Oh Man. Maybe You Shouldn't Look.

Fabric stores seem to have a knack for advertising that is awful yet intrigues me. A while ago I went on about Frabricland and their outstanding minimalist jingle, which has come to take up scarce space in my feeble brain, which I must say I resent. A fabric store ad has once again spurred me to write something here.

One thing most people (other than rappers) can sense deep in their social bones is that they should not rap. Or, even if they don't have such a sense, cautionary sitcom scenes like this abound:

Now, call me crazy, but I can't think of any business less suited to a rap jingle than a fabric store, and this one is done by a couple of fabric ladies. Brace yourself, because this is the part that may feel like a bit of an assault on your mind or tastes. You know what is coming. I will leave a bunch of spaces in this post now as an attempt to offer an "exit ramp" of sorts. If you scroll down and watch the video, you may never be the same. You have been warned.

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Well, if you're reading this, you have probably seen the video. This commercial is currently airing here in London Ontario. Scrap bookin' ? Rug Hookin' ? Oh man. I warned you. I am disturbed and fascinated by this commercial. What were they thinking? How could they? How will their children or grandchildren survive this? So many questions, starting with Why? Why? Why?

Yer Pal, R A N T W I C K

Am I Just Paranoid?

There's a Staples commercial about people being robbed and deciding they need to replace an old computer that the thieves didn't take. For some, the problem with this is that the people's priorities are kind of messed up. I find the commercial kind of funny, myself.

The thing that bugs me is the part at the end where they talk about how the nice people at staples transferred all the files from the old machine to the new one, for free! Wedding video? Check. Baby pictures? Our taxes? Check. In this age of identity theft, am I the only one who doesn't necessarily want to trust a Staples bench tech with all of my personal/financial information? Is it crazy of me to think that not every employee in such a big retail chain operates under the highest ethical and moral standards?

I am a person who really does believe that most people are good, but there isn't a chance in hell that I would just hand over an old computer to Staples or any other computer repair place without making sure there was nothing on it I didn't want to share. Of course, I am an IT guy, so that's easy for me to say because I can take care of these kinds of things myself. What about your average Joe, though? Am I just being paranoid, or should everybody think twice before being so trusting? What about you? Are you cool with trusting others with your computer stuff?

Never mind computers. Go ride yer bike!

R A N T W I C K

A Place For All of Your Awkward Family Moments

Feeling some family tension this Holiday Season? Estranged daughter? Desperate Dad? There's a place that can help.

Is there some really big demographic that I don't know about that will be inspired to go get a Festive Special after seeing this? It creeps me out, and I just don't get it.

What do you think? Am I just being weird, or is the commercial the weird one?

Wishing you comic relief cranberry sauce for all your awkward moments,

R A N T W I C K