I generally wouldn’t post something so smugly self-serving as this mock Starbucks ad, but I want to point out that there’s a lot of money we spend that could be used to send to starving children. But that presumes that charity and welfare can solve extremely difficult political and social problems.
videos
Operation FTB: Taco Bell Sauce Dumping Video
By 8.14.06
I officially hate these Taco Bell jackasses now. Pedestrian rhetoric and wooting in the Taco Bell parking lot leads to storming a busy Taco Bell and disrupting everyone’s meal as they just completely trash the place by dropping 400 pounds worth of garbage on the floor. They claim that they “returned the sauce out of kindness” after rejecting the idea of using it as a prank, but come on… this was the prank.
GameCrazy Sales Training Video is So Bad it Hurts Good
By 8.8.06
Revel in the upsell tactics, uptempo snyths and local video production house stable of actors, especially Zelda Scott. She’s prone to lines like “I’m down here in the hizzouse, you know, the heezy, with the GC posse, to get the 411 on GameCrazy,” and “They can’t hate on our used games.”
Prusakolep: Kill Cockroaches on LSD
By 8.7.06
After that sleazy Joe Francis story, I think we all could use a burst of sunshine to break through the clouds of our thoughts. So I’m pleased to call your attention to this commercial for Prusakolep… the best commercial ever made. It views like a lost scene from Skidoo, featuring kitchens and schooners overrun by cockroaches… not to mention the most captivating and apropos synthesizer rendition of La Cucaracha ever recorded.
Head-On Watch Continues
By 8.3.06
It’s been a busy week for HeadOn. After making the blog rounds, it was the subject of a Slate feature and it burbled up to national media, appearing on the Nightly News, MSNBC and NPR’s “Day to Day.”
Who Knew Whitey Ford and Salvador Dali Were Homeys?
By 7.25.06
Continuing our recent trend of posting surreal airline advertisements from the 70’s, who would have thunk that Whitey Ford would be asking advice from a completely out-of-his-gourd Salvador Dali on the best way to throw a knuckleball? But all that happens on Braniff Air… and more!
Insects Love Apples
By 7.24.06
Whilst browsing the Apple forum, looking to find a solution for why my MagSafe connector wouldn’t actually charge my MacBook Pro anymore (solution? “Buy a new one!” Thanks, Apple chuckleheads.) I came across this remarkable cry for fumigatory technical support and the accompanying video illustrating his problem: insects living inside his monitor.
Redux; Head On! Apply Directly to the Forehead!
By 7.21.06
Last month we posted the commercial for Head On! – a headache relief stick that you rub on your brow. The commercial repeats “Head On! Apply Directly to the Forehead!” over and over again.
Daily Show Explains Net Neutrality
By 7.21.06
“The point is that with net neutrality all internet packets – whether they come from a big company or a single citizen – are treated in the exact same way.”
Help A Consumerist: What Netflix Alternative?
By 7.20.06
It’s not always bitch bitch bitch here at the Consumerist, so we like to turn over a thread to readers looking for some practical consumer advice every once and a while. Maumita writes:
Andy Warhol Teaches You Japanese Colors
By 7.20.06
Andy Warhol certainly has a cool command of Japanese in the 80’s ad for TDK, doesn’t he? “Aka… Midori… Ao… Gunzyouiro…Kirei!” Red, green, blue, ultramarine, beautiful, for the record. Not that you’ll care after Warhol’s eyes horrifically snap open and appear to be black pools of staring blood.
UPDATE: Comcast Censors Critical Nightline Story
By 7.19.06
Reader Jason reports that a fishy cut of last Friday’s Nightline was also heard in their podcast of the show. Listen here. Missing on both the internet-over-tv service and the podcast was a segment containing an infamous clip mocking the cable operator.
UPDATE: Comcast Censors Critical Nightline Story
By 7.18.06
When Consumerist readers and users of Comcast’s tv-over-internet service watched our clip on Nightline, they were surprised to see that Comcast appeared to censor out a part that was critical of the cable operator. Whither the Sleepy Comcast Tech? We pointed this out to the segment’s producer. 50 minutes later, we got this email from Comcast Corporate Communications:
1970’s Iran Air Stewardess Porn
By 7.18.06
Okay, not really. Sorry to get your hopes up: the Arab world really doesn’t produce enough porn. But before they started waving scimitars in the air and crying through blood-soaked beer for jihad against the white devil, Iran was a friend of America, a peaceful country filled with polite men in plaid suits extolling the virtues of Iran Air.
Lucky Strike Means WTF
By 7.18.06
Back in the 50’s, these Lucky strike stop motion ads were almost as pervasive as smoke in a maternity ward.
Comcast Censors Critical Nightline Story
By 7.18.06
The Sleepy Comcast Technician featured prominently in Nightline’s story last Friday, but you wouldn’t know that if you were watching with Comcast’s tv-over-inernet service. Watch this screen snag:
Consumerist On Nightline
By 7.17.06
Here’s the video of us on Nightline along with Vincent Ferrari this past Friday, July 14th. People seem to enjoy the part where we say “So?” We like it when Vincent says “Vent their spleen!” Though we really wished they included our metaphor about crack rocks. Nightline definitely nails the best rendering of the cancel call we’ve seen. They re-edited the recording to leave in the juicy bits, then present the transcript with snazzy bubbles.
Avoid Crack, Advises PeeWee Herman
By 7.15.06
Take from a man who knows, don’t take crack. Don’t even think about it. Crack cocaine is the most addictive form of coke and even pondering its chemical structure in an academic setting can causes serious lung and liver damage, breakdown of tooth enamel, delusional parasitosis, paralysis, and even indecent exposure.
