POSTS TAGGED : advertising

Do You Use the Services?

Do You Use the Services?

The title is not particularly catchy. None of mine usually are, to be honest, but at least in this case, it is accurate. Without further (or any, really) exposition, let’s get down the heart of the matter: universities offer many services that appear to be underutilized. I want to talk about this a little bit and then I want to hear from you; specifically, I want to know whether you use the services offered by your university and why. Continue reading →

10 Things That I Can’t Believe Are Actually a Thing

10 Things That I Can’t Believe Are Actually a Thing

1. Bagel Heads. So, apparently, there are people in Asia who will pay someone to poke them in the forehead with a needle full of saline, which results in a big puffy blob on the forehead, which is then formed into the shape of a bagel, naturally. What in the holy fudge?! This offends me for so many reasons, not the least of which is that the forehead aberrations look more like glazed donuts than bagels, so this trend isn’t even aptly named. I never thought I would learn about something that’d make dakimakura wife pillows seem not that weird. Nah…they’re still very, very weird, actually. Continue reading →

Mother’s Day Marketing: The Good, the Bad, and the Cringeworthy

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, so we should all take it as an opportunity to show our moms how much we appreciate them… by buying them shit, right? If my inbox is to be believed, yes, that is the most important thing to keep in mind this weekend. But what to get her? Unsurprisingly, the suggestions from some retailers are, shall we say, less than enlightened, though I’ve also seen a few that were pretty heartwarming or just refreshingly blasé. Then there are the ads that are, well, a little disturbing. You’ll see! Continue reading →

What Are We Selling Here?: Super Bowl Sunday, Masculinity, and Commercials That Make You Go, “What?”

What Are We Selling Here?: Super Bowl Sunday, Masculinity, and Commercials That Make You Go, “What?”

Super Bowl Sunday is the most watched televised event in the United States, with over 111 million people tuning in each year. It’s considered a de facto national holiday and, after Thanksgiving, is the second largest day of food consumption. The Super Bowl gets people excited. The Super Bowl is good fun. But the Super Bowl is like any sporting event that depends primarily on advertising – it’s targeted at a male demographic. So what does this all exactly mean? Continue reading →

Mad Men: “The Hobo Code” for This Guy’s a Jerk

Mad Men: “The Hobo Code” for This Guy’s a Jerk

Last time on Mad Men:

We were more than half-finished with the season!

Joan went on a trip and left Roger feeling whiny, so he drank all of Don’s booze and fondled his wife, so Don made him puke oysters in front of some political bigwigs. Peggy continued to work two jobs with no extra pay and even less respect. Oh, and Betty slapped a bitch up in the supermarket. Continue reading →

What Were They Thinking?

What Were They Thinking?

There seems to be a lot of debate about how many advertisements people are exposed to over the course of a day.  It’s not surprising– I’d expect that numbers vary widely depending on where you are, what you’re doing, and a whole host of other factors.  So instead of talking about what that number might be, let’s just focus on the number 2, which just happens to coincide with the number of ads I want to talk about in this here post. Continue reading →