Showing posts with label Cracked. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cracked. Show all posts

Friday, March 15, 2013

Multilevel Marketing a homophobic sausage fest



Are you man enough to host a themed party for your bros that's been described as "Mary Kay on Steroids"?



Welcome to the world of Man Cave, a company that promises to help you reclaim your man card by inviting your man friends over for beer, brats and manly games like oversized Jenga blocks and Hammerschlagen.

Yes, really.



From the site:

How It Works.
1. Organize home parties for guys called MEATings (at other peoples homes).
2. Guys eat, drink, and be manly while Guides showcase legendary Man Cave products at MEATings.
3. Guys place orders and Guides earn great money - 25% commission.

No B.S. Guarantee.
A company made so simple even a guy can get it. No hooks. Period.


Men are dumb, you know? And we're also definitely not gay. The "no homo" vibe permeates one of Man Cave's main pieces of MEATing collateral, the "Man Laws":
No man shall ever turn down free beer... for any reason. Never. Ever. Seriously, Never.
Grilling, regardless of weather, is always the first choice for cooking.
Hiding your beer in the fridge is strictly forbidden. Besides...sharing is caring.
A man should never be denied the right to adjust himself or place his hands down his pants under any circumstances.
A man should never tell another man that his zipper is down. It's his own damn problem and you never looked "there" to begin with.
A man may be seen tearing up only when:
A. His first child is born (and it's a boy),
B. he has received a devastating blow to the groin,
C. Carmen Electra is unbuttoning her shirt...scratch that, your shirt.
While at a sporting event, you must walk "B to F" (BUTT TO FACE) when leaving your seat. This is so you do not miss any of the cheerleaders' performance (since you obviously never get up to pee while the ball is in play).
No man shall ever cancel plans with his buddies at the last minute. Exceptions: You win free tickets to the Super Bowl, Carmen Electra is unbuttoning your shirt, or in cases of death (your own).
If you are placed on the Jumbotron at a sporting event, you are to offer a simple wave or raise of your glass. Acting like an idiot is strictly forbidden. A man should act like Barry Sanders... you've been there before and will be there again - show some class. Exception: You have more body paint on than clothing. In that case - go for it.
A man is permitted to build his "Man Cave" in anyway he wishes. However NO "Man Cave" shall ever include: A fridge incapable of holding a case of beer, "Fat Free" potato chips, and any variation of the color pink.
A man purse is still a purse.
The following skills must be mastered by all men prior to death: making a bonfire, playing some form of poker, replacing a flat tire, throwing a spiral, and the ability to pick up laundry with one’s feet.
If a man leaves his chair for a refill, his chair is not to be touched or claimed by anyone. If he does not return by the end of the commercial break, assume he has gone missing or been killed. You can call the police when the game is over.
No man shall shave his chest hair. Exception: he is an Olympic swimmer. In that case – he should shave his entire body, win the Gold medal, and make America proud.
When settling a dispute physically, all forms of contact are permissible (pushing, wrestling, tackling), EXCEPT any direct blows to the groin. This is the un-manliest of tactics and should be saved only for defending oneself from more than two opponents or more than one wild animal.
A man must read sports news at least once per day, if not multiple times per day, to develop thorough knowledge in order to win any sports related arguments that may arise at any given time.
Official manliness is judged by these five traits: chest hair length, total horsepower owned, biggest fish ever caught, number of cheeseburgers eaten in a single sitting, and complete dedication to all Man Laws.


Got it, bro? This has nothing to do with selling crappy beer and sausages to your friends while hitting nails and bonding in a totally heteronormative way. We're talking about protecting the very essence of manliness here.



Tip via Cracked

Friday, November 25, 2011

F'd Ad Fridays: The Pope shills for cocaine wine

Via Cracked

19th century Pope Leo XIII was such a big fan of Mariani wine (a patent medicine made of Bordeaux and coca leaves) that he awarded a Vatican gold medal to the wine, and also appeared on a poster endorsing it.

Talk about high holiness...

Friday, November 18, 2011

F'd Ad Fridays: The suicide hotline site that seems to want you to do it

There's nothing funny about depression and self-harm. Nothing, that is, except the official web site of the United States' National Suicide Hotlines.


This was featured today on Cracked's list of 5 Official Websites You Won't Believe Are This Bad. Most were just poorly designed. This one, well...


It is very, very strange. And amazingly dark and depressing, considering people visiting it must be a heartbeat away from their last hope.

It also has well-meaning, but tragically misplaced, rhetorical questions throughout it.


Who on earth was responsible for approving this design and content? I won't ask "who designed it?" because if there's one thing the internet has taught us is that human weirdness is deeper and more diverse than any individual could ever fathom.


Believe me. I do not want to make fun of a suicide hotline. But maybe if a little constructive mockery can get through to the right people and get them to do something... anything... to put this site out of its...


You see what this site has done to me? I did not want to make that joke. 




No! Make it stop!!! I take it all back. This site does not look like it was designed by a teenage girl in 1996. It is a sensitive and appropriate handling of a very delicate topic that it no way should provoke ironic thoughts from cynical bloggers. Okay?


GAHHHH!


I thought I just did. Although I'd love to know where I could get one of those cool vintage phones.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Stealing faces for ads in the pre-Facebook era


There was a lot of kerfuffle earlier this year about the prospect of facebook advertisers stealing your profile picture for "sponsored stories" ads.  But according to a new Cracked article, it's nothing new.

6 People Who Had No Clue Their Faces Were World-Famous mentions the famous cases of the unaware models for such iconic images as Rosie The Riveter, the Woodstock couple in the blanket, and the revolutionary screaming man. It's worth a read.

But there was one that was a complete surprise to me: The Taster's Choice Guy.


Turns out the bad-coffee-huffer is a kindergarten teacher (and former model) named Russell Christoff, who had posed for an aborted Taster's Choice shoot in Canada in 1986, was given his $250 session fee, and sent on his way to marketing obscurity. Or so he thought.



Because Russell is not really an instant coffee drinker (I feel so betrayed!), he didn't notice that someone in the US marketing department had later "borrowed" his image without paying residuals until 2002.

What followed was a lengthy legal battle in which he first demanded and won $15.6 Million in 2005, which was later overturned on appeal. Nestlé offered him a $10,000 buyout, and he demanded $8.5 million. They turned him down again.

Now they have a new guy.

STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!

The moral of the story? Don't steal anyone's image. Unless you are a major corporation, in which case go for it!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Puppy Boob Chocolate

Cracked recently posted this comic from bogleech.com:


It's funny because it's true. While this is a perfectly good strategy for search engine optimization, advertising is more than popular keywords and random images strung together. It's an art form. Storytelling. And it's supposed to actually mean something.

At least that's what I thought until I went on Facebook...


Oh well. I hear McDonald's is hiring.