green tease!

Tease #3 Looks like method might be getting a bit tired of the zillions of posters on their Facebook page begging, pleading, and praying that Monday's big reveal is the return of aircare (which they obviously need to bring back! Because, uh, zillions of posters on their Facebook page have been begging, pleading, and praying for it!) Today's tease is:

"people against dirty: we're re-introducing something you love and have been asking us for. the big reveal will be on monday, so we're gonna keep you guessing 'til then. clue #3: it's not aircare."

Yeah, rinse and repeat. It's gonna be car care, lusters! Oh, and my favorite comment from the teasers so far: (directed to method) "I bet now you wish it was aircare!" Zing! (Cause of the zillions of... oh, you know!)

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Tease #2 Today method issued the following tease:

"people against dirty: we're re-introducing something you love and have been asking us for. the big reveal will be on monday, so we're gonna keep you guessing 'til then. clue #2: both Rihanna and this product have ties to Barbados."

What's a famous Barbados tourist destination? None other than the Sea Flower Cave (also known as the Animal Flower Cave.) And what would one of the original scents in the method Vroom car care line be? Why none other than... sea flower! Wow, it'd be great if they brought this scent back, it was amazing (my favorite in the car care line.)

So far, I've still got my betting money down! What do you think? (Other than I need to get a life, I realize that...)

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Tease #1 Things have been mighty quiet around these here parts, now haven't they? Well, that's all about to change! method made a whole bunch oh' advocates giddy with excitement when they slipped us this naughty little tease today:

"people against dirty: we're re-introducing something you love and have been asking us for. the big reveal will be on monday, so we're gonna keep you guessing 'til then. clue #1: this product first debuted in 2005."

Of course people are begging for it to be aircare (and I'm included in that bunch! In fact, I'm down on my knees this very moment praying to the Green Gods!) But alas, you're ole' method lust buddy and pal here decided I just had to do a little research into this! I mean, for shame on me if I didn't, right? This blog is called method lust, after all, not method eh it's alright, or method "It's me, not you"! (Actually, at this point, it should be called method stalking! Oh, man, I should have thought that up at the very beginning! Ha!)

Guess what I've found out? Aircare - so 2006. Pish posh. Now, now... candles were around even before 2005 (before they became part of the aircare line.) So, it could be candles, but nah, I'm not betting any money on that horse. My strong guess is (drum roll, please!) car care! The method vroom (Target) brand debuted... in 2005! May, 2005 to be exact. Well, possibly April, but let's not split hairs here, ok? So that's my educated guess! method's left me out in the dark on this one, so I'm again just guessing here, but I'd put a whole bunch of money down on this! Like, Vegas style money, baby!

Whatever it may be, looks like we'll all know come Monday! (Only 116 hours or so to go! Let the countdown begin!) Thoughts?

famous founders

A quick bit that brings a tad more light into why the method vroom brand went bye-bye, from the article Seven famous founders share money mistakes, smart moves By Laura Petrecca, at USA Today:

"Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, the Method co-founders (notice in the article, they get the names on the above photo confused. "Adam Lowry, left..." really, now? Is that my left, or your left?)

In 2000, two roommates had a brainstorm: eco-friendly cleaning products. They whipped up some samples in their bathtub and handed them out to friends. Method was born. The company in 2008 reached $100 million in sales and is sold in retail outlets such as Target.

+ Money mistake "As an entrepreneur, you just feel a desire to just grow, grow, grow and show top-line (increases)," Ryan says. "Sometimes it leads you astray."

After the founders expanded their brand into the car-cleaning marketplace with a product called Vroom, they realized they moved a bit too fast.

"We ultimately ended up selling the line (to another company), but it was a big distraction from our business at the time," Ryan says. "There are times that you need to preserve fuel and be careful about how many growth opportunities you pursue, because you burn capital."

+ Savvy move "Hiring a CEO as our first employee was one of the best money moves we made," Lowry says.

The more-experienced Alastair Dorward helped the founders make better management and financial decisions. Dorward had the acumen "to grow smart rather than just grow fast," Lowry says.

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I still say an auto line would rock, and sell well!

vroom vroom!

Ya know, I have some news. I just got a new car! Like, just just! Last Tuesday, to be exact. 2010 Kia Forte! And yes, I still lust telling everyone "I have a car that isn't even out yet!" Cause you know, it's a 2010, and it's only 2009, and so see... ah alright, never mind.

