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One hundred miles off the coast of New York City, there is an underwater canyon teeming with marine life. Seabirds soar overhead as whales, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, and fish gather around Hudson Canyon. With so many species calling the canyon home, the Wildlife Conservation Society wants Hudson Canyon to be designated a National Marine Sanctuary. The designation, awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would protect the ecologically diverse area from companies hoping to mine the seabed for oil, gas, and minerals. Its not just the endangered species WCS is hoping to save from disruptive and dangerous miningit also wants to save the fish you eat for dinner. With a striking new campaign created by the advertising agency McKinney, WCS is calling on seafood lovers to sign its petition urging NOAA to protect Hudson Canyon, home to the creatures that stock seafood markets in New York City and beyond. [Image: courtesy Hudson Canyon] Were protecting the species out there, were protecting their health, but were also protecting the economic viability of our waters, says Christine Osekoski, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society. To help communicate the importance of Hudson Canyon to the people who enjoy the spoils of commercial fishing there, McKinney took an analog-first approach to the campaign. They printed the petition right onto the butcher paper that seafood markets wrap around the fish they sell. [Image: courtesy Hudson Canyon] What better way to get the actual cause, actual information, and actual petition into peoples hands . . . than at the moment you are consuming the very thing that is being threatened? asks Omid Amidi, chief creative officer at McKinney. To create an eye-catching design on the butcher paper, McKinneys team members used a Japanese printing technique called gyotaku, brushing the types of animals found in the Hudson Canyon with blue ink and pressing them onto paper. The process yields nearly perfect impressions of the very same creatures the campaign is trying to saveblack sea bass, scallops, and crabs, for example. [Image: courtesy Hudson Canyon] The fish prints are paired with maps of the Hudson Canyon, copies of the petition text, and QR codes to sign it. These elements, all in blue, are overlaid with blocky red letters reading Quit Floundering, Then Save the Canyon and Save the Scallops, Then Sear Them, among other sayings. The simple layouts and contrasting blue and red ink are meant to evoke the advertising and storefront design choices of old New York fish markets. The end product is a far cry from the plain brown butcher paper that markets traditionally use to wrap seafood. [Image: courtesy Hudson Canyon] The design itself is just meant to stop you in your tracks, Amidi says. Even though its a light piece of paper, it has the weight of all the work and all the care we put into it. Adding to the campaign, McKinney designed window clings and counter cards for participating markets, as well as created signage displayed at the New York Aquarium and online videos featuring local fishmongers supporting the effort. [Image: courtesy Hudson Canyon] The campaign launched June 9, the day after the United Nations World Oceans Day. Since then, participating seafood markets in the New York City area have wrapped their fish in WCSs petition and stirred up support mong customers. Six markets are participating in the campaign: Mt. Kisco Seafood, Greenpoint Fish and Lobster, Metro Seafood, Mermaids Garden Sustainable Seafood, Martys Gourmet Seafood, and Lobster Place at Chelsea Markets. We definitely have a crew of loyal customers who are into sustainability, says David Seigal, culinary director at Lobster Place at Chelsea Markets. But we also have a lot of customers who want to know where their food is coming from, and I think those are the people who are most interested in this. Some participating fish markets are already asking for more shipments of the paper, Osekoski says, as more people see the design and sign the petition. This show of support is an important step in the process toward Hudson Canyon being designated a National Marine Sanctuary. Soon, NOAA will release its draft of the designation documents and solicit comments from the public before ultimately choosing whether to make the area a sanctuary. By the end of the public comment period, WCS hopes its petition will have 25,000 signatoriesand the nonprofit is already one-third of the way there. For Seigal, also an avid fisherman who frequently travels to the Hudson Canyon, protecting the area is a cause especially close to his heart. Were in business with Mother Nature, when it comes down to it, he says. Any threat to Mother Nature is a threat to, at a minimum, our business, but really to our existence as a human race.
