Playing catch up

Another unexplained absence, another post spent groveling...I'm realizing that I just may not be that blogger who can churn out content in a smooth, seemingly effortless frequency. That's not me. At least not right now. And that's ok. Summer's bearing down, and I am fighting the urge to just completely check out. It's a condition of growing up in a place where summer is THE season. Long days, warm nights, freedom to go and do and spend as you please. Right, I'm not a teenager anymore. But I am a person, doing the best she can with this wonderfully imperfect thing called a blog, and that other wonderfully imperfect thing called life. Thanks for understanding.

Back to it...Panera has been making big headlines -- and lots of them -- this week with its announcement to dump all food additives from its menu by 2016. That includes artificial colorants, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives. And that yoga mat stuff that, months later, still has Subway eating sh*t.

The news was picked up nationally by CBS Moneywatch, "Good Morning America", USA TODAY and even across the pond by The Guardian. More than one piece highlighted the announcement as part of the company's larger 'Food Policy' or vision for menu transparency and responsible corporate citizenship.

From a PR perspective, the whole thing is pretty win-win for Panera. The company gets a lot of good press and positions itself proactively, instead of waiting for some Internet whistle-blower to point out the junky ingredients in its menu items. The company avoids befalling the same public opinion fate as Subway while simultaneously being aligned with the consumer movement to improve the quality of faster-food chain restaurant menus.

It's good play, and I commend whichever big agency is in charge of Panera's PR game. That being said, what are we missing? What ISN'T Panera telling us? I'm too jaded and cynical a person to take any corporate messaging on its face anymore. So what gives, Panera, huh? What are you trying to clean up with this little campaign here?

Always reading between the lines,
Jazzy

Summer's start

Can you tell I'm already checked out for the summer? We're headed out of town for Memorial Day weekend, and I'm pretty excited. But blogging doesn't stop!  I promise I will get back to a regular schedule again soon?

Have you seen EWG's 2014 Sunscreen Report? Check it here. Me, I'm all kinds of pissed off at my local Whole Foods for putting out a nice display of Kiss My Face sunscreen products and pricing them without regard to health and toxicity. The 8-oz Mineral Formula spray was $17.99!!! Amazon is selling it for $18.65, and Drugstore.com doesn't even carry it (but tried to tell me that the other spray sunscreen lotion is 'natural' with all its avobenzone and other junk. Snort.). 

What gives, retailers?? Mmm?? It's not enough to hardly ever carry actually safe, gentle products -- when you do carry them, they have to be priced so outrageously to lower demand and prevent consumers from making informed buying decisions. 

WHAT. EVER.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!!
-- Jazzy

Price alert

I was at Whole Foods yesterday and noticed that one of my new favorite products is on sale this week. It's everyone soap by EO Products. WF normally sells a 32-oz pump bottle for $9.99, which I thought was a good value, and now it's on sale for $7.99. EO sells the stuff direct for the same price, but then tacks on $5 for ground shipping, so this price at my local store is a pretty good deal!

Have I mentioned how much I love this stuff? I think a product review is in order, no? Let's get that in the queue.

Happy Tuesday,
Jazzy

Olay Stories

Have you seen Olay's latest campaign? #OlayStories. Olay's put the whole thing on Pinterest, of all places. I am loathe to keep shining a spotlight on companies/ads/products that are misleading and borderline dishonest, but I suppose we have to do that to find the man behind the curtain.

Olay is playing up big time the 'everywoman beauty' as it has for a few years now. Great. But the new campaign takes it up a notch by featuring, as its first "Best Beautiful" story, skin cancer survivor Hillary. Her personal story, along with professionally-shot video and portraits, are the launchpad of this campaign.

On its face, I don't disagree with it. I am thrilled to see a company buck the trend of using one version of today's woman as the only version. But that's pretty much where my admiration for #OlayStories ends.

Turns out that the campaign is no different than Revlon's breast cancer awareness campaigns. Both companies are using cancer as a marketing tool. It's gross and irresponsible.

Hear me out. Olay is touting specific products as spokeswoman Hillary's 'beauty regimen' -- without regard to the fact that these products contain harmful chemicals. Revlon did the same thing with the series of ads featuring actress Emma Stone and her mother, a breast cancer survivor.

For kicks and giggles, I looked up 'Hillary's favorite' -- Olay's Total Effects 7-in-one anti-aging moisturizer with sunscreen. Parabens, check. Avobenzone, check. Oxybenzone, check. I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

Used to be that the endorsement of a celebrity was all a company needed to sell its cosmetics. Nowadays, the endorsement of a cancer survivor has so much more weight. Is that right? What's the message here? 'She's just like you, only she made it through what was probably the most horrific experience of her life. And now she's choosing our products, so you should, too.'

How much is Hillary being paid for this gig? I'm not saying that to be flip. I'm really curious. Consumers are hip to how much celebrities are paid for their endorsements -- potentially loads more than their actual vocation -- so how do the companies handle their deals with regulars like us?

Look, I don't like sh*tting on a fellow survivor, who probably more than anything wants to raise awareness for skin protection, and I don't fault her for getting caught up in Olay's smoke and mirrors. That said, I will NOT overlook or ignore instances of cosmetics companies exploiting cancer survivorship as a means to push their crap products. Olay, until you clean up your products, consider yourself on my sh*t list.

Righteously indignant,
Jazzy

Survivor's guilt

Late showing today, folks. My day began with news that hits a little too close to home. The death of a former high school classmate who spent the last few years of her too-short life aggressively fighting cancer. I am sad, angry and guilty. Shaking a little as I realize how much devastation I managed to avoid -- for reasons I'll never know or understand -- in my own tangle with the disease.

It's just not fair. So not fair that a young woman, seemingly in her prime, celebrating the birth of gorgeous, healthy twins, is struck down by something so insidious, destructive. So much life and love stolen away.

I do have another post in the queue, a relevant seasonal piece, that will definitely go up today but probably not until much later, not until I can shake some of the guilt that's dancing through my head well enough to form coherent thoughts.

Until then, hug someone you love, real tight.
--Jazzy

Burden of proof

I've always loved that phrase. Sounds very mature, very legal. Harkening back to my days of watching any and all episodes of Law & Order and, before that, taking an undergrad course in communication law. Good stuff.

Last week the only post I was good for was about Living Proof, which puts out a line of haircare products by the same name and is co-owned by none other than the forever perfectly-coifed Jennifer Aniston. Mostly it was a rant about messaging and marketing, so today we're actually looking a little deeper at the products themselves. And why you shouldn't touch these things with a ten-foot pole.

The brand gets similar marks from EWG and GoodGuide -- not so great. The two databases can't agree on which Living Proof product is the least or most hazardous, but then again, both databases are reporting on limited data. We know this usually means ingredient disclosure is less than ideal. Keep inferring and the hole that we're digging here just gets bigger and bigger.

The Skin Deep ratings for the Living Proof line is here, and on GoodGuide here.

I'm lambasting Living Proof not just because their products are pretty toxic, but also to illustrate that packaging and marketing are Totally. Meaningless. For sure it is a huge sales coup for Living Proof to snag the endorsement (and financial backing) of an A-Lister like Aniston, but there is nothing -- NOTHING -- behind the claims that science makes their products better. If anything, the science makes their products more toxic and less consumer-friendly. All that anti-frizz business doesn't happen naturally, you know. 

So please, don't be fooled by seductive marketing. Save your money for safer, gentler products. Value your health and well-being over the need to attain a nearly impossible ideal. Rise above the noisy, destructive messages that women need to look a certain way and instead embrace what makes you beautiful, inside and out.

Yours,
Jazzy

Learning the hard way

I consider myself a conscientious person. Definitely detail-oriented, sometimes almost meticulous. So what gives that I've already gotten a sunburn this season? 

That's the funny thing about sunscreen -- it doesn't work if you don't use it!

I'm not such a great advice-giver if I don't even heed my own advice. 

So let's try that again. WEAR SUNSCREEN. Any and every day that the sun is strong enough to cast a shadow. And believe me, it's strong enough. That sun means business.

What else is on deck for this week? I've had a product review stewing for a while that I need to get posted, we're celebrating SMACK!'s real anniversary (!!) and there's some news from last week that needs discussing. 

And sunscreen. We have to talk more about sunscreen.

Happy Monday!

-- Jazzy