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Conan Tobias

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Conan Tobias is managing editor of Canadian Business.

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Topics  Lifestyle The Ode: Jerry Lewis Telethon (1966-2011) By Conan Tobias  | June 08, 2011

The fundraiser leaned heavily on mid-century celebrity, but despite the billions raised, it eventually became as stodgy and embarrassing as its host.

Salman Rushdie
Salman RushdieAuthor Salman Rushdie (Photo: Chris Woods)
The award-winning writer on fame, infamy, measuring success and managing risk.
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan AnnieLittle Orphan Annie
At the height of her popularity, she was a global cross-platform brand.
Food controversy
John MackeyWhole Foods CEO John Mackey (Photo: Richard Drew/Canadian Press)
Linking employee discount plans to personal health metrics.
    • RIM<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">LOSER</span></strong></span></td> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px; color: #000000;">RIM</span></strong><span style="color: #000000;"><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><em>STAN'S PRAM</em> CAST WAS BUSY</span></strong> </span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>The beleaguered smartphone maker hosted a swanky nightclub party in London earlier this month in an attempt to revive the BlackBerry’s floundering consumer market. Headlined by Brit Award winner Jessie J and attended by rappers Chipmunk and Wretch 32, not to mention the casts of <em>The Only Way Is Essex</em> and <em>Made in Chelsea</em>, the event practically screamed success—until it was time for guests to collect their coats. Would-be BlackBerry users stampeded to the cloakroom following Mr. J’s set, and before you could say “Balsillie,” someone had been stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle, resulting in what one spectator referred to as “huge” amounts of blood on the floor. The man was taken to a hospital and listed in serious condition. Other witnesses, many of whom were prevented from leaving until early the next morning as police investigated, described a scene featuring many tears, a lot of vomit, and a large number of teenagers seemingly drinking for free for the first time. So yeah, BlackBerry’s back.</p> </div>
    Winners & Losers (May 14, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | May 01, 2012 Instagram and bagpiping are hot, Sony’s television division is cold and Ottawa is hot and bothered.
    pennies_CBDespite reaching a production peak of nearly 1.3 billion in 2006, a 2007 survey showed only 37% of Canadian used pennies.(Photo: Kayla Chobotiuk)
    Canadian penny proves too costly By Conan Tobias  | April 16, 2012 Costing more to make than it’s worth, the Canadian penny's price was just too high.
    J.K. ROWLING<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #8a9c3d; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">WINNER</span></strong></span></td> <td align="left" valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">J.K. ROWLING</span></strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span></strong><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">... AND HER MOUND OF CASH</span></strong></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>With foresight not seen since George Lucas hung on to the merchandising rights for <em>Star Wars</em>, the Harry Potter author chose to keep the digital rights to her series. This allows her not only to release e-book editions of all seven Harry Potter books now that she feels like it, but also to keep most of the revenue for herself. The print editions of the series have been translated into more than 70 languages, so ­Rowling should be laughing all the way to Gringotts. <br/> <br/> </p> </div>
    Topics  Best & Worst Winners & Losers (April 30, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | April 16, 2012 Sino-Forest files for bankruptcy. Plus, an unfortunate shakeup in the Mitt Romney campaign, and a very unfortunate ingredient in Starbucks' Frappuccino.
    Encyclopedia_Britannica_CBEncyclopedia_Britannica_CB
    Topics  Technology Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768-2012) ends print edition By Conan Tobias  | April 02, 2012 Volumes of wisdom were killed by Wikipedia's volunteer army.
    Burger King<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">LOSER</span></strong></span></td> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px; color: #000000;">BURGER KING</span></strong><span style="color: #000000;"><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">SEND IN THE CLOWN</span></strong> </span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>If further proof is needed that there’s no room for an autocratic monarch in today’s capitalist fast-food republic—Wendy’s has overtaken Burger King for the first time, and now stands as the No. 2 hamburger chain in the United States. Burger King still has the edge over Wendy’s worldwide, and both chains combined still pale in comparison to the financial might of McDonald’s. </p> </div>
    Topics  Best & Worst Winners & Losers (April 16, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | March 28, 2012 Redheaded Wendy overtakes the redheaded Burger King, but both still lag behind the redheaded clown.
