Ever since I was a baby I have been a huge animal lover. It all started on a farm in the middle of nowhere. When I was two we moved to a small town into
a 100 year old brick house, which used to be the old church manse. All my life I had cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, and many other animals.
I feel the best cat we ever
had was Pumpkin, an orange tabby. When I was thirteen, my friend and I found her in our back yard. She was in such rough shape. Her right ear was so badly frostbitten it was stuck down so she could not hear out of it. She was so hungry. She probably had not eaten for a long time, so I took her up to the house and gave
her food and water.
Shortly after she arrived, my mom discovered Pumpkin was pregnant. Pumpkin stayed. We kept feeding her and she became my friend. I became really taken with this fat orange cat.
One day we got a phone call
from our neighbours. They told us to come right over to their garage. When we got there Pumpkin was feeding seven tiny kittens. Wow, they were so small and
cute.
We knew they could not stay their in the neighbour’s garage so we took them to our attached shed. For weeks we help take care of them and watch them grow. They
were all different colours. The only male was orange just like his mom. The smallest and the biggest one were grey and white, than their was a grey
and black tabby, and two calicos. The one calico had six toes on her front feet just like her mom. I found it odd that only one of the kittens had
that, but that made her more special.
I spent the whole time while they were growing up playing and bonding with them. I wanted them to be used to people
so one day they would be great cats just like their mother. Once the kittens were old enough to be rehomed we made sure they would go to great homes and
all of them did. It was sad seeing them leave, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
Once they were gone we took Pumpkin over to the vet to be spayed
the vet found she was full of worms and said she might not survive the surgery. Luckily she pulled through nicely and we got the meds for the worms and also the
ear mites that she had. We got them cleared up and got her to put on weight. She turned into an amazing cat. She was my buddy. She gave us lots of love
she wanted to pay us back for saving her and giving her a second chance.
Then, one fateful day, one of our neighbours from across the road came over asking for
my mom. I told her she was out back. Soon after that, my mom came in and told me the awful news. Pumpkin had been killed. She had gotten hit by a car. The news
just hit me. I spent most of the day crying for the loss of my pal knowing I would never be able to hold her again. It pained me. My mom thinks what probably happened
to Pumpkin was the car came at her on her deaf side and she did not hear it coming.
After that loss I learned that other animals out their also needed
second chances at life. I now spend my life helping and saving animals just like I did for my friend Pumpkin.
Click the link above to see the blog this story originally came from.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF NUMBER ONE HITS
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: Though I am not a big fan of The Platters, this song is absolutely wonderful.
My aunt has a funny story about this song. She and my mom used to go to this outdoor skating rink at Mitchell Field in Willowdale that would play “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” at least a few times a night. The rink had a steam machine that would clear out the culverts to keep them from freezing. One weekend afternoon, the steam machine started doing its thing while there were skaters on the rink and huge billows of steam filled the area. At that moment, they started to play “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”
Venus: I wonder how many people objected to this song mentioning a Greek godess?
The Happy Organ: This song is absolutely terrific! I remember it from “The WRVO Playhouse.” I later found my parents copy of the record and was overjoyed. Tim Tron plays it on “Radio Tim Tron Worldwide” on WBCQ sometimes, and it gives me a special feeling whenever I hear it.
Kansas City: This song always makes me think of a quote from “Newhart” made by Larry:
“Deryl wants to go to Kansas City. He hears they got some good-lookin women there.”
Wilbert Harrison died October 26, 1994. The book doesn’t mention this, for some strange reason.
The Battle Of New Orleans: This song is testament to the kinds of songs that could be hits back in the fifties. Something so intelligent and patriotic would never be allowed on the charts these days.
Johnny Horton’s last song was “I Hate Niggers.” This may have led to him being killed by the establishment. The car accident could have been murder. The fact that Horton was afraid to fly might be further evidence of this.
Parody versions of this song include a song by Homer And Jethro about summer camp that I can’t remember too many details about. There is also a parody version about Hurricane Katrina:
“They stole TVs
And they stole DVDs
And they stole a few things
That they didn’t even need.”
I would have to question the historical accuracy of the line about them filling an alligator with cannonballs, though.
A Big Hunk O’ Love: I always thought this song came out later in Elvis’s career, around the time of “Viva Las Vegas.”
My parents have the 8 track version of “Elvis Sails.”
The Three Bells: This song is lame, maybe only because we hear it so often.
