advertising

  • How Not to Sell Vibrators

    A few days ago, I received a Carol Wright Gifts catalog in the mail.  If you’re not familiar with them, they are one of the many Random Occasionally Useful Crap companies that sell everything from dog shoes to paisley-framed reading glasses to novelty kitchen gadgets.  And I admit that, when I receive these publications, I flip through them before placing them in the recycle bin because once in a great while there is something that actually interests me.

    In this case, it was Fleece-Lined Leggings.  I’m very sad that I can’t in good conscience order those.  Because they sound super comfy and ideal for working-at-home winter days.  But I will not give Carol Wright a dime of my money until they change one very important thing.

    The leggings were on the first page of this seemingly innocuous gift catalog and, encouraged, I continued flipping pages.  The Removable Instant Eyebrows on page 7 were definitely pause-worthy.  But it was pages 20 & 21 that made me stop dead in my flipping tracks.

    read more

    I was here and read this!

  • Decisions, decisions…

    I’ve pondered this for a while now, and I just can’t decide which is funnier:

    Apple, using a song about a woman who is disgusted with people who think money and fancy toys prove they are better than everyone else, to sell iPods

    OR

    Lincoln, using a song about a man who dies when his vehicle fails as a result of faulty technology, to sell cars

    Deciding which large corporation’s advertising to mock never used to be this challenging.
     
     
    return to The Blog

    I was here and read this!

  • My Underwear & Me

    I have no idea what company was just attempting to convince me that I should purchase what product or service.  I know someone wanted my money, and I know they were offering me something in return for it; beyond that, I can tell you nothing.  All I saw before I moved to another screen was:

    ‘What Does Your Underwear Say About You?’

    It is of course possible that this wasn’t an advertisement of any kind, but rather a public service announcement brought to us by Underwear Listeners for a Better Tomorrow or some other equally altruistic bunch who just think we should know, for our own sakes, what is being said about us by our undergarments:

    read more

    I was here and read this!