Letters To An
Overseas Friend.

Just saw an ad that has a boy and a girl enjoying each other’s company in various roadside locations. The ad ends with the boy dropping the girl off in his car. She tells him to not to get out, she’ll get her item from the trunk herself. That item is a gas can and you can now see her abandoned truck in the scene. Turns out they were strangers and he was just helping her out. Boy looks disappointed and drives away. He gets home and see’s that she had written her number in the dirty film on the trunk of his car. Close ad with tagline about how anything can happen when you drive a Ford, or Honda, or whatever. Or maybe it wasn’t even a car ad. I can’t remember.

Clever, exciting, and touching, I guess, but all I could think was: What if it rained?! What if he doesn’t look back there?! Because spontaneity is hot, that’s what. Well I find reliable means of communication and not leaving important objectives up to the vagary of weather, hot.

Richard Sherman is a complicated man.

Just saw a TV ad for a safety razor called Micro Touch One or something like that. It’s nothing more than a standard, classic safety razor that holds a single, replaceable razor blade. You know, one of these things. The ad goes on about how this was the way your daddy and presidents shaved and all that, but…

The stroke of somewhat-clever is when the ad’s spokesperson says something like: “All these fancy pants razor conglomerates add more blades to their razors. Why? To charge you more money! One blade is all a real American needs (this last line is my own addition*, but I thought the ad needed it).” My interpretation: if you buy this razor, you will be sticking it to The Man, cause The Man’s been sticking it to you. It strikes an emotional chord (anti-establishment) while making a financial argument (extra blades are a waste of money) based on dubious shaving physics (extra blades don’t shave better). The spokesperson is the guy from one of those pawn shop reality shows. Know thy audience.

*Credit to Al Bundy.