This happens to be the first car I've ever purchased all by myself. So while I've gained eight ulcers, I'm excited! (And now perpetually in fear of losing my job! I think that happens anytime you get a new car, house, something big. All the sudden you're not able to sleep nights cause you're trying to figure out how you'll live in your car if you lose your job; and the fact that the bank will now TAKE your car cause it's new and you're paying on it; and you will in fact NOT be able to even live in your car! Whew, just breathe, just breathe.)

Where are you going Nathan? Here! So I whipped out my old school (secret method brand) vroom car care products this past weekend. Now my trusty, but also dirty old truck didn't get cleaned that often; but now I'm wanting to make sure Mr. New stays spotless. And what a better way to do this than taking the vroom all purpose car spray cleaner, and giving it a spot cleaning! I lust it! (I'm sure many car cleaners come in spray nozzle form for just this reason. But honestly, I have no idea, as I've never really shopped for these products.) So while I still really wish method would rethink their car care brand (it rocked! Add some tried and true method scents to the cleaning line (as the actual cleaners were scent free for some reason) and I just know you'll have a hit!

Until that time though, you can pick up your very own old school vroom car cleaning kit on ebay! So snatch it up (before that other method advocate does! You know you want to beat them to the punch! Then you can drive your nice shiny car past their house one day and gloat. Oh, uh, not that I'd ever do a thing like that, no sir'ree! Nah. No way.)

+ vroom (method) car wash kit - $19.99 (Buy It Now Price) + $12.49 shipping - This kit comes with one 25 FL. OZ. car wash concentrate, one 16 FL. OZ. spray bottle of protectant, 25 Count All Purpose Wipes and one Microfiber Wash Mitt.

travellin' method

I'm gonna give it a try! Yesterday, in some crazy fit of cleaning that hasn't been seen from me since early 1998, I cleaned my entire truck. Like, washed it (by hand!) vacuumed it, and cleaned the entire (ok, well mostly) insides. All with my grand ole' method vroom products! I swear I'd love for method to remake those, but in scents. They're just SO not method feeling to me, cause they're all scentless. Everytime I spray the glass cleaner, I'm like "where's the mint??" Anyway, my truck is fairly spotless. Well, ok, except for some of the windows. I think I missed some spots last night. I noticed them while driving to work today. I'll hit those up tonight.

So what I'm gonna do next is, I'm gonna go buy some lavender + lemongrass aroma ring refills, and put an aroma ring in my truck! The vroom line had these great "plug-ins" that you attached to your vents; but mine has LONG since ran out of oil; so many people on here have put aroma rings in their vehicles and say they work great, so at lunch today I'm gonna go buy a refill and give it a try! I'll let you know what I think. (I know you're dying with anticipation! Oh, I know! I know.)

method retrospect

vroom brand car care products

I told you I'd get to these someday! I'm just, well, lazy. Yeah, that's it. Why hide it! Ok? Ok. Time for another method retrospect! Where we take a moment to remember those wonderful products that came and went. To method product Heaven is where they went. Oh WOE is me, to method product Heaven! But they shall forever be in our hearts. Our obsessive method product filled hearts. Maybe that's why I have no boyfriend, I have no room left for love. For my heart is all full of method products. Ok, wait, that's just so sad... so very sad. I think we need a moment of silence here.

OK! So today we're featuring the vroom brand car care line! Did you purchase these products when they were released, in 2005? Here's a bit of background:

"Target Corp., Method's largest customer, signaled its belief in the brand when it approached the company to develop a new category; which was the "catalyst" to launch Vroom.

The automotive merchandisers at Target saw that existing products did not engage the store's target customer. Target approached Method to devise something to appeal to soccer moms instead of hardcore car enthusiasts. It took Method three months to go from idea to a packaged product.

"When you have a major retailer give you the support this launch (of Vroom) will have, it gives you confidence to put capital investment into a new brand," said Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method with Adam Lowry. He said Target saw only the Vroom concept and signed on for "endcap displays," the coveted real estate at the end of a shopping aisle. Vroom was fully funded by Method; Target provided no financial support."

