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Devil Shat 1999 01 14
.ili. Devil Shat Forty Four .ili.
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The Great Ethical Advertising Beast ................ by Morbus
Three Word Poem ................................ by ed nodbarb
The Great Unethical Advertising Beast ..... by Cameron Barrett
This is Devil Shat Forty Four released on 01/14/99. Devil Shat is
published by Disobey and is protected under all copyright laws. All of
the issues are archived at the Disobey website: http://www.disobey.com/
Submissions, email, and news should be sent to morbus@disobey.com. Your
comments are welcome. What do you want us to write about? Send an email
and let us know.
I wish C & C Music Factory were still popular.
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.ili. The Great Ethical Advertising Beast .ili.
----------------------------------------------- by Morbus
Advertising is so great, isn't it? What's that, you say? You hate
commercials? Whatever for? They intrude on your favorite TV show? On
your favorite movie? They shorten a three hour movie into two and a
half?
What the hell are you complaining for? You've got a free movie coming to
you, obviously one you wanted to see. And hell, advertising can be
ENTERTAINING in and of itself... otherwise, there wouldn't be awards,
million dollar commercials during the Super Bowl, or TV specials
interrupted by crappy commercials while they show you the better ones.
Let's cut to the chase, though - advertising is about money, YOUR money,
and getting it into THEIR pockets. This isn't anything that's a
surprise... I could probably have done away with that sentence
altogether. But, not only is advertising about getting your money, it's
about getting your attention... which is probably why advertising can be
so fun to watch.
Where else can you see the "Devil Bug Eyed Girl" from that Welch's White
Grape Juice commercial? She definitely won't be getting another part any
time soon - she probably only did the damn thing because they promised
to give her a dark shade of glasses to hide her eyes (so all the kids
wouldn't make fun of her anymore).
Where else can you see elaborately designed sets like in that 10-10-3000
(??10-10-something-or-other??) commercial? Yup, two actors who get to
sit in comfy chairs with big ass numbers behind them talking about this
great service about you not knowing a phone number.
Where else can you watch a movie like THE SAINT, and see the hero
driving around in some sports car. Not just any sports car, no, no,
no... the commercials told us that it was THEIR car in the movie, and
THEIR wonderful exterior that caused him to look super cool. This isn't
condensed (Campbell's) Chicken and Stars, this is some big Velveeta.
Advertising doesn't have to be in your face.... It's enough knowing that
Jerry Seinfeld drinks from a red cup with a white and gray wave down the
side. It's about knowing what the hell kind of shampoo we're supposed to
be using when we see that green bottle. It's about knowing that Casey
Becker is making Jiffy Pop (mmMmMmm, Jiffy Pop) before she see's her
boyfriend gutted.
I like advertising because it showcases a great American Dream. One that
every little boy loves to hear about - of being determined, innovative,
likable, charismatic, fighting against all odds, and eventually getting
enough fucking money to get out of the shithole ghetto that you're
living in.
Ahhh... smells like sun freshness.
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.ili. Three Word Poem .ili.
--------------------------- by ed nodbarb
This is deep
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.ili. The Great Unethical Advertising Beast .ili.
------------------------------------------------- by Cameron Barrett
A few years back, we were subjected to one of the most horrific displays
of immoral advertising I've ever seen. I'm, of course, speaking about
the Coca-Cola and Nike advertisements that were thrust upon
theatre-goers across the nation. Remember? You'd go pay your
eights-bucks-a-head to see the most recent blockbuster and the first
thing you'd see, even before the previews, was a commercial. Yes, a
commercial.
If my memory serves me right, there was some public outcry about this
absolutely immoral and unethical form of advertising. Consumers weren't
going to the theatres, and paying money, to be subjected to something
that most people despise. And we haven't really seen much action in this
arena since.
But the Great Unethical Advertising Beast has arisen again. This time in
the form of advertisements placed in front of video rentals. This
weekend, I was taking a much-needed mini-vacation at my brother's house,
the snow falling silently outdoors, the computers warming up for a very
long game of networked Diablo and the VCR standing by for a movie break
when we got tired of computer games or were killed by King Leoric or the
Butcher.
And that's when the Unethical Advertising Beast struck, right between
some preview and the main attraction, Lethal Weapon 4. A [long]
commercial for Microsoft Windows98 masquerading as a plug for DVD. I was
so angry. I didn't pay $3.50 to watch some stupid Windows98 commercial.
Damn, how immoral. How much more unethical can Microsoft get? Worse, how
long before the rest of the corporate monoliths follow Microsoft's lead
and we start seeing shoe commercials, long-distance ads, and psychic
network plugs in front of every movie we rent?
The movie rental industry is huge, no doubt. Just look at Blockbuster or
Hollywood Video. Are Warner Bros., Viacom, Fox Home Video, Paramount and
the rest of the movie distributors so hard up for money that they're
forcing unwanted advertising and commercials onto their unsuspecting
consumers? Has corporate greed gotten so bad that we've come to this?
Shame on Microsoft for throwing their money around and convincing Warner
Bros. (the distributor) to let them put their commercial on their tapes.
Shame on Warner Bros. for being so crass and uncaring towards their
consumers.
I urge you to send negative feedback to Warner Bros. Let them know how
unethical they're being. Tell them we don't want to see pre-movie
advertising to become the norm. Tell them that it's wrong to subject
their PAYING viewers to this type of advertising.
http://whv1.warnerbros.com/cgi-bin/tame/store/email.tam
Now, I know that some of you are going to say, "Just hit that
Fast-Forward button if you don't like it." Well, I think you'd be
missing the point. People rent movies for one reason and one reason
only: to be entertained. Do you really think that Microsoft is sitting
around in their conference rooms thinking about how to entertain us with
their commercials? No, I don't think so. They're simply playing the
repetition game they know so well. Their goal is to get people to
associate the name "Microsoft" with DVD technology. While it's true that
most new Microsoft-enabled PCs are capable of playing DVD movies, I very
much doubt that the family is going to crowd around their PC to watch a
two-hour movie. Before long, we're going to hear reports from the field
(usually Best Buy employees) saying that customers are asking for those
new "Microsoft DVD" computers.
Note: I watched another movie this weekend, The Negotiator. It too had
the same Windows98/DVD commercial in front of the feature presentation.
This movie is distributed by New Regency, for whom I can find no email
address anywhere on their web site: http://www.newregency.com
(c) 1998 Cameron Barrett. All Rights Reserved
http://www.camworld.com/journal/rants/98.12.30.html
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