Ode to Gluten Free Mac & Cheese

Growing up in a 50% Cuban 50% polish family I was brought up on pretty different foods than many of my friends. ‘Arroz con pollo’, a popular Spanish rice dish, and 'perogi’s', a polish ravioli, where staples in my house. My grandpa, who lived in the town next to mine would come over every day and cook dinner. Always greeted with gourmet smells upon coming home from school, I longed for pizza and mac and cheese like many of my classmates talked about. Forget that my best friend might have the best toys I can remember the best part about spending the night out at a friend’s house was being able to feast on the Kraft blue box of goodness. For some reason I associated mac and cheese as the quintessential american tradition to eat growing up and since my parents prided themselves on raising me and my brother in ethnic tradition, this meant that the delectable delicacy that is macaroni and cheese was off limits. Needless to say upon coming to college I delighted in being able to eat EasyMac whenever i wanted and kept a steady supply in my dorm room.

This past summer I discovered that I am allergic to gluten. For those who don’t know what this means or what gluten is, gluten comes from wheat, barley, and rye. Basically meaning I can’t eat anything with flour or other forms of wheat. No pasta, cakes, cookies, beer, bread, crusts, breaded anything, cupcakes. While some may cringe at the thought of cutting out pretty much anything fun and indulging to eat, I wasn’t that concerned at first. Being brought up Cuban and Polish my diet consisted of rice and potatoes both of which I was given the ok to still eat. I just kept telling myself; thank god I’m not Italian.  That was until I returned to school in August and realized the dreaded news left me unable to consume mac and cheese. And so began my journey to find a good gluten free  mac and cheese that was just as good as the the non gluten free options.

My 1^st thought was to try gluten free pasta with velveeta cheese sauce. While this was an interesting solution it not only was an in depth process, but it didn’t quite taste like the prepackaged mac and cheese that I was craving. On to my next consumer taste test which was Annie’s version of Gluten free mac and cheese.

The pasta itself was good however as many people don’t know a lot of sauces are thickened with flour and so the sauce was lacking in flavor. Swing and a miss for the blue box. Recently I was in the supermarket browsing the options, as I am always looking for gluten free alternatives, and I noticed that Amy’s, a popular gourmet frozen dinner, company makes a rice pasta mac and Cheese.  Now having gone through a similar process for trying to find good gluten free pasta,  I knew that rice pasta is the way to go, so I was encouraged that this might be what i'd been waiting for. 

I bought one box and immediately went home to try it out. What I can tell you is that not only is Amy’s gluten free mac & cheese exactly what I have been searching for but it also is a new favorite of some none gluten free friends on mine.  I recommend trying it for anyone looking for a mac & cheese dinner that doesn’t make you full till next Tuesday but satisfies the craving.

disclaimer: Amy's does make a gluten free and dairy free mac and cheese but its not the same one and is not good!

Emily Kieczykowski is a Senior BEM major with a concentration in marketing and  a minor in Psychology

The 11 cent Razor Blade

How much did you pay for the last replacement blades for your razor? If you use the new Gillette fusion power, an 8 count will cost you a cool $32 ($4/ razor). This is problematic as P&G, Gillette’s parent company, looks to expand in countries like India, where the gross national income (per capita) is $441 or $36.75/month. Again this is almost exactly the price of an 8 count blade cartridge with 8% tax. For me that is a huge/sick reality check that we are spending more on 8 razor blades than the average Indian is spending on food, housing, medicine etc. Global businesses like P&G, IBM & GE also see great advantages in learning from developing markets.  

At the beginning of October, P&G released the Gillette Guard in India which has one blade, a lighter handle and a much a lower price. P&G currently has a “70 percent of global razor and blade sales, but it lags in India and other developing markets, because consumers can't afford to buy their main products” (Business Currier). The new razor developed for the Indian market will cost $0.34, with replacement blades selling for only $.11 each. As a savvy shopper I am dying to know why I have been paying over 36X this amount in the United States for one razor?!?!

