Are You Not Entertained?!

Jurassic World is sexy. Weird, I know, but that might just be the most appropriate thing to say about it. It hits on all the marks it is supposed to as a film: be entertaining, give us something we haven't seen before, give us a good story with relatable (read:believable) characters, make us feel something.  It's pretty hard for every film out there to manage this, but Jurassic World did.

Jurassic World brought in $82 million on it's opening day domestically, double what Mad Max: Fury Road was able to achieve.  With the absolute catastrophes at the box office over the last year, those numbers signal that people are seeing this film in high numbers- and it's looks like it will be continuing that trend.

One of the reasons that previous box office smashes like Spiderman (the original please don't bother me about the new one) Slumdog Millionaire and My Big Fat Greek Wedding did so well is because people went to see them more than once. I was a teenager when the first Spiderman came out and our local theater had it on 6 screens at once playing every hour on the hour. You do that math.

And yet, with all these successful movies following a similar set of rules, people were both surprised at the success of Jurassic World and enraged. I hear the haters crying about it. The GCI isn't real enough.  Or Theres too much nostalgic throw back for me. My personal favorite: Colin Trevorrow ruined my childhood. To that I say, unless you're Tim Murphy, QUIT YOUR BITCHING.

As of this writing, Jurassic World has raked in over $208 Million. So either you haters are full of it, or you actually did enjoy the movie and paid to see it multiple times. In a theater.

I know I did. I know my husband did, and our friends did. This movie was a blast to watch, the poster is on our favorites wall and I plan on getting it for my husband for Christmas.  Just remember something the next time a blockbuster comes out and is hugely successful (or an epic failure), ask yourself the Gladiator question: Are you not entertained?

UPDATE: 9/28/15 We are approaching the four month mark. FOUR. MONTHS. $1.6 BILLION World Wide. You haters are something else.

A Brilliant #Hastag and a Facial

Like most of my friends, I love a good deal. I love test driving new products, especially for free. When a social media colleague of mine shared the hashtag #skoahfirstfacial  all I could think of was- YES PLEASE! I shared the links, booked my appointment and settled in to be pampered.

Skoah is not a new product, but it's fairly new to us, literally, as the US is a new territory for the Canadian skincare line. They have lovely little boutiques in Seattle, Boston and Canada that are quite easy to overlook because they appear to be just another skincare store if you're window shopping. I'm sure someone on their marketing team realized this when their return numbers were lower than expected. A hashtag and free facial (an $85 value) seemed like an excellent way to attract new customers and generate talk about the product.

It worked.

Dozens of my friends were posting photos of their gifts and the notes that their esthetician had left for them. Before and after photos were popping up in my newsfeed every day. It took me almost a week to book my appointment and when I finally did they said I was lucky, they had an opening but were currently booked through the end of June.

While I was being pampered, my "personal trainer for your skin" very gently described to me the products she was using and why. I wasn't just being sold, it was more simply a conversation. She asked me real questions about my lifestyle and offered practical advice on ways to improve my skin routine without really changing much of day to day life. As a mom of a 2 year old who often skips my own self care, less is more was a win for me.

It was lasted about 45 minutes, plenty of time to get a recharge on a stressful week but not enough to steal time away from my responsibilities. And now, I had been educated about some pretty cool products too.

When she finished, she reviewed the products she used and why, then recommended a few for my home use. There was no pressure to buy, it was incredibly gentle both for a facial and a sales pitch. Who doesn't want to be pampered while listening to a sales pitch? It's like taking your medicine with a spoonful of sugar.

Well played Skoah, I will be back.

#skoahfirstfacial