Staples will promote the personal touch right up to the moment it becomes Staples.com

This Staples ad carries the message that it understands the value of building a relationship between it's employees and it's customers and that nothing can replace that one-on-one, face-to-face human contact which builds trust and brand loyalty.

Meanwhile, Staples is aggressively pursuing the shutting of it's brick and mortar stores all over the United States and moving to a web-only presence, almost certainly achieving this cost (and employee) slashing strategy by 2025.

You reconcile these two things.  I can't.

Wealthsimple's Super Bowl commercial gives me a severe case of the Sads

I can really relate to this confused, harrassed individual.  He's got a high-paying job and a nice house in the suburbs but he's having nightmares and his head is spinning because he can't decide how to invest his excess money.  And the world sure isn't doing him any favors, offering him unsolicited advice everywhere he turns.  He can't even enjoy a nice soak in the tub or a relaxing breakfast in front of his flatscreen without being tortured with thoughts that he isn't turning his pile of cash into a bigger pile of cash more quickly.  Oh woes.

I wonder how many people watched this ad and thought it was cute and/or clever but also had absolutely nothing to do with the reality of their lives.  Every year a larger percentage of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, carrying credit card and other debt from month to month as part of the normal cost of living.  "Investing" means possibly buying a house you can borrow off of and perhaps sell when it's time to retire- if you're lucky enough to hit retirement age during an upswing in the real estate market and not one of the all-too-frequent "corrections."   "Retirement Funds" means "Social Security" and not much else to more people every single year- and that's not because investing is "complicated."  It's because stagnant wages and the death of pensions have made surplus income at the end of each month a fantasy.  Figuring out what to do with wealth isn't the middle-class problem it used to be, Wealthsimple.  For a whole lot of us, there's already a creditor out there waiting for every bit of it we can- briefly-get our hands on.

So pardon me if I don't shed a tear for anyone who gets dizzy at the dizzying buffet of investment options.  BMWs come in different colors, too- that doesn't mean I'm going to sympathize with anyone struggling to make that choice.  The guy in this ad is going to have to look elsewhere for a tissue or a shoulder to cry on. 

Meet Mr. Cooper, your Friend in Denial....

Is owning a home the American Dream?  Maybe.  I bet the kids in this ad would settle for financially responsible parents.  I mean, look at these people- they've got a house in the suburbs they can't afford without rolling up credit card debt and making themselves vulnerable to predatory loan companies like "Mr.Cooper."  They buy stuff then can't really pay for, digging a big hole for themselves while pretending that they are better off than they actually are, just so they can "give their kids everything" while maintaining smiles and relaxed attitudes that are fake or clueless or both.

So they'll sign with Mr. Cooper and get a debt consolodation loan using their property as security, and if they just keep on doing what they've doing to get into this mess in the first place they'll end up right back where they started- except, this time, in something a bit less substantial than that nice house in the suburbs.  Where will the "American Dream" be then?  Where will those stupid, vapid, fake or clueless smiles and relaxed attitudes be then?

How about living within your means, Stupid Suburban "Adults?"  Maybe pretend that the "American Dream" is being happy with what you have and knowing how to set limits?  Just a thought.  But if it's a thought that doesn't seem particularly attractive, there's always Mr. Cooper there to help you delay your inevitable rendevous with Reality.

Just remember- it really is inevitable.

The Honda Fit itself? Well, you'll have to check out other commercials for any actual info....

I could spend this entire post complaining about the blatant, phony diversity game being played by the good people at Honda here.  I mean, look at the characters in this ad- an Asian girl, a black guy, a red-haired white guy, and two brunettes of uncertain ethnicity.  For chrissakes, Honda.  Please.

Or I could beat up on the YouTube weirdos who really, really like the Asian girl.  I really hope I'm never that lonely.

Instead, I'll just point out that this Honda Fit commercial, like so many others, focuses entirely on the car's impressive trunk space.  So the car is being advertised as a $20,000 closet with wheels.  Wow, I'm so sold.

Ocean City presents the...um...."Fun" Family

Get it?  Because their last name is "Fun."  And they like to have "Fun."  Isn't that clever?

I wonder why they aren't the Inane Family.  Or the Doofus Family.  Or they Whitebread Family.  I mean, come on.  This perfectly ordinary, boring man-child bumped into a desperate, Clock-is-ticking Equally Uninteresting, Depressingly Fertile female of the species totally willing to mate with anyone who could provide sperm and a reasonable amount of money for a bank account and a House in the SuburbsTM.  In due time they managed to pass their DNA on to the next generation of perfectly ordinary, probably Just As Boring kids who will grow up to marry people of their same race and mind set and start the whole vicious cycle all over again.

