10 things you shouldn't buy this year

10 Things Not to Buy in 2010

by AnnaMaria Andriotis
Monday, January 4, 2010

Ten years ago, most homes relied on dial-up connections to access the Internet and iPods, flat-screen TVs and the Nintendo Wii didn't exist.

In 2010, consumer should expect to see more revolutionary products supplanting old mainstays. In media, DVDs, books, newspapers and magazines will continue to lose ground to services like in-home movie rentals and gadgets like the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle. In big-ticket items, the push for energy efficiency will continue to influence consumer decisions on cars and home upgrades.

As a result, some consumer products appear poised for a dip in sales, which could be a prelude to obsolescence. Here are 10 items not to buy in 2010.

DVDs

The days of going to a video shop to rent a movie are at an end. In September, Blockbuster (BBI) said it plans to close roughly 22% of its stores by the end of 2010; meanwhile, third-quarter revenue was down 21% from the year-ago period. (The company didn't return calls for comment.)

Looking ahead, DVD purchases could turn cold, as well. On average, DVDs sell for at least $20 each. That's pricier than signing up for Netflix (NFLX) or renting movies from cable providers' on-demand channels. Netflix charges as little as $8.99 a month to rent one DVD at a time (with no limit to the number of monthly rentals).

Time Warner Cable offers thousands of movies on demand for around $4.99 each. Verizon Fios cable service charges $5.99 a month to download unlimited movies.

Home telephone service

It will probably take a while, but home landlines could become as archaic as the rotary phone.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, more than one in five U.S. homes (22.7%) had cellphones — and no landlines — during the first half of 2009, up from 10.5% during the same period in 2006.

Ditching your home phone is easier now than it has been in the past, as cell phone companies compete for greater market share and alternatives to the home landline continue growing. For example, magicJack provides phone service when it's plugged into a computer's USB port and a home phone. It costs $39.95 and includes a one-year license for calls in the U.S. and Canada; after that, service costs $19.95 per year. (By contrast, Time Warner Cable's digital home phone service costs $39.95 per month.)

And, consider Skype, which is free when you communicate with other Skype users; this software application uses the Internet as a platform to make calls, hold video conferences and send instant messages.

External hard drives

Consumers who keep their computers for years and upload thousands of songs, videos, movies and photos will need to get more space at some point.

External hard drives are one option, but an up-and-coming alternative might be simpler and save you another transition down the road. Online backup services, like Carbonite.com or Mozy.com, allow users to back up data over the Internet.

These services are more expensive than purchasing an external hard drive, which typically starts at around $70. At Carbonite.com, a one-year subscription starts at $54.95, and at Mozy.com monthly subscription costs total $54.45 for a year.

Smartphone also-rans

In the past few years, several smartphones hit the market with similar features to the iPhone and BlackBerry, but they haven't generated the same buzz. As a result, fewer developers are likely to create applications and other products that cater to those phones.

Today, the BlackBerry dominates the smartphone market with 40% market share, followed by the iPhone with 25%, according to data released by ComScore in December. In the near term, both are expected to stay at the top. ComScore found that most consumers who'll be shopping for smartphones in the next three months plan to purchase a Blackberry (51%) or an iPhone (20%).

By contrast, only 5% of respondents said they planned to purchase T-Mobile's MyTouch. The Palm Pre and Palm Centro received 2% and 1% of the vote, respectively.

A possible upcoming competitor that could shake up the space is Google's (GOOG) Android. According to ComScore, as of October, the Android's market share had doubled to 3.5% in the past year.

Compact digital cameras

For nearly a decade, digital compact cameras were must-haves for most consumers.

But during the past several years, another type of digital camera has been slowly rising in popularity: the single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, from manufacturers including Nikon, Canon (CAJ), Sony (SNE) and Olympus. Although bulkier, these cameras produce pictures that more accurately represent what's in their viewfinders than those that use older technology.

They're also pricier. For example, Canon's digital compact cameras start at $110, while the SLRs start at $570.

Newspaper subscriptions

The past few years have been unkind to the publishing industry.

