How a bad ad campaign kept me away from a good product

Long legs and skimpy bathing suits. Tropical islands. The goddess in you.

It all made me gag. Talk about mindless manipulation. As if a razor were going to make a beauty out of me. I was way too smart to be snared by that kind of baloney. So I avoided the Venus razor out of principle. Fluff was not going to sell me.

Then I actually tried one, mainly because my daughter's was hanging around the bathtub. (Don't tell her. I'm counting on her not reading this blog. LOL) And didn't the darn thing work better than mine?

So I guess I'll go buy one.

In all those years of mindless advertising, why didn't they ever tell me it would actually shave better and give fewer nicks? That is a pitch I would have been interested in.

I know they will argue that the mindless stuff works. Well, maybe, but not on everybody. Couldn't they occasionally make a pitch that actually engages a brain or two?

The website where I pinched the picture (it's free advertising, Gillette, but I'll take it off if you want) is equally gag-worthy. The theme song rendered in pre-orgasmic groans. For a razor. The only other pitch that approaches this level of ridiculousness is all those toothbrush ads riffing on epic thrillers. And they wonder why I quit watching TV.

Flee the village...

"The Canadians are coming! Armed with plastic knives and forks!"

The comedian (whose name I forget) was on stage at Montreal's Just For Laughs festival, and the audience was bent double in laughter. If there were any soldiers in the audience, they were bent double too.

Canadians like to laugh at themselves, and this is probably why we have a disproportionate presence in the comedy world, by which I mean American entertainment. Other reasons have been put forward for the uncanny number of Canadians in American comedy, but I think they miss the mark. Canadians rule comedy because we are so good at laughing at ourselves.

This extends right up to the highest levels. Years before Al Gore thought to appear on Saturday Night Live, Canadian politicians - including sitting prime ministers - were appearing on political satire shows like Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, not to mock their opponents, but to joyfully skewer themselves and occasionally the satirists for not caricaturizing them well enough.

But it's not only the famous that we have enjoyed mocking. One of my favourite episodes of Corner Gas - gotta love any comedy set in Saskatchewan! - features a bemused American tourist who ends up in "Dog River" by mistake. The "ugly American" proves himself to be consistently well-informed, respectful and courteous, while his Canadian hosts (especially Hank) are prejudiced, obnoxious, and self-righteous. There were no outraged letters to the editor, no dip in ratings, no protests about the attack on the Canadian identity. We just enjoyed the inversion of stereotypes and laughed heartily at ourselves. It remains one of my favourite episodes.

And the skit that triggered this reflection: Royal Canadian Air Farce was portraying Prime Minister Harper and his wife Loreen as stiff, robotic, semi-humans and the children were called in to say good night. Who should appear but the real Harper children!

I can't speak with any expertise on this subject, but I have a hard time imagining an American president lending himself or family members to a political satire show for the express purpose of poking fun at himself. Admittedly, this is not entirely disinterested on the part of Canadian politicians; Preston Manning in particular proved that self-parody will only increase your popularity with the Canadian electorate.

So I ask my American friends in particular and readers of this blog from all parts of the world: how good are you at laughing at yourselves? I don't mean laughing at your opponents, either. Is it common practice for your politicians to mock themselves, and do your comedies skewer your own culture? Or is the mockery generally turned toward the "other"?

Technorati tags: Corner Gas, Royal Canadian Air Farce, This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Gleanings from the blogosphere, Sep. 15

The Anchoress delivers an inspiring eulogy to Oriana Fallaci, who "embodied all that leftism was", and a blistering attack on Rosie O'Donnell who embodies "all it has become". If any of you are wondering "Why Rosie?" this is in response to her assertion on The View that "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam." She was roundly applauded, although the other hosts, to do them credit, refused to buy it. The Anchoress does a good job of tearing apart that assertion, so I'll leave it to her. Although I will add that Rosie jumped from one sentence to the other from "radical Christianity" to the bombing of innocents in Iraq, as if there were a direct, causal relationship.

When you need a break from weighty issues, Bits and Pieces will serve you up humourous, whimsical or just awe-inspiring tidbits from all over the Net. Today's offerings include Fork Art, a trip through the universe, and "One Little Mistake":

A woman, standing nude, looks in the bedroom mirror and says to her husband, "I feel horrible, I look fat and ugly. Pay me a compliment".

The husband replies, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect".

He never heard the shot.

Technorati tags: Rosie O'Donnell, Oriana Fallaci

Guilt-free Schadenfreude

Amba at Ambivablog reports that the new season of Survivor is having difficulty retaining corporate sponsors. Although they refuse to admit it, advertisers are evidently ill at ease with this season's format, which organizes the participants into opposing camps based on race.

I've never cared for Survivor or its many clones. Games that are designed to encourage lying and betrayal don't rate very high on my respectometer. That they actively encourage the viewers to delight in it, drops them even further.

The new season's concept pushed it down into new sub-zero numbers in my estimation. To know that they have been having trouble retaining viewers and now sponsors makes me chuckle in virtuous wicked glee. And I don't feel even the slightest whiff of guilt. I hope the whole show gets voted off the island once and for all.

Technorati tags: Survivor