And before all the Google shenanigans, Wegmans was named the top company to work for in 2005.  Yup, a grocery store.

Some quick research revealed that it’s actually quite common to see Wegmans products featured in episodes of the Office.  I guess I just wasn’t paying attention before.  Apparently the Scranton Wegmans will occasionally supply the show with some free stuff.

Alas, there are no Wegmans on the west coast  But we do have Safeway here, which is a crap hole.

Let’s break things down…

Which consumers tend to be the more environmentally conscious? Answer: Young, educated.

What trim lines do young car buyer tend to purchase? Answer: Sporty, coupe.

What trim lines are hybrid cars typically offered in? Answer: Conservative, sedan.

Obviously, I’ve greatly simplified things, but still, there’s a disconnect here between marketer and consumer. And the solution isn’t all that difficult. Place a hybrid engine in your coupe trim lines, market along with standard engine coupe models.

OK, now someone make me a hybrid vehicle that doesn’t look like a cheese wedge or like something that my mom would drive.

We’ve grown up. We don’t click on flashy obtrusive ads on websites because we’ve learned through years of conditioning that those ads aren’t relevant to us. They’re untargeted – a message blindly thrown to the masses. They’ve never done us any good, so we ignore them. This is especially true for pop-up ads. We’ve built up a strong immunity to them — and for good reason. So why do CNN.com and ESPN.com continue to serve pop-up ads to visitors that will almost certainly ignore them? Because they’re lazy.

Depending on what browser I’m using, and how well my pop-up blocker is working, I see this when I visit CNN.com :

C’mon CNN.com, you’re better than this. The fact that something called a “pop-up blocker” was invented in the first place should be a good enough signal that people don’t want to see pop-up ads.

But I understand why you continue to serve these ads. I’m sure for every 1,000 impressions, one or two weirdos intentionally (or accidentally) clicks on one. Woohoo! The ad space just became profitable (I guess). Hmm, a 0.1% response rate…I bet you could do better than this.

How about creating a myCNN.com? Where I can login and personalize my news content — and where YOU can keep track of my reading habits, likes, dislikes, interests, navigation style, page view time, etc, etc, etc. And then you can serve me RELEVANT, TARGETED ads that fit MY interests and viewing style — and you can place them where I’m more willing to click them (maybe I’ll even let you place them in my email inbox…maybe). Why don’t you just take the time to get to know me?? I’m betting you could easily turn a 0.1% response rate into a 10% response rate.

The point is, I already have a Netflix subscription. I don’t need another one.

Last September, I made a trip out to Denver, CO to visit my brother and cousin. I did a lot of fun stuff while out there, but by far the highlight of the trip was a tour of the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins. Anyone that knows me personally will tell you that I act like a living advertisement for this company. I show up to every social situation with at least a sixer of New Belgium Beer with me, usually Fat Tire or 1554. Yeah, it can be awkward at first when I show with beer at my Grandma’s birthday party, but it usually helps gets the rowdiness started.

New Belgium also has an amazing reputation as a trend-setting environmentally conscious company. I encourage you to read about their commitment to sustainability.

OK, picture time.

Proof I was there, and that I can ride a bike.

A view from the outside.

The bar. I’m guessing this is what Heaven looks like.

Blue Paddle, 1554, Abbey, Trippel…did I mention this was all free?

A random view from behind the bar.

There was funky stuff all over the place, like this muralesque thingy.

Shiny vats. I believe this is where the magic happens.

Correction. THIS is where the magic happens.

A crappy picture of the bottling line, with floating ghost people.

Silos of some sort outside. I’m assuming these are filled with deliciousness.

But a few weeks ago they sent me a promotional offer via said mailing list. Enter their “All-You-Can-8″ sweepstakes and “you could win a flight for yourself and up to seven friends.” “Wow, that’s Gr8!” I thought. So I checked it out. Turns out they require you to provide the email addresses and phone numbers of your seven friends in order to enter. This is essentially a sneaky way for JetBlue to grow their mailing list with people that DID NOT grant permission to receive promotional offerings. If Seth Godin saw this, he’d have a fit!…and would then plug his book, Permission Marketing. As much as I would love a free flight for me and seven of my friends, I’m a good enough friend to NOT cause their inboxes to be filled with unsolicited email offers. Needless to say, I chose not to enter the “All-You-Can-8″ sweepstakes.

Your personal email address is a precious commodity. I’m not talking about one of your crappy decoy email addresses. I’m talking about your REAL personal email address. The email address you use to stay in touch with friends and family, read your bank notices, etc. How many people, when presented with this offer, would hand over the REAL personal email addresses of seven of their closest friends without thinking twice? I’m guessing a lot would. Now they’ll have random, un-targeted email offers intermixed with those baby pictures from cousin Steve. Ugh.

JetBlue, I still love your product, but shame on you.

So a few weeks back while perusing the craft brews aisle in Bevmo, and finding myself indecisive as usual, something caught my eye at the far end of the shelf:

It’s called Chili Beer. Yes, those are chili peppers floating inside. And they’re not just for looks — the beer has a distinct chili pepper taste. And despite the incredibly annoying website, the beer is delicious. Once you get past the initial moment of surprise when a strange, slimy object tries to slide into your mouth mid-gulp, you’ll be hooked. I’ll definitely buy some more next time I go to Bevmo.

Why can’t more products in other stores I go to be more like Chili Beer? It’s not that hard, just make something different and intriguing, and I’ll buy it.

And then I’ll blog about it. And then people still stop bugging me to write blog posts.