Do Less and Live Better

Egads! It’s possible to get as much work done in an eight-hour day as in one that stretches to 10 or 12? Egads! Advertising images glorify self-destructive overwork? Egads! Productivity can be enhanced if employees actually take all their vacation time?

These revolutionary notions are the pith of EGADS: Exposing the Glorification of our Anxiety Driven Society, a newsletter launched this month by Overachievers Anonymous.

The 10,000-member group, founded by San Francisco public relations executive Carol Orsborn, is dedicated to the belief that people should work to live, not live to work. The first issue of the newsletter rails against advertising that portrays successful executives as anxious, overworked and competitive, warning that such images heighten business people’s insecurity and drive them to endanger their health and ignore their families.

Overachievers Anonymous makes no such demands, according to Orsborn. It guarantees no meetings, no classes and no fund-raisers. “In fact,” she says, “we don’t do anything.”

Making Dealies for Wheelies

The folks that brought you “Wheel of Fortune,” the wildly successful game show that made household names out of Vanna and Pat (as in White and Sajak), are hoping to hit it big with some new characters: the Wheelies.

Currently featured in commercials for “Wheel of Fortune,” Wheelies are “adorable, mischievous characters” who live on the “Wheel of Fortune” set and play the game all night after the prime time regulars have gone home, said Jerry Kapner, vice president of merchandising for King World Productions, which distributes “Wheel of Fortune.” King World, which already has successful licensing programs for its “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” shows, is negotiating with several companies to license the multicolored puppets for merchandising, he said.

Two of the Wheelies bear a vague resemblance to Sajak and White--that is, if the host and well-dressed letter-turner had fangs, bowed legs and an appendage that looks like the collar on Dracula’s cape.

Is It for You or Your Dog?

Smelling like your dog may not be the goal of many pet owners but Nebraska-based conglomerate ConAgra thinks that there’s a market for matching fragrances.

Snoopy Private Collection Cologne, a line of scents that ConAgra hopes to have out for the start of the Christmas buying season, comes in five fragrances--Pedigree, Puppy Love, A Breed Apart, Delightful and Fetching--that ConAgra says are compatible with human-targeted products Obsession, Giorgio, Chanel, Opium and Aramis.

In addition to the Snoopy scents, expected to retail for $3.99, the company is expanding its line of Snoopy toys.

“The new Snoopy toys and the pet perfumes will give our company added merchandising strength on the retail front,” according to a release from ConAgra Pet Products Co. “We expect to set new sales highs as this program picks up momentum.”

The time must be ripe for the perfumed pooch.