what goes with green/brown socks?
Hysterical laughter?
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Sunday 28 September 2008
Marketing Gone Wild (Caution--no wild girls in this article)
Recently, I saw a commercial which got me thinking about something I had never previously thought seriously about. No, it wasn't about adopting a third world child. Was it about making a donation for the fight against cancer? Nope. It wasn't even about volunteering for one of the myriad organizations wanting to help our neighbours. The thing that grasped my attention in a world that values one's appearance above battling world hunger or deadly diseases was...a mascara commercial. Now, before I get into that pithy topic, let me say that for some time now, I figured three blades on a razor was the practical limit. But no, recently they upped the ante to five. Men, it seems, are as vain and susceptible to marketing ploys as women are. Well...almost.
The commercial in question promises women, and they say this with a straight face, even managing to mention it two or three times without bursting into fits of laughter, SEVENTEEN times fuller lashes! Not 3 times, not 5 times, but a full 17 times fuller lashes. When I saw the ad, I wasn't really paying attention and so I didn't catch which cosmetics company it was from. Today, I decided to investigate this earth-shattering development.
After a few google searches, I came to know the inventor of this "instant hair in a tube". (Seriously, if their claim holds true, I'm going to use it on my sparsely-covered head.) In the ad I found online, according to Revlon, their product will give you "lashes that are 17 times fuller, 50% visibly longer". Folks, that could do wonders for my ever receding hairline.
Much to my surprise, I discover that this version of their product is the waterproof cousin to their real flagship product, Revlon 3D Extreme. Ladies, why walk around with plain, old 2-dimensional lashes? That's soo '90's. This little baby will make your wimpy lashes "up to 25 times fuller and 80% visibly longer". Why, you can practically jump rope with them.
That really got me thinking. What do lashes that are 25 times fuller and 80% longer look like? I feel kind of silly now because I just spent the last hour using my professional graphics program to try and simulate the effect. But then again, women all over the world spend as much time each and every day applying makeup--some of them more than that.
Here then, are the before and after images:
What's next?--a razor with 25 blades? It might come in handy for women who use Revlon 3D.
The commercial in question promises women, and they say this with a straight face, even managing to mention it two or three times without bursting into fits of laughter, SEVENTEEN times fuller lashes! Not 3 times, not 5 times, but a full 17 times fuller lashes. When I saw the ad, I wasn't really paying attention and so I didn't catch which cosmetics company it was from. Today, I decided to investigate this earth-shattering development.
After a few google searches, I came to know the inventor of this "instant hair in a tube". (Seriously, if their claim holds true, I'm going to use it on my sparsely-covered head.) In the ad I found online, according to Revlon, their product will give you "lashes that are 17 times fuller, 50% visibly longer". Folks, that could do wonders for my ever receding hairline.
Much to my surprise, I discover that this version of their product is the waterproof cousin to their real flagship product, Revlon 3D Extreme. Ladies, why walk around with plain, old 2-dimensional lashes? That's soo '90's. This little baby will make your wimpy lashes "up to 25 times fuller and 80% visibly longer". Why, you can practically jump rope with them.
That really got me thinking. What do lashes that are 25 times fuller and 80% longer look like? I feel kind of silly now because I just spent the last hour using my professional graphics program to try and simulate the effect. But then again, women all over the world spend as much time each and every day applying makeup--some of them more than that.
Here then, are the before and after images:
What's next?--a razor with 25 blades? It might come in handy for women who use Revlon 3D.
Saturday 27 September 2008
Philanthropist Paul Newman Passes Away at 83 of Cancer
There is no doubt that Paul Newman was one of the all-time giants of Hollywood. He was a true superstar, starring in such films as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Sting, and The Color of Money just to name a few.
Just last night in the wee hours when I was watching TV as is my practise to do so to help me fall asleep, I came across The Sting, a movie I had seen when it was in theatres back in 1973. It is a delightful film that succeeds in getting the audience on the side of the bad guys. I imagine it's quite a treat for the ladies, containing two heart throbs, the other being Robert Redford.