The answer is a product of something called reverse innovation. Reverse innovation is a market back perspective where companies are creating products within developing regions instead of just adapting current products to fit local needs. Companies then “complete the reverse-innovation process by taking the innovations originally chartered for poor countries, adapting them, and scaling them up for worldwide use”(business week).  

The Gillette guard was the first razor P&G had ever designed from start to finish for consumers in emerging markets. They gathered rich consumer insights and found out what people were willing to pay for a razor in India and then developed it so that they could price it for that much. GE has also had great success from reverse innovation in India with their portable electrocardiogram machine called the Mac 400. Check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB47wx-b6sY) to see the product of thinking differently.  GE believes the future of their company lies in successfully moving away from a “headquarter centered” viewpoint and embracing reverse technology.  The Harvard Business Review described GE’s strategy as disrupting itself which is exactly what GE believes they need to do to survive in the future global marketplace.

Why is all of this important? As tomorrow’s business leaders we must acknowledge this trend happening in emerging markets and be open to new ways of learning and doing business.  Politicians and diplomats have been trying to change the world for thousands of years but we have an opportunity to tangibly impact the world by just helping change the way corporate America thinks. It is imperative that today’s companies take advantage of the creativity and ambition in emerging markets.

How will you leave your mark? Do you think it’s possible that the most important innovations in the future will be adopted first in the developing world?

Also, check out this funny commercial for the Gillette Guard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uffvu0aztAA

Happy Monday

-Olivia Mills

Nissan Satisfying Needs: Hello Maslow!

A major reason why advertising fails is because the advertisement or message fails to catch the attention of the targeted consumer. Companies are constantly competing for our attention with other companies as well with ourselves. Only so much information can be processed. Only the best advertising messages and strategies have what it takes to break through the clutter.

Whether we like it or not, or choose to accept it, we are constantly being bombarded with messages from the moment we wake up. We ignore many of these messages subconsciously, but there are some we do decide to give a chance. I was watching television the other day when I saw a Nissan car commercial that broke through and caught my attention.

The commercial starts off with a woman sitting in the bathroom looking at her pregnancy test. She smiles and sprints into the room to tell her husband the positive result. She conveys to him the good news by saying, “We are having a baby”, immediately followed by an embrace filled with pure joy. After a few moments, the husband’s face oddly changes its expression from happiness to a sense of worry or concern.

We immediately realize how such great news could have caused such an odd reaction when the scene flashes to the man standing outside in his driveway gazing at his brand new, sleek, shiny, silver Nissan 370z 2-door sports car. He looks disheartened as he stares at this beautiful car, realizing and contemplating his conflict.

He puts both hands on the car and looks around the interior. He notices that lack of room, the lack of space for a car seat, and simultaneously ponders about the practicality of this 2-door car that is clearly his pride and joy. He strokes the car with his hand, petting it like a dog, as if it was “man’s best friend” instead.

What happened next completely caught me off guard, mostly because how he resolved the conflict is impossible. He decided to “stretch” the car, and tweak its frame to satisfy both his needs. He pulled the bumper to elongate the car, made it wider, and transformed it into a practical 4-door in 10 seconds flat. He backed up, and with a grin from ear to ear said, “We are having a baby”.

The commercial is not advertising the use magic or super strength. It doesn’t have some new car that can be tweaked or molded like Play-doh based on the user’s ideal specifications. It is showing us a car that satisfies multiple needs, even seemingly polar opposite ones like these. The man wants a fast stylish sports car, but also knows he needs a more feasible family car. This car itself seems like a magic trick, letting the man easily satisfy such contrasting needs.

