Trumpeting New Fragrance

Talk about cross-pollination: As fans were leaving a sold-out concert by trumpeter-record mogul Herb Alpert at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this month, each woman in the crowd was handed a long-stemmed red rose and a small folded card. “The scent of music is in your hands,” said the card, which was heavily scented with “a noteworthy new fragrance for women from H. Alpert & Co.” The new perfume is called Listen.

For more information on the product, recipients were instructed to call an 800 telephone number. When we called, however, the operator at the other end asked us for information--our name and address, so their information could be mailed to us.

“Please allow about two weeks,” she said. A spokesman for the company said Friday that both H. Alpert & Co. and the fragrance were “new ventures” for Alpert but that she didn’t have any more information at the time.

Several women polled said they liked the new scent. And it certainly has staying power: More than a week after the concert, the card could still be smelled from several feet away.

Brown-Bag Culture

Shoppers at Trader Joe’s 27 grocery stores throughout Southern California are getting a free taste of culture this summer--on the paper bags in which they carry home their wine, gourmet cheeses and baked goods.

A “spatter-paint” design by Tim Ebner, a 35-year-old Los Angeles artist, is featured on 500,000 bags that Trader Joe’s will use to pack groceries in the next few months. Ebner is among 10 artists whose works are being shown through Oct. 9 in the Temporary Contemporary (152 N. Central) as part of the exhibit “The Image of Abstraction.”

The chain, based in South Pasadena, has used artwork on its paper bags to promote the performing arts since December, 1986. Previous designs advertised the Hollywood Bowl and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. “It’s working for us,” said Pat St. John, a spokeswoman. “The bags get a good response from the public.”

For its part, the Museum of Contemporary Art, of which the Temporary Contemporary is an adjunct, is delighted with Trader Joe’s art-felt approach, said spokeswoman Barbara Kraft. “It’s a way of marketing the museum on a very limited advertising budget.”

Only You--and You and . . .

Caveat scriptor.

Anyone who got the job offer would be intrigued--a position as financial writer with a large financial services company willing to pay $80,000 “for the right person.” And the recruiter had already decided “from reading your articles that you could be a strong candidate for this position.”

“You”--and every other business reporter and a few editors employed at The Times, not to speak of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and who knows who else. The recruiter, Neil Frank of Culver City, admits he’s “looking far afield.” But he’s sending these personal letters in plain white envelopes “to keep it as confidential as I can.”

There’s no bonanza here either. Those not already earning close to $80,000 (and who is?) aren’t likely to get it. “If someone’s earning $30,000 a year,” says Frank, “they’re not going to pay them $80,000.”