Newman was nominated for an Oscar ten times winning three of them. So, why does the title of this article refer to him as "philanthropist"? Paul Newman never felt comfortable being showereed with every accolade from "brilliant" to "icon". Forgive my presumption, Mr. Newman, that "philanthropist" is a label you might be more at ease with.
In the early 1980s, Newman started up the "Newman's Own" brand as a way to sell his homemade salad dressing. The company, which also made popcorn, spaghetti sauce and other products, has turned into a multi-million dollar business and has donated $175 million to charities.
Paul Newman was married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years, rare by Hollywood or any standard.
When asked by Playboy if he was ever tempted to cheat on his wife, Newman replied, "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"
Just last night in the wee hours when I was watching TV as is my practise to do so to help me fall asleep, I came across The Sting, a movie I had seen when it was in theatres back in 1973. It is a delightful film that succeeds in getting the audience on the side of the bad guys. I imagine it's quite a treat for the ladies, containing two heart throbs, the other being Robert Redford.
Newman was nominated for an Oscar ten times winning three of them. So, why does the title of this article refer to him as "philanthropist"? Paul Newman never felt comfortable being showereed with every accolade from "brilliant" to "icon". Forgive my presumption, Mr. Newman, that "philanthropist" is a label you might be more at ease with.
In the early 1980s, Newman started up the "Newman's Own" brand as a way to sell his homemade salad dressing. The company, which also made popcorn, spaghetti sauce and other products, has turned into a multi-million dollar business and has donated $175 million to charities.
Paul Newman was married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years, rare by Hollywood or any standard.
When asked by Playboy if he was ever tempted to cheat on his wife, Newman replied, "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"
Friday 26 September 2008
Rogers update #2
This afternoon Rogers responded to my complaint about their deceitful ad. Rather than research it through their marketing department, their representative asked me to gather documentation so that he can investigate it further. I went through the time and effort to get screen shots of the ad and the website the ad directs one to, and sent them along to him. Tick, tock, tick, tock...
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Another Ivy leaguer, this one from Cornell, was on the show. The previous three all flunked out.
The $50,000 question was: Which Great Lake does Pennsylvania border? The contestant said "I didn't even know Pennsylvania bordered a Great Lake". The first thing that entered my own mind was "Hmm, there must be a good reason they named it Erie, Pennsylvania."
He took a wild guess since it was "free"--that is, if he answered incorrectly, he wouldn't lose any money. He guessed "Erie". None of the classmates said "Erie".
I don't have a degree from anywhere, let alone an Ivy League school, and I'm not even an American but the answer came to me in a flash.
He knew enough to quit when he heard a question he did not know the answer to and "dropped out".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next contestant clearly wasn't as smart. When faced with the $5,000 question "If you were in Mexico City and walked due west, which is the first ocean you'd run into?" He had no idea, and therefore chose to "peek" at his classmate's answer. It correctly was "Pacific" and he agreed.
How could anyone not know that walking west from any point in North America would have you arrive at the Pacific Ocean? This character actually said "I've never been to Mexico City and that's what's giving me pause". I guess this man in his 40's still hasn't grasped that whole "directions" concept.
Needless to say, he wasn't smarter than a fifth grader.
The $50,000 question was: Which Great Lake does Pennsylvania border? The contestant said "I didn't even know Pennsylvania bordered a Great Lake". The first thing that entered my own mind was "Hmm, there must be a good reason they named it Erie, Pennsylvania."
He took a wild guess since it was "free"--that is, if he answered incorrectly, he wouldn't lose any money. He guessed "Erie". None of the classmates said "Erie".
I don't have a degree from anywhere, let alone an Ivy League school, and I'm not even an American but the answer came to me in a flash.
He knew enough to quit when he heard a question he did not know the answer to and "dropped out".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next contestant clearly wasn't as smart. When faced with the $5,000 question "If you were in Mexico City and walked due west, which is the first ocean you'd run into?" He had no idea, and therefore chose to "peek" at his classmate's answer. It correctly was "Pacific" and he agreed.
How could anyone not know that walking west from any point in North America would have you arrive at the Pacific Ocean? This character actually said "I've never been to Mexico City and that's what's giving me pause". I guess this man in his 40's still hasn't grasped that whole "directions" concept.
Needless to say, he wasn't smarter than a fifth grader.
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