The New Battle Part II

The other day I mentioned my dislike of stores having “Black Friday” sales early Thanksgiving evening.  Today, pop-up ads will get to feel my wrath.  They suck – here’s why:

I have a computer that is pretty old.  Though my internet speed is pretty fast, it takes a while for the processor in my computer to process all of the data that streams to the computer.  I like to log on the computer, read what I need to read in e-mail and news sites, and get off to do things I have to do.
Pop-up ads are speed bumps on the information superhighway.  (It’s been a while since anyone has used the term, “Information Superhighway”, hasn’t it?)  Things go smooth until the computer hangs waiting for an ad to pop up.  the most annoying part of these pop-up ads is that they are NEVER for anything I want or use.  I have yet to spend a dime from ads shoved in my face.  I am baffled that people buy products from ads that are annoying.

How many of you have you ever tried the product above?  I never had, largely because I could only stand,hearing  “HEAD-ON! APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!” once or twice before the urge to throw the remote control through the television screen becomes strong enough to give the person applying the product a worse headache.

Advertising is a large part of life.  I have no problems with ads that are properly placed and aren’t annoying.  If I wanted to get irritated, I would have gotten married.  When I’m at home or at work, I want things to go as smoothly and as pleasantly as possible.  Prostitution is a multibillion dollar-per-year business without using ads because prostitutes know that they can’t sell their services if the johns get annoyed.
My solution is strong, but it will work with help from those of you who are annoyed as I am:

1. Boycott the products that are popping up,  That alone will not be enough as I don’t buy pop-ups, but it’s the foundation of steps needed to stop pop-ups.
2. Write to the webmaster stating your displeasure in popup ads.
3. (If the first two steps do not work) Boycott the static ads that aren’t popping up.  One might say that it’s unfair that legitimate ads be boycotted, but so is shoving ads in your face and hogging up resources on your computer.
4. Quit visiting that website.  If nobody goes to a website, nobody will buy ads because nobody will see ads.

I haven’t made many campaign promises, but I promise to be less annoying than either the Republican, Democratic, or Green Party candidates. (And equally as annoying as the Libertarian Party candidate.)  Together, we can quit getting annoyed.

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The New Battle Part I

There are two topics that I would like to discuss because the other candidates will not take the time to address.  “Black Friday” and “Pop-Up Ads.”  These need to be addressed because they bother me and they probably bother you as well.  I will cover “Black Friday” today.

Black Friday (The day after Thanksgiving in the United States or the day after Columbus Day in Canada) is traditionally the day that retail stores make a profit for the year as more people shop on that day than on any other day of the year.

It used to be that stores would start decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving week.  Most stores are fully decorated for Christmas by Halloween and some stores start decorating as soon as the Back-to-School sales period ends.

Once upon a time, Black Friday sales started on Friday.  It started at Noon many years ago,  Than it got moved to 8:00AM, than 6AM, than 5AM, and finally, Midnight.  The retail stores realized that they were running out of Friday to start.  Black Friday started at 8:00PM a few years ago and 6:00PM last year.

It was bad enough having to stay up to get in line for a Black Friday sale in the cold Northeastern nights.  Moving it to Thanksgiving Thursday cuts into very valuable time with the family watching football.

Here is my plan to stop Black Friday Sales during football Thanksgiving:  I will boycott and store that has a Black Friday sale before 6:00AM on Friday.  This boycott will not just be for Black Friday.  It will not be just for the holiday season.  It will be for as long as they insist on ruining the Thanksgivings of their employees and of the loved ones of people who shop on Thursday.

Thanksgiving Before Christmas

Please forgive my tardiness for this post, but it could be applied for future holiday seasons.  I have come up with a proposal that will make things more sane in future Thanksgiving weekends.  But it will require action (or more accurately, inaction) on your part.  It will also have to do some publicity so that everybody will know we mean business.  Below are some of my demands – if you have any you wish to add, please feel free to add them in the comments section.

• No Christmas / Holiday ads until after the Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The Christmas / Holiday season shall be kicked off when Santa Claus ends the parade and enters Macy’s (and not before.)  
• No Black Friday sales until 6:00AM the Friday after Thanksgiving.  This is not just for the shoppers, but for store employees who want to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families.
• I know that turkeys are a part of the Thanksgiving tradition, but could Fox Sports have someone else besides Joe Buck and Troy Aikman brodcast the Thanksgiving games?  Those are not the turkeys Americans want to see.

I plan on boycotting any company who runs Christmas / Holiday ads before noon on Thanksgiving.  I also plan on boycotting any store that has their Black Friday sale before 6:00AM on Friday morning for the entire holiday season.  Although I will not boycott games broadcast with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, I will watch the game with the volume off.  Advertisers will have a hard time getting me to buy their stuff if I can’t hear the commercials.

If this is something you are interested in, please let me know and I will start a formal petition to give to stores and companies who run Christmas ads.

Yet Another Obstacle

A last ditch effort to get involved in the upcoming Presidential Debates fell short.  Although this particular effort wouldn’t have gotten me in the debates, it would have my presence at one of them.

