I am going to have two editions of this feature this week. I saw two items of particular interest in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, but they are on such different topics I can't blend them into one post, and I feel both of them are worth talking about.
In the header of the Marketplace section, a small photo of celebrity homemaker Martha Stewart was posted, along with the headline, "Macy's Takes Martha to Court." The story appears on page B3. The article by Chad Bray and Dana Mattioli stated that Macy's Inc. sued Martha Stewart's Living Omnimedia Inc. "to block a new licensing agreement with rival J.C. Penney Co." In short, Macy's has carried a line of Martha Stewart's home and kitchen products since 2007 and recently renewed its contract for another five years. Macy's believes the agreement between J. C. Penney Co and Martha Stewart Living (MSL) breaches the contract they signed with MSL because the right to sell these products exclusively was clearly outlined.
As I read the article, it reminded me of the recent backlash Paula Deen has endured since her diabetes announcement. According to this Fox News article, her publicist of six years quit over the celebrity chef's plans to promote the drug Victoza. Deen has been criticized for keeping her condition secret for the past three years while dishing up foods filled with sugar and fat.
These situations definitely give the average person reason to pause. If MSL gave exclusive rights to Macy's to sell their products, why did they work out an agreement with their rival? Why did Deen keep her condition secret from the people who have made her a household name? It's easy to say it was mere greed. I don't know that it's that simple. Since in the WSJ article, J.C. Penny Co. president, Lisa Gersh, states their line would be "completely different" from what Macy's carries, was there an intentional decision to breach the contract? Did people who watched Paula Deen and who made her recipes not realize the foods laden with fat and sugar were unhealthy? Why is a celebrity's medical history anyone else's business but her own? That she is now using her condition to promote a product she helps to manage it, and will be making changes to her show because of it, only means that viewers can stop watching if they don't like it. But they were free to do that all along.
What do you think about these recent discoveries? Do they change your buying habits? Will you be turning off the TV when Martha Stewart or Paula Deen comes on? I think it will be interesting to see how both of these situations turn out.
With its lush gardens, stately town houses, and sprawling plantations, Savannah is the epitome of old Southern style, and who better to give you the grand tour than Paula Deen, the city’s most famous resident and anointed Queen of Southern Cuisine?
In this gorgeous, richly illustrated book, Paula Deen shares a full year of Southern living. Whether it’s time to put out your best china and make a real fuss, or you’re just gathering for some sweet tea on the porch at dusk, Savannah style is about making folks feel welcome in your home. With the help of decorator and stylist Brandon Branch, you’ll learn how to bring a bit of Southern charm into homes from Minnesota to Mississippi. For each season, there are tips on decorating and entertaining. In the spring, you’ll learn how to make the most of your outdoor spaces, spruce up your porch, and make your garden inviting. In the summer, things get more casual with a dock party. Sleeping spaces, including, of course, the sleeping porch, are the focal point of this chapter. In the fall, cooler weather brings a return to more formal entertaining in the dining room, and in the winter, attention returns to the hearth, as Paula and her neighbors put out their best silver and show you how they celebrate the holidays.
Paula loves getting a peek at her neighbors’ parlors, so she’s included photographs of some of Savannah’s grandest homes. From the vast grounds of Lebanon Plantation to the whimsically restored cottages on Tybee Island, you’ll see the unique blend of old-world elegance and laid-back hospitality that charmed Paula the moment she arrived from Albany, Georgia, with nothing but two hundred dollars and a pair of mouths to feed. And she isn’t shy about giving you a window into her own world, either. From her farmhouse kitchen to her luxurious powder room, you’ll see how Paula lives when she’s not in front of the camera.
Packed with advice and nostalgia, Paula Deen’s Savannah Style makes it easy to bring gracious Southern living to homes north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Read an Excerpt!
