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Ah summertime, when a young person's mind turns to all things snack-related. Or, at least, a pr person's does, because lately we've been inundated with info on treat trends. Here's the latest on teen snacking from Triple Dot Communications' Beats Per Minute newsletter.

Who: Teenagers

What: Candy was voted most popular--63% of teens said they buy it several times a week. Runners up: Chips (39%), french fries (35%) and ice cream (31%).

Where: When afternoon cravings strike, teens run to a convenience store (51%), a fast food joint (50%) or the nearest vending machine (47%).

When: 78% have a snack before dinner, 53% require one during school.

Why: When it comes to picking one snack over another, price turned out to be the prime factor. When shopping for snacks, 47% of teens said they look for a bargain--one reason candy and chips scored so high.

SIGNS OF THE ZODI-SNACK

Who said junk food lovers are a bunch of slothful slobs? Not the Smell & Taste Treatment Research Foundation, Chicago, which assigned lovers of various snacks a complimentary, complementary trait. Apparently the firm doesn't need tea leaves or birth dates to profile one's personality; snackers simply need to fork over the names of their favorite treats. Not that we're concluding this was scientific or anything, but a guy with an M.D. after his name determined the following:

* Those who love potato chips are high-achievers who enjoy the rewards and trimmings of success.

* Perfectionists prefer tortilla chips. They are sticklers for punctuality and tend to be distressed by the inequities and injustices of society.

* Contemplative and thoughtful souls are drawn to snack crackers. They value their private time, are most creative when allowed to be alone, and base their decisions on logic rather than emotions.

* Formal, proper and conscientious, the cheese curls lover always plans ahead and is most comfortable with a neat, uncluttered desk.

* Pretzel lovers are energetic and easily become bored by the usual routine. Excited by challenge, they thrive in the world of abstract concepts.

* Gregarious and social, those who reach for a savory meat snack are often the life of the party and are anxious to please others.

EAT ROCK STARS

When he invented the sublime fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, The King was just tapping into a longstanding tradition: the marriage of music and munchies. From "Sugar, Sugar" to "Chewy, Chewy," from Cibo Matto's musical menu to the entire Weird Al canon, pop groups have professed their love of snacks. But who knew there were licensing opportunities? When Triple Dot, Boston, asked teens to design their dream snacks, they came up with a few pop-inspired items, and also some sick-sounding concoctions like ketchup-flavored cheese. Here, the snack creations teens are craving to purchase, as per Triple Dot's Beats Per Minute newsletter:

* 'N Sync-shaped fruit snacks

* Limp Bizkit-shaped pretzels

* Pre-peeled microwaveable shrimp

* Mozzarella sticks with the marinara sauce already in them

* Packaged celery and peanut butter

* Chips and cookies packaged side by side (but separate, of course)

* Chocolate-chip potato chips

* Cookie dough candy bars

* Fat-free guacamole (peanut butter, cheddar popcorn, etc.)

* Vegetarian jerky

SALES-HELP WANTED

In this era marked by dog-eat-dog consolidation (Petstore.com, meet Pets.com) and ghastly closures (Boo.com), customer service has never been a bigger issue for e-retailers. Columbus, Ohio-based Resource Marketing's secret shoppers encountered the following highs and lows on recent shopping sprees.

Bright Spots

As the government hems and haws over the true e-commerce question. "To tax or not to tax?" one e-retailer is using the state of indecision to its advantage. 800.com doesn't charge sales tax for any purchases shipped, within the U.S., even to all its sales-tax-benefiting neighbors in Oregon.

Shoppers reap benefits as brick-and-mortars and pure players make the mad dash to partner up. Customers who spent $50 at Gap stores got a $10 eToys coupon along with their khakis.

Petopia truly lives up to its brand promise of loving pets and taking care of people so they can take care of their pets.Bags of dog food purchased online arrived with either a card, pet poetry kit for the fridge or CD to play for pets to ease separation anxiety when their owners are out.

Attempting to provide the closest thing to instant gratification, Outpost.com offers same-day delivery in major cities. For B2B customers and individuals desperate or rich enough to pay for it, the $99 charge may be a small price to pay to get it now.

Understanding consumers fear of privacy invasion, Borders.com provides "Finished shopping" button for those who use a shared computer. After a purchase is completed, the command erases the order information from the machine's memory

Blind Spots

None of the selections in CircuitCity.com's Games, Music and Videos section are for sale online; customers are told to visit a store to buy them. While consumers can buy a $649.99 satellite receiver or a $1,000+ washer-dryer combo, they have to hike all the way to a store to get Britney Spears' new CD. A bit disappointing for a site whose logo promises "Price.Selection.Service."

Better include a credit card application with that $25 Borders.com gift certificate you're sending to your 7-year-old niece for her birthday Prior to purchasing a certificate, buyers are warned that the recipient will need a valid credit card to redeem it. Barnesandnoble.com is equally suspicious.

Amazon.com isn't as deceptive or bad at math as it appears. Call center reps confirmed that when viewing the site from a Netscape browser, zeroes can look like nines. Hence, the Buzz lightyear chair and pillow set isn't $10.00 and marked down to $17.99--a reported $2 savings--but $19.99.

Never mind that after the fact consumers can request that Living.com erase their credit card number. The fact that the site automatically remembers this sensitive info without giving consumers the option for it not to is plain wrong.

And finally an Internet company should understand the importance of operating in Internet time. Garden.com promoted the Grassroots Tour, a road trip across the U.S. to meet gardeners and urge people to "Get back to their roots. "The problem? It had already whizzed by.

IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD

Maybe we've made too much out of this whole Web customer service issue: Consumers are griping about offline companies too, says Young & Rubicam's Brand Futures Group, newly christened The Intelligence Factory Below: targets of the brunt of our anger.

* The customer is usually wrong: That's the accepted attitude in the Czech Republic service sector. Customers must contend with unfriendly, sometimes hostile attitudes and a general lack of respect from retail and restaurant staffs. Czech consumers do have rights, but many are unaware of them or feel it's futile to complain.

* At least they could play some Hasselhoff: In Germany equity trading has grown so quickly that investors are complaining about being put on hold as they try to call in orders for stock transactions. Eager investors are often forced to listen to recorded pop music while they wait much longer than the industry average of six minutes. The situation has gotten so bad that a federal regulatory agency sent an official letter warning firms that German law requires fast and efficient order execution and adequate staffing.

* Gripin' USA: U.S. consumers are more dissatisfied than ever, judging by the number of complaints to the Better Business Bureau. Complaints more than doubled from 1995 to 1998, from 1.3 million to 2.7 million. According to a survey of consumer agencies, the industries drawing the most consumer complaints are auto sales (mentioned by 72% of agencies),auto repair (70%) and home improvement (68%). Utilities (18%) and travel/tourism (16%) fared best.

* London Calling (and boy is it pissed): listen in on a British cell-phone call and you might get an earful on everything from poor reception to deceptive billing. So many complaints have been made that a government office has created a complaint code for mobiles, which immediately entered the top 10 list of grievances. Cell phone penetration in Britain proliferated from a million units in 1990 to 24 million by decade's end. Meanwhile, in Colombia, gripes about telecommunications services account for 55% of all complaints received by the nation's public service agency