Geek With A Life

ComCrits #1 - “More Fanta Less Serious”

Today I saw a Fanta Commercial. This ad has been around for a while, and it’s not the first time I’ve seen it. Now it could be that I recently had a Fanta and was thoroughly disgusted with it, but this ad really rubbed me the wrong way. It starts with a bunch of kids having fun, frolicking, and doing some recreational sports at a skate part. The one subtly identified as “the cool kid” pops open a Fanta and the situation quickly deteriorates into a cat-and-mouse game of getting the wonderful, orange, carbonated drink.

So they catch up with “the cool kid” and he drinks the last of it. Everyone looks so disappointed. BUT WAIT! HE HAS ANOTHER! He pops it open, parkours over a one-story wall to the other side, and the rest of the kids BREAK THROUGH THE FUCKING WALL TO CONTINUE CHASING HIM!

The ad closes with their slogan: “More Fanta Less Serious”.

The slogan is what really gets me. Sure, the scenario is unrealistic to begin with, but breaking through a brick wall for some soda pop is crazy. You’d have to really want that Fanta. If anything, this ad screams “FANTA IS SERIOUS BUSINESS”, so their current slogan is not being accurately portrayed by their commercial.

Sure you could argue “oh but they’re just kids having fun chasing an attractive 3D rendering of a child for some of his Fanta!” There’s that, but if you want to bring this fantasy world into reality, let’s consider a few things.

1. They’re trying to steal someone else’s drink which is worth about $0.05 and costs about $1.75.
2. Just think if they actually caught him. They’d probably have to push him, hold him down, or just rip the drink from his hands.
3. Then what? They would beat each other up over a drink until one kid gets to drink the rest while crying over their broken bones.

But it’s okay! The last kid standing has the Fanta! More Fanta Less Serious, right? Wrong. In real life, that’s called being a bully.

Not cool Fanta. Not cool.

Anonymous asked: What are people for?

I’m not going to even pretend I know the answer to a question as vague as that, but I’m going to write a long-winded answer to it anyway because I’m bored.

Let’s say a person is an abstract concept we use to describe a perceived consciousness. That’s fair, right? So what is a perceived consciousness for? Well, let’s say you are 100% certain some rock has thought processes similar to your own. You have perceived this rock as a person, therefore it is a person to you. What use does this rock have? Well, it doesn’t have arms or legs, so it can’t really do anything. Heck, it doesn’t have a mouth either so it probably can’t even speak, but you know it is thinking about something. The use of it as a person must be separated from any physical attribute it possesses. To you, this rock is just an idea, but the fact that you know it exists as a person changes you. You now know a rock has a consciousness. You can hold the rock and only imagine what it may be thinking, but since it has no sensory organs it is completely oblivious to your existence. Even so, this rock is now a part of your life. But what exactly did it change? I can’t say for sure, but it did change something, even if only for a short time before you crushed it into gravel and wondered whether you killed it or made rock babies.

In conclusion, I suppose people are for change. A vague answer to a vague question. Fitting? I think so.

Follow Up on eBay’s Spam

I looked more into their policies. So here’s the kicker - even if you delete your account, they hold onto your email due to “legal obligations” among other less reasonable reasons. They don’t say whether they keep your old email if you change it to a new one, but even if they do I’m sure the people they sell it to hold onto both.

I guess I’m just gonna have to beef up my filters is all.