I wonder why children would want to drink their juice from the heads of their favorite cartoon characters. Something seems very disturbing about such a desire. Yet, it is apparently "100% Fun"!!!
I'm the type of person who takes comfort in gustatory pleasures, rich meals and smooth beverages. This is especially true for those periods in my life when things have me down. Now, it is really very extremely bad to let my Epicurian delights get the better of me. So, I impose limitations, projects, and other mental diversions to reduce intake through arbitrary procedures.
Yeah, that sounds silly, but it works for me. Therefore, since grief might drive me to excessive imbibing, I'm making a point of savoring a single drink per day. Moreover, I'm limiting it to rum drinks for February. That's because rum is very filling and reminds me of happy, warmer days.
Moreover, various rum cocktails are so pretty and of delightful coloration, from the dirty green of a Crocodile to the deep azure of the Blue Hawaiian to the Psycho's lurid crimson. And they taste absolutely delicious!!! ;-)
Well, I've kept up with the daily posting schedule, even with conditions beyond my control that made my new resolution tougher to handle. So, I think it's time to celebrate!!!
Of course, my other personal resolutions haven't fared as well as my blogging. Yeah, the photo above is a clue as to one area in which I have fallen short, albeit not totally failed. I love me some beverages. ;-)
In any case, this post is just to boost my spirits and give a cheer for the improved rate of posting. I really was about to throw in the towel last November, but here we are, perhaps better than ever, writing posts both whimsical and critical. And that makes me happy.
Image from a Stone Brewing truck delivering Arrogant Bastard Ale
Down here in the South Bay, it's common to see delivery trucks transporting all sorts of beverages, especially beers.
As I was walking about today, I decided that I would photograph a few for fun. ;-)
In total, I came across seven different trucks on my thirty minute stroll. And I passed by eight different bars. That's not an outrageous quantity. . .
I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I have a warm spot for the Arrogant Bastard Ale. I have to admire a bottle that reads:
"This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth."
They don't call it Arrogant Bastard for nothing. ;-)
On the other hand, here's "one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal."
Bud Light delivery truck: The favorite beer of NFL fans
Detail of Cousin Reginald Catches the Thanksgiving Turkey (1917) by Norman Rockwell
According to folk tradition, on June 14 in 1789, Rev. Elijah Craig of Bourbon County, Kentucky, distilled whiskey from maize. This is noted as the first creation of American Bourbon whiskey, named after the location. Now, this story is certainly untrue, but it has a nice folksy feel to it.
In the early days of this blog, I used to share some of my favorite or most hated advertisements or marketing campaigns with you all. Once a week, I'd feature some commercials or photos. It was a lot of fun. Well, I last looked at some ads about three months ago, which means that we're really overdue for another.
So, in honor of the legendary cleverness of Rev. Craig, let's give him the bird!!!
Wow!!! I've been busy, but the past few days have brought with them a total energy crash. At first, I thought it was just the consequence of getting some exercise back into my daily routine. But I think there's something going unwell with my health.
I've had low-grade headaches for the past week. I'm constantly tired. My joints hurt, especially my elbows. Consequently, I've been in a sour mood, very irritable. Certainly, I try to keep a friendly demeanor, but recently it's been slipping a whole lot.
As regards blogging, I'm embarrassed by the lack of new material here at Paideia. I keep on hoping to visit some art galleries or celebrate some notable birth date. It's not like there hasn't been a whole lot of interesting things about which to write. I just haven't had the energy.
St. Patrick's Day: A celebration of Irish culture or Irish booze?
I'm not one to celebrate any standard holiday, especially one that seems dedicated to drunkenness. Heck, if I want to get smashed on Irish whiskey, I can do so throughout the year.
But for those of you who enjoy wearing the green and knocking back some Guinness, Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Just don't get so caught up in celebrating that you find yourself wearing something like this:
A St. Patrick's Day dummy.
You may ban the Baileys and junk the Jameson, but the humiliation of dressing like a reject Lucky Charms will live forever on Facebook. ;-)
For this new year of Paideia posts, I want to share more "whimsy" photos, which I've already started with recent "stairway" articles.
That doesn't mean that I'll stop doing my normal birth date celebrations for artists, painters, poets, and other such cultural luminaries. In fact, it'll allow me to feature some people about whom I normally know very little, but can appreciate. For example, today is the birth date of Federico Moreno Torroba, an interesting Spanish classical, born in 1891.
I know just about nothing about him, but I like his guitar music. ;-)
We can't let the 126th anniversary of Dr Pepper go by without celebration. ;-)
My tastes in soft drinks tend towards lemon-lime flavors or root beer types, with colas trailing at the bottom of the list. The peculiar qualities of Dr Pepper make it an erratic candidate for my beverage of choice. Sometimes, that subtle tartness is refreshing, but, other times, the heavy aftertaste brings up the old prune juice comparison.
Nevertheless, when I'm in the mood for a soft drink, I generally consider picking up a Dr Pepper. It really is an interesting flavor, albeit not always to my liking. I'll almost always select it over Pepsi or Coke.
Drink a Bite to Eat (1946)
Regardless of my preference in flavor, I've always been entertained by Dr Pepper commercials and marketing campaigns. The vintage ads are especially fun.
So I strolled over to a local bar to have a drink. Seeing promotional materials in use at a South Bay bar is commonplace. But I've never took notice of a promotional candle bowl until now. Seriously, who's going to be swayed into buying a drink by a candle bowl?!!
I can understand cheap and disposable promotional objects like coasters or holiday treats. I can't see the marketing idea behind the Jagermeister candle bowl. It doesn't even jibe with the product traits, such as being "ice cold" or "herbal" flavored. In fact, it literally highlights the creepy "occult" symbolism associated with the product logo.
