Hey Google, Who's Making Who Here?

My original take on this commercial along the lines of another "ugh we are becoming more and more helpless and dependent on this stupid technology by the second."  It worked better with the long (tv)  version, which includes a woman almost killing herself in her own home because she "can't" find the light switch Thank Heavens For Google Now You Can Just Tell Google To Turn on the Lights you Used to Have to Turn On All By Yourself Like Your Ancient Ancestors Did and two jackasses in a car bleating "I'm not gonna do it" which I guess means it was never going to get done before the opportunity to ask Magic Listening Voice to do it.

Because this is a (mercifully) short version of that noxious waste dump of an ad, I'll go in another direction:  Google, Alexa etc. are, in fact, the Fifth Column of Capitalism, welcomed into our homes disguised in the irresistable trappings of Convenience.  Every time we bleat a request or command into one of these things we pretend are serving us, we are adding to our electronic ID being compiled by Corporate America.  What we like to watch, what we eat, when we are home, when we are in our cars, the names and phone numbers of our friends, the web sites we visit, the medications we take- every. Single. Scrap. of information we share with our "Google Assistant" is being shared with the world.

Maybe most of us don't give a damn anymore- we're constantly taking selfies and lovingly editing them with our $1000 cameras before posting them everywhere, we're telling pollsters that we "don't care" if the government reads our emails or listens to our phone calls because "If I'm not doing anything wrong I've got nothing worry about."  So if someone wants to learn all about me through my barked commands at the Alexa or Google device I've got sitting in my house, well, at least I don't have to dial or go online to get a pizza, and I'll never trip in the dark again so there's that, too.

Do Super Beta Prostate pills come with steak knives or hearing aids?

I'm dealing with the radio verson of this commercial on XM Classic Radio every few minutes, so now you have to too.  You're welcome.

The radio version really targets the middle-aged, asking again and again if they're "frustrated" that they have to "pee so often."* The announcer uses the word "pee" so much I'm surprised he doesn't break into snickering and giggling at some point in the ad.  Is the word "urinate" hard to pronounce?  Do the makers of Beta Prostate think that middle aged people won't know what it means?  Or do they think midde-aged people will giggle appreciatively at the word "pee" too?

Anyway, on to this product, which I guess is endorsed by Larry King (as if that means anything- what over-the-counter miracle "medication" ISN'T endorsed by Larry King?)  It's all about the symptoms, people, and this stuff "may" be effective in dealing with those symptoms.  You can get it by calling a toll-free number or going online, both of which are a lot easier than making an appointment with an actual doctor who might give you an examination and maybe, you know, find the CAUSE and treat THAT.

Which might be significant.  Because problems with the prostate are no joke.  I seem to remember that there's a form of cancer involving the prostate- what was that called again?

But never mind that.  What you don't know won't hurt you.  Be like the idiots who pop two Aleve a day, every day, to deal with regular, nagging pain.  Or the "this is nothing if I treat it like nothing" living-in-denial dopes who wrap copper around their aching knees.  If you don't go to the doctor, you can't be diagnosed with something serious.  So stay away from the doctor and stick with home "remedies" like this crap.  Keep handing Larry King your money.  Those trophy wives don't come cheap, and the divorces are even pricier.

*In case you wanted to give credit to XM Radio for picking its commercial spots wisely, I am also constantly assaulted with ads for Channel 43, which sounds like a very loud modern "music" channel targeted to angry illiterates in the 16-25 range, so there's that, too.  I'm sure devotees to Classic Content Radio will rush over to Angry Oppressed Millionaire Rap Channel 43 as soon as Life with Riley and Lux Radio Theater is over.

"Life Awaits?" LIFE AWAITS????

Rage....rising.....

Seriously, stop showing me this crap on tv, please.  The LAST thing I really need in my life right now is ads featuring grinning, already-have-pretty-much-everything millenials checking out the benefits of a g-d d--ned "Liferoom."  You know, it's just a thing to park between your million-dollar McMansion and the pool- or perhaps to enhance your view of the f--ng marina.

I hate absolutely everybody right now.

Just for fun: Space Sticks and 70s weight loss gimmicks!

1.  The special effects at the beginning of this ad are AMAZING!  It's like they have a camera on the moon!  How did they do that??

2.  They don't tell you in the ad, but the only way to really wash these things down was with a cold glass of Tang.  Tang and Space Sticks for lunch= you're an astronaut, ready to build that colony on the moon before the 1980s are over!



And here's mom's version of Space Sticks.  Except that my mom bought them for ME because they were something I would actually eat if she packed them for my school lunch (sandwiches got traded away- I could never eat packed sandwiches when I was a kid for some reason.)  I'm not sure why eating them constituted "revenge" against cheesecake and other sweets, but whatever- remember, revenge is an edible plastic wafer best served cold!  You go girl! Sister Power!

(BTW, this woman must be in her late-sixties by now.  I wonder if she ever gave up the fake food and learned to keep her weight down through diet and exercise, or switched to that other "proven weight control device" popular in the 1970s, cigarettes?)

