Food and drink
We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about how young people in this country want to feel inspired. The makers of Cheetos apparently think that they want to be inspired to do mean things to other people.
The company’s ad campaign, dubbed Orange Underground, consists of a series of commercials in which a cartoon Cheetos mascot goads people to use the orange squiggly snack for evil.
In one commercial, an office worker passes by the desk of a "neat freak," and smashes Cheetos into his computer and ear phones. In another, a woman upset by another patron at a Laundromat drops some Cheetos into her load of whites. In yet another, a woman sticks Cheetos up the nose of a snoring seatmate on an airplane.
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So you went out for a few drinks with friends and ended up in a stranger’s bed. The makers of the AMP Energy drink want you to know that there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
In fact, they feel so strongly about it that they’ve gone ahead and written a song for you. It goes, in part:
"Oh I will not be ashamed/be ashamed/to walk the crowded streets alone/in yesterday’s outfit and cologne."
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| AMP Energy |
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From “Fast Food Nation” to “Super Size Me,” McDonald’s has become the go-to villain in the United States’ obesity drama.
Not willing to become the de facto whipping boy, the company best known for its indulgent burgers and greasy fries has already added salads, fruits and other new menu options. Now, it’s defending the rest of its food lineup as well.
The “what we’re made of” campaign includes TV commercials, in-store promotions and a Web site boasting about its beef, chicken and other basic ingredients. In the coming weeks, the company also plans to add billboards and expand the Web site to include more information about cooking methods, suppliers and other practices.
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| McDonald's |
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Earth Day is meant to be a time to think about the how we can preserve our planet for future generations. But corporations, hip to the idea that green has become the new black, have hit on another purpose: it’s an excellent peg for selling more stuff.
This April 22, why help your young daughter do something boring like plant a tree or start a compost bin? Instead, you can hop in your gas guzzler and drive on over Toys ‘R’ Us, which is selling a limited edition Barbie “BCause” line of accessories made from leftover fabric and trimmings that, Barbie maker Mattel says, would normally be thrown away.
The tote bags, diaries and other items are being launched “just in time to celebrate Earth Day in style,” according to Mattel’s promotional materials.
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If you’re a has-been celebrity looking for work - and what has-been celebrity isn’t looking for work, by definition? - the good news is that there are other job prospects out there besides lame reality television shows. There’s also Geico.
The insurance company has for some time now been employing the likes of Little Richard, Joan Rivers and even Charo to “interpret” real people’s stories of how well Geico dealt with their insurance claims.
Maybe the well of real D-list celebrities is running dry, because now the company is turning to … a syrup bottle.
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For some time now, Dunkin’ Donuts has been expertly refashioning itself as the everyman’s alternative to Starbucks - accessible, affordable and high in quality, but without the fuss of the more highfalutin coffee chain.
Like all good competitors, Dunkin’ Donuts is showing no signs of letting up now that Starbucks is slightly down (although surely far from out). As the coffee giant works to retool its image, the donut titan has launched a new take on an old joke - just how hard is it to order a drink at Starbucks and its Italian-inspired ilk?
The coffee-drink order shtick is, in fact, so reliable that even Dunkin’ Donuts has done it before. But some jokes never get old, and this is one of them.
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Sad to say, but this year’s crop of Super Bowl ads was a Cloverfield-esque disappointment – there were some bright spots (thank you, Pepsi, for repeatedly beating on Justin Timberlake), but overall, a pretty uninspired group.
Evidently, msnbc.com readers enjoyed Budweiser’s “Rocky” spot. Of course using the Clydesdales again is about as reliable as meat loaf but as boring as a Jack Johnson album (that’s a good thing followed by a bad thing, if you’re keeping score).
But in the fourth quarter Amp Energy Drink decided to bust out the bondage gear.
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| Pepsico |
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We’ve spoken before about our appreciation of Domino’s. Yes, it’s mostly tasteless chain pizza, but when you’re in the middle of nowhere, it can be the best option (though that says more about said place than Domino’s).
So no, it’s not the best pizza ever. But it is serviceable food. And at a certain (young) point in your life, it makes monetary sense.
But even in our cheapest, youngest days (college) we were never this hungry.
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| Domino's |
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Sometimes it’s not so much the ad that’s weird, it’s just pimping a product that’s so strange weirdness can’t be helped.
We haven’t actually tried Domino’s new Oreo Dessert Pizza, so we can’t comment on whether it’s any good or not. But it sounds like something concocted in a pothead’s dorm room VERY late at night. It looks like a pizza crust with crushed cookies and a lot of frosting.
Not that we’re pizza snobs. We spent the longest year and a half of our life in rural Oregon and the chain definitely had the best pie within 100 miles. And at least Domino's has avoided serving up that barbecue-sauce-and-chicken abomination that seems to be on every place’s menu.
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| Domino's |
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Back in the 1990s, Sir Mix-A-Lot made a lot of women with a little extra bootie into lifelong fans with his instant classic “Baby Got Back.” Before that, Van Halen helped cement its ’80s-era big hair/bad boy image with the classic “Hot For Teacher.”
Now along comes Carl’s Jr.
Just in time for back to school, the fast food restaurant’s latest ad features a teacher shaking her booty in front of a classroom of ogling, pubescent white boys rapping about how they like “flat buns” - on their patty melt, that is - while their teacher bumps and grinds. Sample lyric: “Stand sideways, girl, you disappear.”
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| Carl's Jr. |
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