In 2008, newspaper advertising revenues declined by 17.7%, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Meanwhile, average daily circulation at 379 newspapers fell 10.6% from April through September 2009, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Magazines haven't fared any better. In 2009, more than 360 magazines shut down. During the first half of 2009, ad pages fell 27.9% when compared to the same period in 2008, according to Publishers Information Bureau.

The morning newspaper has been replaced by a growing online media presence — much of which is accessible for free. The Amazon Kindle — even with its price tag of around $250 — and other eBook readers could increasingly become one-stop sources to access newspapers, magazines and books.
CDs

When was the last time you bought a CD or even walked into a record store?

The past decade was one of the worst for the industry. In the beginning, there was Napster. Then came iTunes, which was introduced in 2001 and offered affordable pricing and easy accessibility. Face it, CDs aren't coming back.

Record stores are feeling the pinch. Most Virgin Megastores in the U.S. have shut down following declines in sales and revenues. In 2004, Tower Records entered bankruptcy and by 2006 most locations had closed.

New college textbooks

Unless a student absolutely needs brand-new textbooks, they can use several alternatives to save.

Shop for used textbooks, which can help you save 70% to 90% off the retail price, says Mike Gatti, the executive director at the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a trade group. Check out web sites like CheapestTextbooks.com, Booksprice.com or Amazon.com. Many college bookstores also sell used texts.

Another option is downloading books online. Sites like Coursesmart.com sell subscriptions to digital copies of more than 7,000 textbooks. TextbookMedia.com allows students to download textbooks for free. You can also rent textbooks on Chegg.com.

Gas-guzzling cars

Skyrocketing gasoline prices dominated headlines during most of the decade, and they remain volatile.

The Energy Information Administration estimates that crude oil prices will average around $77 a barrel for the fourth quarter of 2009, up from $42.90 in the first quarter. The EIA also projects prices will rise in 2010 to their highest point in more than two years: $81.33 a barrel.

Recent announcements by car manufacturers to mass produce fuel-efficient cars could help push consumers away from gas-guzzling vehicles.

According to the Department of Energy, the most efficient cars include the Honda Civic Hybrid, which gets 40 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 45 mpg on the highway, the Volkswagen Jetta and Golf (both run on diesel), which each get 30 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway, and the Toyota Prius hybrid (51/48 mpg).
Energy-inefficient homes and appliances

Ten years ago, shopping for home upgrades involved looking at a product's functionality and aesthetic. Now, there's another component: energy efficiency.

Today, the products most touted by manufacturers and retailers are those that are Energy Star certified and those that meet new federal environmental standards — most of which have higher price tags than their counterparts but help to lower heating and cooling bills.

The government is offering a federal tax credit of up to $1,500 on energy-efficient home upgrades through Dec. 31, 2016. But many are set to expire by Dec. 31, 2010; these include eligible insulation, roofs and windows and doors.

Copyrighted, SmartMoney.com. All Rights Reserved.

Sleeping-baby photos rock the Web

Awww! Baby Photos Rock the Web

by Mike Krumboltz

8 hours ago

Move over Anne Geddes — there's a new baby photographer in town. Tracy Raver was on the "Today" show Friday morning to talk about her unique way of photographing newborns. Searches on the shutterbug promptly shot through the roof.

The photos (many of which you can see in the video below) are of sleeping babies that seem to be posing for the camera. Raver explained that getting babies into cute poses is easier than one might think. A full belly and a warm room will do wonders for making a baby sleepy. And once those eyelids shut, it's pretty simple to pose the baby.

In the interview with Meredith Vieira, Raver said that she strives for photos that show babies curled up, as if they were in their mother's womb. In addition to taking photos for clients, Ms. Raver also instructs other photographers on how to keep babies asleep and calm enough to take photos. And while most babies respond to the same tricks, Raver explained that little girls tend to be feistier than boys.

As for the searches, it appears that the "Today" show interview will do wonders for Raver's business. Queries on her name and "tracy raver photography" both posted triple-digit gains.

