Doing My Bit For Citizen Power

I heard on a podcast today (probably Fair Game from PRI with Faith Salie, I wasn't paying that much attention while I raked old leaves and new dog poop) that the fair citizens of the blogosphere can affect brand names, both positively and negatively, by, you know, griping and stuff.

For instance, a blogger was actually sued recently by ABC for coming down hard on its hate-filled talk jocks on their San Francisco station KSFO (which used to be a good station back in the 80s), and getting a lot of attention for doing so (especially, satisfyingly, after ABC sued).

Another champion sentence for your diagramming pleasure. You're welcome.

In a reverse instance, a couple of jokesters made a song about how they enjoyed Chicken McNuggets into a YouTube favorite. Sweet free ad for McDonalds.

I feel obligated to contribute to this trend of citizen power.

Good Things:

Nike. I like their clothes. Can't really use their shoes. Their shoes are build for less retarded feet. I like their campus in Not Beaverton. I applied to work there once, but they didn't want me. So I guess they're not that great.

Horny Toad. Piglet Award for Best Clothing Company. Best place to buy your Horny Toads: Title Nine.

Trader Joes. Green attitude. Delicious hummus. Ready-made pizza dough. Cheap wine. Quality salsa. I could go on. Worst problem? I have to drive across town to get there. That's not so green, is it, Trader Joes? Get on it.

McMenamins brew pubs and brew cinemas. Good beer, I am told. Good wine. Cozy pubs, some in lovingly restored buildings that others had long abandoned. That's green and commendable. They also cook ahi tuna properly as long as you ask.

Bad Things.

Sony. Sony, I used to trust you. But lately your quality has gone to seed. Case in point: my lousy workout radio. A static-y battery sucker. Nearly unusable. Boo, Sony. Boo.

Whoever made those wine bottle stoppers we bought at Fred Meyer. They have already both broken. I will find out who you are and write you a nasty letter. Probably not.

Comcast. Who can pay these rates? They should not be able to charge whatever they want, and they should not get to be the only cable provider available to us. That is unamerican. We refuse to be held hostage. We are voting with our feet. Goodbye, Comcast.

Qwest. Who has the time to spend an hour and a half on the phone trying to find out if their price can beat Comcast? This is not an exaggeration. Drew spent one and one-half hours on the phone with someone who really did not know what the company had to offer, or how much it would cost. This is ridic. Do we have an option? Sure. Comcast.

Take back the streets! Well, take back Madison Avenue.

I feel empowered. Well, I would feel empowered if anybody read this. Chances are, Mr. Comcast does not get down this way very often.