My aunt has a funny story about this song. She and my mom used to go to this outdoor skating rink at Mitchell Field in Willowdale that would play “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” at least a few times a night. The rink had a steam machine that would clear out the culverts to keep them from freezing. One weekend afternoon, the steam machine started doing its thing while there were skaters on the rink and huge billows of steam filled the area. At that moment, they started to play “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”
Venus: I wonder how many people objected to this song mentioning a Greek godess?
The Happy Organ: This song is absolutely terrific! I remember it from “The WRVO Playhouse.” I later found my parents copy of the record and was overjoyed. Tim Tron plays it on “Radio Tim Tron Worldwide” on WBCQ sometimes, and it gives me a special feeling whenever I hear it.
Kansas City: This song always makes me think of a quote from “Newhart” made by Larry:
“Deryl wants to go to Kansas City. He hears they got some good-lookin women there.”
Wilbert Harrison died October 26, 1994. The book doesn’t mention this, for some strange reason.
The Battle Of New Orleans: This song is testament to the kinds of songs that could be hits back in the fifties. Something so intelligent and patriotic would never be allowed on the charts these days.
Johnny Horton’s last song was “I Hate Niggers.” This may have led to him being killed by the establishment. The car accident could have been murder. The fact that Horton was afraid to fly might be further evidence of this.
Parody versions of this song include a song by Homer And Jethro about summer camp that I can’t remember too many details about. There is also a parody version about Hurricane Katrina:
“They stole TVs
And they stole DVDs
And they stole a few things
That they didn’t even need.”
I would have to question the historical accuracy of the line about them filling an alligator with cannonballs, though.
A Big Hunk O’ Love: I always thought this song came out later in Elvis’s career, around the time of “Viva Las Vegas.”
My parents have the 8 track version of “Elvis Sails.”
The Three Bells: This song is lame, maybe only because we hear it so often.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
ACCENTING THE ANNOYANCE OF TELEMARKETERS
Had a telemarketer call me a little while ago from a company called AandK Phone Systems or something, offering me a free cell phone. He identified himself as Mike Watson. Judging by his thick Indian accent, though, like buck he was "Mike Watson."
His accent was so thick I could hardly understand him, which isn't usually a problem for me.
Just another example of satire becoming real life.
His accent was so thick I could hardly understand him, which isn't usually a problem for me.
Just another example of satire becoming real life.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
MARKET AMERICA COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF SHOP.COM
GREENSBORO, N.C., January 19, 2011 -- Market America, an Internet marketing and product brokerage company, announced today that it has successfully completed
the acquisition of SHOP.COM’s (
http://www.SHOP.com
) business, a pioneer in online comparison shopping, creating a powerful, new social shopping destination poised to challenge the Internet's leading shopping
destinations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Since the acquisition was announced on December 15, 2010, MARKETAMERICA.COM (
http://www.marketamerica.com
) has seen a 60 percent increase in site traffic and a 30 percent increase in revenue. Likewise, SHOP.COM has experienced double the amount of organic traffic
compared to the same time frame last year. In addition, over 23 million powerful Twitter messages have been generated about the acquisition including those
from Kim Kardashian, Alejandro Sanz, Eva Longoria, Swizz Beats, Russell Simmons, Khloe Kardashian, Serena Williams and Paulina Rubio, among many other
celebrities who took it upon themselves to promote the exciting announcement.
The new vision for the future will be conveyed to over 25,000 Shop Consultants during Market America’s annual World Conference in Miami, FL, February 3-5,
2011. The event will take place at the American Airlines Arena where Market America’s leadership, including members of SHOP.COM, will present the details
of how this partnership will forever change the Internet shopping landscape. On hand will be a group of surprise celebrities who will attend World Conference
to support the Ridingers and Market America. Among the announcements to be made at this event is the integration of Market America’s ma CashBack program
on the SHOP.COM site, providing up to 35% cash back to SHOP.COM customers and one half of a percent on the purchases of everyone they refer. Also being
unveiled at the event; SHOP.COM customers will be given a Market America Shop Consultant to assist in their shopping. Shop Consultants give a personal
touch to the high tech way of shopping. Shoppers can interact online or by phone with the same person on any day or occasion; they are real people who
know how to find exactly what the customer wants and at the best prices ensuring an unmatched shopping experience.
