BDC Now: Cigarette Company Bans Smoking in the Workplace
We never thought we’d see the day when a cigarette company would try to limit its employees’ exposure to its own product, but that day has arrived! That’s on today’s BDC Now, along with a new ad featuring the world’s best free solo rock climber, the sale of Ebola.com, the world’s most extreme wheelbarrower, and finally getting a dollar figure on what the human body is worth.
Joe Camel Smokes… But Not at Work
It looks like Reynolds American Inc., the maker of Camel and several other brands of cigarettes, has finally come around to accept the fact that its product isn’t all that good for people. According to Bloomberg, the tobacco company is “banning smoking at its corporate offices.’’ But why, Reynolds? Why would you ever do that? Aren’t cigarettes supposed to be an exciting and fun way to fit in with the cool kids? We all know the famous saying: “I’d walk a mile for a Camel.’’ And who wouldn’t? Well, apparently David Howard, a Reynolds spokesperson, wouldn’t. He called the ban “the right thing to do.’’ Yes, maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s “right’’ to discourage your employees from doing something that, according to the Center for Disease Control, “harms nearly every organ of the body.’’ Good idea.
Squarespace: Where Crazy People Build Websites
Rock climbing is terrifying enough, but doing it without any ropes, carabiners, or other equipment is a whole different level of scary. And yet, that’s what Honnold did in a new ad for Squarespace, a website builder and blogging platform. Honnold, who is one of the world’s best free solo climbers, scaled a 40-foot cliff face hanging over a 3,000-foot drop with only his climbing shoes, a bag of chalk, and the clothes on his back. Oh, and apparently he did it twice. GrindTV said the commercial’s director posted about the shoot, writing: “Not only did he float the route once, he topped out, turned to me and said ‘give me twenty minutes and I’m going to do it again,’ and then did the route a second time.’’ We don’t know whether we should be impressed or terrified.
You’re Worth More Than You Think
If you’re ever short on cash, we have good news: You have a ton of value, but you have to look inside yourself to see it. Literally. According to a post from Motherboard, the average person is worth about $2.5 million. But since most people aren’t really looking to sell their entire beings, Motherboard writer Jan Vollmer was so kind as to break things down a little bit. Most people know that you can sell you blood for about $25 per visit, and you can give plasma for $19 per visit. Fewer people probably realized that if you wanted to buy the elements that make up a human body, it would actually cost you less than $2,000. But what about your organs? Those are supposed to be valuable, right? Vollmer asked filmmaker Peter Scharf, who actually has a movie titled “How Much Am I Worth?’’, and he estimates that all of the organs in the human body could pull in around $2 million. That’s quite a haul. Now do you see what we’re saying? You can absolutely afford your rent next month, as long as you don’t mind losing a kidney or two.
Ebola.com Finds a Buyer
When someone hops online to learn more about the Ebola virus, it would make sense if one of his stops is Ebola.com. Right now, the site provides some basic information about the deadly virus, but in a few weeks, it will likely look totally different. That’s because Chris Hood and Jon Schultz, the two men who owned Ebola.com, sold it to the Weed Growth Fund for $50,000 and more than 19,000 shares in a company called Cannabis Sativa, Inc. At $8.55 a share, that’s $164,091. Yes, that all adds up to a marijuana company paying $200,000 for the top domain name in the world of the Ebola virus. That doesn’t exactly seem like the most logical fit, so what gives? Well, apparently former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, who runs Cannabis Sativa, is interested in learning how marijuana can help Ebola patients. We’re not really sure how that’s going to work either, but anything is worth a shot.
The Boy and the Golden Wheelbarrow
The average person probably dedicates about five minutes of his life to being excited about wheelbarrows. Most people spend that time being excited about purchasing one, actually purchasing one, and using one for the first time. “Siggi from Paderborn’’ is asking you to forget about that and spend three of your precious wheelbarrow minutes being excited about “extreme wheelbarrowing.’’ We didn’t know what that was either, but then we watched his video and found out that yes, it is something. We’re not really sure if it’s an impressive thing, a bad thing, or just a weird thing. But what we do know is that we are dying for more reaction footage. There are bystanders in a few of his shots, but the only responses we ever see are a kid fleeing for his life at the 2:15 mark and some bemused, half-hearted applause at the 2:45 mark, near the end. Those can’t be the only types of reactions he gets, right? We want more. Make it happen, Siggi!
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