Lindsey’s Daily Deal: Watch the World Cup, Do what I Tweet, Cracking Samsung and $200,000 Babies

By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hey Captains’ Readers,

In between watching the World Cup, be sure to take a look at your Friday Deal:

1. Drink. Watch The World Cup. Eat. Watch the World Cup. Tweet. Watch the World Cup.

For most soccer fans, this lineup will closely resemble their itinerary for the next month. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or you’re just not a fan of hot guys kicking a ball around, today’s the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. What’s special about this Cup, versus all the other tourneys since 1930, is that this will be the first time that fans won’t be limited to cheering their teams on from their local bar or living room. Heck, now they can do it across the state, the country or even the world.

According to Veronica Maria Jarski of MarketingProfs, Twitter and Facebook were barely functioning during the last World Cup in 2006, but now that they’re household staples, many fans are rallying on the sites so they can support their teams virtually. In fact, Twitter employee Robin Sloan predicts that The World Cup will “eclipse everything we have seen so far on Twitter, including the U.S. election, the Oscars, or the Super Bowl simply because it is so international.” With such a large and captivated audience, Jarski asks business owners how they’ll leverage the World Cup for their own company with social media. For instance, do you have a product or idea to share with soccer enthusiasts around the world? Can you share about your country’s team on the corporate blog or Twitter account? Or is there someone at your company who’s a soccer enthusiast and can tweet, blog or share about the Cup in real time? With hundreds of millions of eyeballs glued to their TV and computer screens this month, it might be worth your company’s while to make a tweet or two for the home team.

2. You’ll do what I tweet you to do. And you’ll like it.

In case you don’t have a clue as to what kind of people work in the ad biz, I’ll let you in on a little secret. We’re a strange and nasty bunch. If there’s a disgusting joke to tell, we tell it. If someone has a disturbing thought, they share it. And if there’s some tomfoolery to be had, by George we’ll take part in it. Which is why it’s not at all surprising that Leo Burnett’s Creative Recruiter David Perez has elected himself to do whatever someone tweets him to do at the Cannes on June 21-26. And don’t worry if you’re not attending. Perez will be recording all of his experiences on a web cam that he’s mounted to his glasses. His first tweet mission from AdRants? Write “Adrants Was Here” in the cleavage of every ad hottie in attendance. Good luck, Perez. And to all you diabolical, sinister admen and women, be gentle.

3. Samsung is cracked.

Samsung, you slay me. While most people have yet to even understand that they need to use their website as a video channel and start engaging their customers with web videos and content, you go above and beyond and create a takeover game that makes the average video look like a 3D commercial projection. The cracking screen is by far my favorite part. Bravo for thinking outside the box. Literally.

4. You can have a baby. But it’ll cost you.

I’m approaching the age where my friends are starting to get married. And it’s only a matter of time until they’re talking about babies. Listen, I like cute, little mini humans just as much as the next uterus. In fact, I just witnessed one I thought was rather charming on the T the other day. He adorably remarked that his jacket was the color “lunch box” to his father who was trying to teach him the difference between blue and red. So, I get it. They’re downright lovable. But for now, I cannot yet fathom taking care of another life. Never mind paying for it. So before my friends start to get all “Babies are great!” and “Babies are wonderful!” I figured it was my duty as a loyal and devoted friend to shock them back into reality.

According to a recent government estimate, the going rate for one teeny, weenie little baby is $222,360. And that’s going about it the old fashioned way. How’s this possible? Well, according to the data, 31% of the pot goes to housing, 17% to schooling, and 16% to food. And it doesn’t stop there. The annual cost only rises as the child gets older — from less than $12,000 per year for a baby to more than $13,000 for a teenager (I’m assuming that extra $1,000 is for acne medication and the latest iPod). So before you start procreating like the world’s going to end, think about how much this bouncing, beautiful little baby is going to cost you. If you’re still not convinced, just think, the government only calculated these statistics up until the age of 17. I’m 24 and I’m still sucking the life out of my parents. You do the math.

Until Monday sports fans,

Captain Lindsey