You’ve seen the ads where the hard-working Amish folk are handcrafting miracle space heaters and no doubt scoffed at their absurdity and marveled at their Photoshop skills- but do the darn things work? Consumer Reports investigates in this video.
videos
What Happens To This Stuff Left In A Foreclosed House?
By 2.26.09
What happens to all the stuff left inside a foreclosed house when the ex-owners jet? The bank contracts these guys to haul it all away to the dump in what is called a “trash out.” Here’s a short video following a crew of junk chuckers. It’s amazing what people leave behind, including photos and computers.
Internal Gamestop Video Teaches How To Sell To Women
By 2.25.09
The conceit in this internal Gamestop training video is that you’re watching a sort of nature video with a British anthropologist investigating a strange and mysterious species: woman— and how to sell to them. Offensive – or just a low-budget industrial video team trying to get its audience to pay attention? Take our poll inside and you be the judge, but either way, you can be pretty sure Gamestop never intended any customer to see this video.
ShamWow Commercial A Scam? Wow!
By 2.24.09
What’s up with this deceptive edit in the ShamWow commercial?
Hot Cartoon Makes Understanding Credit Crisis Simple And Fun
By 2.20.09
This a freakin’ awesome cartoon that explains how the credit crisis began, played out, and exploded in our face. I know you’ve seen and heard a million of these by now, but this one is highly visually engaging and entertaining, enough so I could see it being used in the classroom and kids not getting (too) bored. Graphic designer Jonathan Jarvis. Especially good is how it explains leverage.
Woman Misses Flight, Seems Slightly Annoyed
By 2.17.09
It’s as if all the frustration from airline travelers across the world has collected into one crazy woman who’s just eaten a candy bar. We can’t believe we missed this last Thursday.
Prediction: 'Elmo Tickle Hands' Will Be Most Abused Toy of 2009
By 2.16.09
Furries rejoice! Andy at NonToxicReviews is covering Toy Fair in NYC this week, and he’s just uploaded some footage of the latest in the unending parade of Elmo merchandise: vibrating, giggling gloves that you can wear. We’re almost afraid to see the videos that are going to start popping up once these hit the market.
Mountain Dew Addiction Helps Rot Central Appalachins' Teeth
By 2.12.09
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]
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]
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].
