It’s not just a hippie new age inspired idea. Color has long had a huge role to play in global marketing departments simply because it’s one of the key tenets in subliminal marketing.

Subliminal marketing is about sending a non-verbal, non-textual message to your customers; a very discreet but direct feeling you relay to them about your product or service simply by the color choice of your product, logo, marketing materials, office schemes and more. In fact, about 80% of your visual information is relayed by color.

On February 11, Japan celebrates National Foundation Day to mark the founding of the nation. Unlike the Fourth of July, it does not come with much fanfare or celebration. A tourist in the country wouldn’t be likely to see the fireworks and hullabaloo that symbolizes the United States becoming a country. Like our Independence Day, citizens do raise the flag and reflect on the meaning of being a Japanese Citizen.

Late into the evening one night in college, we were trying to decide what to cheers to for our next round of shots. One of my roommates smiled at our friend Derrell and wished him a happy Black History Month. Nobody laughed harder than Derrell, who constantly made jokes about the lack of diversity at our university. It also turned on a lightbulb for him (many a poor decision are made in the midst of throwing back cocktails in college--this wasn’t one of them). Derrell decided he was going to host a party for all of us, where he would showcase some of his mother’s cooking from her upbringing in Ghana. We were excited too. If there’s one thing a college kid loves, it’s food.

I recently made a “That’s not a knife, THIS is a knife” reference to a friend and it went right over his head. I may have been keen on the Crocodile Dundee reference due to countless viewings with my dad when I was growing up. With Australia Day right around the corner, I think now is as good a time as any for America to catch up on/revisit that classic comedy.

January 23 marks Chinese New Year. It is the year of the dragon. I don’t know much about how it works with the animal signs, but I’m just going to guess and say it’s because of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo being in theaters right now.