Fox Bans Obscene Super Bowl Ad

Adult concepts below.  Keep the kiddos away from this installment.

I'm sure you've heard about the ad that Fox has banned from being broadcast during the Super Bowl.  You haven't?  Well then, YDP reader, prepare thyself to be offended.  Here it is. 

Heaven forbid that such an ad would taint commercial breaks that contain wholesome stuff like yet another Go Daddy ad featuring Danica Patrick in her 17th installment of a faux lipstick lesbian porn episode. 



Gang, I'm not a prude.  Sex sells, and always has.  I get that.  But there is zip wrong about the first ad, especially juxtaposed against the annual Go Daddy nerd titillation. Someone has some significant issues discerning "offensive."  But, more likely, they don't have the guts to take the "politically correct" heat for daring to air a religious message in front of the world's largest TV audience. 

Cowards.     

A Vikings Fan's Report from Behind Enemy Lines

It has been amazing being a Minnesotan, especially a Vikings fan, living in Green Bay during this Super Bowl run.  I’ve learned a lot about the people of my new home; some confirming, but most enlightening.   

Here are my observations, fresh from behind enemy lines.  

• We know Packer fans are fanatical.  But have you ever really talked to one?  Odds are good that they know an encyclopedic amount about football.  Men, women, kids, doesn’t matter.  And not just about the Packers.  This city knows a shocking amount about the NFL.  It’s astonishing.  Remind me not to join a fantasy football league while I'm here.  
• While this city wants to win the game (check that, there’s a palpable feel that they’re going to win), there is an overarching aura of pride that will gracefully (and correctly) accept this season for what it was – an improbable and incredible run for a team decimated by injuries.  
• Added corollary: there are no detractors here.  None in the media, none on your street, none at work.  Zero.  It is like living in a state full of Sid Hartmans. 
• I’ve counted just about every Sunday, and the ratio those wearing Packers attire to church is one in six (that ratio will likely be destroyed this Sunday).  As a retailer in the region, I can attest to the popularity of green and gold apparel, accessories, anything. I've been in retail most of my career, and I've never seen anything like it.  
• The economic activity of what has transpired these past playoff weeks is massive.  If you retail anything in Green Bay - liquor, food, clothes, gear, beads at the gas station, you name it - your numbers are up a missive amount from the same time in the previous year.  As we're privately held, I can't get into work details, but trust me when I say the impact this team has had on our financials these past weeks is shocking.  You've heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday?  Suffice it to say if the Packers win, it will likely lead to a Green Sunday.
• Those unfamiliar with Green Bay assume that since it is an NFL franchise city, it must be significant in size.  You couldn't be more wrong.  Green Bay is 105,000 people soaking wet.  Imagine your own example of a city of similar size, then imagine plopping your favorite NFL franchise smack dab in the middle of it.  That explains a lot of the pride and fanaticism.  

The bottom line to all of this is that, yeah, Green Bay fans are certifiable, they're also loyal (win or lose), learned, and while it is hard to admit, endearing.  I know that will likely get me kicked out of the Jared Allen fan club, but it's the truth.  

As a Vikings fan, watching the whirlwind of what happening all around me, I can't help but be a little green as well.  

Unfortunately, my green is from envy.    

Thanks for Firing Me

Five years ago today I was called into the office of my boss and fired pretty much because CMO’s can do that kind of stuff. At the time it was unfair, uncomfortable, and borderline illegal. 

And it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to my career. 

Here’s to blessings in disguise.

Dads Get No Advertising Respect

In the latest article from eMarketer, dads bemoan the fact that ads are not speaking to or directed at them:

Few dads in the Yahoo! study felt ads in many consumer goods categories spoke to them, despite being the primary or shared decision-maker. For instance, 66% of dads felt ignored by apparel advertising, yet 57% of dads claimed they are the primary decision-maker and an additional 37% shared decision-making in the category. With child and baby care, 57% of dads felt alienated by ads, yet 80% were either primary or shared decision-makers.

Surprised?  You shouldn't be.  Watch your TV tonight and see how the middle aged white male is treated in commercials.  He's always the clueless idiot, the bumbling fool, the butt of the joke.  Women, kids, minorities, or anyone else is rarely reflected in a poor light. This has been happening for years.  My wife and I now keep note of it, and call out the "men are dumb in commercials" examples when we see it.  It happens at least once every commercial block.