The product line included: all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner (which you can see in the photo to the very left; it's all bubbly cause I just dropped it on the floor right before the photo was taken, ha! It doesn't come pre-bubbled like that!), tire shine, protectant (for your car interior), air plug-ins (not pictured), hand wipes (for carrying in your car), interior refreshers (scented sprays for your car interiors; the item I keep mentioning would work great as a Febreze competitor); and a multitude of mitts, cloths, and such.

Most of the cleaners were actually unscented. Which surprised me coming from method (perhaps this was due to them only having three months to create these products?) I expected the glass cleaner to maintain it's method style mint, and so on. But they were all unscented; excluding the air plug-ins (which you snapped onto your car air vent), hand wipes and the interior refreshers. These items came in Sea Flower (an AMAZING scent! I wish method would bring this fragrance to the method line!), Lavender Vanilla, Mandarin Melon, and Basil Verbena (another scent I loved.)

Sadly the line lasted little more than two years (ending around 2007.) I'm not sure why it didn't work, or if method simply didn't want to focus on that area of cleaners long term. I think a lot of the ideas and products could have been brought in under the method brand (as this brand was labeled: vroom brand, a method "people against dirty' product.)

You can actually still find a vroom brand line at Target, though it's only fabric items (cleaning cloths, mitts, sponges and the such); no cleaners. Target somehow retained that name from method (unfortunately I don't know the details) and kept those products around. I've always wondered if that caused any confusion for method.

I loved the line (big surprise there, right?) and HELLO method, (I keep beating this horse dead, but hoping sooner or later they hear me. Hello, hello? Anyone there?) Vroom brand interior refreshers = method Febreze competitor. It's PERFECT!

Did you purchase this line? Lusted after it? Didn't really like it? What were your thoughts? Drop me some comments! Thanks!

febreze me, please

Aren't these rather cute? (They're not method, you can't say that! Sacrilege, I tell you, sacrilege! Hold those horses, now. I'm getting to a point here. Really? That'd be a first...) Have you seen them in stores recently?

They're the Febreze fabric refresher, in their new decor line. The copy reads: "The Febreze Fabric Refresher freshness you love is now available in a bottle that blends with your home décor. Leave it out for easy-to-reach fabric freshness, any time." And now, WHO does that sound like? How easy would it be for method to roll out a product of this nature. I know a lot of people have been requesting some manner of Febreze like product from method (and, again (I SWEAR I'm going to do a retrospect on the vroom line very soon, just gotta get that product photo taken! Because so many products in the vroom line would work wonderfully for method (vroom was a method line at Target a few years ago, for your car/truck. MORE, soon!)

Anyway, they had an upholstery spray that worked wonderfully well, and came in the three amazing scents (one was sea flower, MAN I would love for method to roll that scent back into their line. It was heavenly!) And I was told, after asking if this would work, that I could indeed use the spray in my home, on the carpet/couch, etc. And what would that make it? Febreze, via method! So how simple would it be for them to bring that product back, rename it, repackage it, and rock the Febreze world!

Real simple, is what I'm getting at! Let's cross our fingers! (And oh, but am I missing the aroma spray line right now, man! It's been a couple months, I'm wondering how that's going? Time will tell. Oh aroma spray, come back! Come back, come back Shane! Shane, come back Shane, Shane, come back Shane! Come back... oh, wait, sorry about that.) And how many people get THAT reference? sigh... I have way too much time on my hands.

this one goes out to you...

Here's a question one method luster asks: "Does Method make anything comparable to Febreze?"

Ah! Quite the question! Unforunately, the answer is no (at the moment.) But I was thinking, (and we're going back a couple years here.) Does anyone remember the method offshoot brand, Vroom? Target was really excited about the new method brand, and made a request for them to make a brand of cleaning supplies for your car, which would be marketed towards women (and undoubtedly, gay men! Cause come on, we want pretty scented car things, too! Yes we do.) Anyway, it was around for a few years before being discontinued by method. - More on Vroom another time.

My point is, they had these upholstery sprays in Basil Verbena, Mandarin Melon, Lavender Vanilla and Seaflower (my favorite!) that you could use on your car fabrics. I asked if these could also be used for your home, as a Febreze type product; and they told me they could indeed be used in that manner. So I started thinking then, MAN, why don't they just come out with the method version of these products, and put them up against Febreze. Febreze pretty much has a monopoly at the moment on upholstery odor removing sprays (do they not?) So upholstery spray + aircare = method's own Febreze!

What do you think? Would you pick up this product? Do you think it would be a good addition to the method family?