Category:
E-Commerce
Tech nostalgia runs strong among Gen Z. The retro movement has made long-outdated devices desirable once more. When it comes to personal computer nostalgia, you’d be hard-pressed to find a PC more fondly remembered than the Commodore 64. Now, the machine that served as the starter computer for many old-school gamers is making a comeback of sorts. Commodore Corp., which is no longer run by the team behind the original device, has begun taking preorders for the Commodore 64 Ultimate, a $299 device that its makers claim is compatible with over 10,000 retro games, cartridges, and peripherals. The new C64s are expected to begin shipping as early as October, though that date could slip. Also, the listed price doesnt account for tariffs. A “tariff tax” ($15 to $25 in the U.S.) is added at checkoutand the builders warn that amount could change if tariffs do. While there have been Commodore 64 emulators in the past, this marks the first official product from the company in more than 30 years. There are three models to choose from, all with the same internal components. If you were expecting a vastly outdated machine, however, you’re in for a surprise. [Photo: Commodore International Corporation] The Commodore 64 Ultimate will include 128 megabytes of RAM and 16 megabytes of flash memory. It connects to modern monitors via HDMI in high-definition 1080p resolution and features three USB-A ports and one USB-C port. Beyond the computer itself, the power source, and HDMI cable, your $299 also gets you a spiral-bound user guide, a 64-gigabyte USB drive featuring over 50 licensed games, a quick-start guide, and stickers. Aesthetically, the Commodore 64 Ultimate is available in the original beige or in premium variants: the Starlight Edition, with a clear case and LED lights ($249), or the Founder’s Edition, which includes 24-karat gold-plated badges, satin gold keys, and a translucent amber case ($499). Just 6,400 units of the Founder’s Edition will be produced, according to the company. [Photo: Commodore International Corporation] The preorder setup resembles a Kickstarter campaign, though it doesn’t use that platform. Commodore says all preorders come with a money-back guarantee, but it chose to skip the services fees. Buyers should be aware that accounts are charged at the time of preorder. Who owns Commodore? Ownership of the Commodore brand adds some complexity. Earlier this year, Christian “Peri Fractic” Simpsona YouTuber focused on retro techannounced he was in the process of acquiring the company and claimed to be the “acting CEO of Commodore.” In a YouTube video posted at the end of June, he said he purchased the company for “a low seven-figure sum” and has recruited several former Commodore employees to help relaunch the brand. In the video, Simpson states he signed “a share purchase agreement” with the previous owners of Commodore Corp., but is still seeking angel investors to help close the total sales amount. That uncertainty may give some potential buyers pause, and understandably so. The official site addresses the concern, noting: “We have a contract with the previous IP owner that ensures that regardless of the final acquisition outcome, these machines can be manufactured as promised.” The product will come with a one-year limited warranty, and Commodore says most parts are already in production, including the updated motherboard, the case, and the keycaps that recreate the blocky keys that early users remember. The original Commodore 64 debuted in 1982. It was one of the worlds best-selling computers at the time, with graphics and sound that pushed the limits of 8-bit technology. With games like M.U.L.E., Wizard, and The Last Ninja, it quickly became a gamer favorite. In addition to the games on the USB drive, backers will also receive a “new sequel” to the C64 original, called Jupiter Lander: Ascension.
Category:
E-Commerce
Inbox fatigue is real. According to one analysis, the average person receives more than 120 emails a day, with some office-based staff receiving even more due to their work environment. From Substack newsletters to marketing emails from local stores (alongside standard business updates), it can be difficult to stay on top of it all. Its a challenge Google, owner of Gmailthe worlds second-most-used email service after Apple Mailhas acknowledged and is now addressing. Beginning this week, the company is rolling out a new feature for Gmail users in select countries: Manage Subscriptions. The tool lets users see all their active email subscriptions in one place, along with a count of how many emails each sender has delivered in recent weeks. From there, unsubscribing takes just a single click. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of subscription emails clogging your inbox: Daily deal alerts that are basically spam, weekly newsletters from blogs you no longer read, promotional emails from retailers you haven’t shopped in years can quickly pile up, said Gmail director Chris Doan, in a company blog post announcing the feature earlier this month. For users, its a welcome step toward reclaiming control of their inboxes. But for email marketers, this visibilityand the ease of opting outcould signal a reckoning. The feature reflects a broader trend, says Omar Merlo, an associate professor of marketing strategy at Imperial College London, wherein customers are looking for greater control, more meaningful content, and added value in their interactions with brands. If email doesnt meet that standard, people now have a faster and easier way to walk away, Merlo says. This isnt the end of email marketing. It is perhaps the end of sloppy email marketing. And while the tool may accelerate unsubscribes among already-disengaged users, some say its unlikely to trigger a mass exodus, and could, in a sense, help marketers by reducing spam complaints. Unsubscribes are better than spam complaints, says Desi Zhivkova, deliverability team lead at e-commerce marketing platform Omnisend. Giving users easier ways to opt out peacefully helps preserve sender reputation and improves long-term deliverability. Richard Stone, managing director of PR agency Stone Junction, believes it could elevate the quality of email marketing. Email marketing has always been about creating a list of people who actually want to hear from you, he says. All Gmail is doing is making that principle harder to ignore. In the long run, this kind of user control will lead to better relationships between brands and their audiences, not worse.
Category:
E-Commerce
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