I could not help but think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the consumer decision making process as I watched this commercial. The opposing needs and desires of the man fall into different stages of Maslow’s pyramid. The 2-door 370z sports car that he currently owns is his luxury and present to himself. Before the baby, he had already satisfied the needs at the base. He could afford a sports car, which definitely means that he has satisfied both his physiological and safety needs. We might then infer that he was able to satisfy the next level of love and belonging through the marriage with his wife. It was only then that he was able to focus having a nice sports car and his esteem needs. Maybe he feels more accepted by others by having the car and maybe it’s a meaning of status for him that raises his confidence and esteem. Maybe the car gets him more attention, or has increased his prestige and recognition.

With the introduction of a new baby, his needs will undoubtedly be altered. The needs he had already satisfied to purchase the luxury car must be revisited and satisfied. He realized that the sports car was no longer practical, either economically or physically for the new baby. A sedan that fulfills both the new needs as well as his desire to have a nice car is the perfect solution. This is what Nissan offers, the new and stylish but practical Nissan Maxima. A well-rounded car that is luxurious and practical. One doesn’t have to sacrifice one for the other; they can buy this car instead.

The commercial reminded me that people do not like to sacrifice when they make purchases. People want a product with the highest quality at the cheapest price. They want something that serves a practical purpose, but is very stylish at the same time. This car is appealing to consumers that do not want to make tradeoffs because it satisfies all needs in one car.


The New Nissan Maxima

Dan Pogoda is a Senior BEM major with a minor in Psychology

The Art of Bargain Shopping: J.Crew Regional Warehouse Sale

Last weekend I traveled back home to Richmond, Virginia for fall break.  Going home for a weekend always gives me time to relax at my house, go out for decent meals, and spend time with my parents and sister.  It also offers me the chance to go shopping with my mom.  However, our shopping expedition this weekend was quite different from any other shopping trip I have ever been on before.  Coincidentally, my fall break fell on the same weekend as the J.Crew Regional Warehouse Sale taking place in a vacant storefront in Richmond a few minutes from my house. 

My mom had heard about the J.Crew sale in the paper earlier that week, but for fear of the unknown didn’t want to go alone so she waited for me to get home to accompany her.  While I’ve done my fair share of outlet and bargain shopping, the scene at the J.Crew Regional Warehouse sale was unlike any retail sale I’ve experienced.  I’ve attached pictures, but they barely do it justice.  

 

We got to the sale location around 11:00 A.M, barely an hour after it opened.  There is already a line of over thirty women waiting outside just to get into the store due to occupancy regulations.  Keep in mind the sale has already been going on for four days and it is pouring raining outside.  While waiting in line, a woman working the event came up to my mom and I and handed us each a giant clear plastic trash bag and a price list.  Some of the prices were as follows:

Tops:                $10.00

Tanks:              $5.00

Pants:              $20.00

Shorts:             $10.00

Sweaters:        $25.00

Dresses:           $25.00

Shoes:              $30.00

Boots:              $50.00

Flip-flops:        $2.00

Swimwear:      $3.00

For those of you who are familiar with normal prices of J.Crew clothing, these sound like unbelievable deals.  For example, right now on the J.Crew website, women’s shirts are ranging from $50 to over $100.  After reading the price list in line, my mom and I are wondering what the catch is.  Sure enough, the moment we were granted entry into the store we immediately found out.  First off, we were greeted at the door by a policeman who is there monitoring the store which is already filled with over 200 women of all ages.  The only three men that I did see in the entire store were following their wives around pushing babies in strollers and counting their money in the line for checkout.

While the crowd itself was one thing, the entire shopping experience was another.  Instead of clothes hanging on clothing racks and folded on tables organized by color, size, and style, the entire room consisted of rows upon rows of fold-up tables with cardboard boxes overflowing with mounds of clothes set on top of them.  While each of the boxes was labeled with something like “Women’s shirts” or “Size 8 Shoes” or “Pants,” we soon found out that these labels had nothing to do with the items that were actually in the boxes.  It looked as if they had tried to organize the clothes during the first few days of the sale but then gave up later in the week.  I soon began to understand why.  Instead of calmly looking through each box, women were shopping as if there were in some sort of race or competition.  They were screaming to their friends from across the store, plunging through mounds of clothing, and throwing anything they didn’t want out of their way onto the floor or into other boxes.  Some women would even take an entire box of clothing for themselves and go sit in the corner to sort through it all privately.  Since there were no dressing rooms, some of the most dedicated women crowded in another corner of the store trying to discreetly try clothes on in the wide open room. 

