1boringperson

I had the thought this morning that I should make love to my wife at midnight tonight so I could literally wish her a "happy f***ing new year."  But she wouldn't appreciate the humor in that.

I'm afraid this is what my LiveJournal has degenerated to.  Things I can't post on Facebook. :-)  You see, here my wife is a nameless, faceless entity, so it's funny (IMHO).  On FB, she has a name, photos, and most of my FB friends have probably met her, so it's too personal.

I went to Taco Bell to grab an extra-large Baja Blast Mountain Dew to get some caffeine to compensate for lack of sleep last night.  I grew disgusted with the drive-thru line not moving, so I went inside.  All I ordered was the drink, but the cashier still asked me if it was "for here or to go?"

Due to time pressures, we had to forgo our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm. Instead, we went to Home Depot to get our tree. Do you suppose I can return it within 30 days as long as I keep the receipt?

I just noticed that the sanitary toilet seat covers in the bathroom, or rather the company that makes them, has an ISO 9001:2000 certificate. I guess knowing the company has documented procedures for producing their products should make me feel . . . relieved?

An odd thought just crossed my mind, which is pretty much all I use this blog for. You know how, when children are behaving themselves, people call them "little angels"? Well, according to at least some Christian ideology, angels, unlike humans, lack free will. They are in the presence of God, thus they do not need faith in his existence; he's right in front of them! Therefore they have no need of free will to believe in him.

So, when you call a child a "little angel," in a round about way you're saying they lack free will. And really, isn't that what you want sometimes? If they lack free will, they will be obedient and well-behaved. Let's hear it for little angels!

With the current advances in computer special effects and current trends in marketing, it won't be long until we see classic movies with new product placements. Imagine Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart drinking cans of Coke in Casablanca, Judy Garland sporting a pair of ruby Nike sneakers in The Wizard of Oz, or John Wayne wearing a Tabasco kerchief in The Searchers. The possibilities are endless!

If you think marketers wouldn't dare, think again. These are marketing people we're talking about! They'll slap an ad or logo on anything they can: NASCAR race cars, T-shirts, neckties, golf balls, even gasoline pump handles! If Ted Turner can colorize entire movies, marketers sure as heck won't mind a little creative manipulation. Just look at what George Lucas did to the original Star Wars films.

The reason this will be primarily limited to older films is that it won't cause as many problems. Product placement hadn't taken off during the black and white days like it has now. Many movies from those days have been bought by companies other than the studio that originally distributed them, so they could be bought and sold again. But imagine what would happen if someone tried to replace Reese's Pieces with M&M's in E.T. the Extra-terrestrial! The lawsuits would fly.

But why should advertisers stop with movies? Soon you might see a DVD set of the first season of Bonanza, sponsored by Bush's Baked Beans. Or maybe we'll see the AT&T logo on Maxwell Smart's shoe phone. Who knows?

Now if this does indeed come to pass, don't blame me. They're already doing it with short movie clips used as TV commercials. What I've outlined is just the next step. Maybe it's already being done and they've managed to keep it subtle enough to avoid notice. Nah, these are marketers we're talking about. I don't think subtle is in their vocabulary.

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