The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Opportunity to win collectible gold coin appears in mailbox – again

In March, I wrote about an advertisement I received in the article “Honda Dealer Offers Questionable Promotion.”

A large post card said you could win a $5,000 credit card, a plasma screen TV, or a gold collectible coin.

I didn’t win a big prize, but the salesman did give me a gold-colored Andrew Jackson $1 coin.

Recently, I received another postcard with the same offer.

So I stopped by the Honda Dealer again to get another $1 coin.

The salesman was unapologetic when I said I’d done consumer research, and the coins are made from pure copper with a manganese brass outer clad.

I also told him the gold-colored coins are collectible only because presidents are featured on the coins in a series. Some people will collect them, such as the quarter series, but it’s unlikely they’ll ever be worth more than $1 because millions of the coins will be issued.

This time, President James Madison was on the coin I received.

The salesman did tell me that the marketing company had made a mistake. They sent the postcards to the same people who received the first one!

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Consumer Reports rates top supermarkets

Shoppers found Wegmans' and Trader Joe’s supermarkets are among the most satisfying chains to shop at, according to Consumer Reports latest survey of the best national and regional grocery chains.

In the survey, 32,599 respondents were asked about their experiences at supermarkets, supercenters, or warehouse clubs in the past year. 

Some of the other top-rated chains shoppers found to be very satisfying were Publix, Raley’s, Harris Teeter, Fareway, Costco, Whole Foods Market, Market Basket, WinCo Foods, and Stater Bros.

For details, see the article “Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Publix Top Consumer Reports Supermarket Survey” on Consumer Affairs.com or the May issue of Consumer Reports, available on newsstands and at your local library.

An accompanying article on saving money when buying groceries article is included in the May Consumer Reports, “13 Ways to Save.”

Supermarkets are giant selling machines with careful consideration given to traffic patterns, product placement, displays, and signs to get you to spend money.

The article offers these tips to help you save:

• Look high and low because middle- or eye-level shelves often contain more expensive products.

• Check carefully the price of items displayed on the ends of the aisles to see if they’re on sale.

• Compare unit prices because bigger isn’t always cheaper per unit.

• Consider organics for peaches, strawberries, bell peppers, and meat.

• Weigh the cost of convenience items.

• Avoid temptations at the checkout counter.

• Buy bagged produce if the price per pound is cheaper.

• Go to the back of the shelf to get the freshest milk, cereal, cold cuts, and other packaged goods.

• Check the receipt because 6 percent of those surveyed said they were overcharged at the register.

• Read weekly sale fliers carefully to make sure items are actually reduced in price.

• Watch for sneaky signs that tempt you to buy more than one bag or box.

• Be aware that the same food sold at different locations in the store may vary in price.

• Buy at the bakery to get savings from store-made baked goods.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Super Bowl's best, worst ads

If baby boomers were one of the target audiences for the Super Bowl ads this year, it must have been the baby boomer male companies and ad makers were pitching to. Ads for beer and cars seemed to predominate.

Of course, upcoming movies and NBC shows were also heavily advertised.
 
Steve Johnson rated the ads as follows for his blog on the Chicago Tribune:

• The Best – Monster.com, with an Honorable Mention to Career Builder.

• The Worse – Teleflora, with an Honorable Mention to Doritos.

• Best Proof That 3D Is Not Advertising’s Future – “Monsters vs. Aliens” movie ad.

• Best Animal Ad -- Budweiser’s Clydesdales.

• Should Have Been in 3D – Coke.

• Best Deadpan in Super Bowl Ad (Ever) – Hulu.com.

• Most Cringe Inducing – Cash$Gold.com.

• Nice Try, But… – H&R Block.

USA Today rated these ads for how they matched recessionary times:

• Bud Light: Corporate bean counter proposes no Bud Light at meetings to cut budget – 7.49

• Career Builder.com: When you know it’s time to get a new job – 7.37.

