America Loves/Hates Puppets
Today, the controversy regarding the Iranian election rages on, with authorities having to close parts of Tehran due to anti-Ahmer Ahmea- Ahmadinejad protestors. Israel put forth their conditions for the creation of a Palestinian state. But who cares about the that!? What’s up with those Nike puppets!?
As you probably know. I live half my life on the Twitters. (Don’t judge.) While doing laundry and browsing, I noticed people complaining about or lauding these puppets. Such passionate controversy, such spirited discourse is difficult to ignore!
Whether you like the puppets or not, Portland-based ad powerhouse Wieden+Kennedy scored big with this campaign. The decision to keep LeBron in the commercials, despite the loss of the Cavs, drew a great deal of attention:
And that, more analytical assessment and opinion is of course joined by many more:
And here’s a sample from the pro-puppet camp, who seems to slightly outnumber the anti-puppet forces:
The debate rages on, ad infinitum.
I think the commercials aren’t bad, but the general campaign strategy seems to be a big winner. And, no matter what you think about puppets, at least they’re not horrifying claymation figures, like the ones pictured below. I still have nightmares about them.
Kicking in the TV
I had a brief discussion with @NycoHerzog on twitter, today, about kids, the Smurfs, and TV in general. It made me think of this post I made on Everything2 about 7 years ago. (Ahhh. Everything2. The nostalgia.) Keep in mind that this writing is the rash thoughts of an opinionated youth, still dazzled by the sheer volume of his vocabulary, rather than the seasoned man I’ve become today. ; D
If I ever have kids, I will kick the TV in and hurl it out the window
I’m not a parent. I don’t plan on having kids for a long time. Despite this fact, whether it’s biological hardware or simply nagging thoughfulness, I keep thinking about how I will raise my kids when I do have some.The prospect of my children watching TV scares the hell out of me.
The goddamn noisy box is so full of mindless garbage and consumer conditioning, that I can’t imagine subjecting any of my offspring to such stupidity, since, like anyone, I’d like my kids go far in life. Slathering their defenseless little minds with opium lard like the Teletubbies doesn’t seem like the best way to help them accomplish this, does it?.
That the medium of television is blatantly aimed at creating and maintaining good consumers, I will not argue here. I’ve already presented that argument.
Sure. I watched it as a child as much as any other kid, and I came out all right, at least, as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s just one of those things, like when parents worry about their children and constrain them, even though they despised that sort of restraint as children themselves.
When I think about my own childhood, though, and about kids I knew who weren’t allowed to watch TV, I balk I don’t want to be one of those highly restrictive parents.
But most of those kids came from hyper-christian households. They couldn’t watch the smurfs because Gargamel was the Devil. They couldn’t watch Pac-Man because ghost monsters were the Devil, they couldn’t watch He-Man because Skeletor was the Devil. So maybe that’s something different. One thing, when I think back on it now, strikes me as a little odd. They were allowed to watch Voltron. Go figure. : P
So maybe that’s a little different. It’s not violence, drugs, blasphemy or sex, that I’m afraid of. It’s stupidity;intentional stupidity.
My father always respected my ability to make good decisions once he thought I was informed and I have a deep reciprocal respect now, because of that.
If I’m trying to encourage my kids to be independent thinkers, how will it help if I tell them even once, “You can’t do that,” when I know it’s not something that will endanger them directly?
After giving this matter much thought, I think perhaps I’ll let them watch TV at friends’ houses, if they wish. I don’t think I’ll have one in my house, though, except for the DVD player, or whatever the current technology is.
Speaking of technology, maybe I’m thinking out of date. Maybe they won’t even want to watch the TV. Maybe they’ll be internet and computer game junkies, just like Daddy.
Hitler on a Bus
I ran across a neat blog today called Photoshop Disasters. They’ve got a great collection of hilarious and ironic fuck-ups that range from the stylistically inappropriate, to complete pooch fuckings like this Norweigan bus:
Edgy!
It’s kinda like Best Week Ever or the Soup for advertising/editorial imagery.
Walgreen’s Can Haz Goatse.cx
Hello, Walgreens.
I snapped this near my (as of today) old apartment at 30th and Mission in San Francisco.
