Tag Archives: Becky Sun

BRAZIL BEYOND SAMBA

January 15, 2013 – 1:53 pm

by Becky Sun Brazil is more than samba, futebol and rainforest. It’s a rising economic powerhouse — not only because of agriculture and natural-resource exports, but increasingly because of its beverages, fashion, personal-care products and more. China is one country that’s discovering this Latin American giant. Brazilian Gate, a bar in the trendy pedestrian-only zone […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Food/Beverage, Global, Health/Beauty, Retail | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

FASHIONABLE JAPAN

October 23, 2012 – 11:24 am

by Becky Sun Beauty writers know to watch Japan, the home of sometimes wacky and sometimes wonderful trends. On October 18, 2012, in the US, the National Geographic Channel aired an episode of Taboo on Japanese “bagel heads” — just what it sounds like, thanks to saline injections in the forehead. Three weeks earlier, when […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Beauty, Consumers, Global | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

FOOD AS MEDICINE

August 28, 2012 – 11:40 am

by Becky Sun When Westerners don’t feel so good, most likely they’ll reach for a pill. In East Asia, the instinct is to eat or drink something — but not just anything. To restore their energy in the heat of summer, Koreans turn to samgyetang, a hot soup made with a whole young chicken and […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Food/Beverage, Global, Health | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

MOMMY (AND DADDY) WARS

July 10, 2012 – 3:10 pm

By Becky Sun In case you didn’t notice, there’s another “mommy war” in the blogosphere. In an Atlantic article titled “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” (accompanied by the obligatory photo of a toddler in Mom’s briefcase), Anne-Marie Slaughter revisits the well-worn grooves of the “mommy track,” parental leave and the meaning of modern […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Culture, Money/Spending, U.K., Work | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

A NEW WAY TO WOO CHINESE CONSUMERS

May 15, 2012 – 12:47 pm

by Becky Sun It used to be that Chinese mainlanders were too poor to travel. But as personal incomes rose, they started venturing farther and farther from home. In the past few years, the world’s top tourist and shopping destinations have been wooing them with Chinese signage, interpreters, and even slippers and rice porridge at […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Consumers, Culture, Entertainment, Television | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

MUCH ADO ABOUT BABYCCINOS

March 6, 2012 – 1:07 pm

by Becky Sun The preschool set in Brooklyn is foaming at the mouth, apparently, and so are some indignant adults. The hot story that was brewing in February started when the Brooklyn Paper  published a story about how parents in fashionable neighborhoods are ordering babyccinos — small cups of decaf lattes or steamed milk — for […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Food/Beverage, Global | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Commbank app will allow iPhone users to pay “anyone, anytime, anywhere”

December 6, 2011 – 2:14 pm

by Katharine Milner and Becky Sun WHAT’S HAPPENING No cash, checks or cards? No problem — not if you have an iPhone and are a customer of Commonwealth Bank. This Australian bank is poised to launch Kaching (as in the sound of money), an iPhone app that makes P2P (peer-to-peer) payments instantly and remotely. The […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Money/Spending, Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Winnipeg newspaper opens café to connect with the community

November 22, 2011 – 3:43 pm

by Michelle Auer and Becky Sun WHAT’S HAPPENING The Winnipeg Free Press is giving the meaning of social media a new twist — a traditional one. Many businesses encourage comments and feedback via email, Facebook, Twitter and other electronic means, and so does this newspaper. But it has also opened its own café to encourage […]

By iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Media | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

7 BILLION PEOPLE TODAY, 9.2 BILLION TOMORROW

November 1, 2011 – 11:10 am

by Becky Sun The United Nations estimates that yesterday was the day that planet Earth reached 7 billion people. (The US Census Bureau’s population clock, which runs a little slower, puts today’s number at 6,972,015,442.) It’s hard to know just what to make of 7 billion humans. Pro-natalists and optimists say that the world can […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Culture, Economy, Global | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

WE HAVE BECOME FAT

September 15, 2011 – 8:36 am

by Becky Sun In Tanzania, a common greeting for someone you haven’t seen in a while is “Umenenepa!,” which translates to “You have become fat!” While Westerners are horrified by this “compliment,” being plump carries all sorts of positive connotations in a region that’s food insecure and prone to disease, and where most jobs involve […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Food/Beverage, Global, Health/Beauty | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HELP! I HAD A BABY AND CAN’T GET OUT

April 26, 2011 – 12:19 pm

by Becky Sun Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control reported that birthrates have dropped for American women in all age groups … except those age 40 to 44. This group — my group — saw a 6% increase from 2007 to 2009. Granted, this cohort still has the lowest birthrate, and basic biology […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Culture, Money/Spending, Retail | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ALL THEY WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS…

November 9, 2010 – 11:46 am

by Becky Sun Christmas is 46 days away, a bit too early to predict the hot toy of the season. Maybe Squinkies will be 2010’s Zhu Zhu Pets. Or perhaps Sing-a-ma-jigs. (“They chatter, sing and harmonize!” — which means parents will be forced to buy more than one, if they can stomach it.) Amazon’s list […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumers, Parents, Retail | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

TOPS OF THE WORLD

August 24, 2010 – 3:02 pm

by Becky Sun In mid-September, Interbrand will come out with its annual ranking of Best Global Brands for the year. If the past is any indication, familiar names like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nokia and Google will place in the top 10. At Iconoculture, Global View does something similar yet radically different. We reach out to our […]

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(THE OTHER) FOOTBALL FEVER

June 10, 2010 – 8:39 am

by Becky Sun In January and February, my Facebook friends were abuzz over the Super Bowl. In March and April, it was all about the NCAA. Memorial Day brought talk of the Indy 500. But now that the quadrennial FIFA World Cup is just days away, I’m hearing … crickets. Perhaps it doesn’t help that […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

FOUND IN TRANSLATION

October 6, 2009 – 4:11 pm

by Becky Sun As the editor for Global View, I sometimes use online translation tools to read foreign websites. After an incident in which the Spanish-to-English translation of “Coca-Cola” came up as “Cocaine-Tail,” I stopped using that particular program and switched to one where its millions of users could manually improve the results. But as […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Culture, Multicultural | Also tagged , , , , | Comments Off
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