• E-Trade: Babies discuss "brutal" economy and E-Trade -- 7.27.

• Monster.com: Old job gets the wrong end of the moose – 6.95.

• Denny’s: Tweaks rival’s fancy pancakes, offers everyone free Grand Slam breakfast – 6.62.

• Cash4Gold: Ed McMahon and M.C. Hammer trade gold mementos for added cash – 5.58.

• Hyundai: Assurance program lets buyers return car without credit penalty if they lose job – 4.68.

I thought the Super Bowl ads were often too violent. Bill Swain, writing for Associated Content, agrees:

Super Bowl commercials have become as much a part of the celebrated game as the actual game itself. Super Bowl XLIII was no exception to the rule; although the year 2009 might go down as the year of violent commercials and lame remakes. Almost every commercial, from Cheeto's with the attack of the birds, to Doritos with their crystal ball and the Diet Pepsi commercial with the lightning had violent overtones mixed in with bad comedy.

A recent study by Common Sense Media – a group that provides ratings and reviews of TV shows, movies, and video games to parents – reported half of the commercial breaks during NFL telecasts show at least one advertisement featuring sex, drugs, or alcohol,

Almost 500 of the ads from showed an increased form of violence, including murders, explosions, and gunfights. The CSM staff watched 50 NFL games this season and logged more than 5,000 commercials.

Among the study’s findings:

• 40 percent of games showed ads for erectile dysfunction drugs.

• 46.5 percent of the sexual or violent advertisements were promotions by the broadcast networks for their own programs.

CSM wants ads of this type to be shown when children aren’t watching.

Meredith Lopez, blogging on the Huntington Post.com in the article “Super Bowl? Yes Please! Sexist Ads, No Thank You!” wants football ads cleaned up so kids who watch football will receive a better image of women.

What bothers me is the prevalence of sexism in football ads. In the 21st century, how can anyone be O.K. with this? How do these ad companies – and the companies they represent – even do it? Sexism in ads, to me, is not only offensive, it's beyond outdated to the point of being pathetic. Do we really still need half-naked women in bikinis to increase beer sales? Or dancing supermodels in mini-dresses to sell some vitamin drink?

I agree. 

I’d like to see better quality ads on TV that are less violent and sexist.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Baby boomer buying power remains strong

It’s interesting to see a new study that reports the buying power of baby boomers is remaining strong for now.

Despite the fact that boomers are beginning to retire in the U.S., they continue to have money to spend, according to research by The Nielsen Co. and the Hallmark Channel.

Baby boomer households made up nearly $230 billion in sales of consumer packaged goods products and represent 55 percent of the total of these sales, the study reports. The research found that the boomer households’ share of these sales is 5 percent higher than their share of population.

I wonder if this trend will continue as the economy worsens and more boomers retire.

The research was part of new effort by Hallmark and Nielsen in which 125,000 consumers use a scanner to report on the products they buy.

This allows Hallmark to document the impact of their programming against advertiser’s marketing targets, which will help media buyers and planners better target their client’s spending. 

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Are baby boomers shopping on Black Friday?

What draws people to Black Friday, the big shopping extravaganza the day after Thanksgiving, and are baby boomers among those getting up in the middle of the night, standing in line, and looking for huge savings?

Baby boomers – 36 percent – and the silent Generation – 18 percent – are less likely to shop on Black Friday than Gen Y – 53 percent – and Gen X – 46 percent, according to a Martiz Poll on consumer opinions.

Forty-one percent of those responding to the poll said they would shop on Black Friday, compared to 37 percent who said so in 2007, the Maritz poll reports.

The boomers who indicated that they’d be shopping on Black Friday said they’d be going to these stores:

•  Walmart – 57%

• Target – 47%

• Best Buy – 34%

• Toys R US – 23%

• K-Mart – 27%

• Kohl’s – 27%

• Sears – 29%

• Macy’s – 17%

• Circuit City – 18%

• Victoria’s Secret – 13%

• Apple Store/iTunes – 6%

What’s the attraction for Black Friday, which seems to become more intense each year?

People are looking for deep cuts in price. They’re willing to wait in line in the cold for hours and push their way through the crowds. They often have in mind specific items they want to give for Christmas gifts such as toys, iPods, and videogames. Or, they’re looking for a big ticket item for their households such as a flat-panel TVs, laptops, and digital cameras.

For a number of shoppers, beginning their seasonal buying on Black Friday helps them to complete it early or to make good progress toward finishing it.

Black Friday shoppers often check ads for prices, and make lists of the items they want to buy. They’ll dash through the first store, buying items, then move on to other stores. This year, since the economy is in a recession, Black Friday shoppers are more cautious about their spending than in previous years.

In many stores, only a few of the deeply discounted items are available. As a result injuries and even deaths have occurred due to shoving and trampling by shoppers.

The day is called "Black Friday" because of its importance in determining a store's profitability for the year.

My next post will be on “Why Baby Boomer Women Aren’t Spending Money on Themselves This Holiday Season.”

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Opportunities abound for baby boomers to cut costs with Internet coupons

Although millions of baby boomers use the Internet, they may not be aware of how to use it to locate coupon codes and printable coupons to slash their food bills and retail store costs.
 
I recently received an e-mail to sign up for a coupon Web site. However, being a cautious-consumer type, I thought I’d do research before responding. I’m glad I waited.
 
A host of new Web sites offering coupons and online promotions are flooding the Internet, according to the article “Five Best Coupon-Clipping Web Sites” on SmartMoney. While these sites offer a wide array of discounts, they're also causing confusion among shoppers, making it difficult to figure out what are the really good deals and which coupons are duds.

SmartMoney interviewed consumer advocates and deal hunters to develop this list of worthwhile Internet coupon sites:
 
Coupons.com
 
CouponCabin.com
 
CouponMom.com
 
RetailMeNot.com
 
SmartSource.com
 
Several of these sites offer short video clips on how the coupon offerings work.
 
When looking through these Web sites to see what’s offered, I saw that, like newspaper coupons, the grocery store coupons were mostly for processed foods, over-the-counter drugs, paper products, and cleaning supplies. While saving money on these items is great, boomers shouldn’t rely on processed food to be a mainstay of the diet.
 
The CouponMom.com site featured Stephanie Nelson, founder of site, in a shopping spree where $137 worth of groceries cost $25. Nelson used coupons for items that were on sale. She also buys three copies of the Sunday paper so she can get three coupons for each item she wants to buy. When Nelson bought three or four items, she was able to get another one for free.
 
Nelson’s “super shopping trip” reminded me of the reports of coupon queens from days past.
 
Despite the shortcomings of coupon offerings, it’s worth it to try out Internet coupons as grocery prices continue to rise to see if you can save money.
 
September is National Coupon Month.
 
Last year, consumers saved $3 billion dollars with coupons, according to About.com.
 
Coupon users report an average of 7 percent savings on their grocery bill with coupons, a survey by the Promotion Marketing Association reports.
 
The number of American adults using online coupons rose by 39 percent, to 36 million, between 2005 and 2008, according to a survey conducted by Simmons/Experian Research and Coupons Inc. Online users account for nearly one-quarter, 24 percent, of the total 148 million consumers who use coupons, compared to 22 percent market penetration as of last year.
 

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

People love, hate their flip-flops

When New York Times blogger Tara Parker-Pope wrote a post on "Flip-Flops May Lead to Foot Pain," she received 200 comments on her blog Well from people who loved and hated their flip-flops.

In her post, Parker-Pope reported on research from Auburn University in Alabama that looked at the biomechanics of the flip-flop. The study determined that wearing thong-style flip-flops can result in sore feet, ankles, and legs.