We assume many parents will be inspired by the interview to photograph their own babies. Parents should act quickly — according to Raver, after the baby is a month old, it gets a lot more difficult.

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Most-stolen automobiles in America

The Cars Thieves Love Most

by Hannah Elliott
Tuesday, September 1, 2009provided by

Just because your Honda is a clunker doesn't mean it's safe to leave it unlocked while you make a coffee run.

Approximately 1 million vehicles are stolen nationwide every year, but the 1994 Honda Accord is the most stolen car, according to an Aug. 24 report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Last year, more than 55,000 Accords were stolen in the U.S. Needless to say, the thieves aren't after style, just substance.

Older vehicles like the 15-year-old Accord are pinched so often because their lack of theft-deterrent technology makes them easy to access and their parts--headlights, tires, catalytic converters and anything containing copper--are valuable on the black market. It also comes down to pure numbers, says Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau: "Hondas and Toyotas, they sell millions of these things, so there are more targets, obviously."

Most neighborhood hooligans wouldn't know how to steal a Lamborghini, but when it comes to more mundane rides they are equal-opportunity snatchers, Scafidi says. The vehicles most likely to get nabbed range from the tiny Honda Civic, ranked second on our list, to the fifth-ranked Dodge Ram pickup. Even minivans aren't immune--the 2000 Dodge Caravan is a hot target as well.

Behind the Numbers

To find out which cars are the most likely to be stolen, we consulted data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit group in Des Plaines, Ill., devoted to preventing insurance fraud and vehicle theft. Its Hot Wheels 2009 study determined the vehicle make, model and year for every car reported stolen to the National Crime Information Center, a division of the FBI.

The results are a preliminary quantity--the NCIC will release the final crime report later this month--but 2008 is on track to become the fifth consecutive year of declining auto thefts in the U.S. If the figures hold, total thefts will be less than 1 million vehicles--the lowest annual total in at least 20 years.

That's good news in a tough economy, because crime is expensive. According to FBI data, between $7 billion and $8 billion is lost every year due to auto theft. In 2007, the most recent year with complete data, authorities recovered only 58% of stolen vehicles.

Tracking Technology

It's probable that auto-theft rates will continue a slight decline--even despite the fact that they historically rise during hard times--because theft-deterrent technology improves with each new generation of vehicles. As the older cars die off, they are replaced with cars that offer standard audible warning signals, kill switches, fuel cut-offs and smart keys, all of which drastically reduce the likelihood of getting ripped off.

Tracking devices that emit a signal to police or to a monitoring station are also effective. LoJack, a $695 aftermarket device that allows authorities to track vehicles, has a 90% recovery rate, according to Jeremy Warnick, a spokesman for LoJack Corporation.

Sales of the LoJack system are down for the year so far, due to the fact that the new-car market is at its lowest levels in more than two decades (Warnick says most LoJack devices are installed in new cars). But the company has sold 5 million units in the U.S. since its inception in 1986 and expects steady sales in the next few months.

OnStar, offered as a standard feature in 50 new GM vehicles--including the Chevrolet Corvette, GMC Yukon, Hummer H2, and Cadillac CTS--has also led to a decrease in auto thefts. The system allows drivers to talk with representatives at a central call center for everything from emergency services to driving directions to unlocking doors. Cristi Vasquez, a spokeswoman for OnStar, says the 4 million member service gets an average of 500 theft-related calls every month.

(Un)common Sense

The best defense, of course, doesn't involve expensive recovery systems or gadgets, but simple common sense. Keeping valuables like shopping bags, purses and loose change out of sight when you park your car is a legitimate theft deterrent, as is simply locking the car and taking the keys with you. No high-tech system will prevent pilfering if the keys are already in the ignition.

It happens more often that you might think, even to people who know better.

"It happened to one of our employees in our Chicago office," Scafidi says. "There is a Speedway gas station right next to our lot. She went in to pay for the gas, left her keys in the car, and it was gone that quick. She got it back; it was missing a few things. But that wasn't as bad as the ribbing she took around the office."

