TV journalism at its worst

Ok so I'm up late tonight waiting for the NyQuil to kick in (cause I slept in late this morning and aren't even close to tired, and it's 1:30am) and I'm wasting time kicking around YouTube, and I come across this video. Take a look at this startling movie.



It plays more smoothly if you click on it and watch it at full res.

Now, if you were a TV reporter, and you were a human being--sorry, the two aren't necessarily inclusive, as this video demonstrates--wouldn't it be your first reaction, after determining that you are out of immediate danger, to go see if either of the drivers are hurt?? I know he's in the middle of a broadcast, but excuse me, there are people very nearby who could probably use some of your attention! Obviously you're talking to someone in real time--give them the location so they can call 911, then stop your broadcast and attend to the injured before they bleed to death or a fire ignites. Seriously. Listen to this moron prattle on, more interested in his own story than going to see how badly these people are hurt. I'm sorry, that's pathological.

Besides, to what extent do you think this reporter indirectly caused this accident, seeing as how the driver of the red car was not paying attention to the oncoming truck from his/her left? That's cause s/he was probably watching your stupid newscast you blithering retard instead of checking for traffic behind the van as it crossed. Turn off the frakin camera and help.

No news broadcast is more important than basic human decency. I can't stand journalists who forget this.

Proof, at last

The New York Times back in 2004 hit on a key difference between Republicans and Democrats, and it's on a very basic psychological level. You have to scroll through this a bit, but towards the end you come across this little nugget:

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles recently looked at how Democrats and Republicans differ in their neural responses to campaign commercials showing images of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Democrats, they found, were more fearful.

Mr. Ruskin of Commercial Alert points to such studies as proof that they pose a threat to society.

"They" being the studies, but you could just as easily say he is talking about Democrats.

My new other blog

I've been tinkering around tonight with my blog .. now, blogs.

Because my masters thesis has really started to pick up steam, I've decided to do a thesis blog. I've also decided that, for various reasons which have made themselves blazingly clear to me this past week, I have removed all links to this blog from my personal Web site as well as my Blogger profile. I just think it's best I get through the rest of grad school without any more unpleasant surprises like the one I had last week. Making this blog a leetle bit harder to find for the uninvited might make things easier for me.

Anyway, if anyone's interested in following my progress in my grand academic quest, you can do so right here.

Pretty cool, huh? Two blogs at the same site. :) I came up with a little blogicon for school .. see if anyone gets it ..

Too good not to post

I know my blog is becoming a series of little movies, but this was just too good not to put up.

Happy Singles' Awareness Day

More than meets the eye

Super Bowl XL

Okay, so I did manage to make it all the way through the Super Bowl this year, for the first time having cable, a DVR and a DVD recorder at my disposal in the process. (Up to last year, the best I could do was my TV and some powered antenna .. reception was awful, at best.) So being a responsible advertising grad student, I am now duly prepared to discuss the single most important night of the year in the ad industry: the Super Bowl.



My favorite ad was this one: CareerBuilder.com's "I Understand". Of all the ads they showed tonight, this was the only one that had me really laughing. The woman's delivery of the "jackasses" line couldn't have been more perfect. (She probably had to say it at least 30 times.)

I liked the concept of Coke's "Full Throttle" energy drink spots, and I could not help noticing how each one (there were three, I think) teased the next, and the third one was the full-out :60 with the completed concept. Several other spots seemed to take advantage of this technique as well. Even the Career Builder one was set up by a previous monkey commercial, which was also funny, although it was still the same joke as last year. Which is why the "jackass" one worked really well, it was an unexpected twist. Perhaps the previous joke was intended to keep the audience thinking these were going to be drawn from the same box of jokes as last year. Those sneaky guys.

My only question: why would any of the men shown in the commercial--none of whom I identified with--have anything whatsoever to do with an energy drink?

The Blockbuster Online spot wasn't anything spectacular writing-wise, but man, those were some cool graphics.

Am I the only person who noticed a LOT of cellphone-related ads? I mean, the Sprint ones were okay (that's a VERY cool phone they're using in the spots, too bad we don't get to see much of it), the "sports heaven" ones for ESPN were pretty good, Joan Cusack is not funny .. anyway, I couldn't help noticing how many cell phones were in this year's spots. In ten years, what will the chic gadgét in the commercials be?

Was that Britney Spears in the Pizza Hut spot? It just wouldn't be the Super Bowl without Britney Spears in a commercial.

SBC-AT&T ... those spots are awesome. Wish I could find that music somewhere. Oh wait, maybe I can ...

"Brown & Bubbly"? What genius thought that up? That's some commercial music I can do without ..

Leonard Nimoy? Are you Spock or not?

The neanderthal FedEx spot was really great. I'd give that one the second place ribbon for the year. Although I think Geico has the market cornered on those neanderthal guys. I could have sworn it was an ad for Geico until the dude in the cave mentioned FedEx.

The Gilette Fusion ads are driving me insane, frankly. How many more blades can we cram into a disposable razor? We're up to six now? And how ridiculous do the commercials have to get? I thought two blades were enough .. when I jumped to three, I thought, three is borderline ridiculous, but it did feel better than two, so I said this is my limit. Then they went to four, then battery-powered .. now they're at six--five on one side, and a sixth sticking out the back to slice up your thumb when you're pushing a new one down on the handle. And that commercial for it .. gag. So far over the top, I thought, how old do they think I am? 12? I'm going to shell out for a $30 razor and $5 for every replacement cartridge just cause I see a commercial that looks like a Michael Bay movie?

Something that's always fascinated me about the Super Bowl is the way they do those stat graphics. When they started, there was a lot of inside-the-engine, head-pounding heat coupled with visuals of turning wheels and combustion--cool concept, given the game was being played in the Motor City. But from there, the engine theme seemed to disappear almost completely, with almost random graphics occasionally looking kinda sorta slightly like something to do with cars (more like motorcycles) now and then (player bios) .. but that really cool high-octane gritty steamy feel was pretty much spent. Too bad, cause I thought that concept had potential and I was kinda disappointed they didn't play more with it.

It was very cool though, especially when they do those really fast one-second transition graphics, to be able to slow those down and step through them frame for frame to see what all's going on with them .. ahh, the joys of having a DVR.

Anyways .. too bad for Seattle .. but a decent run of commercials this year. I attempted to burn the Career Builder spot to DVD on my new recorder, and that worked, but the disc won't play on my Mac. Which is irritating--I thought my Mac's DVD drive could read anything. Oh well, maybe I need to get DVD RW or something .. I'll figure it out.

"We're friends till the end, remember?"

Chucky: You mean I have to live out the rest of my life in this body? No f___ing way! You got me in to this, so you get me out!

John: I can't do that, Chucky.

Chucky: Why not?

John: Because you're an abomination. An outrage against nature. You've perverted everything I taught you, and used it for evil. And you have to be stopped.