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oracknows | January 5, 2015
NOTE: There is a follow up to this post.
The holidays are over. Time to start dishing out fresh Insolence, Respectful and, as appropriate, not-so-Respectful for 2015.
I do, however, feel obligated to deal with one painfully inappropriate action by a major science journal left over from 2014. It happened in an issue that came out just before Christmas, and, with all the festivities, being on call last week, and having houseguests; so, unfortunately, I just didn't get around to addressing it, either here or on my not-so-super-secret other blog (where I might crosspost this later in the week).…
milhayser | February 21, 2014The story starts off predictably enough for a grandiose adventure: a wizard, a prophecy, an unwitting hero. Emmet is just a model construction worker, living his city life to the tee by following every rule in the book. He is manically happy just to be doing it right: greeting his alarm clock with a smile, doing some calisthenics, watching his favorite sitcom before heading out for an overpriced coffee and a fulfilling day on the job. He feels like he has friends, that he's part of something. Then a mysterious woman who's obviously not playing by the rules leads him to fall down an…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2010tags: What Do Disappointed Idealists and Tampon Commercials Have In Common?, social commentary, television, advertising, market research, mass media, manipulating the masses, satire, funny, humor, streaming video
It's rare when I see a video that, in a short 30 seconds, sums up the level of cynicism I currently feel, and leaves me with a smile. Okay, I have a sardonic smile at the moment, but it's a smile, and that's a start.
terrasig | July 8, 2010Given the events of yesterday about corporate sponsorship in the objective landscape of science journalism, I found it ironic that my research collaboration meeting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill brought me to their beautiful FedEx Global Education Center where I enjoyed an iced pomegranate tea.
However, I was feeling badly about midday from a combination of the high temperatures and, more significantly, high ozone levels that gave me some respiratory problems from my longstanding asthma issues that preceded LungMutiny2010.
The dream
So, I took a nap and had a dream. I…
terrasig | July 7, 2010Yesterday, the ScienceBlogs arm of Seed Media Group announced that they would be hosting a blog written by members of PepsiCo's research and development leadership team. From the Food Frontiers blog:
PepsiCo's R&D Leadership Team discusses the science behind the food industry's role in addressing global public health challenges. This is an extension of PepsiCo's own Food Frontiers blog. All editorial content on the blog is overseen by ScienceBlogs editors.
The opening post was written by ScienceBlogs "editor" Evan Lerner:
As part of this partnership, we'll hear from a wide range of…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2010
It's taken me a few hours to cool off enough to write coherently and without using (too much) profanity after I learned that ScienceBlogs added a corporate PR "blog" about nutrition written by PepsiCo. I think I've learned all I care to know about corporate "food" giants' definition of what is "nutrition" by being confronted daily by a flock of hugely protruding bellies and jiggling posteriors everywhere I go (yes, even here in Germany). I would link to that "blog" so you can see what I am talking about but quite frankly, I don't want to send any traffic to them. I think you can find them…
grrlscientist | July 1, 2010tags: Inside A Birdhouse, television, advertising, humor, funny, satire, cute, silly, canary, streaming video
This cute video shows that there's a lot more inside a birdhouse than is evident from the outside. It's a commercial for squash juice. Squash juice? Yes. Apparently some people drink squash juice.
There's two things that bother me about this video. First, pigeons do not sound like owls. Second, bird rock and roll should not sound like humans singing, but should sound like parrots screeching. or something.
That said, I've watched this video dozens of times and was certain I've shown…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2010tags: Dawn dishwashing liquid, television commercial, advertising, oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, BP oil spill, British Petroleum, streaming video
Experiments have shown that Dawn dishwashing liquid works best to save oiled wildlife and doesn't burn their tender skin and eyes. According to the information I've found, Dawn is donating all the detergent used to clean oiled Gulf of Mexico birds, and is also raising funds to help with the clean up effort.
Learn more about Dawn and their efforts to help save oiled wildlife [facebook group].
terrasig | April 23, 2010KFC and Komen?
BucketsfortheCure.com?
Why don't they just put a pink ribbon on a pack of cigarettes?
revere | March 27, 2010I've written a couple of times here about TV commercials that drive me crazy or just perplex me (that post on what the Cialis bathtubs are all about continues to get a couple of views a week even though it was over a year ago). In general, though, I don't get too exercised about TV ads, maybe because we have a TiVo and don't see as many per TV hour watched (usually late at night and old TV series like Have Gun Will Travel and Maverick, or the preposterous Bones or the amusing Monk). Mrs. R. is pretty laid back about them, too, but like me she has some that drive her round the bend. At the…
bioephemera | March 13, 2010For the annals of humorous translation mistakes, this package from a digital antenna we bought last fall promises to . . . do something. I'm not sure what.