In the meantime, these are the people you'll meet if you go to Ocean City, Maryland, otherwise known as Six Flags For People of Moderate Income.  Moron adults with their moron kids acting like morons. 

Now, if all this cloying - not to mention all the noise that goes with crowds of kids and their stupid parents and water slides and rides and ride lines- isn't for you, you could head a few miles down the road and enjoy the windswept dunes of Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.  No arcades or mini-golf or water slides or rollercoasters, just sand and surf and nature quiet time with your kids.  For people who don't need constant stimulation to keep their "brains" going, might be worth a visit.  But if you aspire to be like the "Fun" Family, please stick to Ocean City and the glitzy carnival atmosphere and the corn dogs and the cotton candy and the noise.  You wouldn't find the quiet beaches fun- in fact, you might find it downright terrifying having to entertain your kids without assistance from colorful shiny junk.  And we don't want you there anyway. 

Off to Florida for my annual Working Vacation!

I treat you to a minute of this woman with a very punchable face and waaaay too much enthusiasm in her voice to remind you that I will be grading AP exams in Tampa again from June 2-10, and won't be updating my blog until I return.

I was able to visit a few of these attractions last year- I walked the Riverwalk every day and took in a few museums.  The amusement park and George Steinbrenner field are a little too far away, so I missed minor league baseball, however we will be returning to Louisville Kentucky for the Reading next year and I'm looking forward to seeing the Bats play at Slugger Field again in 2019....

Enjoy the archives until I get back, everybody!

Line-by-Line Fun with Root Insurance

"Do you think your car insurance rate is fair?"

I don't have a car, so I don't have car insurance.  I pay nothing for the car I don't have, which I think is completely fair.

"See, here's how car insurance traditionally works.  Your premiums go into a pool of money that covers expenses when you get into an accident."

Yes, just like your heath insurance premiums cover expenses when you get sick.  Waiting to see what the problem is here.

"Here's the flaw in that system.  Those premiums cover the accidents for ALL insured drivers."

Just like my health care premiums are used to cover health care for ALL other customers of my health insurance.  Still don't see the problem- unless you are about to argue that a much more "fair" system would be if my premiums went into a bank account and could only be accessed by ME when I needed it?  What if I need more care than that personal account can provide?  Gotta be a catch here.  Let's go on...

"And...not all of them are good drivers..."

Ah, ok.  So Root Insurance is arguing that it's not "fair" that someone else could have an accident and get covered, because that brings my rate up.  Root is also arguing that only "less than good" drivers have accidents and therefore need to access that coverage.  Which is also not "fair."  Is this a joke?  Let's continue...

"Fact is, the worst 30% of drivers cause half the accidents."  Well, that means that the other 70% cause the other half.  Even if I'm in that other 70%, I'm causing accidents, whatever that means.  Are you about to tell me that the secret to Root's low low premiums is that they only cover people who don't get in accidents?  Really?

"We had an idea.  Let's take the worst drivers out of the equation.  That's right, We don't insure them."

That's what I thought.  So you won't offer insurance to 30% of the population you call the "worst drivers."  Just to the other 70% who still cause half the accidents.  The other 30% can go to The General or whatever.

"Which means fewer accidents, which means more money on hand, which means your premiums can shrink too."  That "can" is pretty significant- it's also significant that you tried to cover it up with a stupid graphic of a hand waving "Number One" and graffiti flying about.

"With Root, you're not paying for other drivers accidents, which means you're saving up to 52%..."

how did you come up with a 52% savings?  Why isn't it 99%?  Or 70%.  Did I hear you right?

"Yeah, that's right.  52%. Find out how much you can save- download the App today."

And that's it.  I've already mentioned Root in a previous post, but this part bears repeating- the way this thing works is, you allow Root to monitor your driving habits for a few weeks, and then it gives you a quote based on your monitored driving habits.  The quote is good for 90 days, and you continue to be monitored to determine your next 90-day rate.  I fail to see how this is any different from The General or any other cheap, temporary and barely legal car insurance deal which technically provides coverage but will dump you first chance it gets, except that those other companies don't require you let them be a passenger on every trip.  And if they dump you the first time you have a fender-bender, they don't say so in their ads, like Root basically does- the moment you hit something and are at fault, say goodbye to your low rate because Root only insures GOOD drivers, which you used to be until you made that one mistake.

But hey, again, I don't own a car, so it would seem I don't have a dog in this fight.  Except I think it's inevitable that the Root strategy for selling car insurance will be moving into the health insurance industry in no time, and we'll have BlueCross and Kaiser and MetLife monitoring our donut intake and our visits to 7-11 and we won't even think about it because after all I've Got Nothing To Hide What Do I Care If They Know What I Eat and Drink It's Not Like I Don't Tell Everyone on Facebook Anyway.