Thursday, May 27, 2010

I'm not THAT comfortable.




Every ad agency has this story - someone walks in with The Greatest Thing Ever!

And the conundrum begins:

Do you take their money? (and your kids get to eat)


or...

Send them to the competing agency down the street (and your kids get to make fun of their kids during recess).

You decide.

Butt...one thing has me thinking. The video states that "Comfort Wipe" is the first improvement in Wiping Technology (WT) since the 1880s.

Maybe they're right. Grandma always talked about how valuable "that old Sears Catalog" was back in the outhouse. Too bad all we have today is Direct Mail postcards. 

And those postcards are not good.  Not good at all.

Ha ha.  "Potty Humor" is officially banned for the rest of 2010.  


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Still #1 in fresh breath.



This really isn't "sadvertising," but it still fits.

The scan above is the overwrap from Delta Airline's amenities bag listing Contents and Country-of-Origin.

As "amenity bags" go, it's a Beaut!  The socks are especially nice with little rubber grippers for, presumably, when the airplane's in a 90 degree bank and one still needs to walk up to the "labratory."  (as my middle child used to call it.)

Let's see...  Reading down the list, China, China, China, China, China, China, China - OH!  Greek lotion!!  Italian lip balm, China, Thai toothpaste (!) Chinese ear plugs...but!

Wait!

There's Good Ol' Uncle Sam making a play at the mint market.  Damn!  Nothing like genuine American breath mints.

Now, I know America is focused on too many more important things than manufacturing the paltry contents of a silly little freebie.   After all, it's just stuff, right?   Plus, the Greeks are legendary for their lotion, right?

But I'm wondering.  Are American mints so good China simply can't compete or could it possibly be that an American company figured out a way to out-cheap China...?

I wonder if, 50 years from now, a Chinese businessman is sitting in First Class eating Chateaubriand, sipping Bordeaux casually reading the origin-source of the amenity bag...

United States, United States, United States, United States, United States, United States, China, United States...

I hope the Thai's still have the toothpaste market though.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

No. Please DON'T set your sights.


The photo above is a billboard from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  It's promoting the "Opener" of the Sioux Falls Pheasants - a minor league baseball team.

For the unenlightened, Pheasants - a game bird noted for being colorful and tasty - are a big part of the South Dakota's tourist income.  Hunters flock to the state from all over the world in the hopes of experiencing Pheasant hunting at its world-class best.

So, I can see how it falls to mind to honor the bird by naming the local ball club, "Sioux Falls Pheasants."

But what doesn't make sense is this billboard.  "Set Your Sites" it states, next to the smoking end of a shotgun barrel.

Hmmm.

Naming the local team after a game bird that's seasonally shot & eaten for sport is one silly bit of logic but this billboard fairly asks for mayhem.

"Ladies and gentlemen...NNNoooowwwWWW annnnnnnouncing!  The SURVIVING LINEUP of the SOoooOOO FALLLlllLLSSS PHEASANTS!!! (cue organ music, crowd cheers, shotgun blasts...

....ambulance wailing...

...kids screaming...

drunk guys hollering, "Ah gaht one!  Ah gaht one!"