Why do you have to be such a dick sometimes? I mean, I pay my bills, I do regular maintenance on my car, I eat right, I shower, and yet– there you are, being a dick. Are you a dick to everyone? Or just to me? Did I do something to offend you? Why you gotta be like this?
I’m not saying my life sucks, but I’d like to get through 2010 without my tires getting slashed and my transmission failing and still have at least the two grandparents. I don’t think that’s asking a lot.
Somewhere is a person, a living human being, with eyeballs and fingers and feelings, that works for a marketing firm. This person manages campaigns and identities for big products. This person makes a lot of money, probably has a family and a nice car. They could be standing behind you in the grocery store.
This person has a pharmaceutical company as a client. One day, this person said, on behalf of him/herself and his/her team: “yes, giant pharmaceutical company, we have no souls. We would love to help you in your quest to make women think they need your prescription medication that could cause blindness and permanent cornea pigmentation to grow more fuller, beautiful lashes as though it was just mascara! We’ll even use exactly the same message and tone as a make-up commercial, even though we know this is for treating a rare medical condition that less than 1% of the people watching the commercial will even have.”
And then they put a price on that service they provide, because, they work hard, damn it, and they deserve it.
Have you seen this ad? If you watch Hulu you probably have seen it.
How could this advertisement possibly be more transparent? When will congress pass legislation to prevent these people from advertising? In my opinion, they’re “just as bad” as tobacco companies.
They are clearly unable to self-regulate; every single advertisement that comes out for a pharmaceutical company is misleading or in poor taste.
Here’s a great way to reduce the cost of health care: stop letting giant pharma research products we don’t need, and then market products we don’t need.
Overall, Michael Moore used the same tactics, weaving humor and emotional personal stories into his persuasive argument against capitalism. The most important point he makes, however, isn’t the damage capitalism causes to the lower classes, or the misguided notion of ‘the profit motive’, or even how everyone hates rich people– it’s that this country is a Democracy, and Democracy and Capitalism are not the same thing.
For those who say “Michael Moore… poop!”, I disagree. I may not like the selection of facts presented, the emotional undertones, or even the structure of his movies. But he always has a good point: America, take things into your own hands and start caring about your country or these people will take it from you permanently.
Screenshot of Footlong Promotion Logo
Our local Walmat has a Subway restaurant in it. If you’re in need of some ‘unbeatable’ deals, but you’re hungry, you can eat in the Walmart and then shop to your heart’s content. That was our plan– get some sandwiches, then head over to stationary for some bubble wrap.
The couple ahead of us at the Sandwich Counter was loading up their foot long sandwiches, and while we were waiting for a Sandwich Artist to address us, I noticed they had a great big hairy labrador with them. After some simple addition (dog in public building + sunglasses indoors) I realized the male half was visually impaired (or, with less syllables and the same meaning, blind). I did the typical mental “cute dog!” and started thinking about what I was going to eat.
As our sandwiches were being vegetabled, I heard the blind man say, “That’s not what the sign says. That’s false advertising.” Curious, I turned to watch as he argued with the cashier. If you’re not familiar with Subway’s current promotion, $5 foot long deals only apply to 8 of their sandwiches, which is clearly stated on 3 of the signs visible from where we were standing. When the cashier started to tell the man (and his sighted wife) that the signage clearly states that only a selection of subs are eligible for the promotion, he said, angrilly, “I can’t see the sign!”
His wife, who had obviously read the signs to him incorrectly, stood there silently and let her husband continue.
“I don’t like false advertising. I’m not paying for these sandwiches.”
“Sir, it’s not false advertising, it says clearly on the sign–”
“I told you– I can’t SEE the sign!” Turning to his wife, he mutters, “Let’s go. We can get sandwiches anywhere.”
Why do you get so mad? It's $2.00.
I think at this point the dog rolled its eyes, but I can’t be sure. I tried to speak up, but Ryan elbowed me. The couple walked off huffily without paying for the two foot long sandwiches they just wasted. (In his wife’s defense, as they walked off she re-read the sign to him, but he would have none of it.)
We paid for our sandwiches, sat down, and discussed what had just transpired between mouthfuls of fresh sammich. A few moments later, the Walmart manager walks over to the subway counter.
Ryan says, “Is she yelling at them?”
I turned to look.
“Should we..?” he trailed off as he edged off of his seat.
We got up and marched over to the manager and piped in: “Did that man just come complain to you?”
The manager exclaimed, “He is upset that they were telling him what the sign said when he couldn’t read it.”
I said, “He was the one who said ‘That’s not what the sign says’! I was standing right here when he said it!”
The manager looked mildly shocked. But then added, “We have our own problems with that guy over there,” and motioned to the customer service desk.
And there he was, with a crowd of fawning employees and shoppers in a circle around him, asking questions about his dog and acting like he was Jesus.
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