Soon throughout much of the country, shoppers will be able to buy clothes, footwear, school supplies, and (sometimes) computers, sports equipment, or almost anything their hearts desire—and pay no sales tax.
The national average payoff for a child’s tooth placed under a pillow is somewhere between $2.50 and $2.60. Does that mean the market value for pint-size incisors and canines is on the rise? Or that the Tooth Fairy is becoming Grinch-like?
Moms are buying iPhones at a rate faster than any other group. They’re also more likely to use smartphones to their full capabilities during any snippet of downtime—browsing for a nephew’s birthday present, updating family calendars and grocery lists, and otherwise sharing info and staying connected. Is it any wonder, then, that retailers and marketers [...]
One suggestion that may make financial sense, but that’ll probably make for a seriously uncomfortable conversation around the dinner table, will begin with you asking: “Hey dad, I was thinking of taking a life insurance policy on you. When do you think you’ll die?”
— CHRISTOPHER MCDONALD, NYC native and actor in “The Best and the Brightest,” a new movie about the elite private school scene [via the Wall Street Journal]
Marketers may even be better than moms when it comes to using guilt—especially when they’re using guilt on soon-to-be moms. The message, sent implicitly or sometimes quite overtly, is that how and what parents purchase for the children are direct reflections on them as parents.
