You know that McDonald’s ad where the fast food chain implies that the best way for a child to get over the loss of a loved one is to scrarf down a square fish patty on a bun? It’s been pulled, for reasons that should be immediately clear if you read that first sentence. [More]
controversy
Macy’s Dumps Trump Over Controverial Comments, He Says It Was His Idea
By 7.1.15
What do a southern chef, the owner of a professional basketball team and a candidate in the 2016 presidential election have in common? They’ve all been ditched by brands, retailers and other companies after being accused of making racist comments. The latest addition to the list comes as Macy’s announced it would sever its decades-long relationship with businessman Donald Trump. [More]
Consumer Reports: Are New LED Lightbulbs As Good As The Inefficient Incandescents?
By 8.30.11
Our scientific sisters over at Consumer Reports have set out to answer the question that’s on everyone’s minds lately: Is an LED lightbulb really a viable replacement for the controversial-and-soon-to-be-phased-out inefficient incandescent?
CR says: [More]
You Make The Call — Did Lady Antebellum Rob Alan Parsons Project Blind?
By 11.19.10
If it sounds like you’ve heard Lady Antebellum’s Country Music Award-winning “Need You Now” a million times, maybe it’s because it’s been on the radio since 1982, when the Alan Parsons Project released the same song with different words as “Eye in the Sky.” [More]
Target Angers Some Gay Customers With Support Of Conservative Politician
By 7.28.10
For years, Target has made a significant effort to reach out to the gay and lesbian community, sponsoring pride marches and AIDS walks, as well as offering domestic partner benefits to its homosexual employees. But the retail chain now finds itself in hot water after it donated $150,000 toward the election campaign of a anti-same-sex marriage gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota. [More]
Does Double Down Have Double The Calories Reported?
By 4.22.10
One of the surprising benefits of KFC’s Double Down wonder sandwich is its lack of calories — 540 for the fried version and 460 for the grilled. [More]
Apple Loses Next iPhone, Tech Site Reviews It
By 4.20.10
Gizmodo snagged a prototype of what is almost certainly Apple’s next iteration of the iPhone, which an Apple software engineer lost at a bar. The site analyzed the phone and broke it down, but parent company Gawker may now face some legal hot water for trafficking in stolen property, having paid a thief $5,000 for the phone. [More]
Companies Accuse Yelp Of Review Extortion, Yelp Says No Way
By 2.20.09
Some San Francisco companies have accused the review website Yelp of manipulating reviews, either in exchange for buying advertising or as punishment for refusing. Yelp flat out denies the charges. They say that the posting and removal of reviews are determined solely by an algorithm and that their sales staff has no access to the reviews. But in this detailed article published this week in the East Bay Express, several restaurants cite phone calls and emails that they say indicates otherwise.
NYC Baker Sells 'Drunken Negro Head' Cookies, Doesn't See The Problem
By 1.23.09
Ted Kefalinos, the proprietor of a bakery in Greenwich Village (a neighborhood in New York City), can’t understand why the media is having such a field day over his Drunken Negro Head cookies. They’re fun! Nobody complained about his dead geese cookies last week! He’s got a Cuban brother-in-law! We’d be more willing to believe it was just a bad marketing decision if it weren’t for the follow-up comments a customer alleged he made.
Trolley Conductors Do Not Appreciate Being Told They Have "A Face Like A Halibut"
By 6.9.08
The conductors of Boston’s Green Line trolleys aren’t exactly amused by a new ad campaign for Legal Sea Foods that accuses them of having faces like a halibut, says the Boston Globe. The campaign features “fresh fish,” that toss out hilarious insults such as: “Hey lady, I’ve seen smaller noses on a swordfish,” and, “This trolley gets around more than your sister.” Har, har, har. Most of the ads are fairly innocuous, but one has the trolley conductors seeing red. It reads: “This conductor has a face like a halibut.”
California Ford Dealership Radio Ad Tells Non-Christians To "Sit Down And Shut Up"
By 5.26.08
Kieffe and Sons, a California Ford dealership, decided for some reason to launch a radio ad attacking non-Christians and people who believe that prayer shouldn’t be in public schools. Audio and transcript of the ad, inside.
Fake, Funny Poncho Ad Causes Outrage, Laughter
By 5.13.08
One person’s joke is someone else’s insult it seems. Reader Nate sent in a photo of a fake poncho ad that ran in the LOLCats themed issue of the Boston-area free magazine Weekly Dig. He thinks the ad is hilarious, but we found at least one complaint from a Weekly Dig reader who thought the fake ad was “misogynist” and that the “potential hilarity was ruined by bad taste and poor judgment.” See the (fake) ad inside if NSFW language doesn’t bother you…
Beer T-shirts For Teenage Girls Bad For America?
By 5.5.08
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has its knickers in a twist over Forever 21 selling “beer shirts,” because the clothing retailer is “popular with teenage girls.”
First BPA Class Action Lawsuit Announced!
By 4.24.08
It begins! A woman in California, no doubt under the expert legal advice of people who only have her best interests at heart, has filed a lawsuit against Nalgene alleging that they “knew, but downplayed risks, that a toxic substance in its popular…
After Weekend Controversy, Wisconsin Landlord Releases Man From Lease On Murder Scene Apartment
By 4.15.08
This morning, WKOW in Madison, Wisconsin, reported that Wisconsin Management Company had refused to let a University of Wisconsin student out of a lease a year and a half early. What was surprising about the story was that the man had found his fiancée murdered in the apartment last week. Even worse, the company wouldn’t confirm that it would replace the carpet or re-paint the walls until it had completed “further investigation” of the situation. Before we posted the story this evening, the management company had posted a press release on its website saying the whole thing was a misunderstanding and the lease has been dissolved. Download the press release here (PDF), or read it below.
Is This Absolut Ad Cheeky Or Distasteful?
By 4.6.08
Absolut is running an ad in Mexico that some in this country are finding offensive because it favorably depicts our borders as they existed before the 1848 Mexican-American war. We’re going to bite and talk about the ad even though it means that the advertisers win and America dies just a bit more.
By 3.18.08
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Going along with all the recent posts about reciept checking, I’ve been thinking about tricky ways stores could make reciept checking mandatory. My favorite theory (which I hope never comes to fruition) is the following:
