Turn on the Juice

Everyone agrees that the economy is run-down. But there’s little agreement on how to deliver it a charge.

Democratic presidential hopeful Paul Tsongas says it needs a “rescue.” Former California Gov. Jerry Brown suggests a good “reform” jolt.

On the Administration side, the President prescribes programs that will “lift this nation out of hard times inch by inch.” At the Federal Reserve Board, Chairman Alan Greenspan, never one to pound his fist on the table, weighed in last week with a declaration that the economy needs to be “monitored closely.”

The growing consensus, however, is that there’s nothing wrong with the economy that a good “jump-start” can’t fix.

As the chart shows, use of the phrase has soared, up nearly sixfold from a year ago.

Sig Mac Alert

Recent radio ads from McDonald’s of Southern California target Southern California commuters, encouraging them to stop by the Golden Arches for “something to improve the drive home.”

California has yet to pass a law governing driving under the influence of a Big Mac. Even still, rush-hour dining isn’t exactly something the California Highway Patrol likes to endorse.

“Maybe you are so dexterous that you can steer the wheel, shift with your elbow and eat your Big Mac. But you risk spilling the sauce on your shirt, and when you look down a child could dart out in front of your car,” CHP spokesman Steve Kohler said.

A McDonald’s spokesman said the commercial isn’t intended to suggest that people eat while they drive. Rather, he said, the goal is to get people to use the drive-through at McDonald’s, take a break and eat at the restaurant.

Hollywood Squares

For the next Michael Eisner, Rupert Murdoch or Michael Ovitz comes a new board game of entertainment synergy called “Let’s Buy Hollywood.”

The game was designed by a New York couple, Cathy and Harry Rubin, who said they were inspired to create the game after 10 entertainment companies they worked for were either bought or merged.

Players try to develop hit shows, earning enough money to form entertainment conglomerates through the purchase of TV networks, cable channels and video chains.

As with a lot of television productions, the goal is to wrap the game up within an hour. Presumably, games that last longer can be played out over several nights like a miniseries.

Briefly. . .

North Hollywood T-shirt designer Stanley DeSantis is introducing a line of shirts called “RecessionWear--Clothes for the Downwardly Mobile” and the slogan “How to Lose Your Shirt and Still be Fashionable.” . . . The Independent Bankers Assn. of America trade group is offering a full refund to members who attended and were dissatisfied with the group’s annual convention in San Antonio this month. . . . Frothy claim: A Chicago import firm describes “microbreweries” that produce under 15,000 barrels of beer annually as the “hot entrepreneurial venture of the 1990s.”

Surge in Usage

“Jump-start” the economy is a term growing in popularity, as evidenced by its increased use in major U.S. newspapers, magazines and other publications through Feb. 20 of this year, compared to the same periods of 1991 and 1990.

1990: 27 1991: 68 1992: 363