Wordless Wednesday: You know summer is officially over when......

Wordless Wednesday was started by the fabulous ladies at 5MinutesForMom.

The Eggo heard round the world

When news of an Eggo waffle shortage makes national headlines you know we have our media coverage priorities in the wrong place. Are people that tired of hearing about war? Is there a lull in medical breakthroughs that cure terrible diseases? Did Kelloggs hire a brilliant team of marketers?

Who knows. But I must admit I had a blast mocking the absurdity of it all. I ran to the freezer to see if we had any of the once-abundant treats and sure, enough, we had two boxes. I immediately posted them on eBay for $49.99. eBay doesn't have a food category so I listed them under "collectibles".

Here is the actual description that accompanies the listing:

Don't let the national shortage of Eggo waffles ruin your morning tradition. Do you want to disappoint your kids? Your spouse? What are you going to say when they bounce down the stairs expecting the carbo-dense treat they've eaten every morning since they were five?

Be the hero! While the rest of the world stares at a boring bowl of oatmeal, your family can mock the losers while stabbing a big pile of Eggo waffles drenched in syrup. Just be sure to close the blinds so the neighbors don't see.

Two 10ox boxes of Kellogg Nutri-grain Eggo waffles. 10 waffles in each box.

I figured the waffles were worth $5.00 and refrigerated shipping would account for the other $44.99. I got a full-on hour of laughs out of just posting them but the joke got even better when I started to receive inquiries and comments from people. Some played along with my joke and others thought I was serious. Both provided even more laughs. Here are several of the actual questions I received (and my replies):

thumpliz: Do you provide REAL Maple syrup with these waffles? I also hope it's from Canada because the stuff from here is crap. I'm very interested in your waffles.
me: Yes, REAL maple syrup is included. Our connections in Canada are giving us a good deal. I can tell you are a true collector of vintage and rare items. Only a professional would know to ask about syrup before bidding.

andrew7882: No way in hell!
me: Understandable. Hell does not allow such grainy goodness.

rockothebird: Are you a moron?
me: You sound bitter. You should eat more whole grains.

One person asked if my waffles in any way resembled Sarah Palin. And just when I thought it couldn't get better, I learned my Eggo listing had caught the attention of The Washington Post and Smart Spending. By now there were many other Eggo waffle products for auction on eBay.

And what's a good tragedy without Twitter flurry? Here are some of my favorite tweets about the crisis:







And there you have it. I hear there is now a shortage of canned pumpkin......

Do your pets get along this well?

While weeding through some files I recently rescued from a crashed laptop (thanks GeekSquad), I came across this video of our bird, Buddy, playing with my son's dog Skooby. Skooby was insanely smart, as most Border Collies are, and it is amazing to watch him as he patiently processes the fact that he has a bird walking around on top of his head. Skooby passed away earlier this year so I'm posting this video in his honor.

5 Ways Marketers Can Use Twitter Lists

I subscribe to some great MediaPost publications and a favorite columnist of mine is David Berkowitz, one of the authors of the Social Media Insider newsletter. Today he wrote a great article about Twitter lists called Make A Twitter List and Check it Twice. Those of us using Tweetdeck or Seesmic Desktop have been making lists for a while (also called Groups), but Twitter now enables lists on its site and has added the ability to share and monitor them, which is very useful. While the whole article was valuable, he offered five powerful ways marketers can use lists:

1) Aggregate multiple professional accounts

If you have several faces of your business on Twitter. It's a natural for businesses like Comcast, which has a number of customer service representatives on Twitter, or Zappos, which has hundreds of employees tweeting. This can also work well for a company like Walmart that has a section on its site with all of its Twitter handles. A newspaper can bring together all of its reporters, or a packaged goods conglomerate can compile all of its brands in lists. Even if these lists don't bring in millions of new consumers or clients as followers, they may be useful for important constituents such as reporters, investors, or employees.

2) Aggregate passionate consumers

If you run a TV show, make a list of tweeters who love talking about every last plot twist. If you're a travel company, consider making lists of some of the most vocal Twitter users in each city where you have a presence. If you're a product manager for a technology brand, pull together all your die-hard fans. At the very least, you'll make it easier for all of these influencers to find each other to expand the noise in your echo chamber. But packaged right, it could be a way to pull in new fans and show others how much passion there is for your brand beyond those on its payroll.

3) Be a resource

Make lists of the most knowledgeable people in your industry, whether they're colleagues, reporters, consumers, or even competitors. While my lists are a work in progress, I've added many friends and people I respect from other agencies to lists. Mostly this will be convenient for me, but I'm more than happy to make these lists public in case they're useful to others.

4) Monitor what lists you're on

And what lists include your competitors and peers. It's a way to gauge anecdotal brand perception. You can also find new people to follow this way.

5) Share lists beyond Twitter

It's going to take a while for lists to catch on beyond early adopters; this highly anticipated feature for die-hard tweeters may just be one more thing to learn for casual users. If you cater to early adopters, though, creating useful lists and sharing them in other channels like your site, email newsletters, or Facebook page should resonate.

Thanks, David!