Advertising Is Good For You

Marshmallow Fluff holiday ad

Hey, Jewetts, how come you don't know your nanny's name? And learn how to use an apostrophe, for crissakes.

Macy's Christmas tree unveiling

Poster for Macy's Christmas tree unveiling from 2006.

Via ffffound!

Kudos to Britain for pulling deceptive ads

British officials have banned a Rimmel mascara campaign for being misleading.

The TV spot features Georgia May Jagger (daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall) modeling three different lash looks supposedly created by Rimmel's 1-2-3 Looks Mascara.

Trouble is, the ad features tiny print that mentions the photos were "shot with lash inserts," double speak for false eyelashes.

The British Advertising Standards Authority thinks the campaign is cheating and ordered it pulled.

Good.

Too bad American companies aren't held to the same high standard.

As any woman familiar with American fashion magazines can tell you, mascara ads in this country typically feature models who are wearing false eyelashes or have had their lashes digitally lengthened to outrageous lengths.

To prove my point, here are cropped photos from all the mascara ads featured in the November 2010 issue of In Style magazine. Click the images to enlarge them and get a true sense of how ridiculous the eyelashes appear.

American women are used to this type of blatant deception in our cosmetic ads. But that doesn't make it right.

Via StyleList

Legal Sea Foods holiday ad

 

Love this image for the Legal Sea Foods restaurant chain, a Boston area institution.

But the copy? "Give the gift of fish" sounds about as festive as "give the gift of socks."

Celebrity Saturday: Jack Black in creepy Gulliver's Travels billboard

The Lilliputians have the right idea.

The saddest holiday purchase of all

Went online this morning to check out the Black Friday deals. This is what I found at Overstock.

It's the Hug Me pillow. The copy promises "comfort as well as peace of mind." Just $24.97.

Buy it here Overstock.

What's Bethenny Frankel selling now?

Bethenny Frankel is a TV reality star, having appeared on "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," "The Real Housewives of New York" and "Skating with the Stars." And now she has her own show, "Bethenny Getting Married?"

She's also a busy pitchwoman, selling her own line of skin care products, shapewear and cocktail mixes, as well as Pampers, Pepperidge Farm and British Airways.

To put it politely, she's a multi-media tasker.

So why do brands keep hiring her to promote their products? People who are familiar with this woman know she'll do anything for a buck, so her endorsement is meaningless.

And people who are not familiar with her are... well... lucky.

How Google wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving

Go on Google today and this is what you'll see:

It's interactive, too. Scroll over any of the dishes and you can click your way to a recipe:

A big improvement over Google's Veterans Day logo.

Of course, if you're just now looking for a turkey recipe, you might want to rethink your menu.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's going to turn into Halloween 2010 when those candles start melting.

Butterball Turkey Talk-Line -- 29 years and counting

The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line allows home cooks to phone in their questions relating to preparing a turkey and get answers in real time. One can also email the Talk-Line if time is not of the essence.

According to Butterball's website, 50 "professionally trained, college-educated home economists and nutritionists" respond to 100,000 questions every November and December.

Started 29 years ago, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line is already an American Thanksgiving classic.

I've never used it but I sure as heck like knowing it's there. Just in case.

The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line number is 1-800-BUTTERBALL. The email address is talkline@butterball.com.

 

Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving re-imagined by illustrator Sam Spratt

Click here to see more of Sam Spratt's work.

J. Peterman's Christmas 2010 catalog

Movie Posters: Green Lantern