Political irony explained by marketing

Typically, when it comes to the topic of politics, I tend to keep my opinions to myself.  For the most part, I’m pretty ambivalent about politics, but I have recently been accused of “looking like a liberal,” whatever that means.  But truthfully, I don’t really care that much; if that makes me an irresponsible American, then I’m an irresponsible American.

But anyway, I saw this sticker on a pickup truck (naturally), and it really got me thinking: why would a sticker bother to show the President Obama logo at all in a piece of attempted smear paraphernalia?  It doesn’t mention at all, what would be taking Obama’s place on January 20, 2013.  It is going to be Mitt Romney?  Ross Perot?  Predators?  Cthulhu?

Continue reading “Political irony explained by marketing”

Comparing women from obscure TV ads

Ever since I discovered the existence of Who Is That Hot Ad Girl, I’ve been able to fairly reliably track down most all of the random attractive women I see on television, who are schilling whatever they’re paid to schill in order to make ends meet on their ends. It’s easily one of my favorite sites, and it’s helped give me some idea of what I’ll be writing about today.

90% of the TV ads I see are typically while I’m running on the hamster wheel at the gym, or when I’m watching baseball. Pretty much everything else I watch is usually DVR’d, and I’m skipping through the commercials with relative ease. But in the cases of the gym and live baseball, I do not have that luxury, so I’m occasionally exposed to seeing commercials. But in some cases, like the particular ads I’ll point out, I couldn’t really care less of what is being advertised, because I’m too busy noticing the attractive women they have speaking on behalf of the services being advertised.

Despite the fact that I find all three of these women appealing, I can’t really say the reasons are that similar in each case. I guess what this boils down to do is that it’s a glimpse of what I find appealing to my aesthetics or how my mind kind of processes what I see in girls.

Continue reading “Comparing women from obscure TV ads”

What exactly can possibly be illegal about eyelashes?

No seriously, I’m genuinely curious to the marketing behind this cosmetic product.  “Illegal Length” mascara?  What could possibly be illegal about the length of one’s eyelashes?

Does lengthening eyelashes from 3/16th of an inch to a full 1/8th trigger some carnal rape mechanism in surrounding men, forcing them onto women, giving them a legal reason to sue and cash in?

Does lengthening eye lashes with this stuff make eyelashes long and spiny as a porcupine’s spines, and just as lethal?  Where women with this stuff applied can literally peck things to death with their illegally-long eyelashes?

Does putting this stuff on your eyelashes give your eyelashes the ability to light-write racist and anti-Semitic remarks in public places?

Because if neither of these are true, I can’t really fathom how anything could possibly make eyelashes illegal.  I get that there is a perceived arousing/sexy appeal to the naughty and forbidden, and “illegal” describes just that, but c’mon, this is for fucking eyelashes.  What’s illegal about eyelashes?  If this is the precedent being set by companies, and attempting to appeal to the lowest, horniest denominator, I may as well go put the patent on “Super Sexy Doritos,” “Illegal Water,” and “Forbidden Cereal.”

Abby Wambach looks like the guy from Wanted

Everytime I see this commercial, I can’t help but think this.

I vaguely know the name Abby Wambach, because I look at enough sports websites on a regular basis for osmosis to eventually absorb, or maybe it was during the time when the whole world was fascinated with Hope Solo that some of her teammates names manage to float around or something, but I had no idea of what she actually looked like.  So I really had no idea that the “protagonist” of this Gatorade commercial was Abby Wambach until the descriptors in the YouTube video revealed such information.

But watching this commercial, I’m always thinking that Abby Wambach looks like the main character from Wanted.  That crappy movie which also had Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, where the concept of curving and hooking bullets came from, which I’ll occasionally rage-complain/reference while playing L4D, when I’m picked off around a corner, miraculously.  But I mean, come on – look at the picture; they totally look alike.  The swimmingly-green eyes, the Penguin-like hook nose, and even the furrowing of the brow, in intense agitation.

So now that the comparison is complete, it’s deduced that the guy from Wanted apparently plays professional women’s soccer when not making shitty movies.  Ironically what he does off-screen is reminiscent of the Rodney Dangerfield flick, Ladybugs, which focused around a dude playing soccer on a girls’ team.  And much like the character he played in Wanted was a gigantic pussy, the guy from Wanted waits until his defender is fatigued and feebly weak before exploiting it for the win.  Granted, I’m not above accepting wins no matter how they come, but ideally, nothing is more gratifying than beating an opponent when they’re at their best, not when they’re on their last legs.

But whatever – Wanted was a shitty movie anyway, and I stopped drinking Gatorade for the most part.  Too much fucking sodium.

An example of effective packaging

As amazing as the thought of rib chips would be, it’s hard to fathom how such would be executed.  But when Jen and I were at the store the other day, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this bag of Ruffles Smokehouse Style BBQ chips.

Pictured on the bag is but a half-rack of the most succulent, meaty, heavily seasoned looking ribs the world has ever seen.  Ruffles has clearly transcended the need to even bother putting potatoes or the actual product on their bags themselves, and instead just gone straight for the jugular by putting a picture of what the chips are supposed to taste like.  The name is kind of there as a formality more or less, but nowhere on the front of the bag is even written the words “potato” or “chips.”

Instead, it’s just the greatest looking ribs in the world screaming “FUCKING BUY ME AND EAT ME YOU GOD DAMN PUSSY.”

The fact that it’s in my snack cupboard says who won that conflict.

WTF

Summary of this commercial:

  • Kid closes refrigerator, clearly disappointed at the inability to find something suitable to snack on
  • Creepy, bug-eyed grape creature stares intensely at kid, and is close
  • Grape creature ejaculates all over kid’s shirt
  • Grape creature turns and runs away, escaping through the pet door
  • Clorox C2® Triple Solve Stain Fighter

Another good Volkswagen commercial

Despite the fact that I probably wouldn’t aspire to get any of today’s VWs due to the fact that they’re all kind of pricey and honestly, I don’t like the direction of their styling, I have to admit that I really do oftentimes like their marketing.

I find this commercial enjoyable. Obvious mom driving around in a slammed Honda Civic Del Sol, complete with trunk system, fart cannon and under glow, and then coming home seconds before her daughter and her loser boyfriend, where they switch keys.

he message is an obvious one that Volkswagens are safe as opposed to a tricked-out rice rocket, but that’s not necessarily why I like the commercial. I guess as I’ve gotten older and leaving behind the days of when I did like a little rice on my cars in favor of more sensible and practical options. Regardless, the visuals of a mom in a rice rocket is amusing. And she’s a total MILF too.