Daily Dose of Common Sense

This pillow freaks me out. It’s called the Hug Me, and it’s a pillow in the shape of a man’s clothed arm.

I understand loneliness and the need for human contact. But, this pillow seems hardly the answer. It just comes off as creepy. And sad.

Please, buy a cat, fish, parrot, guinea pig…anything, instead.

Thanks to Sara B. for the link!

Tiger Woods held a press conference today (that was streamed live on the Web, no less) to apologize to us.

In case you’ve been living under a rock with no TV, Woods has had some extramarital affairs. So, why do we need an apology in such a private matter? I’m not sure. Was it a PR move for his remaining sponsors? His wife’s idea? A dare? I would believe any of those reasons over just his need for the world’s forgiveness to get on with his life. Think about it… If a friend, co-worker, relative, or total (non-famous) stranger cheated on his or her spouse, would you get an apology? Absolutely not.

Tiger, go away and play golf. We don’t care about what you do in your free time. Really, we don’t.

Sometimes I envy the days when the media would look the other way on the transgressions of famous people (Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, FDR, etc.). There are things that are just none of anyone else’s business. Think of how many tabloids would be out of business!

If it’s between this and flowers for Valentine’s Day… FLOWERS! Dear god, let it be flowers.

[Via MomLogic]

Remember the Ouija Board? It’s a staple of the middle school sleepover, to fill up the minutes when you aren’t playing “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.” Well, Hasbro has released a pink version of the game and some folks are really…well…freaked out.

Meet Stephen Phelan, communications director for Human Life International, who believes that using a Ouija Board, “will leave a person’s soul vulnerable to attack.”

“It’s not Monopoly. It really is a dangerous spiritual game and for [Hasbro] to treat it as just another game is quite dishonest.”

Some comments on the product’s Amazon page chastise Hasbro for marketing Ouija Boards to young girls. Reviewers say Hasbro should be ashamed, and one person advises to buy this only if you hate your child:

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, right? Why doesn’t Amazon.com sell automatic weapons or child porn? Because it is understood that these are very dangerous.

Um, what? Child porn and guns are the same as Ouija Boards?! That seems a bit ridiculous. And, actually, it’s not understood that these are dangerous. Has there ever, EVER, been an incident reported where something bad happened (legitimately) because of a Ouija Board? They have been debunked many times. How does a Ouija Board work?

What makes the pointer move? An effect similar to that which occurs in dowsing, known as the ideomotor effect. This is a fancy name for involuntary/unconscious movement, such as a dowser’s hand flicking enough to move his stick when he passes over an area he knows has water.

Sorry to get all “science-y” on you, but this should explain that a Ouija Board is nothing to be afraid of. It’s a game, and just a game. So, paint it pink, blue, purple, or yellow–it still won’t conjure up anything more than harmless fun. Don’t believe the experts? Then take Skeptic.com’s advice and debunk it yourself:

To prove this, simply try it blindfolded some time. Have an unbiased bystander take notes on what words or letters are selected. Usually, the results will be unintelligible.

I actually think it’s pretty smart of Hasbro to create a pink version and market it to tween girls. They know *exactly* who their audience is!

[Via BoingBoing]

With stomach flu taking over our house this week, we didn’t have much time for the news. But, of the little we saw, here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• Heinz has redesigned the ketchup packet. No longer do we need to fool with torn packets and ketchup everywhere. Behold the new packet that lets you either dunk or squeeze.

And, some did not.

• A man at a sledding party in Michigan wanted a boost of power. So, he filled a car muffler with gasoline and gunpowder, strapped it to his back, and ignited it for what he hoped would be a rocket-launch effect. He was burned over 20% of his body. No word on why NO ONE at the sledding party warned him what a bad idea this was.

AdFreak has a great graphic of what you could buy instead of a Super Bowl commercial. While I don’t like some of the suggestions, the point remains clear: Super Bowl ads are a giant waste of money.

