I guess there will be Walmart ads this Superbowl :/

I find it interesting that we're still calling this a recession, especially since it is always compared to The Great Depression. Why not call it the neo-Depression or something.

@crichton007:

My guess is, people are calling it a recession because that is what it is, a recession.

Having the benefit of knowing and speaking with two relatives who lived through the Great Depression, they both say this is nothing like what they went through.

Granted, that is anecdotal at best, I'll still take their word over some talking head on T.V.

Maybe I am living with my head in the sand, maybe not.

We shall see.

I'm surprised Meg didn't fight you to get this assignment for herself!

Every year the Superbowl rolls around, it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes (overheard in IRC years ago):

Capitalism at it's finest... an entire country eagerly awaiting advertising.

@dohtem: To add, I have nothing against the ads. I usually make sure I catch all the ones I missed the next day.

Heh, good idea! A live blog of the ads could be really funny. I'll be reading along for sure. :-)

Sounds like we need Chris to pitch in for a followup article, Consumerist SuperBowl Commercials Drinking Game.
Not that pros like us need help to get drunk, but DAYUM does it make explaining our besotted condition to the traffic cop later.

@chucklebuck: Man, I want Meg's DAD to liveblog the commercial. And the game.

All my wildest dreams have come true. Beer, football, commercials *AND* my nerdy self hauling out the iPhone every 5 seconds to check a live blog.

Note to self: bring charge cord for iPhone to SB party.

live blogging = IRC?

I'll definitely be checking The Consumerist out throughout the day on Feb 1st =)

@sebadoh128: My grandmother said all these people complaining about the recession have no idea what its like. She lived through the great depression and said there was no welfare, you had to work on the streets to earn your food stamps. People were starving, people were off at war. Big deal, we can't afford all the televisions we want. It's bad, but give me a break comparing it to back then.

I shall only tune in if Captain Duvel Moneycat promises to blog during one commercial break. Assuming he can tear himself away from any oatmeal lying (laying?) about.

@crichton007: Are we eating our pets yet? Ok, not as bad as The Depression.

Consumerist To LiveBlog SuperBowl Ads

I'll be liveblogging the SuperBowl ads on The Consumerist this year...

@djanes1: I dunno though guys, me and some of the other fellows around town are considering starting a Hoovertown or two.

for all of us Super Bowl advert fans ;)

@Triterion: We'll know the economy is really bad if we see a ShamWow commercial during the Superbowl.

Who here thinks that Bridgestone should redo their Superbowl commercial from last year of the guy ducking the obstacles but they replace Richard Simmons with the ShamWow guy?

I must not be consumerist enough to find the appeal in the whole Super Bowl ad thing. To me it is just spectacle for the sake of spectacle. And like other aspects of SB weekend represents a display of extravagence and excess not worthy of a mere football game.

@crichton007: By injecting money into dead businesses they are bacically covering up the fact the recession is over and we are in a depression.

We aren't in a 'great depression' yet. Everyone is confusing themselves by comparing the "great depression" and the current depression. If you look what happened in the 1920's and what is happening now one difference is the banks are being bailed out so people aren't losing their money yet and starving in the streets.

Wikipedia:
recession:
In economics the term recession generally describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for at least two quarters.

Depression:
In economics a depression is a sustained long downturn in one or more economies. It is more severe than a recession which is seen as a normal downturn in the business cycle.

Now ask yourself how long has this economy been in a downturn? More than 2 quarters? The answer is YES.

@hi: I'd like to add that a 'depression' is a sustained recession. Which is what we are in now (a sustained recession). So yes we are in a recession but it's a sustained recession which makes it a 'depression'.

I think the blog will certainly be more exciting than the game itself.

@Maurs: I believe they were called "Hooverville".

So what can we call them this time around? Marketville, Spendingtown, ForeclosureCity, Bernakeville, Paulsonville, Bushville, Bankersville?

@crichton007: I only said it has been compared to The Great Depression, not that this is. I mean technically The Depression was a recession too. Jeez...