Feedback

Alex Bogusky is a great, creative capitalist ("Believe It or Not, He's a PC," June). But the bottom line is that Microsoft simply can't compete with Apple's innovative products.

Chas Smith
Charlotte, North Carolina

Microsoft needs to stop trying to "look like Apple " and lock a few genuinely creative engineers in a cave until they can come up with something phenomenal that actually works well. Then they can let Bogusky worry about how to promote it.

Michael Bleau
Grand Blanc, Michigan

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the article on Crispin Porter and Microsoft. I work closely with many of these people and appreciate the various perspectives that were delivered. This will be a very interesting relationship to see unfold.

James Eby
Chicago, Illinois

I have some advice for the execs promoting Microsoft's $300 million marketing plan: Spend $200 million on making better, easier-to-use, and more-reliable products -- then donate the extra $100 million to charity! You'll get more users and more positive press, sell more (better, please) products, and help make the world a better place.

Jonathan W. Logan
Portland, Oregon

I read with disappointment your article on Bogusky. I'm afraid you were as dazzled by this guy as the employee who thinks he looks like Jesus and has a halo.

Jann Balos Sabin
Hollywood, Florida

Cities on the Rise

As a frequent visitor to London, I found the first paragraph of "London Calling" (June) distorted reality. The underground is fast, efficient, and clean. One can go anywhere in London (almost) using the buses. There is no finer way to see the city.

Stanley R. Levy
Champaign, Illinois

Alice Rawsthorn is right: London has become a magnet for the creative industries. It has got talent, networks ripe for collaboration, and a real sense of entrepreneurial spirit. As the city reinvents itself and develops, it still feels like the place to be.

Ian Sanders
London, England

Marketing a Stigma

The "Ring Around the Collar" ad that Dan and Chip Heath lambasted (Made to Stick, June) would not have worked unless consumers already felt that men's shirt collars get dirtier faster than the rest of the shirt and are a challenge to launder.

Bob Bly
Dumont, New Jersey

I didn't realize Visa was subconsciously making me feel bad for paying in cash. But now that you bring it up, you're right! No wonder antianxiety drugs sell so well.

Nelson Bates
Orlando, Florida

Seeing Red, Going Green

In an issue in which Elizabeth Spiers purports to explode the myth of the "buy local" ethos (Not So Fast, June), perhaps we should focus the same kind of scrutiny on products that claim to be "eco-smart." Wine in a Tetra Pak probably is a good idea ("Spin the Bottle," June). The weight, collapsible form, and ease of transport for Tetra Pak boxes are all clear winners versus bottles. However, the claim that a product is recyclable does not always add up to consumers being able to recycle it. After checking all the Tetra Pak containers in my kitchen, I found that none had a recycle symbol anywhere. No local recyclers I called will take them. Laminated materials are very hard to recycle because they must be separated. Glass is easily and endlessly recyclable. Here it seems that the marketing spin of a "greener" wine outweighs the true reality of the product.

Brendan Karg
Redondo Beach, California

If Spiers shopped at a local farmers' market, she wouldn't confuse Kashi, Muir Glen, and Odwalla with locally made products. Here in Vermont, our farmers' market does save transportation costs, does cut out the middle man, and does keep dollars flowing in the local economy.