy drink (another one?!) has created a free iPhone app that gives players "up-to-the-minute info, feeds, lines" so that they can talk to their favorite kinds of women - "24 in all."

Basically, men can either get tips before they score, or they can upload details of their hookups as a result of these indubitably useful apps after they score. Nice touch, Pepsi.

I would rename this the "wishful thinking app." Because what guy who would ask his phone how he should speak to a "punk" woman because she's "staring holes into him" is really scoring at all? I love when the guy in the commercial clicks on the punk cartoon girl and it takes him to a definition of punk ("Punk rock is a genre that . . ."). Wow.

This app may try to help a man score one of 24 types of women, but it seems to be marketed to only one kind of dude: a loser.

(Tell GeekSugar the weirdest iPhone app you've ever seen and read about Pepsi's official apology.)