Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Wed, Apr 29 1992 Date: Wed, 29 Apr 92 05:41:23 EDT Message-ID: 04-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update April 29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network JUICING LATEST HEALTH INTEREST: Forget bread machines. Forget food processors. The latest kitchen toy - and it's no toy; it's the key to health, says the Juiceman - is a juicer, a device to get juice from produce. Jay "Juiceman" Kordich is on the road touting "The Juiceman's Power of Juicing" (William Morrow, $15). He also has new juicers, Juiceman II for $289 and Juiceman Jr. for $149. (For more, see special Juice package below.) SOVIET UNION USED IN ADS: The Soviet Union is dead, but it still sells in the U.S. In a promotion that begins on May Day, the now-defunct Communist workers' holiday, Barq's Root Beer will give away Lenin pins and other Party favors in a Soviet "going out of business sale." And while Mikhail Gorbachev is out of the limelight, Absolut vodka has commissioned his grandnephew, Yuriy Gorbachev, to create an ad. WE'RE STILL IN SHAPE: The recession may be giving wallets a beating, but bodies are holding up very well, thank you. The Association for Fitness Professionals says that a survey taken at a recent personal training conference showed that 90% of those attending hadn't felt the effects of the recession. Training fees range from $7 or $8 to "hundreds of dollars," says exercise physiologist Douglas Brooks. TRAINING NO LONGER ELITIST: Personal training "has emerged from an elitist type of training, i.e. for the movie star ... (or) millionaire ... to something which the average person can participate in," says exercise physiologist Douglas Brooks, an advisory board member of the Association for Fitness Professionals, or IDEA. A recent IDEA survey shows the national average hourly rate is $25.50. BIRTH ASSISTANTS POPULAR: Pregnant women may have fewer complications and shorter hospital stays when aided by a birth assistant, studies suggest. A growing field, nearly 5,000 birth assistants have been trained in workshops in the USA, says Karen Parker, a certified midwife, registered nurse from Oregon. Demands on doctors and nurses have increased, and birth assistants can provide missing support, says Parker. MAMMOGRAM USE IS UP: At least three-quarters of women over age 40 have had mammograms, though they are still most frequently used by women who are white, educated and financially well off, says a Centers for Disease Control report presented Tuesday at the National Conference on Breast Cancer in Boston. A 1987 survey showed just 54% had a mammogram. SPRINT JOINS BANDWAGON: Long-distance companies are taking aim at small businesses. AT&T and MCI recently unveiled plans aimed at small businesses and Sprint now has come up with a plan called Business Clout that gives small businesses access to the same discounts that larger companies get. The program lets companies spending $50 to $2,500 per month in calls to merge phone use with other area businesses for discounts. STAR STOCKS BURN OUT: Many of last year's star stocks are burning out this year. Stocks of biotechnology, retailing, drug, high tech and other companies that soared last year now are plunging. One reason: The typical star last year rose on expectations of big earnings gains. When earnings can't live up to those fast-rising expectations, stocks can get creamed, says Compu-Val Investments' James Kalil. TWO CHAINS JOIN PRICE FIGHT: Two more hotel chains, Radisson and Red Lion, Tuesday joined the travel industry's price-cutting mania. This comes on the heels of American Airlines' fare restructuring starting a fierce war April 9 and car rental companies beginning a rate war later in the month. Sheraton recently unveiled a rate structure built on three discounts, similar to an airline-style rate structure. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON JUICE: BLAST THOSE BLEMISHES: The latest key to health is juicing, says Jay "Juiceman" Kordich. His book "The Juiceman's Power of Juicing" (William Morrow, $15) details his program for staying healthy and younger-looking by drinking vegetable and fruit juices. His concoctions include the "blemish blaster" (carrot-bell pepper) and the "blood regenerator" (carrot-spinach-lettuce-turnip-parsley). OVER 1 MILLION SOLD: Just under 1 million juice extractors were sold in the United States last year, up from only a couple hundred thousand just two years ago, according to Forbes magazine. Kordich drinks a minimum of four of his blends daily and at 69 has the energy of a 30-year-old, a wife half his age and two small sons. He promotes his book through infomercials linked with free seminars. It works. SOME ARE SKEPTICAL: "The Power of Juicing" will be No. 2 on the May 3 New York Times best-seller list for how-to books. But skeptics abound. The American Dietetic Association has no official position, but spokeswoman Mona R. Sutnick says "there's no evidence that you get more nutrients" from juice than from whole food. In fact, some experts express concern that nutrition elements may be lost. OTHERS EMBRACE JUICING: The "Juiceman" and his juicer have jolted the housewares market. Others are jumping on. Fitness-legend Jack La Lanne is promoting his own juicer on infomercials too, and yes, there's a "Juicewoman," Cherie Calbom. Juicers - Kordich's and those by such household names as Krups, Braun and Hamilton Beach:Proctor-Silex are flying out of stores. Cuisinart is bringing one out this summer for $100. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Beth Mann. (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