In a follow-up post, "The Well Podcast: More About Flip-Flops," she interviewed Elizabeth Semmelhack, curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, about the history of flip-flops and other footware and why footwear inspires such passion.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How to remove dandelions naturally

While I’ve been busy blogging this spring, dandelions have been busy growing in my yard.

What to do?

The Washington Toxics Coalition recommends removing them by hand to avoid exposure to harmful chemicals.

Dandelions are a common perennial weed that invades both lawns and gardens, according to the coalition’s publication “Weed Management for the Lawn and Garden.”

They’re established through wind-dispersed seed. A thick taproot stores food reserves.

When hand digging, make sure that the whole root of the dandelion is removed.

If you have a large lawn, the coalition suggests using a tool that allows you to pull the roots rapidly while you stand up.

If the root breaks while pulling, which happens frequently, the plant can resprout from the piece remaining in the soil.

To reduce the spread of dandelions, the flowers shouldn’t be allowed to go to seed, according to the coalition’s weed management guide. Mow frequently to keep the flowers from maturing.

In lawns, the removal of dandelion plants leaves small bare areas where new weed seed can germinate. Be sure to spread a little grass seed in those spots to prevent the dandelion from growing again.

That’s too much work you say? Studies show that children and pets that use lawns where pesticides are applied have higher rates of cancer.

When I read these studies about 10 years ago, I thought the use of pesticides in home lawns and gardens would be reduced. However, pesticides are still being sold in record amounts in attractive packages and bottles in home and garden stores, big box stores, drug stores, and supermarkets.

If you’re too busy to pull dandelions by hand, try hiring a neighborhood teenager.

One project I’d like to undertake is to create a Youth Corp to work on hand weed removal so that harmful pesticides don’t need to be used.

Last weekend, I helped a friend pull dandelions by hand to help get ready for a garden party. We’ll be at it again this weekend. See upper photo.

My dandelions aren’t as bad as hers. Hers are tough, with three to five dandelions in each cluster. The leaves on my dandelions are tender and easier to pull. See lower photo.

I’ve been concerned about pesticide exposure since I was a child. Growing up in Central Washington, I was sprayed with pesticide drift from airplanes when I was walking down the road. I also thinned apples as a teen in trees that were dripping with pesticides.

My dad, Minor H. Slingsby, died in 1990 at age 80 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a lymphatic system cancer. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is linked to pesticide exposure. My dad was an apple farmer.

I learned about this link from a story on National Public Radio a few months after my dad had been diagnosed. A story reported increasing numbers of farm worker children, who were in the fields with their parents, were developing the disease.

In additional owning a small apple orchard in Central Washington, my dad was the field manager for a large apple farming operation. He was in charge of the spray crews. One of his jobs was to shake the residue out of the sacks of pesticides after the crews had finished with them. Then he burned the sacks.

If you’re currently using pesticides on your yard, you may want to find out more information about them.

The Pesticide Action Network North America has a Pesticide Info Database that you can use to find out about the health effects of pesticides and regulatory information.

The network's Web site also has other helpful information about pesticides.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Wrinkle creams widely used, but don’t do much good

When I was reading blogs recently, I saw a boomer marketing blog that gushingly congratulated the graphic artist who created one of those Internet wrinkle cream ads where a line sweeps over the wrinkled-woman’s face and she turns into a 20 year old.
 
The big topic of discussion was that the graphic designer didn’t remove the wrinkles from an old woman’s photo. She added the wrinkles to a young woman’s photo.
 
Those ads and other wrinkle cream ads are mostly hype. In fact, I found the Internet transformation ads offensive to aging women.
 
Although more than $1 billion is spend on wrinkle creams, the creams don’t do much good.
 
A test reported in the January 2007 issue of Consumer Reports found that some wrinkle creams worked better than others. But, on average, wrinkle creams made little difference in the appearance of the skin.
 
