Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

Landing triple word scores and dumping Qs ands Zs sums up my Scrabble game. Needless to say, I don’t play—or win—often. But how might someone go about winning? As one of the top prodigies in the U.S. learned during the U.S. national tournament last week, it doesn’t happen through cheating. Instead, grand master Brett Smitheram offers his top five tips for improving your game. And it’s just in time for the British Matchplay Scrabble Championships.

Success at a board game is one thing; success at the office is quite another. The secret to achieving your goals in the latter might be in what you do with that first hour of work.

The top item on my first hour’s agenda: coffee—plenty of it. I’m sure Dunkin’ Brands chief global marketing and innovation officer John Costello would agree, although as he explains in a Q&A with MediaPost’s Marketing Daily, return on investment comes first for him and the company.

Q&A is what McDonald’s social media strategy has been all about as of late, with the chain’s biggest triumph having come from its Canadian division’s “Our Food. Your Questions.” effort. In fact, the campaign seems to know no borders, with much of its popularity coming from the United States.

With all of the eating and sleeping that happens in front of our computers, it’s a safe bet that Logitech has a popular new computer gadget with the creation of its washable keyboard. Capable of being submerged in up to 11 inches of water, the keyboard will retail for $40 once it hits American markets this month.

Keyboards aside, what’s really popular with the kiddos at work these days are added incentives around the office, such as guaranteed promotions. Dan Rosensweig, CEO of of Chegg, said about managing Gen Y: "If they don't feel like they're making a contribution to a company overall quickly, they don't stay. If you provide them with the right environment, they'll work forever, around the clock."

[Related: The 11 best cities for millennial workers]

Cows are apparently working for incentives as well—that being candy. Actually, it’s the skyrocketing prices of corn that has led cattlemen to swap out the ingredient from traditional feeds and replace it with low-grade candy. Can’t we compromise here? It’s called candy corn.

Have farmers considered beans? Won’t cost them a thing—Heinz is just giving them away. Heck, the company will even engrave your name on one of its legumes if you’re lucky. It’s all a part of the brand’s new Facebook contest, which includes a “Bean Personality” quiz.



Sex is the only personality trait Abercrombie & Fitch has relied on, but as Businessweek reports, those naked models are losing their allure. “There’s no personality anymore,” said Martin Lindstrom, author of “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.” He continued: “The pipeline of coolness is disappearing and once it dries up, then they will dry up.”

Too much sex was the issue for shoe designer Brian Atwood, whose latest campaign featuring Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel has proved overly risqué for Madison Avenue, even at his own store. New York taxis also wouldn’t play the campaign’s accompanying video on its boob tubes TV screens.



Do you ever wonder where the term “boob tube” originated? Me either. But according to The New York Times, biologists have discovered the origin of the Indo-European family of languages, which includes English, Persian, Hinid, and more.

And on that note, I can’t image a better way to bid you adieu for today than with this gallery from Mashable of 13 bittersweet photos of departure. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

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