USC is the largest private employer in Los Angeles, with an endowment worth $4 billion. You'd think being "Top Trojan" would be a plum job. So why is USC taking out half-page ads in the Wall Street Journal?    Read More

The Cognito PR group has done it again. Last year, to add a little levity to the miserable doldrums of Wall Street, Cognito came up with some special cocktails for its holiday party with names like the CosmoPaulson and the TARPatini.    Read More

We keep talking about consumers. I decided to talk to them, instead. Specifically, consumers who've seen their incomes take a nosedive. Where are they shopping this holiday season? How much do they plan to spend?    Read More

In what may be the nastiest spat since the days when Vegas handled disputes outside of court—if you get my meaning—Watanabe has filed a lawsuit accusing Hurrah's of plying him with alcohol and prescription drugs in an attempt to keep him gambling. In the end, he says he lost more than $100 million.    Read More

Now, as much as World Toilet Day just screams Funny Business, maybe I need to hold off on the adolescent guffawing I'm known for.    Read More

No one reads newspapers anymore, everyone speeds through commercials on their DVRs, and people generally have the attention span of a gnat. What's an advertiser to do to get your attention? Where can marketers hold you captive?    Read More

Wanna smell like Elvis? Joan Crawford? Nixon? I mean, smell like them when they were alive?    Read More

It may be the strangest shortage since the world went nuts over tulips. Eggo Waffles have nearly disappeared from store shelves.   Read More

I got an email which merits a Funny Business blog based solely on its title: "Text messages may increase use of sunscreen."    Read More

From "Balloon Boy" hoaxes to beauty queens who make their own sex tapes, we are a nation of goofballs. So much funny business—like two experienced pilots who miss their destination and don't realize they're out of contact with controllers for over an hour...because they were trying to figure out the new scheduling program.    Read More