Buy Buy Love?

Was thinking this morning that just within the last two months, two
very large multi-national companies are spending huge sums to let us
know they exist and, if obliquely, that they are better than the
established leader in that field.

I speak of McDonalds and Microsoft, and their McCafè and Bing
initiatives, respectively. Can't give you the exact numbers in terms
of dollars being spent but I do know they are considerable. At first
thought, I would ask the question, "would not people find you if you
offered the superior products?" Or is the (American) consumer so media
trained to go with the most recent pitch they have heard.

With search engines being free, it seems like a case of survival of
the fastest and relevant. With coffee, you have the cost versus
hipness to factor in. For advertising junkies like me this will a
couple of interesting battles to watch. Now we just have to figure out
a way to leverage this fight to our advantage.

---
Forgive my brevity, this was sent via Newton 2.0 (iPod Touch v1.x)