The kids are alright

Lame t-shirt

I’m in the midst of researching an article on Generation Y (aka Millennials) and what we bring to the workplace. It’s been really fun so far, because research is essentially like reading my horoscope, only instead of being categorized in one of 12 months, it’s one of six 20-year spans. I get to read tonnes of material and feel validated because I relate.

Can we really lump millions of people into one category and call it an identity? Probably not. After all, not everyone born after 1980 is a tech-savvy, hyper-consumer with an Arts degree and a quarter-life crisis under his or her belt. There are plenty of exceptions to the non-rule.

However, if people are products of their culture, there could be something to the generational tendencies. While we don’t all line up on the Myers-Briggs personality test, we did experience the same social and political events in our formative years, which probably had an effect on our collective values. If nothing else, I think it’s worthwhile to pay attention to patterns of emerging paradigms, especially when they are as awesome as ours. The more I find out about what Gen Y is doing in the workplace, the more I’m glad I was born in the eighties.

Here are some highlights. Millennials:

• are less likely to accept command and control, top-down communication; we prefer collaboration
• are more likely to prioritize work-life balance over money
• are less likely to work for socially irresponsible and unethical companies

This is great stuff. We are a generation that wants meaningful lives.

Gen Y-ers aren’t always met with open arms—labelled entitled and whiney, much like our post-war predecessors. As a group, our reputation for job hopping is met with disdain, as is our lack of willingness to wait around and pay dues.

To me, these aren’t necessarily bad qualities.

Dissenting tradition will always be frustrating for those who have clung to it for a long time. But I think it’s called fresh air when earning company loyalty takes more than a paycheque and when quick solutions are more valuable than keeping up appearances.

Like us or loathe us, Gen Y is a group to be reckoned with. As children of aging Boomers, the Gen Y population is large enough to make the changes that Gen X couldn’t. Now it’s a matter of what we’ll do with the influence. As not to be too proud, I am reminded of the hippies who grew up to run the very corporations they once despised. I’ll revisit this topic when I have a mortgage.

 

Save boobies, or else!

The Toronto Weekend to End Breast Cancer is on in September and we’re starting to see the commercials for it now. I love breasts. I don’t love cancer. So I’m definitley for the cause.

What I’m less enthusiastic about is the guilt-inducing promotion. This year’s campaign to get people to register for the city-wide walk uses the tagline “Breast cancer is hard. Walking isn’t.”

Maybe I’m overly sensetive, but I find this a little dramatic.

As far as disease organizations go, breast cancer has got to be among the most successful for fundraising. People are all over it. Pink ribbons are everywhere–on bumper stickers, sponges, pens, football fields, tupperware, t-shirts… you get the idea. They receive loads of support every year. I don’t think we need to be emotionally manipulated to get involved.

If the commercial was for anything else (i.e. homelessness or starving children), I like to believe I would be less irked. It’s not that breast cancer is less serious than other causes. But the organization has already done so well getting financial backing and media exposure that tactics like  implying no one cares makes them sound ungrateful.

 

I’m no Lorax, but this is just ridiculous

It’s getting warmer, hot even. It’s supposed to exceed 30°C in Toronto today—a nice, but slightly uncomfortable temperature if you’re anywhere but at the beach.

It’s one of those days when I’m glad I live in a developed country where air conditioning is not only available, but expected. There. I said it. I am a sinner among you. However environmentally terrorizing, air conditioning is a luxury that I happily take advantage of.

Now that my dirty laundry has aired, I need to say something important. There are limits. I repeat: there are limits. Air conditioning was created to make people comfortable, not cold. As I sit in my office—a.k.a. the refrigerator—my jacket is on. There is a literal breeze in here, except it’s constant and hardly refreshing.

Image from sangrea.net

I know my boss occasionally reads this blog…so I will give him a shout out along with a plee to fire the person who sits next to (and controls) the thermostat—a man who claims his long sleeve collared shirts make it unbearably hot in the summer. It’s a fair statement, except that it’s now colder in here than when it was outside in the winter. I think said man is secretly sadistic and likes to see me suffer—a fireable offense.

