Thursday, June 03, 2004

Pop-up goes the weasel

This site doesn't many of them. In many ways that is a shame! I have begun to EMBRACE the pop-up ad.

Pop-up ads make me laugh. My favorite ones are the contest ones where they show you three photos and ask you: Which one is Spider-man? Click the correct one and win a DVD player.
The photos will be of Harry Potter, Spider-man and Mick Fleetwood.
Oh boy! This is a tough one. I clicked on Harry Potter. It said "Sorry, try again", so I clicked on Mick. "Sorry, try again", back to Potter. "Sorry, try again", so I click Harry Potter again.
The pop up then took me to a page that said "Thanks for playing our game! You win a DVD player." So you fill out pages and pages, and what do you get? A strange desire to see Mick Fleetwood fight crime, and not much else.

AND I GOT THE ANSWER WRONG!

I notice that they have started to change these. I bet too many people were guessing wrong. Asking people to pick Arnold Schwarzenegger out of a line up with Condoleeza Rice and Gray Davis was too hard for the average Internet user.

So they made the contests easier. "Are gas prices too high? True or false?" Or "If this banner is flashing you win $500!"
I like to click on those and then type "My banner was not flashing. I will try again next time."

I have gotten pop-up ads advertising hidden cameras. They ads always look very similar.
In the middle they have the details (price, size, etc.) On one side they show a man dressed like a burglar trying to break into a window. On the other side is a beautiful lady in a bikini.

Why don't they just come out and say it "Weather you need home security, or are just a PERVERT you will want our camera!"

Speaking of security I have gotten pop-ups that say "Your computer contains spy ware." I thought that was pretty cool. My computer is like James Bond, and it never had to go through an AWKWARD George Lazenby stage.

But, the ads must work. Someone must be buying their product. If not, the ads would stop. This doesn't surprise me either. Us human can be talked into anything.

Case in point: The Superbowl.
Every year all you hear for 2 months is about the Superbowl. What will happen, what did happen and what the best part was.

They are not talking about the GAME. They are talking about the COMMERCIALS.

This is stupid. All year round when a commercial comes on people change the channel. They flip through every channel on a three hundred channel satellite dish just to get away from the commercial.

But, one day a year, they love them.

I am going to start doing this with other shows.

Some guy: Hey Guy! Did you see American Idol?
Me: Not really, but those commercials were awesome! Did you see the one with the Pepsi can that could burp. That was awesome!
Some guy: I hate you and your website sucks.

Or maybe I should start doing this with books.

Some guy: Hey Guy, I'm sorry I told you I hated you and your website.
Me: That's OK. Have you read Steven King's latest book?
Some guy: Yeah did you like the end?
Me: I didn't read the end. But the page with the country of first publication info, and the Dewey Decimal System number, that rocked.
Some guy: I hate you, buy I love the Dewey Decimal System. I feel torn.
Me: I'm gonna key your car.

What commercial do you hate?

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous1/24/2005

    I hate any commercial for diet pills, like Leptoprin or Cortaslim. Those people are scary. And they play them so much you start to memorize the dialogue. 

    Posted by Nettie

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  2. Anonymous1/25/2005

    Thank you Nettie, for taking pity on this article.
    As for the pill commercials, I see what you mean. I will go one further and state that I hate all medical commercials.
    Especially that one where a bunch of women have writing on thier stomachs. Something about seeing a bare midriff with the word "bloating" written on it creeps me out. 

    Posted by Sweetie Guy Hutchinson

    ReplyDelete