November 2008 - Posts
The economy is in the doldrums, and that means it’s even more important that parents, grandparents and other out-of-touch grown-ups don’t waste their hard-earned money on holiday gifts a teenager will never use.
But in trying to suss out that perfect gift, it’s best to avoid the porn said teenager has hidden under the bed.
A new commercial for the videogame retailer GameStop shows the unfortunate unintended consequences that could occur if a parent goes rooting around a teen’s room looking for hints of what he or she might want for the holidays.
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A new commercial for the migraine medicine Treximet starts out in relatively humdrum fashion, with a close-up shot of a woman’s face as she discusses the gripping pain of a headache.
Then the ad cuts away to its surreal horror movie moment – the woman in question is actually literally holding her head in her hand, and her body is decapitated.
Or, at least it would seem at face value to be a horror movie moment. But instead, the commercial treats this development as if it is nothing special. Creepiest of all, the woman in question is standing in front of a school bus, one arm cradling her head and another arm draped over the shoulders of her young son.
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| treximet.com |
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It’s rare that you can praise an ad and also say that it is hard to watch, but that’s perhaps the only way to accurately describe a recent commercial for the financial institution HSBC.
The ad, featuring haunting music by harpist and vocalist Joanna Newsom, recounts a vicious confrontation between police and anti-logging protesters. As the police drag the protesters away, a group of loggers walk by, saws in hand.
The twist -- and symbolic message of the commercial -- is that one of the loggers is in a relationship with one of the protesters, which you don’t realize until he bails her out of jail and they ride off together on a motorcycle.
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We here at Ads of the Weird have generally tried to stay away from political ads during this seemingly endless election cycle, preferring instead to leave the good, the bad and the ugly to our friends in the Politics section.
But this being Ads of the Weird, Election Day edition, we’re making an exception. No, we don’t plan to jump into the minefield of speculating as to whose ad is more effective/negative/misleading. Instead, we’re going to focus on the one thing we hope everyone can agree on: The right to vote.
This year, as in years past, there are a plethora of public service announcements aimed at getting people to the voting booth. And this year, as in years past, they run the gamut from pretty good to pretty embarrassing.
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| declareyourself.com |
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