A woman sold the space on her cleavage on ebay for $15,000 for 30 days promising to wear revealing clothes so the ad placement would get the exposure it deserved. Another woman sold her bare very pregnant belly space on ebay saying she would walk around the Daytona 500 with it exposed. She was on the Today show Sunday morning, lifted up her belly and there was a temporary tattoo for Golden Palace.com plastered right there, on the belly, on the Today show. Was it worth the money they paid? You bet, you can’t get better exposure than that (no pun indented).
Now with me being in the marketing/advertising/PR arena that I might find these practices distasteful, but you know what? I don’t.
Professional sports teams sell the naming rights to their stadiums all the time (I believe that the only stadium that hasn’t sold its’ name is Lambeau Field) so why shouldn’t the average person be able to sell some ad space and capitalize on this new trend?
Apparently naming rights make all the difference to a business, so why not have your name associated with a venue in hopes of having that name plastered all over the building, not to mention TV, and all of the endless sports highlight shows.
Makes sense.
So then why did ebay pull a woman’s ad for wanting to sell the naming rights of her child? What better way to get your name out there then paying the $750,000 asking price and being the first company to pay for the right to name a child? She was just offering the first 5 years for that price. Half the time during the first five years they aren’t even called by their real name anyway. Most of the time it’s they think their name is “No.” PNC may have the naming rights to a stadium, but BankOne could name an actual living person, who in most cases would outlive a stadium anyway.
I can see it now . . . time for roll call in 2010:
“Comcast Burton. Alltell Daniels. FedEx Garrison. FedEx Garrison? Has anyone seen little FedEx? Elmer's! Stop eating the glue.”
Friday, February 25, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Movie Reviews #3: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, I Robot, and The Village
Ok, so this week there are three movies I need to review and I don’t want to take up a lot of time reviewing them, so I will try move fast quickly.
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
This movie follows the life-changing (and mind-altering) journey of Korean-American investment banker Harold (John Cho) and Indian-American medical-school candidate Kumar (Kal Penn). Both underdogs, Harold and Kumar get high, then get hungry and then decide to spend what would have been an otherwise uneventful Friday night satisfying their intense urge for White Castle hamburgers. However, finding a White Castle proves a difficult task, and the two friends wind up on a road trip of (not so) deep thoughts, deeper inhaling, and enough half-baked, politically incorrect philosophizing to outweigh a White Castle value meal. Are some parts dumb? Yes of course, but there are some funny spots too and in the long run the funny outweighs the dumb.
If you are looking for a thoughtful, insightful, and touching movie, this is not it. This movie is much like the National Lampoon movies of old with Chevy Chase, but it’s not quite as funny as those movies, but there are some laugh-out-loud moments.
Final Verdict: This movie is much funnier than either Dodge Ball, or Napoleon Dynamite. Rent if you don’t want a few good laughs and you don’t want to think for 90 or so minutes. 3.5 out of 5
I Robot
In the future presented in the film, humans have become exceedingly dependent on robots in their everyday lives. Robots have become more and more advanced, but each one is preprogrammed to always obey humans and to, under no circumstances, ever harm a human. So, when a scientist turns up dead and a humanoid robot is the main suspect, the world is left to wonder if they are as safe around their electronic servants as previously thought. Will Smith stars as Del Spooner, the robot-hating Chicago cop assigned to the murder investigation.
The movie is visually very well done, and I know what that comment means . . . that it’s not that good of a movie, but I do like I Robot. I think the movie is one of those cool futuristic movies. There is action and the movie makes you think a little because it is a kind of who done it? There just is something about the movie that is amiss. I am not sure what it is. Something is missing that just makes your interest fall off of for a few, maybe it’s the length of the story. It really could have taken 30 minutes off of this movie and you wouldn’t have missed it.
Final Verdict: Good Action sci-fi, but not amazing. 3 out of 5
The Village
The village of Covington is a small town in rural Pennsylvania that is home to 60 people. The citizens of Covington lead a quiet and peaceful life, but not without an unusual caveat -- terrible creatures lurk just outside the borders of the village, and the people of Covington have reached an agreement of sorts with the beasts, in which they are allowed to go about their business as long as they never cross the village's boundaries. However, this precarious balance is upset when a headstrong young man, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), decides to find out what lies outside Covington, and then invites the wrath of the creatures upon the town.
Ok, I can’t go into this movie too deep it is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who also wrote The Sixth Sense and Signs. So you know there is a twist at the end, and for me, the twist was a true surprise. I hadn’t heard or read anything about the ending, so I was genuinely surprised with the ending. The story is a good one and well put together.
Final Verdict: Rent if you get the chance and you know nothing about the movie. You will enjoy. 4 out of 5.
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
This movie follows the life-changing (and mind-altering) journey of Korean-American investment banker Harold (John Cho) and Indian-American medical-school candidate Kumar (Kal Penn). Both underdogs, Harold and Kumar get high, then get hungry and then decide to spend what would have been an otherwise uneventful Friday night satisfying their intense urge for White Castle hamburgers. However, finding a White Castle proves a difficult task, and the two friends wind up on a road trip of (not so) deep thoughts, deeper inhaling, and enough half-baked, politically incorrect philosophizing to outweigh a White Castle value meal. Are some parts dumb? Yes of course, but there are some funny spots too and in the long run the funny outweighs the dumb.
If you are looking for a thoughtful, insightful, and touching movie, this is not it. This movie is much like the National Lampoon movies of old with Chevy Chase, but it’s not quite as funny as those movies, but there are some laugh-out-loud moments.
