Good riddance, Nick and Norm. In what alcoholics commonly refer to as a “moment of clarity,” the ONDCP thankfully gives up on their controversial and often misleading drugs-and-terror ad campaign. Perhaps the admin’s drug warriors have figured out what Dubya can’t seem to recognize – some arguments have to be made without resort to 9-11. Or perhaps the ad gurus finally figured out the simple error in their twisted logic: No prohibition, no inflated drug profits. Not that complicated. Update: Medley offers a concise summary of recent developments – Instead of reducing ineffective spending, [ONDCP] is eliminating the research that shows its spending is ineffective. Brilliant.
Category: Advertising
From sweatshops to dogfights.
Nike receives some bad press for paying homage to dogfighting in its new basketball ad (“The Battle: Speed,” available here once you get past the flash.) My reaction was much the same as the guy from Slate: I generally liked the ad and liked the music (even if I thought Gary Payton would kill Steve Nash in 1-on-1), right up until the shot of the pit bulls going at it at the end. Since my own dog was mauled by a pit bull owned by some dumb-ass kids aspiring to this side of street life (4/15), I also found that shot to be in very, very poor taste. I would say I’d boycott Nike for it, but I pretty much already do – I generally buy Sambas or Pumas for my daily gear, and the And-One Sprewells for my basketball kicks. (In fact, I used to have a pair of the Nike GP’s, and they fell apart on me.) At any rate, a bad call by the boys in Beaverton.
Welcome Back, Mr. Anderson.
During a 48-21 Tampa Bay blowout which never really got off the ground in terms of excitement, The Matrix sequels delivered the goods with this great new trailer. With the possible exception of Terry Tate, Office Linebacker (and I liked the Yao-Yo bit too), it was the highlight of the evening.