Death Has Its Upside, Facebook’s Ipo, Corona Pitch

Berger's Beat
May 2, 2012

http://bergersbeat.com/death-has-its-upside-facebooks-ipo-corona-pitch/

Staffers at St. Louis University Hospital are passing around petitions for organized labor. . . Look for the social network, Facebook, to issue its IPO on May 18. . .The Gallop law firm’s website has been reduced to a grim showing by posting a link to KMOV, Channel 4 in which the moribund office’s Tom Campbell explains that one dollar will be contributed for every follower. . .In the right context, “thoughts of death can make people feel a part of humanity as a whole, be more helpful and make healthy changes,” revealed Mizzou’s Ken Vail, a doctoral student in psychology, and Prof. Jamie Arndt, who reviewed past studies. . .Local architect Paul Hohmann has posted some sad photos of the now-vacant St. Louis Centre at his VanishingSTL blog, citing the 1991 opening of the Galleria as the beginning-of-the end for the once-thriving downtown shopping mall. . .That was WashU’s Lamar Pierce on NPR’s “All Things Considered” discussing new research about what circumstances tend to make normally ethical people act unethically. (In a nice break for the less fortunate, studies show that auto inspection workers tend to give more leeway to owners of older, smaller cars than owners of BMWs). . .On the KTRS website you can find a tape posted of a 2009 St. Louis County Council budget hearing at which County COO Gary Earls, Council member Kathleen Kelly Burkett and others openly discuss donations by political appointees to County Exec Charlie Dooley. The discussion was prompted by a story aired the night before by KSDK’s Lisa Zigman about Dooley challenger Bill Corrigan’s allegations of “pay to play.” Then-Dooley spokeswoman Kathleen Jamboretz denied the charge. . .Judge Lawrence Perlmuter will decide whether Thomas Marvin Hill violated his probation by moving to Richmond Heights from Chesterfield after a 2003 child abuse conviction. Hill was charged last week with molesting two more kids but news accounts omitted mention of his former job as dean of Gateway Academy, a school once run by the controversial and ultra conservative Legion of Christ. . .”More than just about any city in the United States, St. Louis and its surrounding area is routinely beset by thunderstorms and tornadoes, hail and flash floods,” says John Eligon in the Grey Lady. And AccuWeather’s Michael R. Smith, maintains that our area has seen more tornado-related deaths than anywhere else in the U.S. Some argue that the frequency of storms here has bred complacency, leading folks to ignore sirens and other warnings. . .Hats off to Al Oxenhandler, singer, drummer and pianist who has worked in bistros and hotels all around our town for many years. His skills have been summoned by the Boston Pops Orchestra. . .Nick Spahn, a creative chief of the ad agency of record for Corona explains the beer’s new pitch: “Ordering a Bud Light or Miller Lite is almost a default mechanism – it’s the generic choice. To get people out of that rut (through the new campaign) and try something different we’ve positioned Corona Light as a refreshing alternative.” BTW: Corona Extra is the top selling imported beer in the U.S.