If he is, in fact, telling the truth about office dress codes, I wonder if we’ll start to see businesses adapt their expectations to suit the actual weather and not the artificial environment we create at the expense of Mother Nature. If mandated clothing is what is keeping businesses from reducing their GHG emissions, I think it’s fair to re-examine what is appropriate office attire.

Be advised, I am not arguing for mesh t-shirts or running shorts—then no one would be able to concentrate—all I’m saying is I don’t want to unpack my wool sweaters for June.

 

Another objectionable ad…

As a smaller-busted female, I take this personally. Just sayin.

 

What are the odds this will get pulled?

If the name “swine flu” offends some Muslims and Jews and their sensetivities to pork, how do you think this gelato ad will weather in  Catholic communities?

Call me crazy, but I don’t think people are going to be too keen on this  baby–and not only because it’s not that clever. This is the sort of thing that agencies should just see coming.

I can’t imagine a bunch of copywriters in a boardroom thinking that this will slide under the table. Granted, controversy garners attention to the product, but you might as well post a billboard that says: “SEX! Now that I got your attention, buy this gelato”. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Sometimes advertisers let me down. These people are supposed to be society’s creatives. I think of big-shot agencies that take in stacks of portfolios every week, and then I see ads like this, and I am convinced that getting in to commercial advertising must be all about who you know.

I expect this in a brainstorming session, sure, but I also expect everyone else in the room to promptly belittle the idea and then move on.

Anyway religous fanatics, have at it. They’re probably counting on your shock and the power of your subsequent word of mouth promotion. Guh.

 

It’s been over a month.

Image from blog.globalgiving.com

At one point, I was putting it off. But I found that when I was in the mood to blog, I had no inspiration. So I waited. But the longer I held off re-entering the blogosphere, the more pressure I felt to write something really juicy.

I didn’t want my comeback—which is exactly what it is when you haven’t blogged in over three weeks—to be reminiscent of Britney’s 2007 performance at the MTV Video Music Awards.

But that’s exactly what this blog entry is: a trainwreck. You have to start somewhere, right?

Interestingly, in my absence, my stats have remained in the range of 200 to 500 viewers per day. That would be impressive if people were coming to my blog to read my stuff, which isn’t the case. Hundreds of people get to my blog through Google Images. I have the number-one image for ice cream (which isn’t even that nice) and the seventh most popular image for cow. See for yourself.

Stay tuned. I’ve broken the seal now, so it’s just a matter of time.

 

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a recession in the baby carriage

Image from cprnetwork.ca

Fact: Babies cost money.

Fact: If you live in the States, babies cost a LOT of money.

So what happens if you don’t have money?

According to an article published by The Associated Press, the demand for vasectomies, abortions and subsidized birth control in the United States has soared since the recession began.

Before we assume that unwed, promiscuous teens are our sample population, know that many reports are from married women, some with children already. The answer here is not simply “stop having sex, heathens”. People just can’t afford to add to the family.

Why not opt for adoption? While adoption is a great choice for those who cannot care for the child throughout its lifetime, adoption doesn’t remove the cost of actually giving birth-an estimated $30,000 (USD).

Of course, there are preventative measures, like birth control. Contraceptives are always a responsible option, but let’s face it, sex doesn’t pay for itself. If you’ve lost a job along with health insurance, birth control is an added expense.

It’s not just women who are concerned for their inability to support a larger family-more men are going in for vasectomies. One doctor said his monthly caseload rose from about 45 to more than 70 since November, claiming most of the men were married, had kids, and couldn’t afford more.

Family planning for the middle class has officially huddled around the dwindling garbage fire that is the stock market.

First its savings, then its jobs and now sex. Well, that’s not entirely true–at least we’re getting screwed by the economy.