Among the last things to go in the Depression was — lipstick.
“It was not particularly expensive, but it was a prized possession,” says Jeremy E. Adamson, director for collections and services at the Library of Congress. “You feel bad anyway, but you make yourself look a little bit better. It says, ‘I care about myself.’ Those little things are terribly important.”
The article notes that the scholarship on the subject of last possessions is scanty because most research in the field is regarding consumerism and acquisition of objects.
What I found most interesting is the juxtaposition of this article with the advertisement that appears on the same page – an ad for what is proclaimed to be “the first feel-good film of the year,” Confessions of a Shopaholic.
I typed the URL the ad gives for the movie – shopaholicmovie.com – into my browser and it redirected to bluefly.com, a popular discount-designer label shopping site, which I suppose really is the most logical place to host the movie’s website.
It’s the final season of Battlestar Galactica and SciFi is scrambling to monetize every last moment.
“Buy artifacts from Earth!” they keep cajoling. Er, no thanks, I have plenty.
In addition to all of the prop and costume auctions, SciFi and Kentucky Fried Chicken are apparently running a sweepstakes. I hadn’t paid any attention to it – living in a time-shifted viewing universe I generally ignore the commercials. One of my knitting buddies was over today to catch up on this season and I failed to fast-forward through one of the commercial breaks in the first episode. Our jaws all dropped when we saw the commercial.
I just hit the SciFi channel website to see if they’re still running the promotion. I see that they’re now calling it the “Can’t say that word on tv” sweepstakes. I’d like to imagine that the Battlestar Galactica writers laughed so hard they ruptured their spleens when the SciFi marketing braintrust rolled out what they originally called the “frak pak”.
Now, obviously, you can say the word on television, because they do. That’s the point of the word. SciFi is basic cable, so having characters utter the word fuck every 6 seconds on a 42 minute program would break the bank. On the other hand, I don’t know if I’m willing to give SciFi enough credit to believe that they rolled this out on purpose so that they could then change the name with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge bit of viral publicity.
Husband suggested I embed this video for those who don’t know the show. Here’s a montage of BSG characters using the word Frak. (It’s pretty amusing, anyway).
So why don’t I think this was a calculated plan on the part of SciFi and KFC?
For starters, I don’t think KFC is that cutting edge in their thinking, nor do I think their shareholders would probably dig that plan.
Secondly, SciFi is the channel that killed the clever, witty and original Dresden Files in favor of Sanctuary. I rest my case.
Still, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that my inner 13 year old found this frakkin hysterical. It’s really a miracle I’m able to get through this post without pointing out to KFC that they missed the boat with this one, because they do allegedly sell chicken at their establishment and the phrase “box of cocks” rhymes as nicely as “frak pak” and could be a cross-promotional bonanza.
Maybe that’s not as funny as I think it is – I proposed it to Husband and he just stared at me while I laughed hysterically.
I think I ate too many cookies today.
If you so desire, you can learn about how the FCC determines if the usage of a word is profane or obscene by reading the Golden Globes Award Order, which was the result of the legal wrangling after Bono used what the FCC refers to officially as the “F-word” (in quotation marks) during the Golden Globes. Or, you can just say “frak pak” a lot and giggle hysterically, which is what I’ve been doing.
This morning, I happened to glance at the KidsPost page. KisPost is a feature that generally appears on the back page of the Washington PostStyle section. Here’s a pdf of today’s KidsPost – is it me, or does that seem like a strange place for that particular ad?
The other day I was stuck in one of the mysterious traffic back-ups that happen for no reason in Bethesda. I was behind a big dumptruck with a very neat and professional sign on the back. Maybe I was just tired, or maybe there was something intrinsically clever about the design of that sign, but I started to feel that weird consumer mania coming over me – the one that fills you with the compulsion to own whatever object they’re selling, no matter how ridiculous. Well, the sign on the truck said “For all of your dirt needs, call…” Yes, after about 30 minutes behind this truck I realized I was sitting there thinking, “Yes, I have dirt needs. I have dirt needs. I have dirt needs.” Luckily, I snapped out of it.