Swine Flu public service announcements from 1976.

In 1976, one single army recruit died from the so-called Swine Flu. People panicked, the government panicked. After the dust cleared, the government had wasted hundreds of millions of dollars, and there were over 500 people crippled for life via Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) caused by the vaccine. Also, the vaccine killed more people than the flu did.

Moral:
Government is more dangerous than Swine flu. Don’t panic.

Time Magazine just published a series of photos of Barack Obama taken in 1980, when he was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles. They were taken by Lisa Jack, who was an aspiring photographer at the time, and asked him to pose for some black and white photographs for her portfolio. The word Serendipity has been voted as one of the ten English words that were hardest to translate; this is a good example of serendipity.

Read on for the rest of the pics:

Just in time for Christmas, you can get your darling daughter or niece a special collectors edition Barbie commemorating a classic film. This particular one portrays a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’, when wealthy socialite Melanie Daniels is brutally attacked by bloodthirsty crows who are hell-bent on killing the human race, kids will love it. She even has the classy green suit from the movie.

From the official Mattel site, Barbie Collector:

In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, gave us a tale of terror not soon forgotten in his film “The Birds.” Dressed in a re-creation of the stylish green skirt-suit worn by the film’s ill-fated heroine in an iconic scene, Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” Barbie® Doll celebrates the 45th anniversary of the acclaimed film. From the doll’s classic ensemble to the perfectly painted expression to the accompanying black birds, every aspect captures the film’s infamous appeal.

The Alfa Romeo badge has a very heraldic, ancient feel to it. Very classy. But what does it mean, and why the hell does it have a giant snake eating a man?

Well, the owners of Alfa Romeo (originally called A.L.F.A. for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, which is translated as Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company) wanted a logo that was associated with the city of Milan, so they used symbols that Milan had used since the Crusades. The red cross is typical Christian symbol of medieval heraldry and used extensively throughout the crusaides. Back then, seeing a bunch of guys with red crosses painted on them didn’t mean “medic”, it meant: Run for your life.

The man in the serpents mouth is a bit more controversial. It’s a symbol called a biscione, and the man in the image is alternatively described as a child (the modern interpretation) or a Saracen or Moor (aka: a Muslim). So the whole serpent motif is all about the Christians Crusaders’ defeat of the infidels. Yeah, pretty strange.

Alfa obviously doesn’t like to call attention to this, so they don’t. And anytime someone else does, they just say something like “Eh, it’s an ancient symbol of our town, fuck off”. You know how Italians are.

McCain’s recent ad, Man In The Arena, is surprisingly good looking considering his other recent ads. Now, I’m talking from a purely aesthetic point of view. As far as substance goes, this ad offers nothing more than Obama’s American Promise, and everything I said about that ad can be said about this one. But still, it’s very effective advertising; more so, I think, than anything Obama has offered so far.

McCain’s ads to date have been almost entirely negative, usually with a disgusted sounding voice-over talking about things Obama has either done or not done. They were particularly acerbic and difficult to watch. This ad is different though, it optimistic, focused on McCain, and I think it portrays him in a better light to those who don’t really care about issues anyway.

For the ultra slim minority of Americans who do care about actual issues, this ad, as usual, offers absolutely nothing except a pleasing viewing experience with nice music.

Now, I have to re-state that I’m not a McCain supporter, not at all. I get a lot of comments, especially after this post, that Obama is at least better than McCain. I never said he wasn’t, I never said I liked one candidate over the other, they’re both driven solely by ambition and offer basically the same politics. So please, don’t mistake me for a McCain supporter, or an Obama supporter. I’m emphatically neither.

PopCrunch has this odd advertisement for the Love Rug, which was a perfect example of 1970s freakiness. Made of polyester, of course, the advertisement offers it as an inanimate object to complete the threesome you’ve always dreamed of.

Heres the complete text of the ad:

Once you feel the sensuous delight of the furry love rug, you’ll never go back to an ordinary bed again.
As you stroke, it strokes. The incredibly soft furlike fibers caress your bodies from head to toe. It’s almost like having another love there with the two of you.
The Love Rug is as beautiful to look at as it is to feel. Only another animal of it’s stripe could tell it wasn’t real fur. Only $150 in your favorite fur texture. Choose Mink, Lynx, or Jaguar. But be sure to order now!

One of the classic advertising strategies is to employ nostalgia. There are certain things from the past that a popular culture thinks fondly of, and drawing on these things for your advertisement can create a strong positive association.

The new Pontiac G8 commercial does exactly that. It draws on old-school car racing video game nostalgia. Millions of people played the game Spy Hunter growing up. Those people now have high-paying jobs. They’ve been dreaming their entire lives about having the exact sort of product that Pontiac is offering.

So the commercial works well. It targets a demographic that likes to spend money on performance cars by appealing to a widespread, nostalgic event that is tied to strong positive emotions. That’s a formula for success.