It’s all about image. That’s the premise behind Seattle’s Jones Soda, according to founder Peter van Stolk. Take a look at Pepsi and Coca-Cola marketing and you can’t disagree that image sells the sugar water. Jones Soda has made their young consumers feel attached to the brand with an irreverent, funky attitude. Neon colored flavors like Green Apple, Blue Bubblegum, Fufu Berry, and Crushed Melon were taste-tested by high schoolers. Customers can send in their own photos for a potential appearance on a bottle label, or submit quotes and fortunes for the bottle caps. As the head of a company selling to a lifestyle, van Stolk has big plans for his little company, and he hints that their future successes may not come just from soda sales.

There’s really a Trader Joe, and his name is Joe Coloumbe. At a talk given for the California Association of Winegrape Growers, the man behind Trader Joe’s told how the Little Ice Age turned Northern Europeans into beer and liquor drinkers, which led to a culture of non-wine drinkers in the United States. He went onto discuss the effects of climate changes and the weak dollar on the wine industry. Finally he came to the topic of how Trader Joe’s, the store, had its start. He originally targeted customers with college degrees, giving them a huge selection of alcoholic beverages (“100 Bourbons, 50 Scotches and the world’s largest assortment of California wines”). The stores appealed particularly to the “over-educated and underpaid.” Well-priced gourmet food items were added, but the store originally built itself on the sale of wine. (via eGullet weekend update)

The list of 100 Most Often Mispronounced Words and Phrases in English includes this strange direction next to the entry for “whet” (not “wet”): “In the Northeastern US the sound [hw], spelled “wh,” is vanishing and these two words are pronounced the same. Elsewhere they should be distinguished. ” So if I’m from the Northeast, but don’t live there anymore, do I get to say it “wrong” too? (via Yahoo’s What’s New)

The latest on Thomas Keller’s fire-damaged Per Se restaurant: the $85,000 Bonnet stove did survive the dousing; they still aren’t taking reservations, but they hope to open by April 1.

The world’s most expensive metronome (actually, I’m just guessing on that), conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Fifth this week. The Sony QRIO, an advanced robot that can play putt putt golf and dance was programmed with the symphony’s tempos for the performance. Here’s a photo of the diminutive maestro. Oddly, a musician remarked that “it was amazing that (the robot) maintained the same tempo all the time.” That’s about all you’d expect from a robot conductor, isn’t it?

It’s time to check up on what DeBeers, errr, sorry, the Diamond Trading Company (DeBeers’ marketing arm) has in store for the discriminating consumer in 2004. When we last looked in on the DTC, marketing efforts for the right-hand diamond ring, designed for women to buy for themselves, were in full swing (my DTC post from Nov 03). Plans have now been unveiled for year two of the right-hand ring push, and they are not letting up. “We’re still working on making it a cultural imperative to own a right-hand ring,” says the DTC. But the vertical ring styles, designed to differentiate “relationship” left hand rings from the “I’m independent enough to buy my own jewelry, thank you” rings, have not been selling as well as traditional styles. Designers will be encouraged to be creative with more differentiated styles. 25% of the DTC marketing budget will be devoted to the right-hand ring promotion. Another 25% will go towards a new campaign that will remind men to buy diamonds for anniversary gifts. Apparently two-thirds of married women have never received diamonds for their anniversaries (oh, the humanity! :-) Although retailers reminded them that diamond stud earrings and bands are popular anniversary gifts, DeBeers, errr, the DTC, chose to focus on three-stone rings for this campaign. Good thing our fingers aren’t wider.

It’s too darn hot. The Walt Disney Concert Hall raised temperatures in neighboring condominiums by at least 15 degrees. Unplanned angles of glossy steel outside the Founders Room reflected the sun into the buildings, warming residences to uncomfortable temperatures. Netting has been put up as a temporary solution. The permanent plan is to sandblast the steel to reduce reflection.

The Royal Opera House was straightforward about their reason for dropping soprano Deborah Voigt from an upcoming production of “Ariadne on Naxos.” They wanted someone slimmer for the part. The casting director envisions Ariadne in an elegant, black evening gown, and also stated that it’s not just a question of how a soprano looks but “how they move on stage.” In the past Voigt told Opera magazine “Honey, if you can find someone who can sing over that orchestra and still wear that size 5 costume, more power to you!”

The Food Network’s Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters, airing in April, has lined up celebrity tasting judges, Iron Chefs from the original series (Masaharu Morimoto and Hiroyuki Sakai), Food Network chefs (Bobby Flay and Mario Batali), and, to ensure that I’ll watch, Alton Brown as the play-by-play commentator. Unfortunately, Alton reported on his site that he collapsed during filming last week. He blamed a migraine which brought on vomiting which brought on stress, fatigue and dehydration which brought on arrhythmia. But he’s doing fine now, and it sounds like he’ll be watching his caffeine intake.

“WELCOME NEWS MEDIA, FREE SLICE OF PIE W/ PRESS PASS.” Thus the local businesses of Redwood City are welcoming the expected masses of journalists who’ve arrived in town to cover the Scott Peterson trial. In addition to the free Baker’s Square pie, the press can enjoy a complimentary cruise on the bay, 10% off at El Torito, and reduced rental car and massage rates. However, parking a satellite truck in town for a month will set them back $7,500, despite the best efforts of a media attorney who made a plea for a reduced fee at a City Council meeting, only to be rebuked by a councilmember who told her “I’m embarrassed for you.” Seems the City Council isn’t feeling as generous as the business community.