1.08.2003
INFOBANALITY
I went through the roof yesterday. Not in the literal, get yourself to the hospital sense, but the more common for me - Distressed at the decline of society fashion most of you are familiar with.
This is what set me off.
I was watching 24 on FOX, which I now realize is about the only broadcast show i watch with any regularity anymore. I get FOX off of my sattelite dish, as east and west coast feeds, i was watching the east coast feed out of New York. FOX affiliates are usually running local news after the 9pm slot, and so i was given blurbs at every commercial break to remind me that NEWS was on it's way. Here is the part that brought me to the brink. EVERY single blurb focused on the announcement of the new and improved Gameboy Advance SP by Nintendo. This was pretty much not news. It was advertising. If I had a product to push on the marketplace, I could not have bough the amount of exposure that Nintendo was given pretty much free of charge on a major market network station. It made me sick. Every time I watch the news, I am reminded of just how prophectic the movie Network was more that 25 years ago. American news is no longer about the free flow of ideas and the exchange of information on the issues of the day. It is smiling, plastic, giggling personalities trying to push an agenda that has little basis in reality. It is about ratings and marketshare as anything in primetime is.
More importantly it reminds me of a Bill Hicks joke -(with apologies to Dave)
"How many of you out there in marketing and advertising?
Do me a favor, when you get home tonight, kill yourself."
It's no surprise that Bill was not a widley marketed purveyor of comedy, but he is one of the brightest minds to ever do standup.
go and tell me all about it
I went through the roof yesterday. Not in the literal, get yourself to the hospital sense, but the more common for me - Distressed at the decline of society fashion most of you are familiar with.
This is what set me off.
I was watching 24 on FOX, which I now realize is about the only broadcast show i watch with any regularity anymore. I get FOX off of my sattelite dish, as east and west coast feeds, i was watching the east coast feed out of New York. FOX affiliates are usually running local news after the 9pm slot, and so i was given blurbs at every commercial break to remind me that NEWS was on it's way. Here is the part that brought me to the brink. EVERY single blurb focused on the announcement of the new and improved Gameboy Advance SP by Nintendo. This was pretty much not news. It was advertising. If I had a product to push on the marketplace, I could not have bough the amount of exposure that Nintendo was given pretty much free of charge on a major market network station. It made me sick. Every time I watch the news, I am reminded of just how prophectic the movie Network was more that 25 years ago. American news is no longer about the free flow of ideas and the exchange of information on the issues of the day. It is smiling, plastic, giggling personalities trying to push an agenda that has little basis in reality. It is about ratings and marketshare as anything in primetime is.
More importantly it reminds me of a Bill Hicks joke -(with apologies to Dave)
"How many of you out there in marketing and advertising?
Do me a favor, when you get home tonight, kill yourself."
It's no surprise that Bill was not a widley marketed purveyor of comedy, but he is one of the brightest minds to ever do standup.
go and tell me all about it
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