MARKETAMERICA.COM and SHOP.COM will continue to operate as separate websites through a transition period while integration of the unique benefits of each
company takes place. The two sites have in excess of 60 million combined products online including over 3,000 merchants, stores and name brands, plus Market
America's well known branded products like Motives by Loren Ridinger and renowned Isotonix line. Market America's headquarters will remain in Greensboro,
NC while SHOP.COM's facilities in Monterey and Pasadena, CA and London, UK will continue without disruption. The combined entity now exceeds 650 employees.
“Market America’s acquisition of SHOP.COM’s business enables us to leverage the social shopping trend and will revolutionize the online shopping experience,”
said JR Ridinger, President and CEO of Market America. "Market America has a network of 180,000 social shopping consultants who lead people to the best
prices and best products on the Internet. With the integration of SHOP.COM’s unrivalled search and comparison shopping technology, consumers will have
the most complete and fulfilling user experience available anywhere. With the focus being on customer reviews, revolutionary search technology and comparison
shopping, as well as access to 60 million products, the personal touch of Shop Consultants and paying customers up to 35% cash back on purchases and one
half of a percent on referral’s purchases forever. Market America and SHOP.COM will be in a position to be the number one premier shopping site, offering
consumers a wide variety of products at great prices and letting them enjoy what they love to do, shop!"
The acquisition combines SHOP.COM's strength in technology and merchandising, providing customers with the latest, high-tech online shopping, with Market
America's high-touch, personal shopping experience and its unlimited cash back program. It will expand Market America’s current people-powered, relationship-based
shopping portal into a content rich destination that informs, entertains and personally guides customers in their shopping experience.
"The partnership between Market America and SHOP.COM is explosive and will dominate the online shopping world, offering distinct areas of expertise and
customization," added Vince Hunt, COO of the new entity. “We’re creating a game changing shopping experience with transformative potential for our customers,
retailers, consumer brands and business partners. We couldn’t be more excited about the future."
ABOUT MARKET AMERICA
Market America is a product brokerage and Internet marketing company that specializes in One-to-One Marketing. With more than six million customers and
180,000 Shopping Consultants worldwide, the company has generated over $3.4 billion in accumulated retail sales. Headquartered in Greensboro, NC the company
was founded in 1992 by president and CEO JR Ridinger and employs over 600 people globally with international operations in the United States, Canada, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines. Through its revolutionary One-to-One Marketing concept, Market America combines the Internet with the power of
people – creating the ultimate online shopping destination. More information is available at MarketAmerica.com (
http://www.marketamerica.com).
SHOP.COM is the comparison shopping engine designed to meet the shopping needs of the consumer and the business needs of merchants. Leveraging the features
of our patented OneCart® along with extensive partner marketplace integration, and thousands of pages of unique shopping-centric editorial, SHOP.COM helps
customers "Shop Smart, Save Big" across thousands of online stores. SHOP.COM also powers ShopCompanion, a comprehensive directory of online and brick-and-mortar
stores, and The Shopping Vine (
http://theshoppingvine.com
), a shopping blog network. For more information, please visit (
http://www.SHOP.com).
the acquisition of SHOP.COM’s (
http://www.SHOP.com
) business, a pioneer in online comparison shopping, creating a powerful, new social shopping destination poised to challenge the Internet's leading shopping
destinations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Since the acquisition was announced on December 15, 2010, MARKETAMERICA.COM (
http://www.marketamerica.com
) has seen a 60 percent increase in site traffic and a 30 percent increase in revenue. Likewise, SHOP.COM has experienced double the amount of organic traffic
compared to the same time frame last year. In addition, over 23 million powerful Twitter messages have been generated about the acquisition including those
from Kim Kardashian, Alejandro Sanz, Eva Longoria, Swizz Beats, Russell Simmons, Khloe Kardashian, Serena Williams and Paulina Rubio, among many other
celebrities who took it upon themselves to promote the exciting announcement.
The new vision for the future will be conveyed to over 25,000 Shop Consultants during Market America’s annual World Conference in Miami, FL, February 3-5,
2011. The event will take place at the American Airlines Arena where Market America’s leadership, including members of SHOP.COM, will present the details
of how this partnership will forever change the Internet shopping landscape. On hand will be a group of surprise celebrities who will attend World Conference
to support the Ridingers and Market America. Among the announcements to be made at this event is the integration of Market America’s ma CashBack program
on the SHOP.COM site, providing up to 35% cash back to SHOP.COM customers and one half of a percent on the purchases of everyone they refer. Also being
unveiled at the event; SHOP.COM customers will be given a Market America Shop Consultant to assist in their shopping. Shop Consultants give a personal
touch to the high tech way of shopping. Shoppers can interact online or by phone with the same person on any day or occasion; they are real people who
know how to find exactly what the customer wants and at the best prices ensuring an unmatched shopping experience.
