A few weeks ago, the “Mad Men” marketing department sparked some controversy when some overly sensitive types unfamiliar with “Mad Men” imagery got up in arms because the billboard campaign — which showed a man falling against a white background — bore a passing resemblance to “The Falling Man,” a photograph of a man falling from the World Trade Center on 9/11.

The outrage wasn’t loud enough, however, to prompt the AMC ad people to pull the ads. So, the amateur New York City subway graffiti artists did their own redesigns, including the one above, which was discovered by Slate. Over at Gothamist, someone captured several more, and then their photoshopping commenters got into the game, as well.

Take a look at some of the examples, both from subway photos and the photoshops, and if you’d like, I’ve included the original ad should those of you with picture posting capabilities want to get in on the photoshop game, as well. A SUPREME GOD OF PHOTOSHOP badge (or its equivalent) will be awarded to the best design, once those badges are made available.

Read the rest of this entry »

Of all the various products that inevitably have stupid commercials (beer, banks, erection medicine), no product is more consistently advertised to numbskulls quite like trucks. And of all the stupid truck commercials out there, none piss me off more than the Nissan Frontier ad where a plane with a stuck landing gear is saved by a truck that can apparently travel 150 miles an hour, have a fully loaded jumbo jet fall into its bed, and continue at the same speed (video below). In tiny watermarked letters, the ad states:

Fictionalization. Do not attempt.

I just… it’s all so insulting — to me as a consumer, to reasonable people, and to the laws of physics. I HATE IT SO MUCH. Nissan may as well have made an ad where the Frontier swims around at a dolphin show, does flips out of the water, and catches herring in its grill. That’s just as farcically impossible, but at least there would be dolphins.

I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss Howie Long telling guys that they have sissy trucks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, want to see people trying out to take Gilbert Gottfreid’s place as the voice of the Aflac duck? Sure ya do. You like people humiliating themselves, right? Then the video below will go nicely with those clips of “American Idol” tryouts and initial weigh-ins on “The Biggest Loser.” Just pure, unfiltered human failure.

What I’m trying to say is, these auditions are fowl. Nobody quite fits the bill. Perhaps they should take another quack at it. Hey, stop throwing things! *ducks*

Read the rest of this entry »

Aflac has fired Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of their duck mascot after the comedian sent out a series of insensitive tweets about the disaster in Japan. The insurance company will conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice.

“Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac,” Aflac Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna said in a press release. “Aflac Japan — and, by extension, Japan itself — is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.” (One joke that Gottfried tweeted: “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.’” [EW]

That’s terrible. The correct contraction is there’ll, not they’ll.

On the one hand, Aflac probably should have screened The Aristocrats before hiring Gottfried (whose named I just misspelled “Gottfired,” appropriately enough). On the other hand, Gottfried had the easiest job in the country, and all he had to do was NOT make a sex joke about the wet spot. Seriously, dude, your job was to say ONE WORD. “Okay Gilbert, we just need you to ‘Aflac’ in a really annoying way.” “AFLAC!” “Okay, wow. That’s a wrap. We’ll send you a check.”

Oh man, I love this commercial. It’s a spot for Judith Marsh, a Bay Area lawyer specializing in traffic cases. Because she’s a woman, this commercial targets women, who are of course constantly getting into car accidents when they use the rearview mirror to check their lipstick or are otherwise distracted by shiny things.

“But wait,” you ask, “can Judith possibly be as tough as one a them hifalutin MAN lawyers?” Well sister, Judith can give birth, can’t she? That’s the kind of toughness *I* need from a lawyer: VAGINAL TOUGHNESS! High-five! You go, girl! Traveling pants!

[BuzzFeed]