Final Verdict: This movie is much funnier than either Dodge Ball, or Napoleon Dynamite. Rent if you don’t want a few good laughs and you don’t want to think for 90 or so minutes. 3.5 out of 5
I Robot
In the future presented in the film, humans have become exceedingly dependent on robots in their everyday lives. Robots have become more and more advanced, but each one is preprogrammed to always obey humans and to, under no circumstances, ever harm a human. So, when a scientist turns up dead and a humanoid robot is the main suspect, the world is left to wonder if they are as safe around their electronic servants as previously thought. Will Smith stars as Del Spooner, the robot-hating Chicago cop assigned to the murder investigation.
The movie is visually very well done, and I know what that comment means . . . that it’s not that good of a movie, but I do like I Robot. I think the movie is one of those cool futuristic movies. There is action and the movie makes you think a little because it is a kind of who done it? There just is something about the movie that is amiss. I am not sure what it is. Something is missing that just makes your interest fall off of for a few, maybe it’s the length of the story. It really could have taken 30 minutes off of this movie and you wouldn’t have missed it.
Final Verdict: Good Action sci-fi, but not amazing. 3 out of 5
The Village
The village of Covington is a small town in rural Pennsylvania that is home to 60 people. The citizens of Covington lead a quiet and peaceful life, but not without an unusual caveat -- terrible creatures lurk just outside the borders of the village, and the people of Covington have reached an agreement of sorts with the beasts, in which they are allowed to go about their business as long as they never cross the village's boundaries. However, this precarious balance is upset when a headstrong young man, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), decides to find out what lies outside Covington, and then invites the wrath of the creatures upon the town.
Ok, I can’t go into this movie too deep it is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who also wrote The Sixth Sense and Signs. So you know there is a twist at the end, and for me, the twist was a true surprise. I hadn’t heard or read anything about the ending, so I was genuinely surprised with the ending. The story is a good one and well put together.
Final Verdict: Rent if you get the chance and you know nothing about the movie. You will enjoy. 4 out of 5.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Championship Gear
One of the things I was most looking forward to this football post season (with the Steelers doing so well) was a chance to order some championship gear. You know, the hat, the t-shirt, the sweatshirt, the thong, the socks, the turban, all proclaiming the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XXXIX Champions. The badge of honor letting the world know you are a fan and that your team won it all.
Letting my mind think about being able to buy some of that stuff jinxed my team but also made me think about the last time I got to buy championship gear.
I really think that my last championship piece of apparel is a 1993 WVU Big East Championship T-shirt, and I haven’t seen that shirt in about 3 years.
Before that you would have to go back to the late 70’s/early 80’s to find any other championship gear, maybe a Steelers “One for the Thumb” shirt, or a “We are familee” shirt, but it has been a dry spell.
The teams I consider “my” teams are the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers, and West Virginia Football and Basketball. Teams I root for, but don’t consider “my” teams are Duke Basketball, Pittsburgh Penguins, and occasionally the Orlando Magic (but I haven’t watched a whole NBA game since 1998).
I don’t think I would buy championship gear for the “root for” teams. Maybe Duke, but I like them because of Coach K and his principles not that I went there or anything, but had I gone there I would have all the championship gear I could wear.
The closest I got to ordering championship gear was when the Steelers won the AFC in 1995. I almost ordered an AFC championship hat, but they were so ugly that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. They were brown and orange. Yea ugly. Plus I have something against a conference championship (unless it’s college). Yea it’s nice, but if you don’t win it all then it doesn’t really matter.
So I guess I will have to wait through another season. If WVU wins the Big East Tournament, I will buy some gear, if somehow the Pirates win the NL I will buy some gear, and if the Steelers win the Super Bowl I will buy some gear. (Side note: Next year’s Super Bowl is Super Bowl XL, so if the Steelers win it then all my gear will look like the generic stuff you find at Gabe’s Pittsburgh Steelers XL champions. It will look like a shirt size rather than championship gear.)
I need to find that 1993 Big East Champs shirt and dust it off although I think it is only a large.
Letting my mind think about being able to buy some of that stuff jinxed my team but also made me think about the last time I got to buy championship gear.
I really think that my last championship piece of apparel is a 1993 WVU Big East Championship T-shirt, and I haven’t seen that shirt in about 3 years.
Before that you would have to go back to the late 70’s/early 80’s to find any other championship gear, maybe a Steelers “One for the Thumb” shirt, or a “We are familee” shirt, but it has been a dry spell.
The teams I consider “my” teams are the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers, and West Virginia Football and Basketball. Teams I root for, but don’t consider “my” teams are Duke Basketball, Pittsburgh Penguins, and occasionally the Orlando Magic (but I haven’t watched a whole NBA game since 1998).
I don’t think I would buy championship gear for the “root for” teams. Maybe Duke, but I like them because of Coach K and his principles not that I went there or anything, but had I gone there I would have all the championship gear I could wear.
The closest I got to ordering championship gear was when the Steelers won the AFC in 1995. I almost ordered an AFC championship hat, but they were so ugly that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. They were brown and orange. Yea ugly. Plus I have something against a conference championship (unless it’s college). Yea it’s nice, but if you don’t win it all then it doesn’t really matter.
So I guess I will have to wait through another season. If WVU wins the Big East Tournament, I will buy some gear, if somehow the Pirates win the NL I will buy some gear, and if the Steelers win the Super Bowl I will buy some gear. (Side note: Next year’s Super Bowl is Super Bowl XL, so if the Steelers win it then all my gear will look like the generic stuff you find at Gabe’s Pittsburgh Steelers XL champions. It will look like a shirt size rather than championship gear.)
I need to find that 1993 Big East Champs shirt and dust it off although I think it is only a large.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