MARKETAMERICA.COM and SHOP.COM will continue to operate as separate websites through a transition period while integration of the unique benefits of each
company takes place. The two sites have in excess of 60 million combined products online including over 3,000 merchants, stores and name brands, plus Market
America's well known branded products like Motives by Loren Ridinger and renowned Isotonix line. Market America's headquarters will remain in Greensboro,
NC while SHOP.COM's facilities in Monterey and Pasadena, CA and London, UK will continue without disruption. The combined entity now exceeds 650 employees.
“Market America’s acquisition of SHOP.COM’s business enables us to leverage the social shopping trend and will revolutionize the online shopping experience,”
said JR Ridinger, President and CEO of Market America. "Market America has a network of 180,000 social shopping consultants who lead people to the best
prices and best products on the Internet. With the integration of SHOP.COM’s unrivalled search and comparison shopping technology, consumers will have
the most complete and fulfilling user experience available anywhere. With the focus being on customer reviews, revolutionary search technology and comparison
shopping, as well as access to 60 million products, the personal touch of Shop Consultants and paying customers up to 35% cash back on purchases and one
half of a percent on referral’s purchases forever. Market America and SHOP.COM will be in a position to be the number one premier shopping site, offering
consumers a wide variety of products at great prices and letting them enjoy what they love to do, shop!"
The acquisition combines SHOP.COM's strength in technology and merchandising, providing customers with the latest, high-tech online shopping, with Market
America's high-touch, personal shopping experience and its unlimited cash back program. It will expand Market America’s current people-powered, relationship-based
shopping portal into a content rich destination that informs, entertains and personally guides customers in their shopping experience.
"The partnership between Market America and SHOP.COM is explosive and will dominate the online shopping world, offering distinct areas of expertise and
customization," added Vince Hunt, COO of the new entity. “We’re creating a game changing shopping experience with transformative potential for our customers,
retailers, consumer brands and business partners. We couldn’t be more excited about the future."
ABOUT MARKET AMERICA
Market America is a product brokerage and Internet marketing company that specializes in One-to-One Marketing. With more than six million customers and
180,000 Shopping Consultants worldwide, the company has generated over $3.4 billion in accumulated retail sales. Headquartered in Greensboro, NC the company
was founded in 1992 by president and CEO JR Ridinger and employs over 600 people globally with international operations in the United States, Canada, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines. Through its revolutionary One-to-One Marketing concept, Market America combines the Internet with the power of
people – creating the ultimate online shopping destination. More information is available at MarketAmerica.com (
http://www.marketamerica.com).
SHOP.COM is the comparison shopping engine designed to meet the shopping needs of the consumer and the business needs of merchants. Leveraging the features
of our patented OneCart® along with extensive partner marketplace integration, and thousands of pages of unique shopping-centric editorial, SHOP.COM helps
customers "Shop Smart, Save Big" across thousands of online stores. SHOP.COM also powers ShopCompanion, a comprehensive directory of online and brick-and-mortar
stores, and The Shopping Vine (
http://theshoppingvine.com
), a shopping blog network. For more information, please visit (
http://www.SHOP.com).
THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF NUMBER ONE HITS
Wake Up Little Susie: Imagine the scenario of this song being presented in 1957. “The movie was boring. We fell asleep, it’s 3 a.m. and everybody is going to think we did something.”
Treat Me Nice: This song is a rip-off of “Teddy Bear.”
You Send Me: Sam Cooke couldn’t carry a tune.
At The Hop: This song is so uninteresting. You can’t even dance to it. All you can really do is stomp your feet. 1958-1964 was a humdrum period in American pop music. After rock and roll and Elvis, nothing really exciting happened until the Beatles came along.
The parody version of this song is “Smoke Some Pot.”
I Beg Of You: A rip-off of both “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Teddy Bear.”
Tequila: As simple as this song is, it’s great and synonymous with the fifties in so many ways.
Poor Little Fool: The plane crash that killed Ricky Nelson could have been murder, or they could have just been messing around with cocaine.
