Am I the only Sour Cherry on your fruit stand?

So, there's this show Gossip Girl that has had consistently great advertising, imo. The spots always portray the show in the most favorable light, given its content. The music is always excellent, as well.

Season 2 just recently started and there's print ads for it that are really great.






The ads use a racy image from the show and a line from seemingly negative reviews. But, the negativity of the line only helps the ads. This is so well thought out. Lightyears better than Microsoft's attempt to discredit negative reviews of Vista with the Mojave thing.






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Wanted Posters Banned in UK

Apparently, a lot of complaints were made about the posters "glamorising the use of guns and violence".

The story is kinda shocking to me. I've seen some pretty out there advertising from the UK (in terms of content that may not be suitable for children) and ppl are upset about Wanted posters?

I saw the movie when it first came out and thought it was surprisingly really good/entertaining/worth-the-money. I don't think the movie or posters glamorize anything. That word 'glamorize' kinda irks me because many films/TV shows/ads speak to our understanding of fantasy. We enjoy watching something impossible/improbable/exaggerated because it's not the mundane, it's not something we [can] do. We don't walk around curving bullets. So, whenever I spot that word 'glamorize' I automatically feel that the complaining party has lost touch with their sense of fantasy and reality.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

In its adjudication, the industry watchdog ruled: "We acknowledged most viewers would understand the posters reflected the content of an action film. However, we considered that because the ads featured a glamorous actress, action poses, several images of or related to guns and aspirational text, they could be seen to glamorise the use of guns and violence. We concluded [they] could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns."

This whole thing just bugs me. Things like this make me feel that "industry watchdogs" feel the public is too stupid to make responsible decisions for themselves and that the watchdogs themselves are afflicted with a serious case of boredom.

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Moments in My Life I

So, I had quite the weekend. I could be certain that many people had interesting weekends, with the holiday and all.

So, in an effort to let a little more of me shine through this blog, I'm debuting some crazy moments in my life.

6. Good Moment - Surprisingly, having no problems getting into and out of Canada this weekend.

5. Good Moment - Discovering the duty free mecca in Canada.

4. Weird Moment - Getting trashed on shitty boxed wine at my cousin's open house.

3. Disgusting Moment - Convincing myself, "That's not puke on my tie."

2. Calming Moment - On Labor Day with the fam, eating lots of good food, kicking my shoes off, and watching the seemingly endless U.S. Open.

1. Funny Moment - In the car (en route to Ohio where the fam gathered), reading my bible, GQ Magazine, while my brother sits next to me reading his bible, as in the actual Bible.

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I Don't Want to Work for Diddy

Don't you hate when something makes you really angry yet you still indulge? That's how I feel about a lot of television shows, particularly VH1's I Want to Work for Diddy -- a reality show in which people compete to work for Sean "Puff Daddy... Puffy... P Diddy... Diddy..." Combs.

Why do I hate that I love this show? The show kind of makes me sick to my stomach yet I DVR it every week. First, I'm not the biggest fan of Diddy. I don't have any real hatred for him. I just feel like he's put up on this pedestal. Yeah, he's really successful for exploiting facilitating the talent of others -- but, correct me if I'm wrong here: he's not God!

Second, last night's episode (where his mother and children's mother decided which team were better slaves assistants during the challenge) just made me wonder if there's an inverse relationship between wealth and humility. Is it necessary to be arrogant or rude because you make lots of money... or you're somehow connected to someone who makes lots of money?

Third, the assistants are so subservient and so ecstatic to be put through ridiculous things. I'm not naive. I'm sure that Diddy and many other successful people need assistants, but I'm also certain that there's a line between assisting and doing something simple you could easily do for yourself or doing something incredibly ridiculous to abuse your celebrity and/or assistants.

But, hey, it's not my dream to work for him and I'm glad so. I've been fortunate enough to not have any difficult bosses. And I'm not saying I won't. I just hope they won't have the attitude that they're God's gift to humanity -- or God Himself.

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"Holy shit, I got to live through that"

Got this post idea from Shaun (or his friend, Maya, rather) at Prostituted Thoughts.

Basically, I'm listing the things that I'm grateful that I got to live through/experience.

1. Daria - Probably the best MTV show ever. Daria (as a show) was so funny, so culturally aware, and very deep for a cartoon. I can still watch Daria and tear my sides in laughter. The characters are classic, the jokes are timeless, and I'm glad I lived through its 5 year run.

2. 9-11 - Obviously it's a major part of history. It's already being written about in history books (so that proves it!). I remember exactly what happened that day. I was in 7th grade, doing some assignment a substitute teacher had given as a busy work. There were whispers in the classroom that "something happened in New York." The substitute teacher knew exactly what had happened (not just in NY) but wouldn't tell us anything. Soon, there was a storm of kids leaving with their parents -- a group which I was among. My mom took me home and I watched the TV in horror and fear. It's grim, but that was a life-changing moment.

3. 2000, 2004, 2008 Elections - Each election for the past 8 years has been memorable for me. In 2000, I'd done a research project (for my 6th grade class) about Gore and Bush. Then, came the recounts and all that fun bullshit. In 2004, I remember sitting in my 10th grade English class, watching a newscast and feeling so doomed when Bush was re-elected. The 2008 Election has been nothing short of epic. I mean, it seems like there's been campaigning for 3 years. Obama is making history. And this will be the first year that I can vote!

4. The Era of Changing Media - Yeah, I just invented that name. Basically, I'm talking about everything from the digitization of our lives to the rise of reality television to the fall of the newspaper to the rise of the blogger. Yeah, we're in the early stages of this era, but it's going to be interesting on the forefront.

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Mad Men

Such an amazing show. So smart, deep, entertaining, funny at times. Everything a television program should be.

Speaking of funny at times: I LOL'd at Peggy call Don by his first name. The looks on his and her faces were so weirdly funny.

And ouch, those flashbacks of Peggy in '60 are brutal.

I like the way they connect the sponsor spots to the show by displaying the ad facts during commercial breaks. The BMW X-series safety commercials are good in a weird, still-not-as-good-as-Fallon kinda way. I pay a lot of attention to BMW advertising, since it's the only luxury/foreign car I'm infatuated with -- well, car at all. Is that the creative director in me speaking?

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I Don't Get It

I really don't get the Maytag spot that's running right now. I can't find it on youtube, but during the commercial, a bunch of ppl are standing in line waiting to vote.

They're angry because there's obviously a hold up. Suddenly, the Maytag repairman emerges from the voting booth and has fixed the problem, a jammed lever. Two seconds later, he says "Here's your problem," and presented a bunch of raggedy ballots.

Meanwhile, the would-be voters are looking on. One even says, "The Maytag man?" with discernible confusion in his voice.

And I'm experiencing the same confusion. What is this commercial saying? The Maytag man is so skilled that he could even fix a voting machine? Maytag washers and dryers are so great that the Maytag man doesn't need to work on them?

The Maytag man says, "Gotta go. Busy day."

Busy day doing what? Fixing voting machines? Fixing washers and dryers? Starring in poorly executed commercials?

The concept is crazy for no reason I can surmise, I can't understand the sloppy copy, and I feel like I waste 30 seconds every time I see this.

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