Attn:Business Editor re Christmas Gift Shopping:How many of those items were Made in America?

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Nov. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- CHRISTMAS GIFT SHOPPING...HOW MANY OF THOSE GIFTS DO YOU THINK WERE MADE IN AMERICA?

Without adding an element of Scrooge to the holiday shopping season, it would be interesting to know how many of those doorbusters and Christmas gifts that people bought this past weekend were actually Made in America?

You could survey your readers and ask them, and you could also ask the big retailers to give you an estimate of the percentage of items they carry that are made in America (but remember, they may also be among your largest advertisers, so you might not want to press the issue)...

...And if you do any stories about the state of manufacturing in America, or the state of manufacturing in the area in which you live, or the upcoming debate in the Senate over the The American Manufacturing and Innovation Act (and whether it will actually do anything on a timely basis even if it passes), you might also want to take a look at some questions like these:

1) What is the state of manufacturing in the area in which you live? Is it increasing or is it decreasing?

2) How many jobs have been lost? How many factories have been shut down?

3) How many schools have closed? How many school programs have been dropped?

5) How many jobs have been outsourced to other countries?

6) Is there a way to revive American manufacturing much more quickly?

7) What are the human and economic consequences of all that outsourcing to other countries?

Along these lines... one more thing that you might want to take a look at when you do your planning for stories about the state of manufacturing in America is a poem called  “It used to be made in America.”

Every businessperson should read it. Every purchasing manager should read it. Every journalist should read it. Every politician should read it, and every American should read it.

The poem is about the loss of jobs and the consequences of the outsourcing of jobs to other countries.

You can see the poem online at www.itusedtobemadeinamerica.com and also at www.madeinusa.us.com.

“It used to be made in America”  paints a vivid picture of conflicting economic forces, and I hope to be able to develop the poem and the website into a series of projects and directories that could help improve our economy.

The directories would be about manufacturing, products, jobs, requests for proposals, and sources of funding for projects and products that would be Made in America.

The directories would be on the www.madeinusa.us.com website. (At the moment, both websites are identical. I am hoping to find some commercial interest to help develop these projects.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Your company might also be interested in developing these directories because they could generate very substantial revenues on an ongoing basis. PLUS, they could also give you access to tens of thousands of potential advertisers. If your company would like to take a look at a proposal I wrote about this, please let me know and I can mail or email it to you.)

In addition, I also hope to be able to develop some of the verses of the poem into some country and hip-hop songs, and possibly some television projects about the state of manufacturing in America. The song versions could also be turned into some very powerful music videos.

Some other things that might be interesting angles to write about regarding the state of Manufacturing in America might be:

A) Protectionism and things like "Buy American" clauses:

Recently, a lot of “Made in America” incentives have been introduced in various legislation, but will these bills pass and will they go far enough to make a difference - OR - will they cause a backlash from our foreign trading partners and get watered down or fail?

In the past, it has been very difficult for the President and Congress to promote "Buy American" policies, and in truth, the ultimate power really lies in the buying decisions of the consumer...

So, Power to the People!

If consumers finally start saying that they prefer to buy things that are made in America, and if they start reducing their purchases of things that are not made in America, you will see how quickly major manufacturers and retailers might start rewriting their manufacturing and purchasing plans to increase the amount of "Made in America" goods that they offer.

B) Additionally, consumers may also decide to boycott certain brands or companies to force a situation where products are once again made in America. It is also good public relations for companies to start making things here again.

My poem, “It Used to Be Made in America,” expresses a lot of those themes and it can be used to help bring more awareness to the need to produce more things in America.

It is a poem that could help improve our economy by bringing a lot more awareness to this situation, and it might make for an interesting thing to refer to in your some of your stories that you may be doing about jobs and the economy. Christmas gift shopping, shopping in general, and the state of manufacturing in America.

You can see the poem online at www.itusedtobemadeinamerica.com and also at www.madeinusa.us.com.


For more information about “It used to be Made in America,” and to arrange an interview with Robert Barrows, call 650-344-4405. www.barrows.com