When Did Shopping at the Pharmacy Become Needlessly Complicated?

This past Saturday was rainy and most certainly dreary. Not willing to venture out anywhere important, I figured I'd start packing up some items I was selling on eBay. One problem: I was out of packing tape. So I drove down to Walgreens for a simple roll of the stuff. In-and-out, right? No. Although I was only the third person on line, it was a fifteen minute wait. Seems a middle-aged woman, apparently thrifty, was discussing the "points" or "charges" on her receipt. It sounded like a stream of nonsensical numbers and words. She could have been speaking Esperanto for all I cared. All I wanted to do was pay for my sticky tape and be on my merry way.

Takin' a Dump with Jaime Lee

Jaime Lee Curtis made a name for herself playing memorable roles in classic films such as Halloween, A Fish Called Wanda, Trading Places, True Lies and many others.  Now in her 50's, she seems content being the spokeswoman for Dannon Activia yogurt.  In these commercials, Jaime plays host to various women who have no problem discussing their bowel movements with a celebrity.  I normally ignore yogurt ads, but a light bulb went off in my head.  These commercials are just begging to be spun-off into a full-fledged, daytime talk show.  We can call it "Takin' a Dump with Jaime Lee". 

Craigslist is Balls for Job Searching

As you may have gathered, I've been unemployed now for the past couple of months thanks to an economy that's less stable than a drunk walking down a steep incline (...meh). During the course of my exhaustive job hunt, I threw a few resumes, complete with cover letters, to ads posted on Craigslist. And nine times out of ten, I'm forced to realize that my time would have been better spent addressing those emails to the kitchen wall.

Her-Sponsor-oes

Dear NBC:

I understand your dilemma. Less people are watching your sponsors' advertisements and you need to find away to counter that. I begrudgingly accept you have to inject thinly veiled advertisements into the shows themselves. But in the September 22nd episode of Heroes ("The Butterfly Effect"), you may have taken the concept to a new level. Allow me to remind you of this scene, which takes place in an African desert:

Marketing Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Today is the beginning of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual social campaign to promote education and information on the disease, as well as raise funds to help find causes, development treatment and, hopefully, find a cure. It was founded in 1993 by Evelyn Lauder (Senior Corporate Vice President of Estée Lauder). Since then, the number of companies supporting the drive has grown dramatically.

Worst. Local Commercials. EVER!

Advertising on television is still the best way to get your brand out to a captive audience (the ones without DVRs at least). A lot of research, time and money goes into all of those memorable ads you talk about the day after the Superbowl. This post is not about those commercials. It's about the local spots you see outside the peak viewing hours, cheaply made and horribly acted. They'd be forgettable if they weren't so ludicrously bad. Observe:

The Vista Ad About Nothing

Microsoft recently announced that they have enlisted the aide of Jerry Seinfeld to help move a few more units of their Windows Vista operating system. This move is intended to counteract the line of successful commercials from Apple featuring Justin Long playing the literal personification of a Mac, as he smugly demonstrates his superiority over a middle-aged, malady-ridden gentleman playing the role of a PC. If Microsoft pulls this off, we'll start equating the PC with jokes about airline food and a strong revulsion towards chubby mailmen.

I'm Just About "Shreked" Out

The release of the third movie in the Shrek series is serious cause to celebrate... if you're Dreamwork's accounting department. The rest of us will see it as yet another sequel that may or may not be enjoyable. But judging by the amount of exposure the Shrek characters are getting by appearing in commercials for other products unrelated to the movie, you'd think that someone, somewhere somehow hasn't gotten enough of these computer animated screwballs.

Alabama Chicken and Re-animated Popcorn Magnates

Thanks to the advancements of channel selection, digital video recorders and Nintendo handhelds, I pay little attention to commercials anymore. However, there are still times when I'm caught off guard and I found myself glued to an advertisement that inspires me to dedicate a blog post to them.

McDonald's Turns 50!

Ray Kroc, a milkshake mixer salesman, had envisioned a restaurant chain where people can eat burgers with minimal amounts of beef served quickly by snarling cashiers earning minimum wage. That idea turned into McDonald's – the place where you can find happiness packaged with a toy and a small drink.