the buzz log
Michelle Obama Action Figures: Collect All Three
Move over, Barbie. Stand back, Hillary Clinton Voodoo kit. There's a new action figure in town. Able to bare her strong arms (that bend at the elbows) and look smashing in a sleeveless shift dress, it's first lady Michelle Obama. As a six-inch plastic doll.
Fans of the figurine can collect all three models (available for $12.99 in stores or online): Election Night Michelle, sporting the memorable red-and-black number. "The View" Michelle, styled in black and white. Or "fist bump" Michelle, in a purple sheath with black belt — the look she wore when Obama accepted the party nomination and she made the hand gesture that launched 1,000 news stories.
Jailbreak Toys already offers a popular Barack Obama action figure. To date, 200,000 plastic presidents have sold. According to the blog Coolhunting, the toy company predicts Michelle will blast her husband's sales figures as a companion/competitor to him.
The Daily Mail notes that the White House had no comment on the Michelle addition to the Obama family doll collection. Earlier in the year, the first family did object to two Beanie Baby dolls named after the Obama daughters, saying it was inappropriate to milk two private citizens for marketing purposes.
But come on, you know Michelle and Barack Obama will be play acting with their plastic avatars when nobody's looking.
Battle of the Corporations
It’s Goliath vs. Goliath! AT&T and Verizon, two titans of the mobile phone industry, are slugging it out for your amusement. In a race to one-up each other, the two companies have each produced snarky TV ads that paint their not-so-friendly competition in an unflattering light. Let’s take a look at the ads...
Some might say Verizon started this fight. A short time ago, the company began airing commercials that showed how much more 3G coverage Verizon offered than AT&T. Maps were shown side by side, driving home the point to consumers that if it’s 3G coverage they long for, Verizon is the way to go. Here’s the ad that got AT&T so riled up. Note the clever and snarky tagline: “There’s a map for that.” Snap!
But AT&T is no chump. The company is fighting back with the help of Hollywood A-lister Luke Wilson. In a new ad hitting the airwaves, Mr. Wilson stands next to an orange chart with checkboxes. One by one, Wilson explains that AT&T has the “nation’s fastest 3G network,” lets you “talk and surf the web at the same time,” and has the most popular smartphones (no doubt a reference to Apple’s iPhone, an AT&T exclusive). At the end, Wilson admits that Verizon does have one thing AT&T doesn’t: a name that starts with “V.”
Which ad do you find more convincing? Feel free to sound off in the comments below.
Johnny Depp, Abraham Lincoln, Eggo Shortage: What's the Buzz
Our top picks from the day's hottest searches.
- Johnny Depp (Searches increased by 1,057%). It's official. People magazine has decreed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star the sexiest guy on the planet.
- Abraham Lincoln biography (+317%). On this day back in 1863, the 16th president delivered the immortal words of the Gettysburg Address.
- Eggo shortage (+283%). Remain calm. But the frightening prospect of an Eggo-less breakfast remains a reality through summer.
- Sarah Palin book tour (+116%).The former Republican VP candidate kicks off a three-week, multi-city tour. Is it just us, or does it feel like we're re-living last year's campaign.
- Beaujolais nouveau (+109%). The first French wine of the season has been released. Cheers.
Going Up: Obesity Rates
Here's a heavy subject: If obesity trends continue, more than 40% of the U.S. will be obese by 2018. According to a new study, that's not the only number to go up: The health care costs associated with a tubby country will quadruple to $344 billion a year, making up a rotund 21% of all health costs.
That's a lot to swallow. The reason? Health care economists who authored the study say that obesity is connected to other illnesses, like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Unhealthy people are costly to the health care system.
Japan has been attempting to rein in weight with a mandated measure on waist size, spurring chubby residents into unhealthy behavior like crash diets to make their numbers. But it's hard to imagine the U.S. doing anything of the kind. Or that it would work.
The solution, say researchers, is to keep the obesity level the same. (You're obese if you're 30 pounds overweight.) The states most at risk to tip the scales are Kentucky, Maryland, and Mississippi. While the slimmest areas are led by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and D.C. But even the least obese state of Colorado estimates its obesity health costs to be over $3 billion.
It's not like Americans aren't trying to lose weight. The quest for the ultimate diet that will magically shed the pounds (preferably painlessly) is an ever-popular quest. Lookups on "400 calorie diet," "bellyfat diet," and "low protein diet," all top the search box.
Scientists are also offering up their solutions, like investing communities and employers in a nationwide weight-loss effort. Paging Richard Simmons.
Filed under: Health
Black Friday: Prepare for the Fight
Attention, class. Here’s a logic question for you: If it’s true that everyone loves a deal, and Black Friday offers the best deals of the year, then is it safe to assume that folks will go into a state of high-grade hysteria the day after Thanksgiving? The answer is: duh, of course.
Though over a week away, Black Friday is already igniting the Search box. Shoppers have pushed up searches on “black friday 2009” and “black friday ads” to dizzying heights. One might think that retailers would keep the deals a secret until the big day, but nothing could be further from the truth.
In an effort to get spend-happy shoppers to their stores, retailers have “leaked” many of their most drool-worthy deals. Offers from Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are all garnering a ton of lookups. And, interestingly, many of the deals are quite similar.
CNN Money explains what shoppers can expect find at Walmart on November 27. According to sources, there will be HDTVs, laptops, toys, and Blu-ray players for the grabbing. Confirmed products include a 50-inch Sanyo 720p plasma TV for $598, a Magnavox Blu-ray player for $78, and a GPS from TomTom for $59.
And across the urban sprawl at Target? A lot of the same, actually. There, you can get a 32-inch LCD HDTV from Westinghouse for $246, some toys for 50% off, and toasters and coffee makers for just $3. Best Buy will reportedly offer shoppers a 50-inch Samsung plasma TV for $898, "huge discounts" on GPS units, and a PlayStation 3 Slim with two games for $300.
It's worth noting that none of these deals are "official," as the stores have yet to confirm them. But odds are, they're the real deal. Set your alarms and sharpen your claws — it's gonna be a long day.
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worst Airports For Delays 2009 | Breakout! |
| 2 | How To Survive A Recession | Breakout! |
| 3 | Ice Cream Calorie Counter | Breakout! |
| 4 | Jayson Williams | Breakout! |
| 5 | Alexandra Kerry | Breakout! |
| 6 | Chaz Bono | 10707% |
| 7 | Kelly Osbourne | 3298% |
| 8 | Jennifer Hudson | 3218% |
| 9 | Nicole Richie | 2075% |
| 10 | Thierry Henry | 1125% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +413 | 1016 |
| 2 | Elizabeth Lambert | -677 | 263 |
| 3 | NFL | +66 | 235 |
| 4 | New Moon | +74 | 213 |
| 5 | Bing | +83 | 209 |
| 6 | Kelly Osbourne | +193 | 199 |
| 7 | Hulu | +7 | 139 |
| 8 | Nicole Richie | +124 | 130 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.