On Sunday night, John Oliver called out the tobacco industry, and particularly Philip Morris, for the practice of threatening small and poor countries with complicated, expensive international trade lawsuits if they try to strictly regulate cigarette marketing. But while Big Tobacco has the coffers to pay for costly legal battles, it does a really poor job of trying to defend its actions. [More]
john oliver
Meet The New Marlboro Spokesman: Jeff, The Diseased Lung In A Cowboy Hat
By 2.16.15
On Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver took an in-depth look at how the tobacco industry uses expensive lawsuits and byzantine international trade agreements to keep countries from pushing for stronger regulation on cigarettes. But rather than just call Big Tobacco out for its bad behavior, Oliver also offered a helpful solution that might make all sides happy. [More]
Here’s The Profane Goodbye Ad RadioShack Should Air To Everyone Laughing At Its Doom
By 2.9.15
As you’re no doubt aware, increasingly irrelevant retailer RadioShack — whose image was so mired in the 1980s that it included Hulk Hogan and Cliff Clavin in a 2014 Super Bowl ad — declared bankruptcy last week and plans to close thousands of stores across the country. The news has been received by many, including myself, with a shrug, but is that any way to treat a company that’s been around for nearly a century? [More]
John Oliver: New Year’s Eve Is “Like The Death Of A Pet”
By 12.29.14
For some people, Dec. 31 is the night to send out the old year with a blast, celebrating and partying into the early hours of the new year. But for others, it’s a day marked on the calendar to lock oneself in the basement with enough sustenance and water (and access to a toilet and sink) while waiting the debauch out. [More]
Study: Only 33% Of Dr. Oz’s Recommendations Backed Up By Believable Science
By 12.22.14
Earlier this year, Dr. Oz — everyone’s favorite TV doctor who isn’t named Phil or wasn’t a former contestant on The Bachelor — was shredded by some members of a Senate committee who criticized Oz the Great and Doctorful for using terms like “magic weight-loss solution” and “number one miracle” for products with little evidence of being magical miracles. Now a new study looking at Dr. Oz’s on-air recommendations should give consumers to be even more skeptical of the products he mentions. [More]
John Oliver: Lowe’s Robot Won’t Keep Couples From Killing Each Other At Hardware Store
By 11.3.14
Last week, Lowe’s unveiled the test of a customer service robot at one of its Orchard Supply stores and we pointed out that it’s really just doing the job Lowe’s should be asking of its employees. What we were remiss in mentioning is the other important aspect of home-improvement store customer service — preventing married couples from murdering each other while shopping. [More]
John Oliver On For-Profit Colleges: You Might As Well Go To Hogwarts
By 9.8.14
What would it look like if you condensed all our hundreds of stories about student loans and for-profit colleges into a profanity-filled, hilarious rant that takes a brief detour to discuss Lyndon Johnson’s scrotum? John Oliver answered that question on Sunday night. [More]
The Best Lines From John Oliver’s Takedown Of The Payday Loan Industry
By 8.11.14
As regular readers of Consumerist know, we’re not exactly fans of the payday loan industry. If we were snotty teens and lived in the same neighborhood as Mr. Payday, we’d leave a flaming bag of dog poo on his doorstep. That’s why it was so nice to see our disgust for payday loans shared by John Oliver on HBO’s Last Week Tonight. [More]
John Oliver To Dr. Oz: Are You A Doctor Or An Old-West Traveling Salesman?
By 6.23.14
As many of you recall, TV’s Dr. Oz took a spanking last week before a Senate subcommittee that questioned his use of terms like “miracle” and “magic” in the description of unproven weight-loss products and treatments. And on HBO’s Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver suggested a better line of work for the pill-pushing physician, along with a more accurate title for his much-watched talk show. [More]
FCC Chair Tom Wheeler Says He Is Not A Dingo
By 6.16.14
A couple weeks back, HBO’s John Oliver questioned whether it was wise to fill the FCC Chairman vacancy with former cable/wireless lobbyist Tom Wheeler, likening the decision to a parent hiring a dingo as a babysitter. Wheeler takes issue with the comparison and is now publicly denying that he is a child-devouring canine. [More]
The FCC Comments Site Might Be Broken, But You Can Still E-Mail
By 6.2.14
As we mentioned this morning, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver made a hilariously profane, impassioned plea for Americans to just give a damn and do something about the FCC’s pending net neutrality (aka “cable company f*ckery”) rules. It seems his call didn’t fall on deaf ears, as the FCC’s commenting system appears to be completely overwhelmed and inaccessible to most people. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still e-mail the Commission. [More]
John Oliver Suggests Renaming “Net Neutrality” To “Cable Company F*ckery”
By 6.2.14
In spite of the fact that the current debate over net neutrality is one of the most important issues facing America right now, it’s not easy to get people to give a damn about the topic because it involves incredibly dull, complicated regulatory minutiae. Perhaps this calls for a rebranding. [More]
New GM Ad: Our Cars Are No Longer “Grenade-Like” Death Traps
By 5.19.14
In the midst of a reputation-damaging string of recalls now totaling more than 11 million vehicles, General Motors is in need of an image shake-up. But the carmaker may be getting a little too honest in a new TV commercial. [More]
The Daily Show: Couple "Forecloses" On Bank Of America
By 8.9.11
The couple who “foreclosed” on Bank of America got The Daily Show treatment last night. John Oliver caught up with the homeowners to find out how they showed up with repo men and sheriff’s deputies at a Bank of America branch office and got the bank to pay them money they were owed. It all began when the bank tried to foreclose on them, even though they had no mortgage at all, and owned their home free and clear. [More]