    Target(s)<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #8a9c3d; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">WINNER</span></strong></span></td> <td align="left" valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">TARGET(S)</span></strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span></strong><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">FAIRWEATHER BRAND</span></strong></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Clothing retailer Fairweather’s plan to exploit the use of its Canadian trademark of the “Target” name finally paid off when it settled a $250-million lawsuit with the U.S. discount retail giant of the same name. Under the agreement, Fairweather will phase out the Target Apparel stores it opened two years ago. No other details of the agreement were revealed. Fairweather owned the copyright to the Target name in Canada for more than a decade, but conveniently only began to use it actively once the U.S. chain announced its intentions to expand north of the border. The “real” Target is now free to offer its better-than-Walmart merchandise to Canadians unfettered. </p> </div>
    Topics  Best & Worst Winners & Losers (April 2, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | March 14, 2012 Bad gambles, cowardly captains and spies who pick locks with Allen keys. Plus: Rush loses his cookie supply.
    Maid of the Mist<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">LOSER</span></strong></span></td> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px; color: #000000;">MAID OF THE MIST</span></strong><span style="color: #000000;"><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">NOW WHO'LL SOAK TOURISTS?</span></strong> </span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>The company that has been ferrying tourists around Niagara Falls for more than 150 years has lost its contract to operate tours in the area. Though it signed a new 25-year agreement in 2009, the Ontario government ordered the contract be bid on after other tour boat operators complained they were shut out of the process. As of 2014, Hornblower Canada will have the exclusive right to ferry passengers frighteningly close to North America’s most powerful falls. Maid of the Mist is now threatening to cease service this year, now that its contract is not being renewed—another Niagara Falls honeymoon gone wrong.<br/> <br/> </p> </div>
    Topics  Best & Worst Winners & Losers (March 6 - 19, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | March 01, 2012 Oprah's desperate, and Whitney's a hit. Plus: Starbucks hits the Target, and who's suing whom at Archie Comics.
    Lloyd Blankfein<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #8a9c3d; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">WINNER</span></strong></span></td> <td align="left" valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">Lloyd Blankfein</span></strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span></strong><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">EARNING A KARMA BONUS</span></strong></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>In a new 30-second commercial produced by the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that promotes equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, the Goldman Sachs CEO states that same-sex marriage is “just good business, and is the right thing to do.” A spokesman for the campaign said being the head of a conservative company in a conservative industry makes Blankfein an “unexpected messenger” and speaks to the fact that a more diverse group of Americans agree with his stance.</p> </div>
    Topics  Best & Worst Winners & Losers (February 21 - March 5, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | February 16, 2012 Millionaire painters and billionaire johns. Plus: Disney rip-offs, killer farmers' markets and a farewell to pink slime.
    Gogo<div class="caption"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width: 500px; height: 61px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023; width: 210px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 48px;">LOSER</span></strong></span></td> <td align="left" valign="middle" style="color: #ef4023;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">Gogo</span></strong><br/> <strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">MORE LIKE "NO GO"</span></strong></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Tech critics have pounced on the in-flight Wi-Fi provider’s plans to file an initial public offering, pointing out that only 4% of passengers on flights that offer the service actually take advantage of it. This might have something to do with the fact that airlines have been telling passengers for years that so much as switching on an iPod could have fatal effects on an airplane’s guidance system.</p> </div>
    Topics  Best & Worst Winners & Losers (January 24 - February 20, 2012) By Conan Tobias  | January 19, 2012 CEOs cash in and Lulu’s founder checks out. Plus: naked Frenchmen, Tweeting tycoons and a gelatinous pile of goo.
    Jerry Lewis removed as MDA chair By Conan Tobias  | From  Business Briefings  | August 04, 2011   After half a century of service, the Muscular Dystrophy Association has backtracked on its plans to retire Jerry Lewis gracefully from its telethon.
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