Mike Myers is coming out with a new comedy, The Love Guru, this summer June 20.  The Love Guru is about an American, Guru Pitka (Myers) who is left at the gates of an Ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus.  He returns to the US seeking fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality.   According to the website, his karma is huge.  Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Deepak Chopra also make appearances in the movie.

This movie is taking advantage of the viral nature of the Internet with video clips on YouTube, a Myspace page, Facebook page, and a blog by Guru Pitka on Intentblog.  This movie and some of its viral marketing has already raised controversy as it pokes fun at Eastern spiritual traditions.  Interestingly enough, Deepak Chopra, who is an advocate for Eastern philosophies, is in the movie and also makes jokes about some of the stereotypes associated with himself and other Eastern mystics.  Chopra also hosts the blog for Guru Pitka at his website, http://www.intentlbog.com 

The humor in the movie is just that.  It is simply humor.  The movie reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously and that life is capable of being a cosmic playground for us to enjoy, laugh at and have fun.

You can watch the trailer of The Love Guru at http://www.lovegurumovie.com/

Bono has used his celebrity status as a platform to raise awareness for causes in Africa through his ONE campaign and (RED).  In particulary he focuses his efforts on helping raise money for those with poverty and AIDS.Africa is now giving back to BONO by creating their own CD with interpreratations of their favorite U2 songs.  The CD, In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2, features the continent’s top artists including Grammy Award-winning singers and up-an-comers.  Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Vieux Farka Tour, and Vusi Mahlasela are all on the CD.  One of the most popular songs is Angelique Kidjo’s rendition of “Mysterious Ways,” sung in French and Fon and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars’ version of “Seconds,” with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry on lead guitar.

 The Global Sound Conference is a unique event that will bring together important people from the film, television and music industries with pioneers in the areas of sound healing, wellness, and integrative medicine to explore the many ways that sound impacts our lives.

Doctors, scientists, musicians, and media visionaries will address the various components of sound including health, science, entertainment, and technology.  Additionally the Agape choir and Ricky Byars Beckwith will contribute to the event.

For more information visit: http://www.discoversound.com/

James Ray is offering visitors to his website free access to video clips of him on television and radio interviews.  In the last year, Ray has been on the Oprah tv show twice, the Larry King show and interviewed on the CBS news show.  Many of these interviews highlight the success that people have experienced as a result of reading Ray’s books or watching him on The Secret.

 However, not everyone is a believer in James.  His interview on CBS news show experts debating with him and critically examing some of his teachings in The Secret.  James’ career has really taken off in the last year with media appearances, book deals and DVD roles. 

You can watch the free video clips of James Ray at the link below: 

 http://jamesray.com/resources/multimedia.php

10. Celestine Prophecy

9.   What the Bleep do We Know

8.   The Secret

7.   Forrest Gump

6.   City of Angels

5.   Gandhi 

4.   What Dreams May Come

3.   Peaceful Warrior 

2.   It’s a Wonderful Life 

1.   Field of Dreams

Did I miss any? What are your favorite spiritual cinema movies?

What once started out as a grass-roots campaign, Earth Day, to celebrate the environment, has now become a marketing bonanza.  April 22, Earth Day, may become the next Christmas for brands looking for a way to stand out in the market place.  Companies such as Wal-Mart, Banana Republic, and News Week all offered special discounts for the weeks surrounding Earth Day.  The entertainment industry also jumped on the bandwagon with green logos and environmental campaigns seen on the major television networks. 

To be fair, some of the companies genuinely do care about raising environmental awareness and increasing their own sustainability.  But, others are simply touting their environmentally friendly company policies and marketing efforts to raise their profits and increase commerce.  Their intentions are not exactly consistent with the 1970 grass-roots campaign for a national holiday honoring our planet.  Even the FTC has stepped in by saying it will be stricter in monitoring the validity of companies’ claims that their practices and policies are “green” or environmentally friendly. Does the intention to make more money really matter if the company is helping raise awareness for the environment or changing their companies’ policies to increase sustainability? 

 
The ultimate decider of whether green marketing is effective is the consumer and many of the consumers are starting to be skeptical.  “Consumers can see through messaging that is not backed with a longer-term commitment to green,” said David Wigder, senior VP-Digitas and author of the blog Marketing Green. “Moreover, if consumers are bombarded with too much messaging, they may simply tune it out.”
 

Consumers often voice their concerns and criticism in the blogosphere.  Bloggers are known for meticulously checking facts and companies’ claims.  Thus, a good source for whether a company is truly green or environmentally sound is the blogosphere. According to Nielsen Online, Tree Hugger, World Changing, The Oil Drum and Alternative Consumer are among the most popular sustainability blogs on the web.  Tree Hugger is the largest environmental blog with 10 regular staffers and 50 contributors from around the world.  The staffers include advocates, scholars and experts.  David Binkowski, senior VP-director of word-of-mouth marketing at Manning Selvage & Lee explains, “[It] better not just be window dressing, because bloggers fact-check everything.”

So whether or not green marketing is just the latest fad or a legitimate platform to raise awareness for both brands and the environment remains to be seen.  However, companies that advertise their environmental claims are sure to face more scrutiny and will need to deliver a product that meets the consumer’s expectations.

James Ray, author of Harmonic Wealth, was interviewed on the Today Show yesterday.  James Ray is a true “modern man’s mystic”.  I refer to him this way because he has devoted much of his life to studying ancient spiritual practices and applying them to the modern world.  For example, he was a top salesman at AT&T before becoming a full time author and speaker.  Yet, while at AT&T, he began to apply his spiritual practices to his work.  Eventually, this led him to create his Harmonic Wealth books and programs.

On the Today Show, James spoke about how true wealth goes far beyond making money.  He says that wealth occurs when a person’s spiritual, financial, relationships, physical and mental lives are all in harmony.  He also responded to some of the criticism in The Secret about its emphasis on just thinking your way to success.  The Secret helped launch Ray into the national spotlight with appearances on Oprah and Larry King.  But, Ray did mention that one point not stressed in The Secret is that a person needs have their thoughts, feelings and actions all in alignment to create what they value in life.

You can read the first chapter of his new book is at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24263288/