Central Appalachia is the number one spot in America for tooth decay to due to their poor diet, lack of access to dental care, and widespread addiction to Mountain Dew. They say it’s used as a kind of anti-depressant, thanks to its high-caffeine and sugar levels. Good Morning America visited and found they even put it in baby bottles. Some 2-year olds have 12 cavities in their baby teeth. They discovered an 11-year old Dew-drinker boy who hadn’t brushed his teeth in several weeks because they hurt too much. Crazy to think that’s what acid, sugar and caffeine will do to your teeth when combined with a bad diet and little in the way of dentist visits. [More]
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Disney To Sell Eggs For Some Reason
By 2.4.09
I’m not sure why, but Disney is selling eggs. Each egg is stamped with a different Disney character and if you get the additional egg mold, you can make the eggs into little mickey mouse Disney icons. Then gobble them up. Weird. [Jezebel]
Really Creepy Ads Killed The Electric Car
By 2.4.09
I watched the Who Killed The Electric Car documentary last night and was thunderstruck by the “ad” that GM made when California made them make electric cars against their will. If you want to sell a car, you put a hot person in it and shoot them skidding at high speeds across desert plains. This was like trailer for a sequel to The Ring.
What Is Mark To Market?
By 2.3.09
One buzzphrase going around about the financial crisis is “mark to market.” Some think banks are being overly punished by being forced to “mark to market” the investments they own, or price them according to current market value. As you can probably figure out, those assets have plummeted. Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch explains with his trusty whiteboard and stick figures what “mark to market” means, and what it means for the economy.
You Say Snuggie, I Say WTF Blanket
By 1.31.09
Though you may know and love and/or fear it as The Snuggie, it’s marketed some states north of Minnesoata and east of Kentucky as The WTF Blanket. Here is its ad [NSFW], which, according to unconfirmed outsider sources on non-attribution background, could be angling to snatch up one of the the last Super Bowl ad slots using a modified eBay snipe-bot. [via Bon Jour, Pee Wee]
E*Trade Baby Buys Superbowl Ad
By 1.30.09
The E*Trade baby is back in this year’s Superbowl lineup. A series of ostensible outtakes are posted on YouTube. Highlight of the bunch: “I want to punch the economy in the face!” (baby cries).
Sad: Cash4Gold Buys Superbowl Ad Slot
By 1.29.09
The stage is set for truly the saddest year of Superbowl Ads, Cash4Gold has bought up a Superbowl Ad slot. Cash4Gold usually advertises on late-night cable TV. You send them your scrap gold, and they send you money. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Probably they’ll just replay the same commercial. NBC also has two 30-second slots left for sale. Someone tell the Snuggie cult.
Some SuperBowl Ads Up Online Already
By 1.29.09
Why wait until the actual Superbowl to start showing your Superbowl ads? Due to this crazy concept called “strategic leaking,” AdWeek already has some of the SuperBowl ads up online, with spots from Coke,H&R Block, Cars.com, Careerbuilder, GoDaddy, and Pedigree. Nothing blowing my socks off so far, the interstitial game has a good chance of being as lackluster as the one on the ground. [AdWeek]
Ben Popken On NBC Nightly News Tonight, Still Pimping That Grocery Shrink Ray
By 1.27.09
Yours truly Ben Popken was featured ever so briefly in a NBC Nightly News report tonight about the Grocery Shrink Ray.
Domino's Burns Subway's C&D On National TV
By 1.23.09
I’ll still never order a sandwich from either establishment except under duress, but I approve of how Domino’s handled Subway’s cease-and-desist letter over their new campaign claiming Domino’s oven-baked sandwiches beat Subway’s 2-1 in a taste test paid for by Domino’s: with flames.
Video: The Brooklyn Target, "An Abortion Of Retail"
By 1.20.09
Here’s part 2 of FIPS investigation into why the Target at the Brooklyn Atlantic Center is the Worst Target Ever Created. Their video crew probes more into the shelves that are at best, disheveled, and at worst, empty. When we posted the first video, some said Target should get a break, they’re recovering from the holidays. Well, this one was shot 15 days after the holidays. It still looks like crap. It also looked like crap before the holidays too. The real culprit? Management that doesn’t care and poorly trained employees. C’mon, Target Corp, you need to send an attack squad to fix this store. It looks like a freakin’ TJ MAXX. Video inside [NSFW, curseywords].
Patton Oswalt Vs The Black Angus Gauntlet Of Angry Food
By 1.16.09
In commemoration of the death of this casual steakhouse dining facility, we present stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt’s paean to Black Angus’ mouth-pouch-stuffin’ profligacy. The going starts getting good at 0:52. [NSFW, cursing] (Thanks to mookiemookie!)
Why The Fed Is Making "Bad Banks," And Why That Could Be Good
By 1.14.09
Marketplace’s Paddy “Sexycakes” Hirsch whips out the whiteboard to explain the how and why of the latest gimmick the Fed is deploying to ease the financial crisis. Now they’re making “bad banks” which will go buy the toxic assets from the banks so they can clean up their books. Hopefully over time these assets will mature past their heavily discounted value and the taxpayers can make money on the deal. But if the situation deteriorates and too many of the assets go to zero, as some indeed may, then we’ll be sitting on a big fat goose egg, again. Video inside.
Video: Oil Speculators To Blame For Record Gas Prices After All
By 1.12.09
If you thought oil speculators as the reason behind the historic gas prices spikes of this summer was debunked, think again. From ’07 to when the price of oil collapsed, supply increased and demand dropped. According to basic economic theory, this should’ve meant the price went down. But all of a sudden an influx of capital, an infusion that brought the total at play from $13 billion to $300 billion, brought to market by large investment bankers, exploiting de-regulation and trading in black box private exchanges made possible by Enron, drove the price of oil from $69 to almost $150. A new 60 Minutes report explores the issue. Video inside.
Snuggies And ShamWows Beseige Nation's Cheap Airwaves
By 1.9.09
The economy is ‘sploding so that means it’s infomercial mating season. Prices for airtime are dropping as bigger advertisers pull their spots, so the Billy Mays of the world are now getting slots during 30 Rock commercial breaks. At the same time, more people are watching TV because they don’t have money to go out and it helps anesthetize them to the pain of reality. Thus, the rise of the ShamWow and the Snuggie, a super slurping sponge cloth, and a blanket with arms, respectively. Let’s take a closer look.