Yes, I know some of them are iconic and some of them are wildly popular. And, the ads are a main reason that people tune into the game. Agencies know the audience numbers are unbeatable on any other day in the modern television landscape. So, the ad dollars makes sense to some companies. (How else would GoDaddy be a household word?) But, most of the ads we’ll see on Super Bowl Sunday will only end up as a blip on our busy, over-programmed, short-attention-span radar.

I don’t begrudge the network for charging the amount they do for the airtime. I’m a firm believer that the free market should decide what the going rate is. If there are companies willing to pay it, then the network should reap the benefits. But, in this recession, does it really seem wise from the company’s perspective to pay $2.6 million for a 30-second spot during the game? Yes, that is over two and a half million dollars!

That’s why Pepsi’s decision to not place Super Bowl ads this year is so great. After almost 25 years of placing ads during the Super Bowl, they have decided to put the money towards a social media campaign. Pepsi usually purchases many 30-second spots during the game, so this is a huge chunk of change the company can use throughout 2010 and beyond. Plus, the announcement has been so startling that Pepsi is now getting more Super Bowl buzz than its rival Coke.

We’ll have to wait until next year to see what effect Pepsi’s pull-out will have on the ad rates. Could this be a trend other companies will follow? Until the economy bounces back and people have jobs again, I sure hope so.

Photo

Do you want to sleep in jeans? Me neither. That’s why this product really makes me wonder.

Called Pajama Jeans, they are PJs that are also jeans. The site claims they are really comfortable, but also says the pants include:

High contrast stitching, brass rivets and an unbeatable fit.

Do you want to roll over onto a rivet in the middle of the night? Nope, didn’t think so. Also, I don’t need an unbeatable fit in my PJs. I need baggy, comfortable, and soft. Rivets and a tight fit doesn’t really do it for me.

But, maybe I’m just wrong. At the very least, these folks need to change their marketing copy. In full disclosure, I haven’t tried them, so if you have $39.95 to throw away, feel free to send some my way.

[Thanks to Leeanne for the link!]

CNN is doing a week-long series on surprising ways your stimulus dollars are being spent. Not hard to imagine that most of what will be uncovered won’t make the taxpayers happy.

For example, in Ohio, $1 million of their stimulus dollars (that you gave them) is being spent just to tell you that they are spending stimulus dollars.

Ohio was given nearly $1 billion of stimulus money for roadwork. The money used for the signs is only about one-tenth of 1 percent of that money.

But critics argue that stimulus money — all of it — was designed to finance projects, not advertise them.

It’s crazy. And, Ohio isn’t the only state creating signs to let citizens know that stimulus money is being used for certain projects. It’s estimated that $3.8 million will be spent on signs nationwide. (Guess we should all be in the sign business.)

There are some 16 states, however, who are doing it right and skipping the signs. Vermont, for example, allows taxpayers to track their state’s stimulus funds via a Web site.

Some of these politicians don’t get it. Who needs signs? We want jobs and a strong economy. Stop wasting our money!

Photo
[Via Consumerist.com]

This product cracks me up:

It’s a chewing gum that increases breast size. It’s so popular in Japan that it is sold in convenience stores. But, as with anything promising non-surgical enhancement, the jury is out on whether this works effectively. One British nutritionist said you may have to consume/use the product (whether pills, gum, or cream) every day for the rest of your life to maintain the effect. That doesn’t sound cheap. And it’s not known yet what the long-term side effects may be.

Save your money, ladies.

I wasn’t aware that labia color was a huge beauty issue. Apparently, some feel that the color fades over time and becomes less “youthful” and pink. Older ladies, are you horrified? Do you feel less attractive now that you know this fact? Yeah, me neither.

But, nonetheless, someone created this product:

It’s called “My New Pink Button” and it is a genital cosmetic designed to change the color of your labia. It even comes in different shades depending on your skin tone. The cost: $29.95.

I’m all for decorating and bedazzling your labia, if you wish. But, do it for the right reasons (fun, sex, a lark). Don’t let the “you’re old and no one wants your old-looking labia” marketing ploy be the reason.

[Via BlagHag.com]