My campaign manager is a blogger and had applied for media credentials for the debate that is to take place at Hofstra University next month.  He was going to go there early and talk to the other bloggers and media people about my campaign.  He was then going to liveblog the debate and include my answers that I would send to him via text.

He received this response from the Council on Presidential Debates:

Unfortunately your application for Media Credentials for the Presidential and/or Vice Presidential Debates has been “DENIED” for the location(s) you chose to attend.

If you have any questions about your application or feel this was sent to you in error, please send your contact information and request to:mediarequest@debates.org. We will reply to valid requests only and reserve the right to offer no explanation for security reasons.

I find this insulting for the following reasons:

• “DENIED” is in quotes and in all caps.  Why couldn’t they just type denied?  Their method rubs salt in the wound.
• They wouldn’t explained why he was denied, just that he was denied.
• They “reserve the right to offer no explanation for “security reasons”.  My campaign manager (to the best of my knowledge) is not a member of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, or The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  He loves this country and will love it more once I am elected President.

I had called for a boycott of the sponsors of the 2008 debates sponsored by the Council on Presidential Debates.  Hopefully you are still boycotting them as I continue to boycott.  Below is the 2008 list.  I will add the 2012 list to boycott when it becomes available:

2008 National Sponsors

Anheuser-Busch Companies
BBH New York
The Howard G. Buffet Foundation
Sheldon S. Cohen, Esq.
EDS, an HP Company
International Bottled Water Association
The Kovler Fund
YWCA USA

I strongly urge President Obama and Mitt Romney to boycott these debates and instead go to debates that will allow third party candidates and independents like myself to debate.  If they refuse to boycott, then I strongly urge you to boycott voting for Republicans and Democrats in any election until they are willing to debate others.  It’s odd that the two parties that have gotten America into this mess are the only two parties allowed to debate.  It’s a sad day for America.  😦

The Cinemafia Has Infected Television

The Cinemafia had kept its damage to the movie industry until recently.  Any damage it had done to the music and television industries had been subtle and I apologize for not addressing those issues sooner.

Last week MTV premiered a show called “Skins.”  This show has all of the makings of a Cinemafia production.  Underage children drinking, doing drugs, and frolicking naked has no business in the entertainment industry.  None.

To the credit of most major advertisers, they have been pulling their ads from “Skins”.  People do not want to see naked children doing drugs and having sex.  If we see a pup-tent shaking in a teenager’s bedroom, we want it to be because there is an earthquake, not because there two underage children are re-enacting “Afternoon Delight.”

Kudos to Wrigley Gum, H&R Block, and Subway for pulling their ads from the show.  They are all fine organizations and their spokespeople have apologized for sponsoring the first show.  I can understand this.  As somebody who works in marketing and advertising, I know there is a certain assumption that my clients have in where their products are advertised.  They expect that television shows will not be viewing shows containing child pornography.

I do not know which companies are planning to advertise on “Skins”.  I won’t know first hand as I have no intention of watching doped up naked children just to find out who to boycott.  If you know who is still running ads on “Skins”, please leave a comment below.  I’d boycott MTV altogether, but J-Woww is a hottie.  She’s also over the age of 18.

Be Careful Who You Boycott

I have been encouraging boycotting the CineMafia for the last two years.  What I mean by “CineMafia” is any movie whose trailer or commercial is shown on television.  It has come to my attention that there are other entities that (for some strange reason), unashamedly call themselves “CineMafia” in one form or another despite having no affiliation with the CineMafia.  The irony is that the only CineMafia group that isn’t calling itself the “Cinemafia” is the Cinemafia I have been blogging about for the last two years.

Below are a list of organizations that call themselves “Cinemafia” that should not be boycotted and whose goods and services should be encouraged:

1. Cinemafia Photography – The photography and writings of Alex Wichman.
2. CineMafia – A video and animation company in Bulgaria.  My research has shown that not only have they no association with the CineMafia which has reeked havoc on American entertainment, but many of their videos are entertaining and are free to watch.
3. CineMafia (The Band) – A band that plays music.
4. CineMafia (Russia) – A Russian film organization.  Gives out “Georges”, the Russian version of the “Oscars”.
5. CineMafia Logo Design – A logo design company.

Times are tough for everybody.  The last thing a company needs is to be boycotted because of actions of others bearing their names.  I urge you to support the “CineMafia” companies listed above as well as other companies not listed that are not connected to the Motion Picture Association of America.

The Battle of the Fiat Currencies

As of the time I started writing this, the Canadian dollar and the American dollar had the exact same value.  Once upon a time, a Canadian dollar was worth only 65 cents.  A few years ago, it was worth $1.10.  It had gone down to 89 cents before rising to what it is worth now – a dollar.

While Canadians are rejoicing because they finally have something that is equal to something American, it’s a sad day for Americans and a black eye on our soul.

As much as it pains me to do this, I will be boycotting hockey until this situation is rectified.  It is especially painful because my Capitals are on the verge of winning the Presidents’ Cup and are a favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

I will lead by example.  I’m not going to call for a boycott unless I plan on boycotting as well.  Anybody seeing me at the Verizon Center during a Capitals playoff game will be relieved to know that the only reason I am at the game is because somebody else bought the ticket for me and I am not spending me ever-weakening dollars on a Canadian sport.