Now I began to understand the trade off that these women were valuing.  In order to get cheap prices on brand name clothing, they were willing to forgo the traditional, calm shopping experience for a madhouse, flea-market type setting in which it was every woman for herself. 

While at first we attempted to sort through some clothing looking for nice sweaters and blazers, my mom and I soon gave up as we were constantly tripping over clothing and shoved out of the way by other shoppers.  Instead, we headed to the other end of the warehouse where there were boxes of leather boots on sale.  Given the good price and the fact that boxes of boots were much easier to pick out than mounds of fabric, we began looking for boots to purchase.  Once again, we were amazed at the disorganization.  While the cardboard boxes were labeled with shoe sizes, at this late date in the sale all sizes were mixed together.  To make it even worse, the shoes were not even paired together, so it was just boxes full of left and right shoes of all sizes.  Not only did we have to search for our sizes, but we had to find a left shoe and a right shoe in each color and style.  Regardless, we were up for the challenge this time and spent about 30 minutes looking for matching boots for each other and my sister.   We each ended up buying a pair of short brown leather boots for $50 each.   On top of that, we were given a 30% off coupon for our entire purchase that dropped the prices down even more.

My trip to the J.Crew Regional Warehouse sale was an eye-opening experience that allowed me to see the great lengths that many people will go to get great deals on brand-name products.   The opportunity cost of digging though mounds of unsorted clothes was justified by the unbeatable prices on J.Crew clothing.  While it was a little overwhelming for me, I think I could handle the challenge if I had a specific J.Crew item that I was looking for that I had wanted for a long time but was never able to buy.

-Jacqueline Buff is a senior Business & Enterprise Management major with concentrations in Marketing and Arts Markets and an Art History minor.  

Technology and our Social Well-Being

I think our generation overlooks how technologically historic and ground-breaking a time we live in. We are the first generation to grow up with computers readily accessible for any purposes; we witnessed the transformation of the internet from dial-up to now being able to watch YouTube videos on a phone; we’ve had video games that went beyond Duck Hunt for as long as we remember, and cell phones have become such a common item, that I don’t even foresee myself having a house phone when I am living on my own. This amazes me considering I still know all my close friends phone numbers, and remember having to call and talk to their mom anytime I wanted to get in touch with anyone. While technology will continue to expand exponentially, and our children will certainly have items that we can’t even fathom, we will always have a place in history as the first to grow up completely immersed in previously unheard of technology.

            What is even more interesting to me is how these technological advancements have completely altered our existence as social beings. The first noticeable change was with AOL Instant Messenger. This was the first widely used means of online communication for our generation (as far as I know), and I can remember thinking how awesome it was to be able to “talk” to people on the computer. Before we had even left elementary school we were already hooked - the corny abbreviations, screen names, etc. I don’t think I knew a single person who didn’t have AOL IM from at least 6^th grade on.

            The second major change, to me, was when cell phones became a common item for kids. While it is pretty amazing how seemingly overnight everyone had a cell phone, the more critical development was the creation of text messaging. Once text messaging capabilities became common for everyone, we were suddenly able to communicate instantly with people from anywhere without ever having to say a word. It was one thing to sit at a computer and basically send instant emails back and forth, but to be able to contact someone from anywhere (unrealistically assuming you could get service anywhere), was something entirely different.