Here are the top 5 cars thieves love most:

1. 1994 Honda Accord

--55,170 total Accords stolen nationwide

--Most stolen vehicle in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington

--Second-most stolen vehicle in Arizona, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin

--Third-most stolen vehicle in Louisiana and Oklahoma

2. 1995 Honda Civic

--48,073 total Civics stolen nationwide

--Most stolen vehicle in Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Utah,

--Second-most stolen vehicle in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington

--Third-most stolen vehicle in Arizona, Maryland, Rhode Island and Texas

3. 1989 Toyota Camry

--26,245 total Camrys stolen nationwide

--Most stolen vehicle in Kentucky

--Third-most stolen vehicle in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington

4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup

--17,416 total F-150s stolen nationwide

--Most stolen vehicle in Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia

--Second-most stolen vehicle in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas

--Third-most stolen vehicle in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana and New Mexico

5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup

--17,405 total Rams stolen nationwide

--Most stolen vehicle in Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming

--Second-most stolen vehicle in Oklahoma

--Third-most stolen vehicle in Kansas and Montana

Click here for the full list of The Cars Thieves Love Most

Copyrighted, Forbes.com. All rights reserved.

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'Shoe thrower' freed early

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush to be released early

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer – Sat Aug 29, 12:09 pm ET

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi journalist imprisoned for hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act of protest during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, as his case became a rallying point for critics who resented the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation.

In this Dec. 14, 2008 file photo, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi throws a shoe at President George W. Bush during a new conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be freed Sept. 14 after getting early release for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

"Al-Zeidi's shoes were a suitable farewell for Bush's deeds in Iraq," Sunni lawmaker Dhafir al-Ani said in welcoming the early release. "Al-Zeidi's act expressed the real will and feelings of the Iraqi people. His anger against Bush was the result of the suffering of his countrymen."

The journalist has been in custody since the Dec. 14 outburst, which occurred as Bush was holding a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush at the time, was said to have been deeply offended by the act.

Al-Zeidi was initially sentenced to three years in prison after pleading not guilty to assaulting a foreign leader. The court reduced it to one year because the journalist had no prior criminal history.

Defense attorney Karim al-Shujairi said al-Zeidi will now be released on Sept. 14, three months early.

"We have been informed officially about the court decision," al-Shujairi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "His release will be a victory for the free and honorable Iraqi media."

Judicial spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said he had no immediate information about the release because it was a weekend.

Followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who were among the leaders of many of the demonstrations demanding al-Zeidi's release, welcomed the decision to free him early.

"We believe that al-Zeidi did not commit any crime but only expressed the will of the Iraqi people in rejecting the U.S. occupation," Sadrist lawmaker Falah Shanshal said. "Al-Zeidi's image will always be a heroic one."

The bizarre act of defiance transformed the obscure reporter from a minor TV station into a national hero to many Iraqis fed up with the U.S. presence.

Thousands demonstrated for al-Zeidi's release and hailed his gesture. A sofa-sized sculpture of a shoe was erected in his honor in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, but the Iraqi government later ordered it removed.

Neither leader was injured, but Bush was forced to duck for cover as the journalist shouted in Arabic: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

The case's investigating judge has said the journalist was struck about the face and eyes, apparently by security agents who wrestled him to the ground and dragged him away.

Al-Zeidi's family has said he was also mistreated while in custody, although the government has denied the allegation.

"We thank God that he will be released, although we still fear for his safety since he is still in the prison," his brother Dargham said. "He will be released full of pride and strength from all the love he has received from the Iraqi people and international organizations and figures who advocate freedom."

___

Associated Press Writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Saleheddin contributed to this report.

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The World's Best-Paid Cities

by Francesca Levy
Thursday, August 27, 2009provided by

Which of the globe's workers fatten their wallets most?

Residents of Swiss financial center Zurich know that their country has more to offer than world-class chocolate and precision watches. They can now brag that, on the whole, they earn more than anyone in the world. Zurich-dwellers rake in $22.60 per hour in average net pay, according to a wage survey released August 19. The runner-up city is less than 200 miles southwest: Geneva, where jobs pay $20.40 per hour.