Little Star: This song always makes me think of that crummy kids show that aired in the nineties.
Tom Dooley: I have the album this song comes from. It is kind of interesting, but not very good.
I encountered this song next in music class in Grade 7. The teacher read the lyric “I took her to the mountain and there I took her life.” He then remarked, “What is this? O.J Simpson And His Friend?”
Pastor Peters has done a version of this song which goes in part:
Hang down your head you sinner,
Hang down your head and cry,
Hang down your head you sinner,
It’s for you that Jesus died.
To Know Him Is To Love Him: You get the feeling the guy she was singing about was a real jerk.
The Chipmunks Song: Though this song came out in the fifties, I and most other people will probably most associate The Chipmunks with the eighties.
By the way, thank you Hollywood (read Jews) for destroying The Chipmunks with those two recent movies.
Treat Me Nice: This song is a rip-off of “Teddy Bear.”
You Send Me: Sam Cooke couldn’t carry a tune.
At The Hop: This song is so uninteresting. You can’t even dance to it. All you can really do is stomp your feet. 1958-1964 was a humdrum period in American pop music. After rock and roll and Elvis, nothing really exciting happened until the Beatles came along.
The parody version of this song is “Smoke Some Pot.”
I Beg Of You: A rip-off of both “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Teddy Bear.”
Tequila: As simple as this song is, it’s great and synonymous with the fifties in so many ways.
Poor Little Fool: The plane crash that killed Ricky Nelson could have been murder, or they could have just been messing around with cocaine.
Little Star: This song always makes me think of that crummy kids show that aired in the nineties.
Tom Dooley: I have the album this song comes from. It is kind of interesting, but not very good.
I encountered this song next in music class in Grade 7. The teacher read the lyric “I took her to the mountain and there I took her life.” He then remarked, “What is this? O.J Simpson And His Friend?”
Pastor Peters has done a version of this song which goes in part:
Hang down your head you sinner,
Hang down your head and cry,
Hang down your head you sinner,
It’s for you that Jesus died.
To Know Him Is To Love Him: You get the feeling the guy she was singing about was a real jerk.
The Chipmunks Song: Though this song came out in the fifties, I and most other people will probably most associate The Chipmunks with the eighties.
By the way, thank you Hollywood (read Jews) for destroying The Chipmunks with those two recent movies.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
THE AGE OF PERSUASION
By Terry O’Riely and Mike Tenant. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2009.
Clutter: I knew ad clutter was bad, but I had no idea it extended to TV screens showing ads in elevators and on the back of the front seats of cabs.
Breaking The Contract: Even if a product seemed like it might be good, I wouldn’t buy it simply because it was being advertised to me in the back of a cab.
The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Branded Entertainment: Are webisodes like Seinfeld and Superman really as entertaining as the branded entertainment of years gone buy? At least with The Jack Benny Show, their was plenty of entertainment apart from the commercials. With these webisodes, it seems like it’s less entertaining because you know most of the focus is on getting you to buy the product.
Persuading Youths: Farber is a Jewish name. Only a Jew would think of selling ads on his test sheets.
Guerrillas In Our Midst: Death should never be used to sell a product, unless of course the ad is for a funeral home or something. I went to a convention for my company once. The company had brought in this bucking guy from their headquarters in the States. The theme of the weekend had to do with desiring success and having a good attitude. One of the analogies this guy used to illustrate his point, in other words, to sell us on his ideas, was a story about a little boy who wants to be successful. He knows his father isn’t successful, so he goes next door to his elderly neighbour, who is a success. The little boy asks the old man how to be successful. The old man doesn’t respond. The little boy again asks the old man how to be successful. Still no response. The boy poses the question a third time. The old man gets up from his lawn chair, grabs the boy around the neck, drags him down to the pond, and plunges the boy below the surface of the water. The old man holds the boy under the water for a long time and then finally lets him up. He then says to the boy, “When you want success as much as you wanted that next breath, that’s how to be successful.”
This story was really beyond the bucking pale if you ask me.
The other story was about a family of chickens. The mother hen died, and the two “boy chickens” as this guy referred to them (they’re called roosters, city slicker), were left to fend for themselves. They got severely picked on by the other chickens, until one day they decided to contemplate suicide (although I could have been just making that last part up.) One morning, the two roosters looked up in the sky and saw a bird that looked like them. One of the ROOSTERS asked, “How come you can fly when you’re a chicken? We’re chickens and we can’t fly.” The bird in the sky replied, “You’re not chickens. You’re eagles.”