Yeah, I know it's meant to symbolize the patron saints of hunters, St. Hubertus and St. Eustace. To the modern American audience, Catholic hagiography is nearly unknown. Is it fair that Americans are so culturally ignorant that they don't understand the symbolism of an established German logo? No, but marketing is about effective promotion, not about fairness.
Jagermeister's stag head logo is a reference to the patron saints of hunters.
Well, it didn't inspire me to knock back a jagerbomb.
I saw this ad today on the back of a magazine. It was at a bit of a distance, so I couldn't make out most of the writing. I found it disturbing. It looks to me like a heart, torn from a chest and washed over a martini glass. Look at that thick, spiky bracelet and those long, sharp crimson nails. Combined with the red background and the manner in which the dragon fruit is held, it seems to be an intentional subtext, as if it wants to seem "dangerous".
I like Skyy vodka, but this doesn't work for me. There is nothing pleasant about ripping hearts out. Gross!!!
However, it is an improvement over the previous Skyy ad campaign:
Seriously, how does this make us want to drink Skyy? "Ladies love the bottle and, if you drink Skyy, they'll love you!" Maybe, but the image is freakish. If the intention is to create a transference of quality from the vodka to the consumer, then it shouldn't be so crass.
Anyways, there is a time and place for things. Heart-ripping doesn't belong in vodka ads. Here's where it belongs:
and the classic heart-rip scene:
LOL!!!
Here's a link to the Dragon Fruit (Pitaya) Wikipedia page.
There is a series of commercials for 1800 Tequila that I absolutely detest. Now, I've never tasted 1800. I'm not much of a tequila enthusiast, although I do partake on occasion. But the ads are so low brow and smooth-brained that I've grown to actively dislike 1800 tequila. I don't want to taste any beverage that is promoted with such aggressive stupidity.
Observe:
Yeah, how brain-numbingly drunk do you need to be before you need a "special" cap to pour a shot of tequila? We're not talking about mixing up some fancy cocktail. We are not talking about some showy pours and presentation. We are talking about pouring a shot. A SHOT!!!!!
Who freakin' cares if the Patron bottle can't pour a shot?! If you ever find yourself incapable of doing this exceedingly easy task, then maybe you should put away the tequila and crawl off to the bathroom, where you probably will soon need to be visiting.
Man, that commercial makes me mad. They'd have done a better job of promoting their tequila if they went with this instead:
I'm no fan of cola beverages unless they come with a bit of rum. However, I do enjoy creative advertisements, branding, slogans, and logos. And with over a century of ads, Coca-Cola is a favorite product to contemplate.
Let's look at some slogans and think about what they represent.
1n 1906, Coco-Cola is "The great national temperance beverage." Obviously, the marketing is trying to tie Coke to the growing move towards Prohibition. It's trying to take a market position as the leading non-alcoholic drink.
In 1925, we get "Six million a day" and, in 1926, this changes to "It had to be good to get where it is." These slogans are playing up Coke's dominating market share. They're very boastful, implying that selecting anything but the most popular drink is to choose an inferior product. In short, the message is Coca-Cola is the best because it is the most popular.
In 1954, Coke is "For people on the go." This slogan reflects the post-war automotive culture that came to define the '50s and much of mid-to-late 20th Century America. This is the time of suburban expansion, fast food, drive-ins, and a society "on the road."
Then in the late 60s, we begin the "Cola Wars" with Pepsi. The highlight slogan of this era is the classic "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" which debuts in 1971. This fights back Pepsi's major marketing attack, with the "Pepsi Generation" slogan.
In 1979, we get the definitive Coke slogan, "Have a Coke and a smile." Pepsi has no viable counterstrike to this ad blitz. Until...
Taking the "Pepsi Challenge" spooks the management of Coca-Cola. It turns out that people actually do prefer the taste of Pepsi over that of Coke. And this gives us in 1986 "Catch the Wave" for New Coke!!! This is one of the greatest failures in the history of marketing.
By 1993, Coca-Cola has recovered from the New Coke fiasco and finishes the "Cola Wars" with a defiant slogan "Always Coca-Cola" but it is a fig leaf for a truce with Pepsi. The era of soft drinks is coming to an end in the 90s. Energy drinks, sports drinks, and bottled water variations are becoming bigger parts of the beverage market. Furthermore, the "Cola Wars" have been going on for thirty years without a "knock out" on either side.
Over the last decade, the slogans have been forgettable and insipid. "Life tastes Good." "Make It Real." "Open happiness." Boring. Check out this extremely lame vid celebrating 125 years of Coca-Cola:
Really? A dancing polar bear mascot?? Alas, Coke's modern marketing is unimpressive.
Twenty-six years ago, Coco-Cola replaced their classic formula for a new and "improved" one. This was a phenomenal marketing failure. Although the taste tests had shown that people liked the flavor of New Coke, the mere fact of change had upset the core Coke consumer. It was a gamble that brand loyalty would allow a seamless transfer of consumers from the classic formula to the new, while attracting people away from Pepsi.
This gamble failed. Less than three months from the introduction, the original formula was returned to production as Coke Classic. Eventually, the New Coke formula would be phased out.
Personally, I wasn't a cola drinker at the time. If nothing better was available, I'd choose Pepsi over Coke. However, I did find New Coke more to my taste, although not enough to pry me away from A&W Root Beer or Dr. Pepper. On the other hand, Cherry Coke was good stuff!
In any case, I found it weird how people got so worked up about it. LOL! Gotta luv da '80s.
