This means that we’ve hit a point in time where consoles and accessories and private access clubs aren’t enough, now it’s time to roll out shirts and underwear, and if we’re lucky we may even see a Snuggie out of it.

The move from exclusive products to a licensed brand is a big leap, sometimes scary at that, because it is no longer just about your brand, it becomes about your brand’s leveragability into a new world of products and promotions. While some people argue this as a sellout move, it can hardly be classified as that when the house brand exists under the hand of Sony.

We’ve seen other major brands do this—Coke and Porsche being two prime examples of proper execution. This ties into the Brand Sanctuary™ Wave because how a brand survives outside of its key market is now in the customer’s hands. If your brand is respected, trusted or coveted then odds are you have a decent starting platform. I mean look at Porsche; they sell everything from sleds to kitchens.

So in essence Batman and Robin would be creating Captain America.

This seems like it would be the first step in creating a “super soldier” program, and thus flinging our world even further into the realm of costumed justice. Volunteering for the project would be huge. Who wouldn’t want to be an “improved human?” I think I would volunteer, but not until they worked out all the kinks. I don’t want my heart to explode whenever I get an adrenaline rush or anything.

That would be the worst super power ever; Heart Exploding – and really, you’d only be good for one adventure anyway.

Ok, let me explain what’s going on. Pilot is a stationary company responsible for those things we used to use all the time… you know: pens?  Well in a clever merging of the “old” with the “new” they have come up with a way to turn your own handwriting into a font!

Check out how it’s done here:

Emails can be impersonal and uniform, I guess in some ways we stamp our personality with the content. Bringing back personal handwriting to emails is not just a novelty; it’s a deeply felt connection to our sense of individuality and the written word that, to a certain extent, has been lost.

Unfortunately we can’t save the program to our computers yet and have to go to www. PilotHandwriting.com to send emails (…but directing traffic to their site is also pretty smart too, right?)

Now before you roll your eyes at this as another oversharing moment on Twitter, hear me out.  I really see this a great example of our Wave Yin Yang Blend™.

It’s a belt that monitors a babies kicking in the womb and sends a tweet every time the little tyke gets all “Karate Kid”.  Ok, I agree that if you let these tweets go out to your entire online community of friends, family, and tweeps you can totally expect to be blocked and defriended.

However, to me the point is sharing the experience of pregnancy with the Daddy (or the other Mommy: coz we roll inclusive here at CultureWaves).

In fact, that is why Kickbee™ founder Corey Menscher was inspired to create it for his then pregnant wife.  He say’s he wanted to “help dads get in on some of the action that moms feel 24/7 during pregnancy. In a perfect world, when your baby kicks, you might grab your husband’s hand to place it on your belly so he can experience one of your baby’s first movements, too. Well, at least some of the time. But what if he’s at work, or if you’re at work, or if he’s serving in Iraq, or if you’re traveling cross country? Dad misses out on the one-of-a-kind experience. So Mensher wanted to come up with a way to connect parents during pregnancy even when they can’t be in kicking distance of each other.”

I think this is a great way of utilizing existing communication tools to not only “Blur the line between the sexes” but share experiences that create deeper connections.  Now perhaps some sadist out there will come up with a device that emulates the pain of child birth!  Coz I’m sure you’d be into sharing that feeling…. right guys??

Well, the people at Raynor Contract seem to think so; which is why their new chair created in partner with Karim Rashid is designed to focus on your body’s pressure points. Yep, a Chakra Chair. The Chakra Chair is broken down into seven sections, which aligns with the bodies major pressure points, and although it is only in prototype mode people expect it to eventually see a production line. After all, we bought into a blanket with sleeves, so why not a Chakra Chair?

The thing that’s interesting about this is it takes the rare leap we seldom see in Inner Balance™, into design. Inner Balance is one of those Waves where everything is very person-centric, and it almost always involves the human element. But when we see a pure design piece meant to balance out the body, it’s an interesting treat.

As we’ve evolved our cultural opinions on Yoga and holistic health, we’ve seen the adoption of holistic habits, eastern rituals and beliefs make their way into the office. Yoga during lunch, meditation in the morning, it’s all slowly being adapted to keep the frustration down, and now there’s a chair to help align your being as well. Take that idea and sit on it.

A perfect example of the Sensory Appeal™ Wave applied to ambient advertising.  With smell being such a powerful emotional and physiological trigger, I can’t believe this is only one of the first outdoor billboards that uses this technology.  The mind, however, boggles at where this could go… let’s just hope a detergent company doesn’t inflict smelly socks on us!

Congratulations OldSpice Guy. Apparently you won The Game.

Well, the Human Truth is “I want some good stuff in my bad stuff.”™ And, Burger King has just released a new grainy ciabatta bun that is a perfect example. So, you find yourself at a fast food counter but at least you can let yourself off the hook a little by ordering a burger with a bun that’s made from whole grains and provides less calories, fat, and sodium compared to other offerings. The spiel says it’s “a great addition to a nutritionally-balanced lifestyle, without compromising on taste.”

A spot on example that’s not hard to understand.

Well here’s a QSR that’s taking things to the next level. The NYC based 4Food mission is “de-junking fast food” by bringing “fast food that’s fresh, delicious, and nutritious to everyone. The restaurants are designed to function as community hubs, serving local appetites with healthy, customizable options. 4Food commits to using no fads, fillers or anything artificial in its product.”

Check out this cool video explaining their noble cause here.

So basically they are putting “good stuff” (substantially more nutritious and healthy food) into the “bad stuff” perception of fast food.  Their first store will open August 16, 2010  at 40th Street and Madison Avenue, but I have a feeling this is a concept that will take off.  We’ll be watching closely and let you know!

Why can’t you opt-in or opt-out of delivery? It’s waste!

Well, here’s a Green Hot™ piece that went into the Thought Bank the other day that makes a lot of sense to me. Starbucks asked the public for ideas on how to reduce waste. One of the winning concepts was rewards for BYO cups. A spokes person said “increasing adoption of reusable cups – including travel tumblers and our own ceramic serveware – is definitely an important part of the equation for us.”

So many Green Hot solutions are simple! And, as one of my favorite songs says, “from little things, big things grow.”

When I did, my heart swelled: I Finally. Had. An. Anthem.

Yes, I’m a die hard bargain shopper as well as a hip hop fan….Whoever thought the twain shall meet???

Well it has in this spend-thrift ditty called “I got it at Ross” by Abraham Linkin.

Now, the jaded “web head” in me immediately jumped to the conclusion that this is a viral marketing campaign for the discount fashion retailer. But then I thought,  “rrreally… Ross: Dress For Less let some anonymous, cool, social media agency scour the streets of San Fran for two dudes that rap about anti-bling, anti-gangster, real world experiences on a broke ass ghetto blaster in Dolores Park and convince them to write a jam about Ross for heaps of corporate payola.”

Hmmm, yeah doesn’t sit right with me. My personal feeling is that this rap reflects the changing face of “luxury” or the “New Luxe” we’ve talked about since the recession hit.  It’s an esteem boost that doesn’t come from parading around in the top of the line name brands, but from finding the best bargain.

And in the true spirit of Brand Sanctuary™, these guys are merely expressing their “love” for a store that is helping them stay freshly attired during tough economic times. Yeah, there’s probably a good dose of ironic, hipster, tongue-in-cheek-ness but, for me, it’s got all the requisite ingredients that make me want to “share” it around my corner of the web.

Even if my first thought turns out to be right…well…jeeze…More power to Ross AND Abraham Linkin who are both getting talked about right now!