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On the way to work one morning I saw a large white van parked on the side of the highway assisting a stalled, sad car. As I drove by I read on the side of the van in big red letters, “CVS/Samaritan.” Having never heard of this I was eager to investigate what kind of service this was? Is there a fee or a helpline?

CVS/Samaritan has been around since 1978 but it is limited to a few cities: Chicago, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Providence, and Washington DC. CVS hired Samaritania, Inc., a private company in Massachusetts, to design, build, and run the CVS/Samaritan bus program. The CVS/Samaritan vans are staffed by drivers who are certified in many areas, including auto mechanics, medicine, and animal control. CVS/Samaritans cannot be summoned but Continue Reading »

It was the mid 1950s and the Ford Motor Company had a new mid-level car to name. They spared no expense, hiring an ad agency to produce over 6 thousand name possibilities, and engaging poet Marianne Moore to create several more.

But the developers of the car simply could not agree, and after all outside names were rejected, the family name Edsel was finally chosen.

The car went on to become one of the most remarkable commercial failures of its time. Of course, the name (which, according to market research, evoked words such as “weasel” and “dead cell”) wasn’t the soul reason for the brand’s downfall. Still, sometimes it pays to play it safe.

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With gas prices at a record high, it was surprising to hear that consumers are marking their gas purchase decisions based upon product performance rather than price. I thought I was alone in being brand loyal, but I am glad to hear that is not the case. According to research by the NPD Group, this marks a shift in consumer behavior after a decade of decline in gas purchases due to product performance.

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