Drink Your Way into the Middle Class

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Drink Your Way into the Middle Class

Straight Up How Johnnie Walker Conquered the WorldForeign PolicyForeign Policy

At a gathering of Beijing techies, on a cruise up the Nile, at a four-day wedding in Jaipur, or among members of Iraq’s Baath Party. These are all places where Johnnie Walker whiskey has been poured — and, according to Afshin Molavi, the Scotch whisky's global reach is only expanding. This delightful tour through the history and marketing of the “amber restorative” is a blueprint for how to use our aspirational desires to sell us lots and lots of stuff — all over the world. The story begins in the late 1800s, when Alexander Walker became the company's first brand ambassador, meandering around London "on a specially-built open carriage known as a phaeton, a mode of transport favored by royals and the superrich." Today, five of Johnnie Walker’s seven top global markets are emerging markets, and ads from Mexico to Africa exhort the emerging global middle class to “keep walking” or “step up.”This transnationalism has a long heritage: the iconic “Striding Man” logo was originally designed "to look English, not Scottish," complete with a monocle indicating his literacy. Today, most of the Striding Man's features have been wiped out, and for good reason: "He has become a silhouette," writes Molavi, "a colorless everyman. He could be anyone — and you could be like him."

Those Pesky Gray Areas The Upsides and Dark Sides of RivalryStrategy + BusinessStrategy + Business

Most of us aren't psychopaths or saints. We're all bumbling about in a gray area, a zone that's of particular interest to Gavin Kilduff, an assistant professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. In particular, he studies how rivalry chews away at our morals. He's found that merely writing about a rival for five minutes makes people "agree more with all kinds of Machiavellian statements." People are "also more likely to inflate their performance on a task by saying that they fared better than they actually did" after such an exercise. Rivalry can hurt entire companies if they dwell on historical competitors, losing sight of what's actually happening around them – for instance, U.S. car companies in the 1980s who battled so hard against one another that they missed the rise of Japanese autos. But are there any times when rivalry can actually push us in positive ways? Possibly: Kilduff is investigating whether fierce competition with another company can improve group cohesion and loyalty. And competition on routine office tasks can improve worker performance. The key, of course, is managing when rivalry is appropriate — and when it's dangerous for both your employees and your company.

"Am I gonna be psycho?" Survivors of Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse Still Suffering, 5 Months LaterWashington PostWashington Post

The Rana Plaza garment factory collapse killed more than 1,100 people. In the aftermath, companies like Walmart, Gap, and Disney <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/bus... to identify</a> whether their supply chain partners conduct work in the country, promising to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sustainabl... an unwieldy system</a>. The Bangladeshi government has started making settlement payments and global corporations are <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09... decisions</a> about how to compensate victims and their families. Ad hoc and grassroots organizations are trying to identify and help those who might be suffering psychological effects from the disaster.In the meantime, survivors, families, and rescue workers are struggling. According to Jason Motlagh, "none of the 4,000 families affected by the Rana Plaza disaster have received the full payments," with some families relying on handouts because their single breadwinner is dead or injured. The psychological toll may be even more dire: one man, Rafiqul Islam, cut eight people out of the wreckage with a hacksaw blade. Now he says he hears voices "calling for me," and his propensity for violent outbursts and memory lapses following his heroics cost him his job. Faizul Muhid searched corpses for identifying documents and features; he now self-medicates with anti-depressants, asking, "Am I gonna be psycho?" Then there's Omar Faruque Babu, who became a bit of a media celebrity after rescuing more than 30 people. He has since hanged himself.

Why Your Virtual Garden Doesn't Yield Any Crops How Zynga Went from Social Gaming Powerhouse to Has-BeenArs TechnicaArs Technica

Between 2007 and 2011, Zynga seemed unstoppable. Its flagship game, FarmVille, was ubiquitous on Facebook, with both social companies reaping financial benefits from the virtual care of animals and crops. But around the time the company went public — with a share price of around $13 — its cracks were beginning to show. Among them: an explosive and often chaotic increase in staff (mostly in middle management), relying too heavily on Facebook as the core of its strategy, a focus on getting new players instead of retaining old ones, and squeezing as much money out of its users as possible in ways some felt were unethical. Cash was also being thrown around like crazy for lavish game-themed parties and, on one occasion, clowns. "I came in one day and there were clowns that were passing out balloons," said the current Zynga principal engineer. "Some people said they were deathly afraid of clowns! I don't know the thought process there. [I mean, why not] jugglers? Nobody is afraid of jugglers."This past summer, founder and CEO Mark Pincus stepped down, and the company's shares now sell for under $3. Can Zynga turn itself around? Possibly, though the consensus is that it will take a drastic reduction in staff and a renewed focus on mobile, a platform the company has struggled with. And maybe fewer clowns are in order, too.

When the Bottom Drops Out How Austerity KillsCNNCNN

Fixing a struggling economy ain't easy. But austerity, Europe's budget-slashing policy, may be causing a preventable public health crisis that's also costing countries more in the long run. Political economist and epidemiologist David Stuckler and physician Sanjay Basu have been deeply analyzing how austerity is affecting citizens. Some of their findings: in Greece, the public health budget was cut by more than 40%, eliminating needle-exchange programs and funding for mosquito-spraying; the result has been a 200% rise in HIV infections and a malaria epidemic. In addition, forty percent of people say they can't access medically necessary health care. Stuckler and Basu argue that it doesn't have to be this way, pointing to numerous examples of depressed countries actually making health care better for its citizens: 1930s America, Malaysia after the East Asian financial crisis in the 1990s; and Iceland today. In fact, the authors say, investing in public health can actually save money: "Each euro invested in public health can yield up to a three euros return if invested wisely in data-supported government programs."

BONUS BITS "You Just Weren't a Good Fit…"

At a gathering of Beijing techies, on a cruise up the Nile, at a four-day wedding in Jaipur, or among members of Iraq’s Baath Party. These are all places where Johnnie Walker whiskey has been poured — and, according to Afshin Molavi, the Scotch whisky's global reach is only expanding. This delightful tour through the history and marketing of the “amber restorative” is a blueprint for how to use our aspirational desires to sell us lots and lots of stuff — all over the world. The story begins in the late 1800s, when Alexander Walker became the company's first brand ambassador, meandering around London "on a specially-built open carriage known as a phaeton, a mode of transport favored by royals and the superrich." Today, five of Johnnie Walker’s seven top global markets are emerging markets, and ads from Mexico to Africa exhort the emerging global middle class to “keep walking” or “step up.”

This transnationalism has a long heritage: the iconic “Striding Man” logo was originally designed "to look English, not Scottish," complete with a monocle indicating his literacy. Today, most of the Striding Man's features have been wiped out, and for good reason: "He has become a silhouette," writes Molavi, "a colorless everyman. He could be anyone — and you could be like him."