The truth is that pretty much every marketing tactic ever devised started out as breakthrough.  It’s just that after decades—and in some cases centuries—of repeated deployment, we take them for granted.  Things as mundane as space ads, electric billboards, direct marketing, giveaways, sports endorsements, jingles—all of these were considered innovations when they first came to [...]

In books, films and life I’ve always had a soft spot for the antihero—the complex personality who adds dimension to an otherwise straightforward story.  After all, I love Los Angeles, which is a town built on the contrary.  That preference for contradiction has made me fond of some people who were as bad and morally [...]