The point I’m trying to make is that this speaker was trying to get us, in the audience, to buy the ideas about success and a positive attitude he was trying to present. However, if you’re going to try to get me to bucking buy your ideas, you better use a lot better tactics than talking about dead chickens and bucking old men drowning little boys. This rule applies to all of advertising and copy writing. Negative imagery, unless directly related to the kind of product you’re trying to sell, will turn me off from making a purchase.
Though the Time Warner and Dr Pepper incidents were foolish, crass and horrible examples of marketing, they give me a pretense to make this joke. Boston once banned a mathbook because it had two improper fractions.
It is worth asking a couple questions about the execution of Timothy McVeigh. How did he get executed so fast? There’re guys on death row who’ve been their for thirty years. Also, there are those who say McVeigh was never put to death at all.
The Lesson Of Clark Gable’s Undershirt: Ringo Starr is a living joke, truly.
Tom Waites is in the business of selling records. He knew that if listeners heard one of his songs in a commercial, they would not like it and stop buying his records.
The Language Of Persuasion: Actually, if you go into a Starbucks and ask for a small, medium or large coffee, they’ll understand what you’re saying.
Wall Of Cynicism: Orson Wells “War Of The Worlds” broadcast proved that radio could be used to manipulate people. I would not be surprised if that particular broadcast was not a government-backed operation.
The 1957 theatre experiment either worked or didn’t work, depending on whom you believe.
I would heartily disagree that there aren’t subliminal messages in advertising. For example, I think of a commercial for Johnson’s Baby Shampoo that aired in the nineties. This woman tells the story of her and her teenage daughter Becky giving Becky’s brother Sam a bath “when suddenly Becky dropped the bottle and splashed Sam’s face. I got upset.” The way she said it made it sound like getting upset was the worst thing in the world. This ad was designed to communicate said message to the viewer.
There are also examples of Coke ads featuring noses that look like penises and bottles featuring tiny pictures of a woman’s face between a man’s legs.
I don’t shop on Amazon, but I do use it to look up information about books. One day, I clicked on the HISTORY link, just for fun. Even though I had never purchased anything on Amazon’s website, they had a list of books I had looked at when I’d clicked on the site from Google.
In the future, conventional advertising won’t exist. Permission marketing will largely be the way products are sold. Companies will have people who work for them in the field of one to one marketing. These employees will call up their friends or send them messages via some other means. Only friends whom the employee thinks will be interested in the product will be contacted. In this way, companies will be better able to reach their target audience and increase revenue.
Clutter: I knew ad clutter was bad, but I had no idea it extended to TV screens showing ads in elevators and on the back of the front seats of cabs.
Breaking The Contract: Even if a product seemed like it might be good, I wouldn’t buy it simply because it was being advertised to me in the back of a cab.
The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Branded Entertainment: Are webisodes like Seinfeld and Superman really as entertaining as the branded entertainment of years gone buy? At least with The Jack Benny Show, their was plenty of entertainment apart from the commercials. With these webisodes, it seems like it’s less entertaining because you know most of the focus is on getting you to buy the product.
Persuading Youths: Farber is a Jewish name. Only a Jew would think of selling ads on his test sheets.
Guerrillas In Our Midst: Death should never be used to sell a product, unless of course the ad is for a funeral home or something. I went to a convention for my company once. The company had brought in this bucking guy from their headquarters in the States. The theme of the weekend had to do with desiring success and having a good attitude. One of the analogies this guy used to illustrate his point, in other words, to sell us on his ideas, was a story about a little boy who wants to be successful. He knows his father isn’t successful, so he goes next door to his elderly neighbour, who is a success. The little boy asks the old man how to be successful. The old man doesn’t respond. The little boy again asks the old man how to be successful. Still no response. The boy poses the question a third time. The old man gets up from his lawn chair, grabs the boy around the neck, drags him down to the pond, and plunges the boy below the surface of the water. The old man holds the boy under the water for a long time and then finally lets him up. He then says to the boy, “When you want success as much as you wanted that next breath, that’s how to be successful.”
This story was really beyond the bucking pale if you ask me.
