Stickybuffalo.com

Saw this ad the other day, ah yes I recall now, it was actually on slashdot, which probably makes it even more interesting and amusing above and beyond the inherent character of the ad itself:

Not a likely SB advertiser even if we ran ads, no

I mean, just: yeah. So many possible comments to make. Dating site ads are frequently amusing, anyway. The ads for Russian women, and the many ads dominated by a (sometimes literally) in-your-face view of big round breasts. This one seems to combine a little from both of those, with a fascinating if deeply cynical view of male-female “romantic” relations. I really kind of admire the fact that in this case, the absolutely blatant sex-object photo which characterizes many dating-site ads is not in any way “disowned” by relatively “vanilla” text. No, it’s right there in capital letters: “SUGAR DADDY DATING.”

This would basically seem to be, and to claim to be, nothing more nor less than online shopping for high-priced concubines. Which doesn’t seriously offend me, mind; freedom of consenting adults and all that. And, offensive or no, I’m not sure what else to call it. The message seems to be entirely clear: you’ve made lots of money, mister man, and in exchange for access to generous portions of it, you can have access to her, or someone like her, i.e. a hot-bodied young collection of curves willing to indulge you about as far as you’re willing to allow her to enjoy your bank account.

Well, okay. And why not. “It’s like Cube says: ‘life ain’t nothin’ but bitchez and money,’” right? At any rate, there are certainly people who see things that way, and as I don’t know that I can really insist they adopt some “superior” perspective, here’s an enterprise catering to them and comfortable about saying so. Yay, capitalism, right?

I do wonder about advertising on slashdot, as it seems to suggest a little uncertainty about the target market, or at least which target market is being addressed. The ad seems to suggest cigar-smoking young (or at least libidinous) hedge-fund managers, whereas advertising on slashdot seems to suggest Mark Zuckerberg types who’ve parlayed their nerdiness into a pile of cash but otherwise lack even the pretension of stereotypical “established” alpha-male social status. But, then, maybe the ad is intended to play on that sense of inadequacy, as much as on pornography-inflamed horny fantasies. Could be.

I know that I’m definitely not the target market, in any event, so I suppose any attempt at interpretation on my part is just a lot of guesswork.

Hey parents!

Yes, you. Do any of you have insight on the “Happy Meal: Threat or Menace” story? I’m not sure that any Buffalo Kids are old enough yet to start whining about going to McDonald’s for a Shrek toy, yet, but I figured I would at least ask since I don’t know the first thing about parenting and thus my own thoughts on the Happy Meal kerfuffle must be considered somewhat incompletely informed.

Honestly I’m not sure what to think. I don’t like McDonald’s; they don’t quite rank down there with walmart, e.g., but I have no sympathy for them. And they clearly do make every effort to intentionally recruit children into emotional blackmail directed at their own parents, which is self-evidently despicable.

On the other hand, banning Happy Meals just seems like another perfect example of the kind of busybody do-gooder overreach that gives liberalism a bad name. Moreover, popular opinion aside, it doesn’t even sit that well with me; our society genuinely does seem to be on a slippery slope leading to near-criminalization of fat and sugar. Laughable, perhaps, looking at America, but the “we know best” crowd seem to have learned their lesson from the failure of Prohibition. Rather than moving too fast and losing the whole game, the campaign against tobacco has slowly squeezed it out of mainstream American culture over a period of generations. (more…)