            Obviously the relationship between social relationships and technology has only multiplied since then with programs like Skype and Facebook, but I am not concerned with how good the technology is becoming, but more with how it has changed the nature of our social existence. Instant messenger, cell phones, Facebook – the specific technology is not as important as the social development that has followed. We have grown up in an environment where we probably communicate with people via a screen more than we do face to face. Sure, you say hello to people when you run into them throughout the day and you might talk to a few people on the phone, but how many more people do you “talk” to via written words– texting, Skype, email – each day. Entire conversations are had between people and neither person never actually utters a spoken word. Yet, you can’t pull emotion from a text and you can’t read sarcasm off a computer screen, it’s just words put out there to be interpreted however the person receiving it chooses. To me, while our social existence has grown exponentially, I also see it being degraded. There is so much more that goes into a conversation aside from the actual words that are spoken, yet all this is stripped away when people aren’t face to face, or even talking on the phone, but just typing words to each other.

           Furthermore, the immediacy of these communication mediums has further collapsed what I would consider a, for lack of a better word, traditional social existence. I might not see one of my oldest friends for six months, but know exactly what he has been doing just by looking at Facebook and maybe sending the occasional text. I wouldn’t even say this is a bad thing, but consider the opposite end of the spectrum. Imagine bumping into someone you haven’t spoken to in years, yet they could already know everything that is going on in your life. As long as you were friends with them online, they could occasionally glimpse a status update, wall post, or picture and keep tabs on you. This isn’t even an unrealistic suggestion either. (Anyone who says they don’t “creep” on Facebook is lying, they do.) Programs like Twitter only further this trend. Twitter is little more than a stream of consciousness and list of your daily activities put out there for all to see. Someday, if we’re not already there, every time you go to tell someone what’s new in your life, they’ll simply cut you off and inform you they already know, “I saw it on Facebook.” What are we going to talk about when everyone already knows everything about everyone?

           This is not meant to be a bashing of the aforementioned technologies; I use and love them as much as anyone. I merely find the transformation in how we navigate our social network intriguing. It has created both positive and negative trends. For example, in our society I think relationships have become less meaningful and the ability to communicate clearly and thoughtfully has all but been replaced by lol’s and abbreviations for everything, but we are able to reach out to an infinitely greater number of people than we could even just a decade ago. I remember my dad going on multiple week business trips to China as a kid, and it was weird to just not see him for half a month. In this day and age, a person can travel the world without ever losing touch with loved ones.

            Technology is a beautiful thing, and continues to find ways to make our lives more comfortable, enjoyable, and manageable. I just don’t want to see people become so enthralled by it that they forget to go outside and live once in a while. 

- Zan Smith

The Post-Digital Musician...What's Next?

I have always been a big fan of musical video games like Guitar Hero, RockBand, and even Karaoke Revolution – at one point in my most intense “fanhood,” I was playing almost perfectly on the Expert Levels with those fake electronic guitars in my hands. But shredding Classic Rock songs always just seemed like a game to me. I had seen the six-year-old Guitar Hero prodigies on Oprah as they played even the hardest songs completely flawlessly in front of a live audience, but even that just seemed like a trendy, yet strangely-acquired, skill to have. I had never once considered that maybe there could be a real marketable opportunity here (in the realm of fake instruments) within the rock music industry, until last weekend.         

I am a huge fan of people-watching…I would admit that it is probably one of my favorite things to do, if that wasn’t such a creepy thing to say. But in all honesty, let me tell you about one of the coolest people-watching experiences I’ve encountered in a while. I was sitting in the Atlanta airport (absolutely prime people-watching opportunity), waiting for my connecting flight, when I all of a sudden heard a piano. It was soft at first, and then it started to get a little louder. I started looking around, trying not to be too obnoxious about it, but with no luck of finding a giant 500 pound musical instrument. So I looked back down and continued playing a game on my phone… It was then, with my head down, that I spotted out of the corner of my eye a teenage boy playing the piano through an App on his iPhone. His fingers glided fast enough to be texting at least fifty words per minute, and the sound was phenomenal. I’m not super musically talented, but I love and appreciate music to its core, so I started watching and listening as he began to draw a crowd.