The other story was about a family of chickens. The mother hen died, and the two “boy chickens” as this guy referred to them (they’re called roosters, city slicker), were left to fend for themselves. They got severely picked on by the other chickens, until one day they decided to contemplate suicide (although I could have been just making that last part up.) One morning, the two roosters looked up in the sky and saw a bird that looked like them. One of the ROOSTERS asked, “How come you can fly when you’re a chicken? We’re chickens and we can’t fly.” The bird in the sky replied, “You’re not chickens. You’re eagles.”
The point I’m trying to make is that this speaker was trying to get us, in the audience, to buy the ideas about success and a positive attitude he was trying to present. However, if you’re going to try to get me to bucking buy your ideas, you better use a lot better tactics than talking about dead chickens and bucking old men drowning little boys. This rule applies to all of advertising and copy writing. Negative imagery, unless directly related to the kind of product you’re trying to sell, will turn me off from making a purchase.
Though the Time Warner and Dr Pepper incidents were foolish, crass and horrible examples of marketing, they give me a pretense to make this joke. Boston once banned a mathbook because it had two improper fractions.
It is worth asking a couple questions about the execution of Timothy McVeigh. How did he get executed so fast? There’re guys on death row who’ve been their for thirty years. Also, there are those who say McVeigh was never put to death at all.
The Lesson Of Clark Gable’s Undershirt: Ringo Starr is a living joke, truly.
Tom Waites is in the business of selling records. He knew that if listeners heard one of his songs in a commercial, they would not like it and stop buying his records.
The Language Of Persuasion: Actually, if you go into a Starbucks and ask for a small, medium or large coffee, they’ll understand what you’re saying.
Wall Of Cynicism: Orson Wells “War Of The Worlds” broadcast proved that radio could be used to manipulate people. I would not be surprised if that particular broadcast was not a government-backed operation.
The 1957 theatre experiment either worked or didn’t work, depending on whom you believe.
I would heartily disagree that there aren’t subliminal messages in advertising. For example, I think of a commercial for Johnson’s Baby Shampoo that aired in the nineties. This woman tells the story of her and her teenage daughter Becky giving Becky’s brother Sam a bath “when suddenly Becky dropped the bottle and splashed Sam’s face. I got upset.” The way she said it made it sound like getting upset was the worst thing in the world. This ad was designed to communicate said message to the viewer.
There are also examples of Coke ads featuring noses that look like penises and bottles featuring tiny pictures of a woman’s face between a man’s legs.
I don’t shop on Amazon, but I do use it to look up information about books. One day, I clicked on the HISTORY link, just for fun. Even though I had never purchased anything on Amazon’s website, they had a list of books I had looked at when I’d clicked on the site from Google.
In the future, conventional advertising won’t exist. Permission marketing will largely be the way products are sold. Companies will have people who work for them in the field of one to one marketing. These employees will call up their friends or send them messages via some other means. Only friends whom the employee thinks will be interested in the product will be contacted. In this way, companies will be better able to reach their target audience and increase revenue.
Monday, January 17, 2011
REPLY AWL
The November 22 issue of Maclean's has an itim about the British government planning to pull all its troops out of Germany. That's right: there are still British troops in Germany. The second world war never really ended.
In the same issue, there is an article about right-wing nationalists in Serbia holding a former general wanted for war crimes in high esteem. The Moslems attacked the Serbians first. Molosovich and others were just trying to defend themselves.
In the same issue, there's an article about Charlie Sheen's latest scandal. The article calls Sheen's views on 9/11 unpleasant. His views are correct, however "unpleasant" they may be. Actually, Charlie Sheen makes a good spokesman for the 9/11 truth movement. If someone comes out with a view the establishment doesn't care for, the mainstream media usually drags up or fabricates a story about that person doing something bad. However, with Sheen, what more could he be accused of? Even if they did accuse him of something, it would just roll off Sheen and the public's back just like everything else he's done.
In the same issue, there is an article about right-wing nationalists in Serbia holding a former general wanted for war crimes in high esteem. The Moslems attacked the Serbians first. Molosovich and others were just trying to defend themselves.
In the same issue, there's an article about Charlie Sheen's latest scandal. The article calls Sheen's views on 9/11 unpleasant. His views are correct, however "unpleasant" they may be. Actually, Charlie Sheen makes a good spokesman for the 9/11 truth movement. If someone comes out with a view the establishment doesn't care for, the mainstream media usually drags up or fabricates a story about that person doing something bad. However, with Sheen, what more could he be accused of? Even if they did accuse him of something, it would just roll off Sheen and the public's back just like everything else he's done.
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