Pimp My Bed!

On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, "The Wall Street Journal" had an image of a bed on the front page with the caption, "The Ultimate Man Cave." The image was a red cube bed with a flat screen television built into the wall at the foot of the bed. The fact that the cube was red caught my attention first. Next, the idea that men feel the need to designate an area solely for their entertainment or piece of mind within an entire house is somewhat amusing to me. Ray A. Smith, author of "Pimp My Bed: The Male Sleep Lair", grabs the viewers attention with the first paragraph only having one sentence stating, "Bed makers are manning up." This lead is a good example that a nut graph will soon follow. A nut graph is usually the second or third paragraph stating the idea of the article, answering; who, what, when, where, why and how of the story. A good lead will answer these questions as soon as possible. The first paragraph does not answer any of those questions urging the reader to continue in order to find out the purpose of the article. In the past, women made the house hold buying decisions, the bed industry feels that men have been neglected and hope to caught their attention with built in entertainment-systems, wine coolers, safes and other guy gadgetry. Since men are more involved with the living room entertainment purchases, the bed industry is hoping that the bed will eventually become the new man cave. Spring Air International LLC and Dormina Inc., are promising to create mattresses with muscle recovery, cooling and sweat-wicking features, in hopes of keeping both men and women at a comfortable body temperature while they sleep. Although there is no scientific evidence proving that men are warmer then women while they sleep both sexes would contest otherwise. Regardless of statistics men and women are going to buy what feels comfortable, and men are more persuaded through entertainment.