This tactic, while politically safe, is serving to drive a wedge between advertisers and a significant share of their potential customers.

Al Gore Grasps at Straws

Our esteemed ex-Vice President claimed in his latest blog post that the recent heavy winter weather activity was caused by, wait for it, global warming.   

Last week on his show Bill O’Reilly asked, “Why has southern New York turned into the tundra?” and then said he had a call into me. I appreciate the question.  As it turns out, the scientific community has been addressing this particular question for some time now and they say that increased heavy snowfalls are completely consistent with what they have been predicting as a consequence of man-made global warming:

In fact, scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe. Snow has two simple ingredients: cold and moisture. Warmer air collects moisture like a sponge until it hits a patch of cold air. When temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of moisture creates a lot of snow.”  “A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species.”

This is quickly becoming a pathetic exercise for the Goracle.  Basically any weather that isn't absolutely average is because of man's burning of fossil fuels.   

The man is in the middle of his Wizard of Oz moment, with a normal (albeit hard) winter tugging at the curtain of global warming and revealing the charlatans behind.  He's watching his integrity, reason for adulation, and even his personal fortune erode with every additional inch of snow that falls.   

I was thinking about this demise as I was snowblowing my driveway this morning for about the 10th time this year (a personal record).  While I'm sure it is painful for him, it's still insufficient for the fraud that he's perpetrated (and continues to push) on the world. This tool is due for a significant comeuppance.  Like maybe shoveling my driveway.

Annual "Hunting with Kin" Trip

We just returned from our annual hunting trip to the bayou. The ducks didn't cooperate as much as we would have liked, but I'm not sure we had a better time. Here are some photos:

KQ Morning Show - Cure for Minnesota Homesickness

There is a lot that I miss about the Twin Cities.  I miss major league baseball and hockey.  I miss the music scene.  I miss the good restaurants.  I miss the lakes.  Hell, I even miss the StarTribune.  But one of the things I really missed was the KQRS morning show.  

It is juvenile, sophomoric, repetitious, and unequivocally Minnesotan.  And successful.  From a ratings standpoint, this show consistently decimated its competition at a level that was (and is) the envy of just about every other radio show in the nation.  And one of the reasons that they're not known outside of the state is that they never took the show outside of the market.  Their head guy very adeptly knew that part of the popularity of the show was that it was Minnesotan.  The jokes wouldn't work in Detroit, and they weren't going to change the jokes.   

Every morning I used to drink coffee, eat my breakfast, read the paper, and listen to the show as part of my daily routine.  Yeah, they've been laughing at the same jokes for 20 years now, but bits and drops from their show have become part of Minnesota vernacular.  Don't believe me?  Then go up to a Minnesotan and say something like "you know damn right," "a pair of choppers," or "everyone's a winner," and see what kind of reaction you get.   

On a recent morning when I was struck with a greater-than-usual amount of homesickness, I wondered aloud what the KQ morning show was up to.  Lo and behold, my wife's laptop happened to be in the kitchen, and with a few clicks of the mouse, Tom, Terri and the crew were back in the kitchen with me.   

You can listen along with me here.   

At least one of my daily routines is back.  Now if I could just get the dog to fetch the newspaper every morning from the mailbox...  

Minnesota Game and Fish Fund - Increase Fees on Those Who Use It Most

The Minnesota Game and Fish fund is running dry, and there is a debate on in the state as to what to do about it. The easy answer is to merely increase license fees, but in an era where we need to recruit more to our sports, this most adversely impacts those whom we're most in need of bringing to our ranks. Another easy answer is to "stick it to the non-residents" by increasing licenses for those coming in from out of Minnesota, but given the fragile condition of the resort business, do we really want to encourage the resorts' best customers to look elsewhere for their family vacation?


Personally, I think the best option is acquire these funds by increasing license fees on boats, ATVs, snowmobiles, and recreational vehicles. Use of these vehicles in some instances causes environmental damage, so the increase tax is closely tied to work that needs to be done because of their use. The solution would also protect recruitment as novices lack this kind of expensive hardware when they're first starting out. Finally, as any owner of these vehicles can attest, owning and operating one comes with the expectation that there are going to be substantive ongoing expenses associated with it. Increasing fees by the cost of a gallon or two of boat gas should easily be accommodated by that group as part of ownership.