It gets better. It was like the people-watching-gods were looking out for me, because out of nowhere, a second piano tune chimed in. Everyone turned and watched this newcomer, a 20-something young man with equally impressive piano-iPhone skills, walk over and sit down across from the original musician. What ensued from there was part battle, part duet… basically a jam session over a couple of iPhones. I was going crazy watching this impromptu concert. I had never experienced anything like it.

Fast-forward now to a few days ago, when I came across something equally amazing on the internet. A Brooklyn band, Atomic Tom, held an entire mini-concert on a New York City subway, performing with nothing but a few iPhones. The footage, also filmed using an iPhone, is incredible (definitely take a few minutes and check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAllFWSl998). Not only did they play an entire band’s worth of music over iPhone Apps, but they rocked. The subway audience is caught on camera tapping their feet and nodding their heads while four iPhones take the place of a microphone, electric guitar, bass, and drums. If this stunt doesn’t earn the band a gig somewhere in New York City, it will be appalling. If anything, I fully support the YouTube comments stating that the band should be highlighted in the next iPhone commercial.

I don’t know where the future lies with these types of musicians… when thinking back to Guitar Hero, part of the fun of the concept was that anyone could be a rock star. Would a band like Atomic Tom make it in the face of the rock legends out there now? Probably not, but for now the concept is so new and exciting that I really think there’s a potential market and fan base out there. I know from witnessing the piano-jam in the airport that it's almost unreal to watch and listen as a series of quick taps (on a device that makes phone calls!) produces real harmony. These boys and iPhone musician all-stars should run with it while they can -- especially while the Atomic Tom video has racked up over 1.8 million views since it was posted merely 5 days ago. Who knows, they could be opening us up to a whole new generation and style of Rock-n-Roll. As for me, I'm hitting up the New York City Subway the next chance I get...I don't want to miss out on their next big show!    

Jackie Swoyer is a Junior Business and Enterprise Management Major, Concentrating in Marketing and Minoring in Economics.

Oh How I Love Fried Chicken

I am from the South, so as you can imagine I have a genetic obligation to love fried foods, and I do a pretty awesome job of fulfilling that obligation. I love fried okra, fried green tomatoes, fried green beans, fried squash, and pretty much anything else you can figure out a way to stick in the deep fryer. But one of my favorites is the greatest of all fried foods - fried chicken. The best fried chicken can be found in home style restaurants, but some fast food restaurants have some pretty good fried chicken, and one of those is Chick-fil-A.

I am from Shelby, which is a pretty small town in North Carolina, and until a few years ago we didn't have many choices of fast food restaurants. We had an Arbys, McDonalds, Burger King, and Chick-fil-A. My family was never a big fan of any of these restaurants except Chick-fil-A; something about those chicken finger fry things from Burger King just freaked us out. At Chick-fil-A, I was always a nuggets girl; the package of 8 nuggets and the wonderful french fries were always my go to meal until I received one of their coupons for a free chicken sandwich with the purchase of something else. So one day I went to Chick-fil-A with my friends, purchased my traditional meal, and handed in my coupon to get my free sandwich. I had entirely too much food, but I was hungry, so I figured it would be a good day to try out the amazing chicken sandwich. It was wonderful. Something about the pickles and the toasted bun made it the best chicken sandwich I had ever had, and I have had some good ones.

Recently, Chick-fil-A came out with the Spicy Chicken Sandwich (they must have been feeling a little competition with Wendy's) which I of course had to try since the original chicken sandwich was so good. I tried it last week for the first time and just as I had expected - it was delicious.

