Popular Sentiment

Simply Marshmallow Fluff

I got a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer for Christmas from my World's Best Dad. He even got it in the Williams-Sonoma exclusive buttery yellow color I wanted. I cried when I opened it.

It's amazing how simple this one device makes the baking process. Mostly it's a time thing (also a little energy): I can start creaming the butter and then measure the sugar while the butter is creaming. I can gradually add the flour without stopping the mixing process and not get flour everywhere. It's just wonderful. (Note to home bakers: when using such a "set-it-and-forget-it" tool, it's important not to actually forget it. There is such a thing as too mixed, and it is bad news).

In packaging and advertising and such, simplicity also appeals to me. One recipe I'd been putting off since Christmas called for Marshmallow Fluff, which I don't really keep around the house. And since they don't sell it at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods (at least not the one near me) I was going to have to get some on a special trip to the "normal" grocery store. Ugh. Then, lo and behold, I spotted some at CVS last Friday. I think I might have purchased it even if I hadn't needed it, again because of the simplicity. It's not a fancy brand, it won't win any design awards, but it called to me: a white plastic (NOT glass! Yay!) container with a red lid and a blue label. Easy to get out the sticky stuff, nice to look at, reusable. Simple.

Sometimes simplicity can be bad. For example, I took this picture with the iSight on my computer because it would be simpler than using my phone or my normal camera. Oh well. You get the idea.

Surprising Cross-Promotions: Greeting Cards and Queen

Cross-promtions are everywhere, and sometimes they make sense. Even though the District 9 popcorn bags were kind of odd, the thought process behind the promotion was clear. But how to explain this prominent promotion in the greeting card aisle?

It just strikes me as a little strange. There are songs by all sorts of artist in these music-playing cards; why highlight Queen's involvement in this audio endeavor? For the card company, the benefit is clear (who wouldn't want to hear the cheerful chorus of "Under Pressure" while celebrating his or her birthday?), but what's in it for Queen? 

PLEASE. DON'T.

OMG, advertising execs, STOP IT with the extraneous periods! It's not even makng sense anymore! Most of the time, a verb and an implied subject is the bare minimum needed to create a one-word sentence. If you're trying to create emphasis, CAPS LOCK IS ENOUGH! And maybe an exclamation point. ;) When I see extraneous period like the ones shown here, I can't help but try and parse what those individual sentences mean. Best I can tell, Dr. Oz and his show are either Republicans that are airing a love tv show at this very instant, or they're having a curt phone conversation with you about whether or not you're interested in watching. Or both. I'll keep you posted. On more extraneous period sightings that is. I won't be watching the show.

Two Airports, Two Ads, Two Positions

Back from California, and I'm riding the sweet, sweet El Train, which I will be very fond of for the next few weeks as I recover from all the driving I did in LA.

I had a layover in Las Vegas. 3 hours. It was plenty of time to explore my terminal, which had, In addition to slot machines with no coin slots and advertisements directed at "Canadian Gamblers," one big sign suggesting that I spend some of my free time shooting guns at a nearby shooting gallery. There was an image of a white-toothed, young, blonde woman toting a semi-automatic rifle and grinning with Second Amendment pride, along with one of those human-shaped targets and a list of guns that were available for shooting. A long list. This whole collage struck me as patently bizarre. If I had any curiousity as to why I found it so strange, it was addressed the moment I sat down on this train and looked around. It's all about the culture.

Above my head at the moment is a banner ad - the kind that plaster every vehicle in the CTA's brigade. I've seen it before. It features pictures of little children, the theoretical victims of gun violence. Turn in a gun, it says, and you will be rewarded with a prepaid MasterCard. B.B. Guns are worth $10, and (regular, bullet) guns will get you $50. Assault weapons like the ones young women seem to enjoy shooting in Nevada? $100. 

I have an opinion on guns ("they are scary"), and I'm sure Vegas has gun haters, just as the Midwest has (many) gun lovers. But that's not the point of these musings. It's just so curious what a difference a couple thousand miles makes.

Snickers. It's a double entendre. In a non-sexual way.

I'm geeking out a little about the billboard I just saw near my house.

Generally speaking, I have mixed feelings about Snickers' contention that it is some sort of hunger-stopping mini-meal (as opposed to a candy bar, which I believe it to be), but you've got to love an ad campaign as simple as this one. There are currently 10 or 20 strange, nut-, caramel-, or hunger-related slogans ("Snacklish") are floating around Chicago on taxis or peering out from train station walls, but none of them compares to this one. God bless the super-nerd ad man who came up with this one, and God bless Mr. Mars and his many candy bars.

Hell Comes to Comcast Town

Is there anything sadder or more annoying than a company that tries too hard to be cool? No, except maybe when it misses the mark so entirely that it's palpable. Comcast, trying super hard not only to seem cool, but to shed its shroud of evil (impossible!) has released a new commercial and marketing campaign called "Comcast Town." The campaign might not be so bothersome if it weren't so woefully contrived. There's a tiny town map on the site complete with a quirky cast of animals in hats. Signs instruct us to "Dream Big." Right.  Dream Big. About your cable.

The most noticeable part of this campaign is, alas, the most skin-crawlingly awkward. It's the new Comcast Town commercial. To start, it seems to be about 10 minutes long, and contains a parade of "townspeople" singing a repetitive song about their cable dreams, in a creepy deadpan voice that, taken at face value, seems to imply that the singers could not care less about whatever the hell they're rhyming about. But it's not merely a silly song. It's very clearly meant to sound like a Kimya Dawson song. And a lame one at that. She's the voice behind the very popular Juno soundtrack that was a huge iTunes hit in 2007.  Point of fact: it is now 2009. So Comcast's really cloying, exceedingly long attempt to be ultra-hip is actually two years too late. 

Maybe I'm overreacting; you can decide for yourself.