Green Dot Cards- proving once again that it's very expensive to be poor

(First, I'd like to point out that comments are blocked for this YouTube commercial.  After reading a number of reviews of Green Dot, I'm not the least surprised.)

Browsing through RipOffReport.com, I encountered page after page of complaints concerning this thing called "Green Dot Prepaid Cards."  The most common issue involved accessing money placed on the card by the customer.  My immediate response was "why would you exchange cash for a piece of plastic which may or may not give you access to the money you used to buy the piece of plastic?  Does this make sense to anyone, anywhere?"

Then I did a little more research and learned about the customer base for Green Dot cards (the common "I got mine at Dollar General" was my first clue.)  It seems that Green Dot provides a service for a "specific market"- the "underserved customer" (more alarm bells going off, as "underserved customer" means "poor"- rich customers are never, EVER underserved.  Check out tomorrow's post if you don't believe me.)

People who don't have credit cards or bank accounts- like the well-dressed, home-owning suburban white woman in this ad (uh huh, sure)- can easily transfer their cash to a prepaid (by them) plastic card which can then be used anywhere credit or debit cards (or cash) are accepted.  If this sounds like circular stupidity, wait there does seem to be a benefit- when you get paid, your paycheck can INSTANTLY be added to your Green Dot prepaid card balance, "just in time for the weekend," so you can get your money when YOU need it.  Because without a Green Dot card there's no such thing as "Direct Deposit," you know. 

Also with Green Dot you avoid "interest fees" (and "interest") and credit checks and the annoyances of dealing with a bank- you know, like FDIC protection and and actual people you can talk to in person instead of an India-based phone bank.  Sure when something goes wrong and you can't access your money you might find yourself in deep trouble dealing with people on the other side of the planet for whom English is a second language, and sure these cards come with their own monthly fees (averaging $4.95 per month)  but hey that's the cost of convenience, right?

It sure looks like Green Dot and other "prepaid" cards are just another example of how big corporations just love squeezing the people living on the margins, the people who can least afford to lose any part of their cash flow.  I wonder if they are partners with Rent A Center and Payday Lenders, making up a financial Axis of Evil.  I know I'm preaching to the choir and I sure as hell don't want to sound like Dave "Just pay cash, just spend less, just make more money" Ramsey here, but I bet most people who use these cards are perfectly welcome to open accounts at their local bank but have been talked into thinking that they can't by their equally disconnected friends and neighbors.  I'll settle for urging all of them to just pop in to one of those banks next Saturday morning and check out what they have to offer. 

Samsung's Upgrade Every Year Because You Can BS

When you buy a Samsung Galaxy for yourself and a friend, you can upgrade every year!

Every year? Yes, Every year! But just in case you need to be reminded- every year- from now until your worthless life comes to an end, don't worry, the Samsung Phone Monkey at your nearest mall is totally willing to do that.  At least, until he goes insane and lazers your fool head off.

Meanwhile....upgrade every year! Which means three things:

1.  Samsung is telling you in advance that the brand-new, totally tripped-out new phone it just sold you is going to be ancient technology twelve months from now, and if you want to continue to show well for your friends, you're going to want to "upgrade."  And don't worry, Samsung is just going to keep making "upgraded" phones, forever and ever and ever.....

2.  Every year, that landfill is going to leak more toxins from more "ancient" (more than a year old) phones and their lithium batteries (because if you're going to upgrade your phone, why would you want to keep last year's perfectly good but now totally uncool and pointless battery?)  Don't worry, the next generation will deal with the cleanup.  They'll also deal with the culture of disposability we've passed on Just Because.

3.  Despite that culture of disposability, in which nothing is valuable and everything can and should be replaced every single year, SOMEONE will be producing better and better tech for us to consume like greedy starving jagoffs who just want more more more.  SOMEONE will keep producing new shiny things for us to grab at and cuddle with and "need."  As long as that's profitable, it will keep happening.  So yes, we can expect holograms and AI and spacecraft - you just won't be producing it. You'll be too busy playing with your shiny new phone.  And trying to remember that friend you gave the original second one to.

Project Mc2- 'Cause girls can Science too, if you just dress it up right!

Oh, this is so clever!  Girls hate science (and math, and engineering, and all those other professions that are exclusive to guys) but they just adore pink and pretty things and they ESPECIALLY love jewelry!  So this is a really cool way to trick all those silly girls to put down the frilly dresses and Barbies and get involved in science without even realizing it!

My only real criticism is in the name of the product- it includes the word "science," which is totally going to scare off little girls.  I don't like the word "kit," either- that implies that there's some building going on, which might also imply mess, and those are male things.  I'd cut those parts out and replace them with "Awesome" or "Pretty" or "Sparkle" or "Princess" or something like that.  Wait, how about "Magic Princess Sparkle Jewelry Maker?"  "Maker" might make them think of cooking, which would naturally appeal to them, right?

Oh, and I'd be a little concerned about the jewelry being edible, too.  These girls look like they are going to be ten years old in the near future, so they have to start thinking about keeping their weight down so they can attract a mate.  It's not a great idea to encourage girls to eat as they approach their dating years.