Do you love Peeps?  That sweet marshmallow candy shaped like a chick or bunny.

The national media seems to love them.  We just watched a story on NBC’s Today show. 

Larry remembers bringing them to many of his advertising and Marketing classes at USC, CSUN and Pepperdine. Both undergrad and graduate classes.

What was interesting is that for some of the students they know all about them and had their favorite way to eat them but for others, some global students, had no idea what they were.

During the Easter season, Americans will enjoy an estimated 700 million Peeps, but what is interesting to the 2 Guyz is that number hasn’t changed in seven years.

But now there are new flavors. such as bubble gum, party cake, red velvet. fruit punch, sour watermelon, pumpkin, cotton candy, vanilla, orange sherbet, strawberry, coconut and sugar cookie, plus the older ones…blueberry, lemon, raspberry, strawberry, and vanilla.  We teach that a product line extension is the use of an established product brand name for a new item in the same product category. Line extensions occur when a company introduces additional items in the same product category under the same brand name but with new flavors, forms, colors, added ingredients, package sizes.

Are you a Peeps fan?  Curious about Peeps history?

Where they came from and how they developed into the ultimate Easter treat?

Nearly a century ago, a young Russian-born man named Sam Born was living in France, where he studied and learned the art of chocolate making.  Then Sam immigrated to the US in 1910.

He opened a small candy store. As his operations outgrew his store, he moved his company, by the name “Just Born,” out of New York to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In the ‘50’s, the Just Born firm acquired another company that had invented a marshmallow mold, creating Easter chicks and bunnies, called Peeps. With some fine-tuning of their assembly line manufacturing and clever marketing, Born of “Just Born” had an Easter hit on his hands.

But why were these chicks and rabbits so appealing?

Just Born was based in Pennsylvania, home to a large community of German immigrants. It’s believed that the German immigrants popularized the Easter Bunny tradition in America.

Germans also developed the Easter egg basket tradition with the hopping bunny.

Now you can pick up a pack or a dozen packages online at Amazon, buy them at 88 Cents stores plus at a Walmart, Vons or Target.

Doing away with Daylight Saving Time. It’s a thing.

The citizens of Florida are for it.  The lawmakers of Florida are rolling back the “fall back” and “spring forward” “daylight” saving program. They approved a bill to keep Daylight Saving Time  (DST) throughout the year in their state. They are calling it the “Sunshine Protection Act.”  Now just the governor needs to agree. It’s about safety.

Timing is everything they say.  This blog post is hitting at a great time, just before we turn our clocks back, er forward, or some way, again. It’s to encourage the state of California to look closely at this, just like Florida is doing.

Two Guyz Larry says it’s a safety thing. “It’s about safety. It never makes sense.  In the fall we make it darker and usually just around Halloween so the kids are in danger of cars driving in the dark.”

Two Guyz Brian thinks it’s worthy of exploring. “The original argument for DST was to give people more daylight hours after work. But with today’s flex schedules, telecommunting, etc., if you want more daylight, wake up earlier and end work earlier. In effect, that’s what DST requires us to do.”

Those around during the energy crises of the 70’s remember they told us DST would save more energy, but it is highly debated that any energy was saved. (Google “daylight saving time” and you’ll find nearly a million website hits.)

Then there’s the hassle of it. Changing clocks. Changing habits. More light in the evening, but less in the morning. Fall forward, Spring back, or vice versa? Doesn’t it just net out zero anyway?

Agrarian societies don’t typically change clocks. They set schedules by sunup and sundown. Simple. Animals don’t use clocks. Plants don’t need clocks. And the internet is open 24/7.

Is it time for California to join the state of Florida, which will likely join Hawaii and most of Arizona? They are exempt from the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

We think it’s definintely worth looking at. And if enough of you do, too, it will require a significant marketing effort to pass the legislation.

A time whose time has passed?

We love discussing them.

Today it’s a combinations.

It’s the “Fight for Los Angeles” as the Rams and Chargers battle it out this 2017 season for the “rights” to call themselves L.A.’s team.

