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Mitsubishi and Grey Poupon are at war, and Facebook users are taking sides.  No, liking cars and mustard are not mutually exclusive, but it seems that their respective Facebook apps are.  Mitsubishi recently released the campaign for the 2013 Outlander Sport.  Fans of the carmaker can run the Facebook app to select their most pretentious friend and then watch as that friend’s profile picture gets smashed to smithereens.  The goal?  To promote Mitsubishi as a down-to-earth, affordable car company.

Taking a completely different approach to brand promotion, Grey Poupon has created the , playing perfectly into the mustard’s “Spread good taste” campaign.  Extra points for pretentiousness as fans of the page are audited for their worthiness via an algorithm that takes a range of content into account.  Only Facebook users with “good taste” and a “discerning palate” shall be admitted to this private society.

So which will you choose?  If you’re siding with Mitsubishi you better think twice before checking in at that Zagat-rated rooftop bar.  But, if you’re siding with Grey Poupon, remember, pinkies up!

Startup Sōsh (pronounced like the first part of the word “social”) is planning to take on new cities after a successful Series A round of funding. Thank goodness because their current tagline, “Life’s too short to be bored,” has thus far only applied to San Francisco, leaving the rest of the US, well, bored. This “personal concierge” curates activities, events, and happenings for each user based on his or her specified interests and favorite spots. The team promises that unlike other social recommendation sites, Sōsh delivers worthwhile suggestions weeding out the over-advertised and the under-attended. Curate seems to be the buzzword of the year as more and more startups cash in on our love for all things customized. Remember Ness, the restaurant curator? Well if Ness is your foodie friend, then Sōsh is your super informed, hipster friend. I’m hoping to put the days of unused Living Social vouchers and “weird crowds” behind me—here’s hoping that Sōsh comes to Chicago.

About two weeks ago I spent the entire weekend moving into a new apartment (and haven’t stopped talking about it since). After hours of stressful furniture building and closet cleaning, packing and unpacking, I arrived at the mecca of organization, The Container Store. As I walked in, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that in just a short while my new digs would be worthy of their own page in Martha Stewart Living. With aisle after aisle of highly-specific products each screaming “you can’t live without me!” it’s easy to imagine your life being fundamentally improved by owning absolutely everything The Container Store has to offer. A mere two hours later, I was home with an embarrassing number of “space-savers”, but finding things to fill my color-coded folders and swanky-looking boxes was more difficult than I expected. I had been caught up in a buying frenzy, and failed to consider how my arsenal of mobile devices had changed the very nature of my belongings.

In an over branded world where just about every product is screaming for attention, marketers continually seek ways to engage consumers.   From branded content to in-your-face advertising, the aim has always been to make the product seem desirable and in high-demand.  So why is Miracle Whip airing commercials with celebrities openly bashing their product?  Why has a book burning party been suggested in place of saving a local library?  These marketers haven’t lost their minds; they’re simply tapping into a new part of ours.

 

Facebook has 845 million active users monthly and 483 million active users daily.  Is this a worldwide boredom epidemic?  Or is there something inherently rewarding about using Facebook?  It turns out that the latter is true (oh good…it’s not just me), and using social media has a whole host of psychological effects.  in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking proposed something called the Hyperpersonal Model that explains why looking at your Facebook profile actually raises your self-esteem.  This is a surprising result considering that other practices that draw self-awareness (looking in a mirror, being videoed, etc.) can be quite a blow to your self-esteem.  According to the study, the internet is the only place where you can selectively display chosen aspects of your life—flashback to the MySpace selfies that only show a quarter of your face at just the right angle—good pictures, flattering comments, and witty remarks.  So when you look at your profiles jam-packed with “skinny days” and only the wall posts that got ten-plus comments, of course your self-esteem rises, and it’s no surprise you keep signing in for more.