Chick-fil-A has great food, but it also has wonderful, hospitable, welcoming, and kind employees. My dad has always said that the reason he chooses Chick-fil-A over other fast food restaurants is because of the employees. He also recently tried the Spicy Chicken Sandwich and loved it as much as I did. He tried it for different reasons though. I tried it because Chick-fil-A has upheld their reputation for me in serving delicious fried chicken. My dad tried it because one of the employees politely encouraged him to try their new delicious sandwich. My dad is kind of like me; he was a nuggets boy, and nothing was ever going to change that. He is also a business man and understands that it is important to try different options that someone presents to you. So when he was so politely asked if he had tried the sandwich or wanted to try it, he said yes.

Chick-fil-A has great marketing tactics.  They appealed to both me and my dad and we have both become loyal customers. They have upheld their reputation of serving delicious food, and I am always welcomed by their employees with a "Hi! My name is so and so, and I would be delighted to serve you today. How can I help you?" They also utilized coupons by giving me the free chicken sandwich when I purchased something else which is always a great way to get consumers to try different products and keep coming back for more. They also have great commercials with the cows that distinguish them from other fast food restaurants. They are primarily a chicken selling restaurant, and the commercials deliver that message effectively and in a humorous way. Chick-fil-A has it together in my opinion; they have great food with great service, and it is relatively healthy fried food.

But you really should try the spicy chicken sandwich if you haven't had a chance to; it's great! And I hear there is talk of a spicy chicken biscuit coming soon for breakfast, so I can't wait to try that!

- Anne Davis

What happened to the mini-van?

It’s hard to look back to 15 years ago, to the time when we were all in elementary school. A lot has changed since I learned how to “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” and since I was told that Y is (supposedly) only sometimes a vowel. Being a native of Winston-Salem, I have the privilege of being able to revisit the old stomping grounds from time to time and I was not surprised when my mom told me she drove past my elementary school one day to find it completely demolished. My childhood memories had been reduced to a pile of red bricks and cinder blocks

While I do retain a vivid flashback of breaking my arm playing basketball, there seems to be a plethora of other things that have been erased from my memory: Time outs, accidentally killing the class gold fish, and mini-vans.

There was a time when every family I knew owned a mini-van. My family used our teal blue Plymouth Voyager for hauling kids to soccer practice and hauling furniture to my grandmother’s house. Today, these versatile vehicles are almost obsolete.

I can understand how something becomes outdated when a more improved and functional model comes along, but the truth is, mini-vans can be considered superior vehicles on many different levels. For example, the Chevrolet Traverse (a crossover SUV) is slightly larger in length, width, and height than the Toyota Sienna (a mini-van). However, the Sienna has 43.6 cubic feet of space behind the third row of seats, compared to the Traverse’s 24.4 cubic feet. And although it may be cumbersome to deal with, the Sienna has a removable second row of seats, which significantly increases the amount of cargo room available. The Traverse’s second and third rows merely fold down. Not to mention, mini-vans consistently get better gas mileage than SUVs, which makes them better for the environment. In addition, mini-vans lack the stature and weight of an SUV, but they are less likely to roll over when making sharp turns.

So if the mini-van is the more economical and practical choice, how come there seems to be none on the roads these days?

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point during my adolescent years, the mini-van not only became outdated, but it also became uncool. They became synonymous with the soccer mom stereotype. The mom who wears her bath robe to in the mornings while making rounds for the carpool and the one who wears her sweat pants to PTA meetings because she didn’t have enough time to change between walking to dog and returning those overdue VHS tapes to Blockbuster. On the flip side, these new age SUV moms seem to have it together. There is a certain persona and aura that surrounds the middle-age female suburbanite who drives an SUV. And it seems to be the exact opposite of the mini-van soccer mom.

When it comes time for me to buy a car so I can haul my 2.5 kids to school and soccer, I’m not sure whether or not the mini-van will be back in fashion, but I’m guessing that these commercials might have some influence on bringing back its swagger.

Swagger Wagon
Make It Rain

-Sarah Shelness, future soccer mom