Word: mania
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...skeptical about the tactic's effectiveness. "Let's say 20% or 30% want to play the game," says Mark Zakarin, marketing vice president for ABC Entertainment. "The other 70% will be irritated by all the promos." Yet if the lure of loot ends up boosting the ratings, contest mania will undoubtedly spread. Anyone for Roseanne bingo...
...stakes. The Time-Warner deal had gathered support among many U.S. business leaders because it suggested a healthy way for companies to grow and expand without incurring a backbreaking load of debt. But the frenzy that surrounded the Paramount proposal last week seemed more closely linked to the merger mania of the roaring '80s than to hopes of restoring U.S. competitiveness in the 1990s. At the very least, the managers and employees of Time, Warner and Paramount stand to be distracted for months by the takeover struggle. And while a clash of the titans may be an exciting spectacle...
...this sequel mania evidence of economic health or of creative bankruptcy? Cunningly, the theatrical-film industry has held its ground against the marauding armies of the video revolution. In fact, one format has fed the other, as audiences first view pictures on the big screen, then supplement their cinema appetite at home. Last year saw record grosses both for theatrical films and for videocassettes. But movie budgets have increased as well, and even a gambling man turns cautious with $40 million on the table. Hence the moguls have relied on brand names and roman numerals...
...that was just an appetizer to the prospect of a Howard Johnson's ice- cream cone containing one of the famous 28 flavors. Chocolate or coffee (or maple walnut) might be good enough for parents, but if one was an inquisitive and competitive boy with a mania for collecting things, the obvious challenge was to eat all 28 flavors. This was not so easy as it might seem, for not all Howard Johnson's restaurants carried all 28 flavors. Nor was it as pleasant as it might seem either, for there were flavors like ginger that had very little reason...
...contrast with 1988, when the binge in corporate buyouts helped offset the defection of millions of small investors, the latest downturn reflected weakness in virtually every phase of Wall Street's business. With merger mania dampened by high interest rates and fears of a political backlash against debt-laden megadeals, the value of announced corporate acquisitions fell to $76 billion in the first quarter of 1989, down 58% from the comparable period last year. At the same time, intense competition has driven down the commission on stock trades to as little as 4 cents a share, vs. about 8 cents...