Incite Kitchen

Sometimes...

...it really is a dog eat dog world... literally. 

The Weinz?

Jewelry, Lingerie and Dog Biscuits?

In a recent Reuters poll of 1000 Americans, it was discovered that while men prefer to buy their sweethearts lingerie for Valentine's Day, their girlfriends and wives are only happy to receive the gifts 2% of the time.  Women much prefer to receive jewelry, a gift that ranked fifth on the men's list. 

The other interesting finding of the study was that eight million Americans actually admit to buying themselves a little something on V-day.  While I guess those people at least like what they are receiving, this finding makes me question to what extent the holiday has lost its meaning.  If the study is to serve as any sort of indicator, men apparently no longer know how to give gifts and women no longer know how to graciously receive them.  I'm unfortunately not surprised.

Then my partner sent me a story about Valentine's Day pet spending, which is supposed to top $367 million this year, according to the National Retail Federation.  In essence, almost one-fifth of consumers plan on buying something for their pets on February 14th.  Then again, that's the great thing about pets.  No matter what you buy them, they're destined to be happy with it.  In the case of my dog's most recent bone, perhaps a little too happy.  I probably should have just given her a $20 bill to chew on.  Are pets beginning to replace people as the ones who we buy things for purely for selfish reasons?  Probably not if Victoria's Secret has anything to do with it.  Nonetheless, I plan on tracking this trend for some time.

Forgotten foreclosure victims get help

I was reminded today of the importance of looking beneath the surface of any opportunity, or in this case, tragedy, to discover ways to have an even greater impact than first imagined.  Case in point: the housing bubble bust.  Everyone has been focused on the physical and emotional ramifications of people losing their homes to foreclosure.  And for good reason.  The damage can be irreparable in terms of financial and emotional security.  But there is another victim of home foreclosure that few, if any, have talked about, much less done something about.  Pets.  When a family with pets has to leave their home and find another, their options are more limited than those without pets.  The result is a rise in the number of animals dropped off at shelters, or worse, abandoned.  Two companies have joined together to address this problem:  Pets 911 and Apartments.com.  They share a common purpose--finding homes for the home-seeking.  As such, they are working together to provide information to families with pets on housing options that leave no one out in the cold. 

Do you have any books about dogs?

Just an observation: While at Barnes & Noble in December I couldn't help but notice that every book on the "Pets" table was about dogs.  After considering how much they smell about us, I guess it's only fair that we read as much about them as possible.

UGC Goes to the Dogs

Could this be the new face of Circuit City's Firedog brand?  You decide at www.firedog.com/kodak.  But it won't be easy.  There are about 20 "reliable, motivated, fun, sincere and loyal" (CC listed traits of a firedog) dogs to choose from out of the 7,000 images entered. 

Circuit City partnered with Kodak to invite people to submit photos of their dogs for consideration.  In addition, registrants were asked to name a humane society that could benefit from a monetary donation should their dog win. Donations will be based on the number of votes placed, with each vote earning the charity $1. 

Hats off to both brands for tapping into the passion people feel for their pets.