Thanksgiving tanning ad thanks Native Americans for their "sexy color"

I'm almost speechless. Almost.

The Daily Mail quotes David Arnett, Marketing Director at Alabama tanning salon Club Sun Color Studios"

"We are all Americans no matter what color we are. Just because we promote a nice tan doesn't mean we are racist. 

This was an in house ad that was never intended to be taken as racist or insensitive. We were merely trying to compliment the beautiful skin "color" of Native Americans."

Mr. Arnett also claims to be Native American, which seems to have become the new "I have black friends" or "my uncle is Jewish" of refusing to apologize for casual racism.

The promotional image is no longer on their site.

PETA wants Texans to rename their town along vegan lines

No shit:

Amarillo Texas -- PETA today [Nov 14] sent a letter to Pat Carson, the mayor of Turkey, Texas, urging him to change the name of his town to "Tofurky" in time for Thanksgiving. In the letter, PETA points out that turkeys suffer virtually every day of their lives, right up to and including their slaughter, and that eating turkey and other meats is an invitation to serious health problems. Tofurky, on the other hand, is a delicious and "meaty" comfort food, and it comes without the suffering endured by turkeys. To sweeten the pot, PETA has offered to provide the entire town with a full-course vegan holiday feast if the name change goes through. 

"Thanksgiving is murder on turkeys," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "By changing its name to 'Tofurky,' Turkey would send a clear message that delicious, savory mock meat is an easy way to celebrate without causing suffering—and give a bird something to be thankful for."

What's really awesome about this stunt is not the disingenuousness of the appeal, it's the reactions of the insulted townsfolk:



Nice troll, PETA.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering who Bob Wills is:



Tip via Newser

William Shatner serves fried turkey with ham

In the decades since leaving Montreal for Hollywood, the Shat has traded in his smoked meat for southern fried turkey. (As well as an October Thanksgiving for a November one.)

And State Farm has hired him as the spokesman for a PSA to prevent turkey frying fires:



It's long, but it's worth it to get every morsel of Shat's signature over-the-top delivery.

Via Adfreak

F'd Ad Fridays: Turkeydogs against American Thanksgiving

The obvious answer is "because I'm not emotionally invested in a turkey I've never met and besides those freaky things look like some kind of mutant dinosaur that would eat me given half the chance."

Luckily, my Thanksgiving was last month so we slipped under the PETA radar.

Via AdFreak

Smoked Turkey

I know my American readers are getting ready for their (oddly late) Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I won't hold you up. I just want to remind you, via this vintage ad from Sociological Images, that nothing goes as well with good food, good company and good times, like a malodorous and carcinogenic roll of burning leaves.

[click image for larger version]

Man, I'm sure the days of tobacco advertising that normalizes smoking as part of a hip and righteous lifestyle are over. Right Camel?

Or maybe not.

Take care, and have a happy and healthy day off.

I am thankful for Sesame Street

I doubt preschoolers will know the backstory, but Sesame Street has always worked on more than one level. Awesome.