The 2 Guyz are not sure whether either team will succeed at having the fans support them? For example, the Chargers only had 21K out of 27K fans show up to support their team.

Brian remembered back to the 90s when the Rams left L.A., and hasn’t really forgiven them. The wound of San Diego Charger fans and their leaving S.D. is fresh…and painful.

While the Los Angeles Charger lost to Seattle Seahawks in the opener 48-17 and the Los Angeles Rams beat the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, the 2 Guyz have found a Los Angeles Charger promotional opportunity. It’s scheduled for tomorrow.

Need a way to show your allegiance and appreciation to the Los Angeles Chargers?

Tomorrow from 1PM to 1Am the Chargers whether they are from LA or SD will pay for Charger-team themed tattoos. The event will be at Shamrock Social Club in West Hollywood.

The 2 Guyz On Marketing do not approve or condone of this sales promotion, under Marketing and promotion. We’re just here to educate!

Let’s loo at 2 of the 9 P’s (from Larry Steven Londre’s 9 P’s of Marketing), the Product and Place, for the NFL in Los Angeles. The ultimate question is: Will a Los Angeles Chargers game at StubHub  be better in Carson than a Los Angeles Rams game at the Coliseum?

1. Chargers play in a stadium with only 27K seats, versus 80K at Coliseum
2. There will be more video boards than at the Coliseum.
3. StubHub Stadium has a $8 million dollar European-style cloth or fabric roof at Carson
4. Chargers may have a better season. They were 5-11 last year. Rams were 4-12. The Rams were 1-7 at home last year.
5. The StubHub’s football seating capacity will be less than half of every other NFL Stadium
6. The 2 Guyz on Marketing will see on Sunday, but the parking may be better than around the Coliseum
7. The seats will be closer to the game. It will be two years until the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is upgraded. StubHub has already been upgraded.
8. There are 43 luxury boxes. The Coliseum has zero.
9. The restrooms or pottys are movie star versus construction sites. The restrooms at the Coliseum are barely adequate.
10. The Rams play the Dallas Cowboys tomorrow. We’ll know the score.
11. The Chargers play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The Seahawks will be a better opponent than the Cowboys.

Look for a post on marketing at NFL games in the very near future!

Photo source:  chargers.com

First when is the solar eclipse? Solar eclipse is coming up on August 21, 2017. On that day, a , a total solar eclipse will be visible in totality within a band across the entire contiguous United States.

Advertising agency W+K (Wieden+Kennedy), which started in Portland, is promoting the solar eclipse for one of their clients, Chiquita Bananas . It is using their client’s product a banana as the “banana sun,” with website, Facebook live stream, an installation in NY City plus banana-shaped eyewear.

While some 12 million people live inside the path of totality, where the sun and moon will be line to cast a 60-70 mile wide “umbra” or shadow, Michael Zeiler says that U.S. Census data shows there are 75 million people live outside the path but within 200 miles of the center line of totality. Seiler is an eclipse enthusiast and geographic data modeling expert. According to Zeiler’s calculations, nearly 100 million people could be inside the path during totality, beginning around 10:15 in the morning in Oregon and ending just before 2:50 p.m. in South Carolina.

Predictions are that the biggest crowds will be in Tennessee, Missouri, and South Carolina and Oregon, based on driving proximity of various populations.

“This is our Super Bowl,” said Beth Conway, of the visitors bureau in St. Joseph, where up to half a million people could show up. “We are basically being told this is our only chance to bring in that number of people.”

Airlines, hotels, and rent-a-cars are already heavily booked.

Companies such as B&H, one of the nation’s leading photography sources, has put out special eclipse marketing pieces.

“There is plenty of room inside the path, provided people distribute themselves well,” Zeiler tells. “The problem is that these millions of Americans will produce predictable traffic congestion. Imagine 20 Woodstock festivals occurring simultaneously across the nation.”

The 2 Guyz On Marketing’s Larry Steven Londre is headed to the “umbra” for a weekend of eclipse fun and viewing.

Larry is known for finding funny, clever, and frankly horrible marketing efforts from around the globe, and we’re expecting some good ones from this trip as well.

Look for a full report when he’s back!