Booze is recession-proof: people drink alcohol in good economic times and they drink alcohol in bad economic times, athough the price of what they imbibe may decrease in tough times.

According to Fox, “a recent Gallup poll shows alcohol consumption hit a 25-year high in 2010, with 67 percent of Americans reporting drinking alcoholic beverages.” That is pretty close to the all-time alcohol-consumption high of 71 percent set back in the ‘70s, the site notes.

New York Senator Charles Schumer, an outspoken Democrat, is trying to use this fact to help his state’s business grow. While New York state is the official body behind the famed "I Love NY" campaign (not New York City, as commonly believed), Schumer feels it isn't doing enough for local businesses. That's why he's encouraging restaurants, bars, and retailers to stock as much New York-brewed beer as possible, according to the Saratogian. Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnellli may love New York but Schumer loves New York brew.

As he kicks off his campaign this week, Schumer is hoping that New York brewers will sell more product and thus have to add to their employee rolls, the Saratogian reports.Continue reading...

What do fashion, a Chinese news agency and pizza have in common?

Times Square – hotter, and more popular than ever! And not just because it's summer.

This past Saturday, Express, the fashion retailer for style-conscious Millennials, set out to break the Guinness world record for the largest number of people modeling on a catwalk.  And despite temperatures hovering in the 100’s – they did, showing that wannabe models cannot resist a catwalk, no matter how crowded or sweaty.

A total of 1,243 people walked the Express runway, including the Naked Cowboy, police officers, tourists, and just regular locals, shattering the previous record of 521 set last year by Galeries Lafayette in Paris.Continue reading...

As part of MasterCard Worldwide’s iconic "Priceless" campaign, the brand has created a New York-based promotional event for its Priceless Cities in-market branding campaign.

Given that it's summer in the Big Apple, Priceless New York centers around — what else? — the New York Yankees, creating a game for baseball fans to play by hiding Yankee’s seats throughout the city in partnership with Facebook Places.

Find the chairs and check-in via Facebook Places to be eligible to win special prizes, including meet-and-greets with Yankee greats, a “safari sleepover” at the Bronx Zoo, “V.I.P. treatment” at Marcus Samuelsson's red-hot Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem, and access to a new section of Yankee Stadium known as Batter’s Eye View – which includes a MasterCard Batter’s Eye Cafe.Continue reading...

If you don’t know them already, you will now, as Rhett & Link, seen above, take on their latest starring role as judges in the celebration of low-budget, local commercials in IFC’s launch of its first LoCos awards.

Voters are eligible for a $250 cash prize for casting ballots for the greatest stars, jingles, taglines, mascots, special effects and more, as the LoCos join a tradition of local advertising built on the shoulders of off-beat characters including New York’s hi-fi king Crazy Eddie, ice cream magnate Tom Carvel, and LA’s car painting pitchman Earl Scheib.

And then there are the ads themselves.Continue reading...

Two announcements from AOL’s Patch network of community news and blogs shows how the platform is expanding its reach in hyperlocal content and services.

First, a partnership with American Express to simplify digital payments and local deals redemption via Serve, AmEx’s next-generation, open payments platform.

By adding Serve to AOL's Patch Deals platform, consumers and merchants both benefit.Continue reading...

New York City's Duane Reade drugstore chain has been undergoing a transformation, catering to local New Yorkers with clever packaging, marketing moxie (witness a Broadway store opening last year) and new products (including more food and other lifestyle items) in a bid to become a one-stop shop. It's also — attention Wal-Mart — getting creative in its outreach to locals, including launching an in-store bar to share a beer with customers.Continue reading...

With a New York City Council meeting on Feb. 3rd to review its application to open its first Walmart store in New York City, the marketers at Wal-Mart are laying on the charm. In addition to launching WalmartNYC.com as the focus of its community outreach, it's using video spots and direct mail targeting Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens residents. But the hub of its efforts is really online.

“What this site really does is provide the opportunity to advocate for the company, laying out some facts about our business and some testimonials from real customers,” commented Steven Restivo, a Wal-Mart spokesman, to the New York Times.  “It’s a great clearinghouse of information.” The Times finds the website (tag line: “Helping N.Y.C. Save Money and Live Better”) a politically shrewd piece of lobbying.Continue reading...

Arkadi Kuhlmann, CEO of ING Direct, explains the philosophy behind the online banking brand's seven cafes in the US: making the virtual real, with employees on hand to answer questions and help customers. Check out the NYC cafe after the jump, and hear more from Kuhlmann on the ING brand's social media and mobile touchpoints with consumers.Continue reading...