Brandon's Style Secrets
Porches are for bringing your lifestyle outside during the warm months. You should think of the porch as an extra room, and like any other room in your house, it should reflect your sense of style. Be creative--think of your porch as a nighttime room as well as a daytime space. Use candles and lanterns to add drama and romance to the porch, or consider moving a comfortable couch and chairs outside if you're entertaining in the evening....
Read the Reviews!
"In this book, Paula Deen gives great advice as to how to decorate your home to make it feel family-focused, comfortable and fun in every season...This book is just out of this world."
--Abi, 4 the Love of Books
"Co-written with her longtime personal assistant and creative director Brandon Branch, Paula Deen's Savannah Style is one of those special books that will be set out to be enjoyed and referred to for a long time to come."
--Sharon, Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews
She is the quintessential American success story, a best-selling author and a television show host, a tastemaker to the stars and to the everyday housewife and family. She is Paula Deen, a down-home, strong willed mom who overcame personal tragedy, long odds, financial and physical challenges to carve one of the most effective and wide ranging entertainment brands that exists today. A brand that is idyllic, inspiring, fun and very much American.
For all her success, the Albany, Georgia native has remained very grounded, in part due to her down home Southern upbringing. She married her high school sweetheart, became a young mom to two sons, and appeared to be living the life she desired, before a series of tragedies, from the death of her parents and the failure of her marriage to a prolonged battle with agoraphobia changed the course of her life forever.
However out of those changes came the success that laid the foundation for the Paula Deen of today, someone who inspires millions through her regular appearances on Oprah, cooks for world leaders, is a best-selling author, and is seen concurrently on three shows running on The Food Network.
The one constant in Deen’s life has always been cooking. It was a staple of her young upbringing, and when times became difficult it was what she knew and could turn back to. In June of 1989, with a $200 budget and the help of sons Jamie and Bobby, she became “The Bag Lady,” creating a home-based meal delivery service in Savannah, Georgia that started the rise. From there, Deen moved to preparing meals at a Savannah Best Western, and followed that five years later by opening her first restaurant, The Lady and Sons, in Savannah.
The popularity of the restaurant led Deen into publishing. Her 1997 cookbook, The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook, gave her growing fan base the opportunity to try Deen’s recipes at home for the first time, and led to her first appearance on QVC, which took the brand from regional to national and began a stretch of consecutive New York Times best selling cookbooks. The growth continued unabated, and in 1999 USA Today food critic Jerry Shriver named The Lady and Sons International Meal of the year.
Deen’s success in publishing, where she has sold over eight million books, then translated into the magazine world, and Cooking with Paula Deen, her bi-monthly title, launched shortly thereafter, growing to a circulation of over one million.
Not to be outdone with print and restaurant success, the Deen brand then moved to television. “Paula’s Home Cooking” premiered on The Food Network in November of 2002, to huge audience success, and spawned her second show, “Paula’s Party” in 2006. Today Deen has four shows running concurrently on the Food Network, including the latest, “Paula’s Best Dishes“, which launched in 2008.
The next evolution of the brand took place in March of 2008, when Meyer Corp launched the line of Paula Deen signature cookware, bakeware, kitchen tools and accessories both online and at retail, continuing the immersion experience for the brand with consumers.
In 2009, the Deen brand underwent further expansion with an added group of quality strategic partners. Wal-mart launched a new, exclusive line of affordable baked goods, while Smithfield, Kaleen, Nitches, Meyer, Universal, B. Lloyd’s, GOBO, Harrah’s, Quality foods, International Greeting and Cooking.com also began new or expanded partnerships in a host of categories. A compete digital relaunch, the expansion of special edition publications featuring both herself and her brand partners also came into play, making sure the Paula Deen name stayed fresh, relevant, and timely with a growing and more diverse consumer.
Even with the continued expansion, and more planned on a global level in 2010, Paula Deen has remained true to her fans, viewers and readers that look to her name for style, taste and inspiration in the kitchen and the home, all reflective of a climate where quality does not have to be sacrificed due to a challenging economy.
