Interesting

Right now, MSNBC and CNN are covering the inaugural parade, and Fox News is broadcasting live from Bush's homecoming rally in Texas, where he is giving a speech. I hope Fox can learn to say goodbye.

I can't make this stuff up.

I just poured myself a drink and turned on the TV for some pre-sleep brain numbing, and I came across an amusing infomercial hosted by Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply. I thought, "this is going to be amusing," and it was - it was the Time-Life ad for their Classic Soft Rock Collection. 168 Hits! Yes! A real score for late night brain melt!

Time-Life infomercials are made for the wee hours of the morning. They're made for folks who are hanging out too late in front of the television, getting sleepy, possibly drunk, maybe lonely, probably stoned. The Time-Life folks aren't dummies - they know this demographic is the most primed to pick up the phone and pull out the credit card.

And then there are people like myself, who watch these infomercials for pure entertainment. Over and over I got to hear clips of Kenny Loggins, America, Chicago, Boz Scaggs, Christopher Cross, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, 10CC, and more...not to mention watch clips of Elton John's "Daniel" and Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" over and over and over...
Check out these quotable gems:

"Some people like a fine wine, others reach for a cold beer, but in 1979, everyone wanted a Piña Colada..."
"Soft rock takes me to a relaxing place, like a beach..."
"This is the music that made soft rock pure magic!"
"You'll find yourself singing along to songs you didn't know you knew all the words to!"
"You could spend hundreds of dollars trying to buy all the songs found on this collection" (um, iTunes anyone? 168 songs x 99cents per song...hmm...)
"There were so many songs from my high school times, and those were truly the greatest years of my life..." (Oof.)
"In the eighties, some artists put away their guitars, and plugged in their synthesizers." (Yeah, baby!)
"Every time I hear these songs, I feel like I'm on vacation." "You're so right, Angela."

A few other notes and highlights:
1) An acoustic "All Out of Love" by Air Supply, performed live on set by Graham and Russell, pitcher of lemonade on the table in front of them. Ah, so relaxing!
2) The video for "Sad Eyes," by Robert John - Did sexy used to equal a balding guy in a track suit? Is this the sexy that Justin Timberlake promises to bring back? Awesome!
3) Eric Carmen's "All By Myself"- I never noticed the physical resemblance to Prince before...am I crazy here?
4) I still don't understand Meat Loaf.

The soft rock is now floating in my head, along with my delicious nightcap...I can't wait for the dreams ahead...

You, too, can be an ass!

What is up with the giant Calvin Klein billboard on the northwest corner of Lafayette and Houston?
This particular billboard spot has belonged to Calvin Klein for as long as I can remember into the recent past. I often glance at it as I dash into the Broadway-Lafayette subway stop after work, and I've noticed that the CK folks switch up the image maybe every 2-4 weeks (or maybe not that often, but I do feel like I've seen lots of different pictures on that spot recently - CK jeans, CK underwear, CK fragrance...)

This evening I looked up and noticed a new image had been placed on the giant board, a new image that I found both amusing and disturbing: a teenage(?) girl is reclining, her head in the lap of a teenage(?) boy. Both are fully clothed in CK gear, and the boy's hand is resting on an exposed portion of the girl's waist.
It was the expressions on the faces that got to me. The girl appears completely bored out of her mind (or maybe drugged), and the boy is staring into the camera, looking confused and/or pissed off, as if he has nothing but scorn for all the little New Yorkers walking around below him.

I gotta ask: how does this image help to sell CK clothing? I, for one, do not want to wear anything that heightens any sense of 1) boredom, or 2) superiority over others. Do other people want these things? Am I missing something?

Advertisements

I love taking notice of what commercials are paired up with particular television programs. I think it's possible to learn a lot about a program's point of view and assumed audience based on the advertisers that buy time during broadcast.

Recently, I happened to be home at 6:30pm on a weekday, and out of curiosity I flipped on a show that I never watch: CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. (I generally avoid this show because I find Katie Couric mildly grating, for reasons I can't quite pinpoint).
Anyway, as a disclaimer I must admit that I have ideas about who regularly watches the CBS Evening News - I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it's mostly folks who have just gotten home from work and are looking to catch up on a quick bit of news before eating dinner with the family. Oh, and in my mind these people live in suburbia. These are the assumptions I am starting with, and they could be totally wrong, but I have a feeling that my description is accurate for a good chunk of the CBS Evening News demographic.

So this is what I ended up thinking after observing the commercials: suburban Middle America is uncomfortable in a variety of ways, and pharmaceutical companies are ready to encourage folks to medicate themselves excessively to alleviate these discomforts.
During one commercial break, three ads were shown, all by pharmaceutical companies. The three ads were selling drugs to alleviate the following: irritable bowel syndrome, nasal allergies, and something called "restless leg syndrome."

Granted, some medications are necessary and help people to live better lives, and I'm not denying the existence of allergies. But my primary reaction to seeing these ads one after the other was: why are Americans suffering from so many ailments, and why are we so ready to load up on medicine?
Personally, I am of the opinion that lifestyle changes would lead to greater health in America than would mass dependence on drugs. How about exercise, healthy eating, and a more reasonable balance of work and leisure (can't deny the connection between mind and body)? While we're at it, let's throw in friendlier workplace conditions and more reasonable wages for all Americans, so that people don't have to spend so many hours worrying about how to take care of their families and pay their bills.

But this is just where I stand, and it's certainly not going to lead to any profits for the pharmaceutical companies, on whose advertising dollars the CBS Evening News depends.