Any improvements that occurred were variable and slight. The women found it difficult to judge the performance of the wrinkle creams they tested. And their opinions bore no relation to how well the products performed based on objective measures.
 
The test also found that there isn’t any correlation between price and results.
 
Some dermatologists are recommending a back-to-basics approach, according to a New York Times article. The three-step approach includes: soap; sunscreen every day; and, if necessary, a product for specific skin needs, such as a cream for pimples or pigmented spots, or a vitamin-enriched moisturizer for aging skin.
 
You may want to consider protecting your face from the sun by wearing a hat and by avoiding being out in sun-intensive times of the day. Try facial exercises, which often work well.
 
Also stop smoking. It causes the skin to sag and wrinkle.
 
See “Wrinkle Creams: Your Guide to Younger Looking Skin” from the Mayo clinic Web site for tips on taking care of your skin and what wrinkle creams can and can’t do for you.
 
Why doesn’t the U.S. Food and Drug Administration do a better job of regulating wrinkle creams?
 
The FDA calls wrinkle creams cosmetics, and the agency defines cosmetics as having no medical value. The FDA doesn’t scrutinize cosmetics like it does drugs, according to the Mayo Clinic article. Cosmetics don't undergo rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness before they go on the market.
 
The FDA does take action if cosmetic advertising makes medical claims or when cosmetics contain ingredients that may pose a potential health hazard to consumers.
 
So, it’s “buyer beware” when you buy any over-the-counter product to reduce your wrinkles.
 
Here are more references to help you make decisions about wrinkle creams:
 
“Hope in a Jar: Do Skin Creams Work” – WedMD
 
“Study: Most Wrinkle Creams Don’t Work” – WebMD

“Cosmetics” – Food and Drug Administration

“Deep Skin: Cosmetic Safe Database” – Environmental Working Group
 
“Anti-Wrinkle Compound Found to Cause Pathological Reaction in Skin Cells” – Senior Journal
 
“Skin Care and Aging” – MedicineNet.com
 
“Wrinkle Cream Not Working? Give Me Two More Jars” – The New York Times

My next two posts on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will discuss How Bad is Botox for You? and Why You Should Think Twice Before Having Plastic Surgery.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs needs to be banned

Having not watched much television in the last 10 years, I was stunned by the amount of advertising about prescription drugs shown on TV these days.

I think direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs should be banned. It's responsible for the fact that Americans are taking too many prescription drugs that are adversely affecting their health with side effects and untimely deaths.

In 1994, the average American purchased eight prescriptions from his or her pharmacy, Melody Pedersen stated in her new book, “Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves Into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs.” In 2006, the number increased to more than 12. Older Americans take an average of 30 prescriptions a year.

More than 100,000 people in the U.S. die each year from prescription drugs, Petersen reported in her book.

Yesterday, the American Medical Association called for better government oversight of prescription drug advertisements directed at consumers to protect patients from misleading information.

Association President-elect Nancy Nielsen, M.D., shared the organization's concerns with some direct-to-consumer advertisements in testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

"Direct-to-consumer ads often portray drugs through rose-colored glasses by including more information about a drug's benefits than risks," said Nielsen. "Imbalances in these ads can diminish patient understanding of certain drug risks, and increase the need for an ongoing dialogue between patients and physicians about the benefits and risks of prescription drugs."

At the hearing, the association discussed the need for federal Food and Drug Administration regulation over direct-to-consumer advertising and shared guidelines for this type of advertising that address advertising content, disclosures, and audiences targeted.

"The association guidelines for direct-to-consumer advertising can help ensure that patients receive information about prescription drugs that is accurate, educational, well-balanced and encourages patient-physician communication," said Nielsen. "We look forward to working with Congress to achieve our shared goal -- that direct-to-consumer advertisements focus on truly helping patients rather than maximizing pharmaceutical companies' bottom line."

For more information prescription drugs, see my series on the topic by clicking on the Prescription Drugs category to the left.