More metros and other stories

In a late-night visit to AdAge.com, I found this story on the launch of a new line of grooming products aimed at boys in their teens and tweens. It's considered to be an untapped market, largely because, well, I'm not so sure it exists, but stranger things have happened. Grooming products are actually pretty well-equipped to take hold in markets that have never used them before simply because so many of us are held prisoner by the thoughts and opinions of others. Both deodorant and mouthwash certainly fill a need, but back when they were introduced, it wasn't a very pressing one. Both capitalized on people's fears of what others would think of unpleasant odors, after mass marketing had introduced them to the notion. I have my doubts about whether or not boys aged 9 to 18 are susceptible to that, though. The older ones, yes, but buying media to reach kids in the 9-13 age range may be waste of time and money. The research they have to back this up must really be something.

In other news, Martha Stewart was found guilty. BUT sentencing won't be until June 17th, and even if appeals don't work out, the maximum amount of time she'll be in prison is 16 months, which means it'll likely be a much shorter stint. I'm honestly not sure what to think about this, but I do think the marketing department of her company has its work cut out for it.

More corporate craziness: Eisner loses his post as chairman of Walt Disney Co. Maybe it's just because I'm new to following corporate news, but it seems like the past couple of years have been really strange ones. First all the accounting stuff, and now the return of hostile takeovers and angry shareholders that actually do something about it. And yet finance classes remain duller than a Congressional roll-call (seriously, they should have the producers of Who Wants to be a Millionaire outfit that place; I wonder if the American public would take an interest in their representation then--C-SPAN is untapped reality TV potential!).

Gay marriage: viewed by "straight people under a certain age...as their generation's civil rights movement" per Andrew Sullivan, quoted on BrendanLoy.com. Very interesting how this issue seems to have taken wing, particularly in light of this new amendment I keep hearing about (one of you political-types need to fill me in on this, Chris). I can't say I agree with that; in fact, I may have to evince more than a passing interest in politics if that goes any further. It'll be interesting to see how that goes, now that Bloomberg is on board with legalizing same-sex marriage in the State of New York.