March 2012

Insta-Hang | Not Gonna Do It

I was chatting with my pilates instructor when she said, “Gee! You’ve done everything.” I never realized it before, but I have done a lot of different jobs and worn many hats. One of them, that I still love and could do in a heartbeat, was framing pictures. I worked at an art gallery/ frame shop both in sales as well as production. Meaning, I stood in the back and framed pictures for hours on end. It was fun. I learned to cut mats and assemble the wood frames as well. In fact, I could do everything, from cutting the glass to trimming the dust cover, in under 15 minutes. I was goooooood!

The Flexseal Screen Door Boat

Why can't I look away?
I have seen many late-night ads for Flexseal, and one thing always stops me dead: the screen door boat. This is one of the most brilliant bits of commercial showmanship on the air today. I'm willing to bet there are kids today who will remember the Flexseal screen door boat decades from now, the way we old folk remember 80s ads like "Where's the beef?"
 
Flexseal is a sort of aerosolized rubber. It sprays on like spray paint, and hardens to create a seal which is famously waterproof. The ad shows people using Flexseal on ordinary things like cracked plant pots and leaky gutters. 

Facial Flex | Why, Why, Why?!

 

It seems all our posts here leave us wondering why? Why would someone invent this? Why would an investor spend money to bring it to market? Why would anyone in their right mind purchase it? And, then we see videos of people like Lisa Robertson “modeling” this particular product on air at QVC and we are left wondering, “Why on earth would she volunteer to do that on national television?” Better yet, why on earth would she do it knowing that it can be seen forever with the assistance of YouTube?

No Toy Ads Before Movies!

If this is the newest trend, we’re going to have to start skipping previews.

And I love previews, so that sucks. But if crap like this is going to be advertized before the movie or the previews begin, you can count us out. Last night my best friend and I took our daughters to go see The Lorax. While our kids loved the movie—and what kid wouldn’t, with its bright colors and big song numbers?—the two of us had some real issues with it. But that’s another post.