I was in the supermarket the other day and noticed that Log Cabin pancake syrup (made with corn syrup) was packaged in the same sort of tan-colored bottles you normally find real maple syrup in. This reminded me of that.
It was reviewed a solid *STAR*??!? Oh, my garters! (Mais honi soit qui mal y pense, messieurs.)
How many times have I seen DVDs of very poorly made classic stories, "coincidentally" marketed at the exact same time as a major studio's market-flooding blockbuster version! Have you seen that Indian CG film of the "Adventures of Sinbad"? Stunning graphics from a costly software, but animated by a spastic one-armed stone statue (a weeping angel, perhaps?), and with an awful plot to VanGogh your own ears off. Definitely not Dreamworks quality. :-P
They also pull that stunt with videogames. A way to shamelessly hijack some of the multi-million advertising campaigns paid for by someone else. And they're helped by that dang quirk editors have of releasing their titles under several different international names.
That'll be a permanent reminder and lesson for all of us, to look attentively before spending.
15 years ago, I saw here a series of small toys under the name "Heroes Of The World - Fighter", that rather closely resembled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys found on the market at the same time. Even the logo was a brazen knock-off, with the same font and shape used for that similar-sounding name. And how about those clunky and highly brittle robot toys named "TRANSFORMECHS"? (Read it again, I'm sure you were fooled the first time.) Yup, again with exactly the same font and style as "some popular franchised brand"... I've lost count of all the "Supider-Man" and "Bat-Master" bottom-quality butt-ugly plastic men I've seen everywhere in Beirut over the decades.
Mind you, there HAVE been some pretty nice quality knock-offs, especially in toys. Check out the action figure series from the brands "The Corps!" or "Power Team Elite", they're just as fine as G.I.Joes, truly impeccable quality, but sold WAY cheaper... and they come up with their own designs, too. Basically, those brands cut down their store prices by saving on the silly massive ad campaigns... and thanks to their quality, they fly off the shelves. (Literally: they sprout off these little plastic wings, spread them and... No wait, I'm mistaking with the Gorgonites in Small Soldiers! ;-)
A very welcome trend, after that recent and abrupt 50% rise in the average prices of toys a couple years ago... smack in the middle of a financial crisis hosing out the eagerness of buyers! I guess the "bigreed companies" made a winning bet on the weak will of parents against their campaign-brainwashed spoiled brats. Score one for consumerism, we HAVE become sheep. Baaaaaa? Yes, in the Big City! :-P
Having my brother's kids to spoil at b-days and x-mas, I've developed a keen eye for high quality/price ratios. And of course dump sales!!!
2 comments:
I was in the supermarket the other day and noticed that Log Cabin pancake syrup (made with corn syrup) was packaged in the same sort of tan-colored bottles you normally find real maple syrup in. This reminded me of that.
It was reviewed a solid *STAR*??!? Oh, my garters!
(Mais honi soit qui mal y pense, messieurs.)
How many times have I seen DVDs of very poorly made classic stories, "coincidentally" marketed at the exact same time as a major studio's market-flooding blockbuster version! Have you seen that Indian CG film of the "Adventures of Sinbad"? Stunning graphics from a costly software, but animated by a spastic one-armed stone statue (a weeping angel, perhaps?), and with an awful plot to VanGogh your own ears off. Definitely not Dreamworks quality. :-P
They also pull that stunt with videogames. A way to shamelessly hijack some of the multi-million advertising campaigns paid for by someone else. And they're helped by that dang quirk editors have of releasing their titles under several different international names.
That'll be a permanent reminder and lesson for all of us, to look attentively before spending.
15 years ago, I saw here a series of small toys under the name "Heroes Of The World - Fighter", that rather closely resembled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys found on the market at the same time. Even the logo was a brazen knock-off, with the same font and shape used for that similar-sounding name.
And how about those clunky and highly brittle robot toys named "TRANSFORMECHS"? (Read it again, I'm sure you were fooled the first time.) Yup, again with exactly the same font and style as "some popular franchised brand"...
I've lost count of all the "Supider-Man" and "Bat-Master" bottom-quality butt-ugly plastic men I've seen everywhere in Beirut over the decades.
Mind you, there HAVE been some pretty nice quality knock-offs, especially in toys. Check out the action figure series from the brands "The Corps!" or "Power Team Elite", they're just as fine as G.I.Joes, truly impeccable quality, but sold WAY cheaper... and they come up with their own designs, too. Basically, those brands cut down their store prices by saving on the silly massive ad campaigns... and thanks to their quality, they fly off the shelves.
(Literally: they sprout off these little plastic wings, spread them and... No wait, I'm mistaking with the Gorgonites in Small Soldiers! ;-)
A very welcome trend, after that recent and abrupt 50% rise in the average prices of toys a couple years ago... smack in the middle of a financial crisis hosing out the eagerness of buyers! I guess the "bigreed companies" made a winning bet on the weak will of parents against their campaign-brainwashed spoiled brats. Score one for consumerism, we HAVE become sheep.
Baaaaaa?
Yes, in the Big City! :-P
Having my brother's kids to spoil at b-days and x-mas, I've developed a keen eye for high quality/price ratios. And of course dump sales!!!
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