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 Thu, Sep 24 1992 Date: Thu, 24 Sep 92 04:37:35 EDT Message-ID: 09-24 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Sept. 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network AD SPENDING DROPS: Spending by top advertisers fell 4% last year, hurt by the recession and the gulf war, `Advertising Age' says. The top 100 U.S. advertisers spent $34 billion on marketing last year vs. $35 billion in 1990. Newspaper advertising was especially hard hit, falling 22%. The last time spending fell was 1970. INTEREST IN DINOSAURS UP: Dinosaurs are hardly extinct. They're alive and kicking in toyland and movieland. Fred DaMert, president of the California gift and toy company that bears his name, says interest in the big creatures seemed to peak a couple of years back. "Now it seems to be reoccurring," he says. "Another generation of kids come along and sort of gets the interest going again," DaMert says. (For more, see special Dinosaurs package below.) TWO CURRENT MOVIES BUCK TREND: Moviemakers have been dialing 555 for years. The prefix is used only for directory assistance in the real world. But two current films use real numbers. "Sneakers" director thinks the 555 number sounds fake. The movie is using a real number that won't be used until after 2000. The phone numbers in "Light Sleeper" are also real. "Sleeper's" director got permission to use them. BELL ENCOURAGES 555 USE: Phone companies continue to urge filmmakers to use 555 numbers because using a real phone number "could really be a nightmare for some people," says Ron Conners, director of North American numbering plan administration for Bellcore, the Bell companies' research and engineering arm. But even he admits, "so many people recognize 555 as a fake number that it doesn't look realistic." MORE BABIES ARE BREASTFED: More moms are breastfeeding. Ross Laboratories shows nearly 54% breastfeed in hospitals. That's up from 51% two years ago. The increase was largest among groups tending to breastfeed least. That includes black mothers, less educated mothers and younger mothers. ECONOMY STILL IN LOW GEAR: Reports from around the nation show the economy is still stuck in low gear, the Federal Reserve says in its last look at the economy before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Most economists say the reports suggest a very sluggish economy. Real estate has improved in scattered areas and remains weak in others. Housing starts are up in general, but the industry is weak overall. AD SPENDERS DIVERSIFY: According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, the emergence of more quantifiable measuring yardsticks in research is slowly leading to a greater acceptance among media directors of the outdoor medium. The main reason for increase in diversity among users: Use of new media by tobacco and liquor makers has led to a dip in their outdoor spending. NON-TRADITIONAL COUPLES GAIN: Unmarried couples who work for Massachusetts state government will have comparable bereavement and hospital visitation rights as married couples under an executive order signed Wednesday by Gov. William Weld. It is believed to be the first time a state has extended such benefits to same-sex partners and unmarried heterosexual couples. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DINOSAURS: MOVIES WILL SPARK MORE INTEREST: Fred DaMert expects more interest in dinosaurs in anticipation of Steven Spielberg's dinosaur movie, "Jurassic Park," next year. The appeal of dinosaurs - particularly to the 3- to 8-year-old set -is largely a product of the imagination. DaMert, who has two young "dinosaur testers" at home, says dinosaurs fascinate kids because they're both real and unreal. KIDS PLAY WITH FANTASY: Dave Marrs, creative director of the California-based DinoCardz Co., echoes the idea that dinosaurs fascinate because they represent fantasy and reality. "The fact that it's a combination of both is what keeps this thing going," he says. The DinoCardz Company's dinosaur stickers, postcards, flashcards and trading cards have been approved by the Dinosaur Society. DISCOVERIES STILL BEING MADE: Although dinosaurs no longer roam the Earth, researchers are making dinosaur discoveries all the time, according to society founder Don Lessem. And while dinosaurs get kids excited about science, Lessem doesn't limit the fascination. "If you're lucky, you get it back when you're a grown-up," he says. "It's a really vibrant science." (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