For John O, who enjoys terrible advertising.
revere | February 9, 2010Like tens of millions (probably hundreds of millions globally) I watched the Superbowl on Sunday. With such an audience, ad time is notoriously and extravagantly expensive and some ads are only run once, at that venue (e.g., the famous Apple "1984" ad). For some people the ads are as much an attraction as the game, so it is sad to report that this year they were relatively unfunny and, as one blogger noted, unusually ugly and misogynist in flavor. But the ad that has drawn the attention of those interested in a cleaner and greener world was from automaker Audi and it has drawn two very…
grrlscientist | February 8, 2010tags: Parisian Love, long-distance relationship, Google, Superbowl Ad, streaming video
The one nice thing about the StuporBowl is the ads that are aired during the game. Well, some of the ads that are aired .. most of the 2010 StuporBowl ads were really stupid, but this one, by Google, was quite nice. In this ad, an American finds true love in Paris, France. The ad was really nice because it shows what Google is about, and it tells a sweet story. Congratulations on the superb ad! Way to go, Google!
bioephemera | December 2, 2009Product placement is old news, but just in case you're wondering how saturated films really are with implicit advertising, brandchannel.com's brandcameo-films index tells you which brands were featured where:
It's hard to make audiences feel okay, and even good, about innocent people being gored, beheaded and axed to death--but Friday the 13th knows the trick is to populate the film with beautiful, shallow characters who feel self-entitled to a life of partying, comfort and money. Enter Jason Voorhees, the maladjusted and disfigured karma-maker. Though none of the characters seem to have…
terrasig | November 20, 2009
In September we posted "M.D. Anderson name misused in Evolv nutraceutical water advertising," detailing the not-exactly-truthful claim by a multilevel marketing company that their bottled water product was "tested" by one of North America's premier teaching and research hospitals.
A flurry of search engine hits to this post raised my attention to the fact that the The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has now initiated legal action against the makers of Evolv. Cameron Langford at Courthouse News Service reports:
Two companies are pushing bottled tap water with false claims…
terrasig | November 4, 2009Lookie what came in to my e-mail box overnight after yesterday's post about the hypotrichosis treatment, Latisse® brand of bimatoprost.
Hmm...I have a few ideas who might have sent this (no profanity, so it wasn't Comrade PhysioProf). And very interesting that this comes just a week before FDA holds an opening hearing entitled, "Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools. For your information, here's the PDF schedule courtesy of colleague John Mack - Pharma Marketing Blog and @pharmaguy. John is currently running a survey in his masthead to solicit…
terrasig | November 3, 2009I am running out of eyelash puns having written at least six posts since the summer of 2007 on a class of anti-glaucoma drugs that have been harnessed for their cosmetic side effect: promotion of eyelash growth. Bimatoprost (Lumigan®) and latanoprost (Xalatan®) are members of the prostamide class of drugs that can manage some forms of glaucoma by reducing intraocular pressure. When administered as eye drops, the drugs mimic the effect of endogenous prostaglandin PGF2α, acting as a local hypotensive to promote outflow of aqueous humor from the eye through the trabecular meshwork.
Invoking the…
grrlscientist | October 3, 2009tags: religion, advertising, satire, humor, atheism, streaming video
Get Religion Today! Funny satirical ad which hits the nail on the head with modern organized religion.
terrasig | September 9, 2009Update: Visitors arriving by search engine may care to read our followup post on 20 November following M.D. Anderson's filing of legal action in this case.
The premier US cancer hospital and research center in Houston released a statement today distancing themselves from a Dallas company claiming an endorsement of their water product by The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center:
Recently, you may have heard or read about a company that sells Evolv, a "nutraceutical beverage," which is being promoted in part based upon testing done at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer…
terrasig | August 8, 2009Although I'm American, much of my training and early independent career was influenced by British cancer researchers. At the time, their laboratories were supported by ICRF, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. In 2002, ICRF merged with the Cancer Research Campaign to create Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
I have several friends who work for Cancer Research UK, not the least of whom are blogger/author Ed Yong (Not Exactly Rocket Science) and writer/musician Dr Kat Arney, author of the aptly-named blog, You Do Too Much. Together with fellow professional science communicator Henry Scowcroft, they…