Sir Dirx - I have a question for you.
A little girl went up to her teacher and asked for Nutmeg paper. What did she REALLY want?
I didn’t like the “damn” commercial, I loved it! It is funny, witty and hammers the point across the board clearly and unambiguously: Pepsi is better than Coke, Why? Because Uncle Albert says so. From a marketing standpoint it is brilliant and serves its designed purpose to perfection. Be assured that the demographics to which it is directed will increase their Pepsi consumption, the fact that people are talking about it is in itself an endorsement of the product, the name Pepsi is immersed in the public consciousness. Mission accomplished!
Marketing creativity notwithstanding, you can definitely include me among the masses who got entertained by the commercial and viewed it for what it is, a commercial, a simple 30 second piece intended to sell a product. It makes no attempt to desecrate Einstein’s image, just uses his leverage on the public’s consciousness to create a sales-augmenting association between hiim and the product being marketed.
Why make mountains out of a grain of individual grains of sand? Why criticize a harmless comedic attempt? If you are going to be like that at least be consistent, don’t laugh at the jokes you here at work, don’t roll over the floor in comedic ecstasy while watching an Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler movie. If there is something to be criticized here is the capitalistic and mind manipulating intent that financed the commercial in the first place.
As to specifics from the commercial:
Yes, I liked the no brainer line.
Yes, I like when he smacks his head and verbalizes the infamous Doh! “Statement”.
Yes, I am a loyal Coke drinker and don’t plan to change my consuming habits based on this particular commercial.
Yes, the Pepsi Girl is the most dislikable living being since a certain speaking impaired Gungan sneaked into our lives…
No, I don’t believe that it is wrong that they are using a dead guy’s image to sell a product. Why is it ethically valid for researchers to toy with his brain in the name of science? Why isn’t it immoral to represent his persona in historical movies?
Let’s be practical about the matter, dead people are nothing but a bunch of neurologically-inactive, mentally-unconscious molecules resting peacefully inside a coffin. Even if they could somehow exist in a not-yet-comprehended state, they probably wouldn’t give a damn about a Pepsi commercial. Besides, knowing Einstein, he would have probably liked the commercial.
The fact that he dismissed it as incorrect based on intuitive perceptions doesn’t mean that he couldn’t make the intellectual leap needed to comprehend it as you seem to be implying. Not agreeing with somebody else’s arguments isn’t the same as not comprehending the message being expressed.
Doh!
- It makes no attempt to desecrate Einstein’s image, just uses his leverage on the public’s consciousness to create a sales-augmenting association between hiim and the product being marketed.*
And that doesn’t strike you as moraly repugnant? I dislike the commercial mainly due to the manipulation involved.
mega the roo:
She wanted to say “Not my paper” but had a really bad cold? I don’t know, I’m stumped.
quasar:
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think he actually donated his brain to science.
And personally, I dislike many forms of advertising and try to avoid wearing clothes that make me a walking billboard. Therefore, I would never want my image/likeness associated with something that I hadn’t already expressly supported.
What? Did everybody die here or something?
I wish Einstein’s estate was as aggressive about guarding the use of his image as Mark Twain’s estate is. But then, Einstein lived at the dawn of the age of mass media, and wasn’t shy about promoting himself.
Okay, Roo.
The Nutmeg Paper?
We’re still waiting.
Oaktag. Weren’t any of you ever in second grade?
To get back to the OP, the only paradox is how to express my distaste for the Pepsi commercials by selecting their competitor’s product when I’ve already sworn off that competitor’s project because their commercials are equally stupid and annoying.
This is the only thing I can find about nutmeg paper:
http://www.rubberstampstore.com/paper/Card-Stock.html
It seems that it is brown construction paper.
One thing is intention to manipulate and another is the materialization of that manipulative intent.
The Pepsi commercial is an example of a manipulative initiative. But, the fact remains that people have the choice to allow themselves to be manipulated or not. If they are suckers, they definitely deserve whatever they get. Marketing people are trying to exploit that particular human weakness. They are not exploiting it though; people, by virtue of their impulsiveness and lack of coherent and rational thinking are exploiting themselves.