Couple of Trendy Guys

Who is the trendiest presidential candidate for 1996?

Apparently not Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, and probably not President Clinton either.

Try California Gov. Pete Wilson, and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander for starters.

The Trends Research Institute, a business and sociological forecaster based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., suggests in its current newsletter that Dole is too “off trend� and “out of sync with emerging mood/attitute perceptions and needs of strategic voting blocs� to win the presidential race.

Bottom line, the institute predicts, is that Dole would lose to Clinton next year.

But it’s not all good news for Clinton.

The institute adds that if the election were held this summer, Republicans Wilson and Alexander would each whip Democrat Clinton even though both are dark horse candidates now.

The reason: both Wilson and Alexander “have a high positive correlation with emerging trend indicators.�

More Trends . . .

Separately, the institute also is predicting a major new growth industry expected to surge at 9% a year until the end of the decade. It’s called “hypersafety.�

The term refers to the obsession by businesses and individuals with security and safety.

The business, the institute says, is already a $70-billion industry. Growth areas include spending on security guards, martial arts classes, handguns, pepper spray and the purchase of high-tech anti-crime devices.

Where’s the Bottom?

Hollywood movie press kits are known for hyperbole and salesmanship, but there’s a new twist contained in the one for the just-released Universal Pictures film “Waterworld.�

It emphasizes that the main producer of Hollywood’s most financially bloated movie ever is a bottom-line guy.

The cost of “Waterworld� soared to between $172 million and $200 million because of production problems, weather difficulties in Hawaii and spats on the set.

In a biographical description for Chuck Gordon, one of the producers of the movie, Universal’s press kits say he enjoys a “unique reputation of loyalty to both Hollywood’s creative community as well as the bottom line.�

Briefly. . .

Business newlyweds: Bob Eubanks, former host of “The Newlywed Game� and other TV shows, is teaming up with marketing executive Larry Donizetti on an international shopping venture. . . . An acting school for kids bills itself as a “tuition-based performing arts facility.� . . . In a slogan many fans of the beleaguered Los Angeles Kings would agree with, the new Los Angeles Ice Dogs minor league hockey team is being promoted with the phrase: “If you think hockey in L.A. has gone to the dogs.� . . . The Overpriced Stock Service, a newsletter for short sellers, says of a 2.3-million stock offering by Boston Chicken: “They’re flying the coop before they become tonight’s dinner special.