Though the Swiss cities provide the most cash to workers, they are not the most expensive locales for employers to set up shop. Laborers in glittering Copenhagen command the highest gross pay, at an average of $32.80 per hour.

Employees in Zurich and Geneva not only take home top dollar, they can buy the most with their earnings. When you factor in local prices, they blow away any other international city in terms of what workers can get for their money.

Working life in Mumbai marks the other end of the spectrum. Because of its $1.20 average hourly wage, the impoverished urban center trails the list of 73 cities compiled in the Prices and Earnings report, released by every three years.

Behind The Numbers

UBS arrived at its rankings by studying the wages, taxes and working hours of 14 occupations across 73 world cities. Schoolteachers have a very different lifestyle in Berlin, where they earn an average of $35,800 per year after taxes, than they do in Bucharest, where the same work nets them only $4,100. A female factory worker brings in $18,200 in Chicago, but less than a tenth of that--$1,800--in Cairo.

To accurately measure each city's quality of life, the researchers looked not only at gross salaries, but what workers brought home after taxes, based on the number of hours typically worked in their city.

To determine how far citizens could stretch this amount, they then calculated the cost of a generic shopping basket, comprising 154 commonly consumed products and services in each city. The basket was priciest in Oslo, at $112.

"The prices of goods are higher in Oslo because it's relatively remote, it's expensive for companies to operate there, and because taxes are high," says Robert Helsley, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

In Sydney, the same essentials cost a more reasonable $68.50, but the cheapest goods could be found in two Indian Cities: Delhi and Mumbai, where the shopping basket costs $37.60 and $30.90, respectively.

A Parisian can buy 61.3 baskets with their annual net income, but a Peruvian living in Lima can only afford 32.4 with theirs.

To crystallize the meaning of earnings in different countries, the study introduced a contemporary but ubiquitous item to the basked of goods--an iPod Nano. Taking into account pay, taxes and the price of goods, workers in Cairo would have to toil for 105 hours to get their hands on one of the MP3 players, while those in Zurich and New York can pick one up after working for the least amount of time of all the countries surveyed: 9 hours--roughly a day's work.

Europeans Rake In The Most

The list was crowded with European cities: 14 of the 20 wallet-fattening cities were Western European capitals. All four of the American cities that were included in the analysis made the top 20: New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. But two other cosmopolitan North American cities, Montreal and Mexico City, didn't make the cut--in fact, Mexico City was one of the lowest-earning of all those surveyed, beating only Delhi, Manila, Jakarta and Mumbai in wages earned. The top 20 includes one city each from the Asian and Australian continents--Tokyo and Sidney.

The dominance of European cities in the rankings is partly a function of sample: there are more of them on the overall list. But that's not the only reason. During the earnings periods for which most companies reported--roughly the 2008 calendar year--the dollar depreciated significantly to the Euro.

Switzerland specifically fared well because of its strong financial services sector and small size.

"Industry obviously influences what the overall compensation will be," says Michael Ryan, chief investment strategist for Swiss bank UBS' wealth management unit, which produced the report. "Switzerland tends to have very specialized products, and financial services."

But the tumultuous global economy, whose effect may not be fully reflected in these numbers, may soon knock financial centers like Zurich, Geneva and New York from the top spots. "As we see impact of global financial crisis play out, will that have an emphasis on reordering the list?" says Ryan. "We won't get that from this data. It's too fresh."

Big Pay Packages In Copenhagen, but More Free Cash In Dublin

Even though employers in some cities seemed to offer impressive-looking wages, workers in lower-earning cities often had much more of their checks left over to play with after taxes and other contributions.

Copenhagen had the biggest disparity between gross and net pay; its workforce contributes 46% of salaries to taxes and social security, shrinking the average paycheck from $32.80 per hour to $17.70. Those cashing their paychecks in Munich, Amsterdam, Oslo and Frankfurt give the next-highest chunks of income to the government.

But taxes fund distinct benefits in different parts of the world, so a strict comparison of tax burdens doesn't give the whole picture.

"Tax systems provide very different public services in different cities. In Copenhagen, I'm assuming health care is included in public tax contributions. In Los Angeles it wouldn't be," says Helsley. "Public safety, the quality of the public transportation system, lots of things could be influenced by government spending that would be germane to a person's choice of place to live."

There's no doubt that a sweet compensation package does a great deal to lure workers to any international location. But salary isn't everything. Employers determining where to locate their businesses and workers deciding where to live must consider a lot more. "Looking at just earnings is deceptive," says Helsley. "The same person is not going to locate in Mexico and Helsinki." Just because a city makes the top five, "It doesn't say it's the best place to locate a firm, and it certainly doesn't mean it's the best place to be a worker."

Top 5 World's Best-Paid Cities

AP Photo / Joachim Ladefoged/VII

1. Zurich, Switzerland

Net pay per hour: $22.60

Gross pay per hour: $30.30

Tax and Social Security contributions: 46%

Vacation days: 23

Working time for an iPod Nano: 9 hours

AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus

2. Geneva, Switzerland

Net pay per hour: $20.40

Gross pay per hour: $29.20

Tax and Social Security contributions: 30%

Vacation days: 23

Working time for an iPod Nano: 10 hours

Brasil 2/iStockphoto.com

3. New York

Net pay per hour: $19

Gross pay per hour: $26.10

Tax and Social Security contributions: 28%

Vacation days: 12

Working time for an iPod Nano: 9 hours

Niall Carson/PA Wire via AP Images

4. Dublin

Net pay per hour: $18.70

Gross pay per hour: $22

Tax and Social Security contributions: 15%

Vacation days: 21

Working time for an iPod Nano: 10 hours

AP Photo/ Luxpress/Manuel Dias HA

5. Luxembourg

Gross pay per hour: $22.40

Net pay per hour: $18.20

Tax and Social Security contributions: 18%

Vacation days: 25

Working time for an iPod Nano: 10 hours


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Attack on Obama riles Beck's advertisers

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer Mon Aug 24, 7:17 AM PDT

Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel on Monday after a vacation with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.

A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.

While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.

The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that it has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.

The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors.

They also host the most-watched programs on their networks.

"This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole.

Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research.

He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said.

ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director.

"They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it."

It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show.

One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck.

"We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel.

Besides the unpredictability of the opinionated cable hosts, the rapid pace of today's wired world complicates decisions on where to place ads, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint. She said she was surprised at how fast the Beck issue spread across social media outlets and how quickly advertiser names were attached to it.

UPS' Hallabran said the decision to pull commercials "should not be interpreted as we are permanently withdrawing our advertising from Fox." He said the company wants to reach viewers with a wide spectrum of opinions.

Except for UPS Stores, there's no evidence that any advertisers who say they don't want to be on Beck's show are leaving Fox. Network spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the companies have simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere and that Fox hasn't lost any revenue.

She wouldn't say whether Fox was benefiting from any anti-anti-Beck backlash, with companies looking to support him. Some Beck supporters have urged fans to express their displeasure at companies for abandoning their man.

Beck supporters have suggested that retaliation might have something to do with ColorofChange.org's campaign. One of the group's founders, Van Jones, now works in the Obama administration and has been criticized by Beck. But Rucker said Jones has nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started.

Beck's strong ratings — even at 5 p.m. EDT he often outdraws whatever CNN and MSNBC show in prime-time — make it unlikely Beck is going anywhere even as the list of advertisers avoiding him approaches three dozen.

But it could mean advertising time becomes cheaper on his show than such a large audience would normally command. Some of his show's advertisers last week included a male enhancement pill, a law firm looking to sue on behalf of asbestos victims, a company selling medical supplies to diabetics and a water filter company.

Rucker said ColorofChange.org has contacted about 60 companies regarding Beck, and is heartened by the response.

"It's causing a certain conversation around Beck, which I think is important," he said.

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