Wow, the A.V. Club is so cynical about corporate cynicism.

The A.V. Club

So cynical about _____

Yeah Mad Men taught us it's really all about the advertisers painful childhoods or marital troubles or something. Maybe we should all psychoanalyze the ads instead.

Honestly? That would be an amazing article.

There were an awful lot about people who can't poop properly...

I thought Mad Men showed us that it is all about ONE advertiser's painful childhood and marital trouble and then about the other advertiser's failed attempts to compete with, please, or generally be around that ONE advertiser.

Peggy's Glow-code, or whatever, ad was a bit about her childhood. Some of her campaigns were about how she felt as a woman or, in one case with the gloves, her brainstorming was close to "I'm thinking about sex with my boyfriend, man I like having regular sex."

Ginsberg's may or may not have had personal resonance. In hindsight it's possible his latent psychosis had some influence on his imagery because it seems like some of his ideas involved being chased or followed and hostility to authority. Which could also relate to the Nazi thing.

But yeah it was mostly Don who did the personal issues bit. I'm not sure Freddy ever did and even the two I just named were kind of more varied than that. (Ginsberg maybe is largely his mental issues, but that's not even quite the same as that might influence his perceptions of reality in a way that's different than the more personal issues Don has.)

I was being a little glib and you have a point. That said, I think one of Peggy's gifts is her vision comes from an external point of view. The Burger Time campaign is one of her best and it's about a personal experience in a way, but more about watching and noticing the needs of others. She's less damaged and myopic than Don. Don's fortune is his myopia is well calibrated.

and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. the butter commercial was created by a man sublimating his marital troubles into his ad copy.

I would not want to delve into the psyche of whoever came up with the puppymonkeybaby

I'm going with "guy who saw 'The Fly' at a far too impressionable age". And his mom reeeeaaally liked that show with Lucy Liu and the skinny woman that married Harrison Ford.

Possibly someone who was into the Wuzzles as a boy. ("They're two kinds of fun rapped up and rolled into one huh? I can beat that!")

Trying to give it a fake deeper analysis, but it's hard. Apparently it's a man who thinks puppies, babies, and monkeys are all similarly awesome. So it's maybe about a single man's desire to have a child, but is not yet ready to let go of adolescence. This creates a tension in him. He imagines something that has elements of a baby, but is made disturbing by mixing it with boyhood and adolescent dreams. Perhaps he finds it amusing, but not lovable. Trying to make his longing transfer into something that won't cause long-term attachment. Or possibly his girlfriend is even having an unexpected pregnancy that he is feeling strange or conflicted about. He thinks he should find it "awesome" so his mind mixes up things he loves, with a baby, to render a confused vision.

Or it's even a Chinese zodiac thing related to the holiday. This year is the fire monkey, ambitious and adventurous. The Dog symbolizes loyalty and sincerity. And a baby is often symbolic of the new. So they are saying it's a sincere effort to create an ambitious product for their loyal customers.

But all that seems a reach.

You may be on to something because "baby=awesome" just does not ring true for any guy I've ever known.

Speaking of Mad Men, I wanted to take this opportunity to say hello to those who posted on that blog. The rumors of my demise the last two years of MM were fabricated. Life was going on and frankly, I was ticked at the story line. But, I loved the Bud Light commercial. Perfectly cast.

How were the Super Bowl ads?

"NOT GREAT, BOB."

Really, though, Mad Men was all about subconsciously associating Hershey bars with friendly prostitutes.

Of course, of course.

"By the way, if anyone here is in marketing or advertising...go kill yourself." -Bill Hicks

Oooh, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar. Big Dollar. Our research shows a lot of people are feeling that. Huge market right there. Very smart.

Leave corporate cynicism alone, A.V. Club! What's corporate cynicism ever done to you?

KILL IT KILL IT WITH FIRE OR ICE IF THE FIRE DOSE'NT WORK AND ONLY MAKES IT STRONGER

NO THAT'S ONLY A TEMPORARY SOLUTION! I would think salt would kill the blob.

didn't they drop the blob in the antarctic?....would it win in a fight staging the thing

Now there's your movie.

No no salt gets rid of Gail The Snail for a Blob situation I recommend some of that sawdust mix janitors sprinkle on vomit and maybe a good sponge.

Keep it away from water. And don't feed it after midnight.

Or ever.

But like, which time zone?

Greenwich Mean Time.

Yeah I pretty much hated that commercial and it can burn in the last circle of Hell, forever.

But...the last circle of hell is freezing.

Ooh, someone read Dante.

NUKE IT FROM ORBIT! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO BE SURE!!!!

Holy water, a patented mixture of morphine and alcohol, napalm, a wood chipper, "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" on cassette, a sturdy Stihl chainsaw, "Can't Stop The Music" VHS (taped from VH1), a picture of Gerald Ford, and just a dabble do of plutonium.
It's the only way to be sure.

Good lord, that one was terrible. I don't know why they thought a Brundle-fly type hybrid would be cute.

I don't understand why so many people think it's okay for a baby to be walking around with one's diaper fully exposed. Come on, that's not cute, you don't know what is in there and it may be unsanitary.

May be?

The Huggies box says Toddlers "9-12 Lbs", and that's really all the poop it can hold.

Well, you do know what's in there: either nothing, poop, pee, or poop and pee.

I don't like those odds.

Schrodinger's Diaper.

Not just unsanitary, let's be honest. It smells like shit.
And due to its puppymonkey traits, it's now all over the goddamn fucking floor AND the fucking walls. And it ate ALL of my GODDAMN OREOS!!!!

That thing was more like a Grundle-fly.

It wasn't supposed to be cute, it was supposed to be a nightmarish thing that stuck in your head and the only reason you're not calling to complain is because they made you think its unholy terrorform was a mistake. Don't be fooled. It moves at a lower and I believe arhythmic framerate; it was designed to disturb. Because you remembered that.

One problem with this approach is that I will remember the ad every time I see the product, which will make me never buy the product.

There's a teaser for this abomination where it's just the pug part staring silently into a mirror. There's a moment where it recognizes the ghastly sight it has become before it breaks down and starts uncontrollably slapping itself. It's truly the most horrifying thing to come from Madison Avenue. https://youtu.be/jNqmKQbTqEo

Heh heh, I bet he's going to link to that Mac & Me clip from Conan!
*clicks*
Dear merciful Jesus.

Tuck Pendleton Machine. Zero defects.

This year's superbowl was brought to us by A Flagrant Disregard For the Hippocratic Oath.

...kill..........me.....