Watercooler Stories

Survey: Women hate swimsuit shopping

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17 (UPI) -- Swimsuit season may be right around the corner, but a survey finds California women would rather clean the bathroom than shop for a new swimsuit.

The survey commissioned by Mervyn's -- a chain of stores headquartered in San Francisco -- also found women also preferred doing the laundry, taking their car to be serviced or receiving a call from a telemarketer than shop for bathing suit.

Only 3 percent of respondents said they pick a swimsuit to suit their man, but a majority wants a style that flatters their body type.

The survey respondents said they want swimsuits with more coverage -- depending on age. In the 18- to 25-year-old group, string bikinis were favored by 31 percent, followed by one-piece swimsuits favored by 29 percent, halterkinis chosen by 17 percent and tankinis chosen 15 percent.

Oxford decides its name is a moneymaker

OXFORD, England, April 17 (UPI) -- Britain's Oxford University has decided to cash-in on its venerable name and reputation by licensing T-shirts, champagne, and other memorabilia.

"A little while ago 'commercial' was in the same part of the Oxford English Dictionary as 'prostitution' at this university," Mike Davis, managing director of Oxford Limited, told the Times of London.

Oxford Limited is a subsidiary set up to handle agreements for use of the university's name and coat of arms. Oxford trademarked its crest in 1993 and gets almost $1 million a year from licensing deals, but hopes to bring in 10 times more within the next five years.

"We want to sell things with a real relevance to Oxford; we want to romance the products with Oxford's heritage," Davis said.

The university has already signed an agreement with a toymaker for a line of scientific products aimed at the young. Davis said other items being considered are microscopes and globes sold bearing the names of famous scientists associated with Oxford.

Einstein a hot figure in ad world

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., April 17 (UPI) -- Fifty years after his death in New Jersey, Albert Einstein is a valuable figure in U.S. advertising.

Roger Richman, a California lawyer who manages the Einstein estate, told the Baltimore Sun that the great scientist's income is only going to rise. In recent years, his name and image have appeared in ads for Apple computers, Fuji film, DaimlerChrysler vehicles and many other items, all of them paying licensing fees.

Fees paid to the estate benefit the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which has received an estimated $10 million in licensing fees in the past decade. That's far short of the $40 million in posthumous income that Elvis Presley brought in last year. Presley is the perpetual leader on Forbes Magazine's annual list of richest dead celebrities.

But it's still an impressive amount for a man who, in life, was known for dressing in old pants and a sweatshirt. The scientist, a socialist and pacifist who advocated world government, spent the last decades of his life at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton.