Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Mon, Nov 9 1992 Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 04:44:15 EST Message-ID: 11-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Nov. 9, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network `DRACULA' HAS STAKE IN MARKET: A unique array of movie-related merchandise has come out of Francis Ford Coppola's epic film, opening Friday. The film has inspired designer gowns ($1,000 to $4,000), silk embroidered sheets ($1,500 a set), $200 towels and a bejeweled coffin necklace ($480). Terry Melville, a former Macy's fashion director, was hired by Columbia Pictures to create the movie merchandise. (For more, see special Dracula package below.) CONSUMERS DRINK UP: Last year, consumers drank $1.3 billion worth - or 212 million gallons - of soft-drink alternatives, including bottled iced teas, iced coffees, mineral waters, sparkling waters, fruit-flavored waters, juices and sports drinks. Soft-drink alternative beverage revenue could double or more by 1996, says industry consultant Michael Bella of Beverage Marketing. ALTERNATIVE DRINKS BOOMING: Revenue of alternative-beverage marketers such as Snapple, rocketed from $13 million in 1988 to $215 million in 1991, and bottled-water marketer Clearly Canadian, zoomed from $7 million in 1989 to a projected $240 million in revenue this year. Demand for Snapple teas and sodas is so strong in the West that the firm has rerouted shipments from the Midwest and East Coast. SUI ON TOP OF FASHION HEAP: Fashion folks have crowned Anna Sui queen of the new grunge look. For spring, her loyal subjects will be wearing ankle socks and platform Doc Martens; Army fatigues; poor-boy union suits; rainbow knit bell-bottoms; slit, X-rated sheer Dogpatch floral frocks (with essential matching G-strings); ruffled satin teddies; and bed jackets trimmed with maribou. RACISM REARS ITS UGLY HEAD: Like many colleges, the University of Massachusetts is struggling with racism on a campus where the student body of 23,000 is increasingly diverse. A dorm rampage last month was sparked when a black counselor was punched by a white youth. One in four minority students experiences slurs or harassment each year, says Adele Terrell of National Institute Against Prejudice and Violence. ROBOTS BEING USED IN SURGERY: Get ready for robots in the operating room. Doctors have used a robotic device to assist in surgery for the first time. The seven-foot arm with a drill on the end was recently used to replace a diseased hip on a patient in Sacramento, Calif. The procedure has been tested in surgery on 26 dogs, but now the Food and Drug Administration has approved 10 tests on humans as part of a study. AIRFARES ARE ON THE WAY UP: Airfares are headed up again - despite sporadic sales aimed at vacationers. Major airlines postponed fare increases from Tuesday to Thursday. American and Delta want to raise fares $10 to $60 round trip on routes requiring a connecting flight. America West, Northwest, TWA, United and USAir want to do the same on connecting and non-stop. JAPANESE FIRMS CUT EXPORTS: To ease trade friction, leading Japanese firms are cutting exports by producing products at overseas assembly plants. Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that in 1984, 41% of NKK Steel's revenue came from exports; it dropped to 20% in 1991. Sumitomo Metal's exports dropped from 40% in 1984 to 22% in 1991. Nisson Motors dropped exports from 58% in 1984 to 41% in 1991. MILITARY SUICIDES RISING: Suicide rates in the military are on the rise. Defense Department figures show more than 14 suicides for every 100,000 people in the Army and the Marines, up from 10 in 1987. That compares to 11 suicides for every 100,000 people in the general population. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DRACULA: ANNA SUI CREATED COSTUMES: Dracula designer costumes, created by Anna Sui, Zang Toi, Byron Lars and others, and high-priced items such as the sheets and towels are available at Macy's in New York and Fred Heyman of Beverly Hills. Other items priced for the mass market - shirts, vests, capes, bustiers, glow-in-the-dark night shirts, costume jewelry - will be sold in department and specialty stores. BOOKS DUE ON `DRACULA': Because the movie was inspired by Stoker's 1897 novel, there are publishing tie-ins: Signet:Penguin is releasing Stoker's novel in a $3.99 paperback edition that includes photos from the movie. There's also a new, $15.95 audio book of Stoker's novel. "Bram Stoker's Dracula: The Film and the Legend" (Newmarket Press, $29.95 hard cover, $14.95 paperback) with the shooting script. COMIC BOOK COMING OUT: "The Essential Dracula," due in January, is an annotated version of Stoker's novel by Leonard Wolf, a noted gothicist and historical consultant on the film. And Topps is serializing the movie in comic book form. The first of four issues ($2.95 each) is now in stores. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM