Shirin Delsooz

My Life Adventures and Thoughts

A visit from Hawaii

My dear Hawaiin friend from my university days paid me a visit and said Aloha. Well not really, she actually just said hello. Splendid! We will meet again in Australia, and I’ll be sure to detail that adventure here on this blog.

Banana Republic forgot ‘u’

I was passing by Banana Republic at Yorkdale Mall the other day (Toronto, Ontario CANADA) and was dismayed to see a lack of the letter “u” in the word “colour” posted on their display. It may seem like a small error, but its errors like these that make me feel like these companies have no respect for the country they are doing business in.  I assume it’s an issue of time constraints. It’s easier to smear American marketing around the world rather than taking the time to develop sensitivities around the communities they make money in. I e-mailed them this post. I hope that might be some sort of impetus for change. I will keep you posted.

* Update:

Hello Banana Republic,

I noticed that your recent display in CANADA didn’t include the ‘u’ in
colour (the Canadian way of spelling). It may seem like a small error,
but such errors just show the disregard you have for the country you are
doing business in. I wrote about this on my blog, and I will be happy to
write a happy ending to this situation.

http://www.vanessadelsooz.ca

Response:

On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 1:54 PM, BananaRepublic.com Customer Service <custserv@bananarepublic.com> wrote:

Dear BananaRepublic.com Customer,

Thank you for your comments regarding the use of the word “color” in our
store displays.  Please be assured, it is never our intent to cause any
offense.   We appreciate the time you’ve taken to contact us to share
your thoughts.  Please be assured, we have forwarded your comments on to
our marketing team,  as customer feedback is an important consideration
when planning future marketing materials.  Again, we do apologize and
appreciate the time you have taken to share your comments.

We appreciate your business and look forward to shopping with you again
soon.

If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to call us
at 1-888-BR-STYLE, and follow the prompts to share your store
experience. We are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to
9:00 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Please note all hours are
indicated in Eastern Time.

Sincerely,

Jennie
Customer Service Consultant

Drying My Hands in the Public Arena – the Environmentally Friendly Way

I was at Dora Keogh’s Pub the other day, puzzled at their hand drying system. I discovered this contraption in their washroom to be one of the most brilliant and efficient  way of drying hands in a public washroom. Its a reusable towel with a rolling system. After you dry your hands on this towel, you roll it down and a fresh clean space becomes available for the next person. After the roll is done, the owner will provide a freshly washed new towel roll, and the cycle continues. Here is a visual break down.

Step 1. Confront the contraption.

Step 2. Dry your hands.

Step 3. Roll it down for the next person to use.

For more information on where you can acquire this towel dispenser, check out http://www.darmanco.com/papertowel.asp. Encourage your local businesses to implement this brilliant idea into their washroom facility!