Don’t Ask.com me, please!

Looks like advertisement these days is not an “engine for commerce” any more, it became a tool for commerce blackmailing.
Today I was installing Trillian Messenger software. So here it is: You have to agree with License Agreement (I agree) AND have to install 3rd party crap like Ask.com toolbar (WTF? I disagree!). They do not give me an option to choose not to install stuff which I do not need:

Do not Ask.com me, please

Ok, since the acceptance of just “license agreement” is not enough, no Trillian Messenger for me today.
How about Vuze (also known as Azureus torrent client) for legal sharing of HD videos? Same story: I have to accept license agreement AND install their toolbar:

Do not Vuze.com me, please

However in case of Vuze it is funny that if you do not check :”I accept license agreement..” check box, it will let you go further anyway, install and use the software. Does it mean that I found a bug in their Install Shiled script?

Guys, I do not need your toolbars, seriously. I already have bunch of disabled toolbars which I do not use. Let me choose what to install and what not to install on my computer. I understand your need to make money but think about me also, please: I have a web browser, not a junk ads storage after all. This pushy “consume our Ads or we make your web browsing experience miserable” approach may have opposite effect like old telemarketers calls.

And No, thank you, I prefer to have something else as a “default home page” rather than Ask.com, etc. And I do not need toolbars for: “daily calories calculation” (I am slim enough w/out any brutal diets), “weather” (weather predictions suck 100%, a random number generator predicts better), “search for local singles” (most of them are ugly as a halloween nightmare), etc. And I use Google to search stuff online.
And yes, I do not have too much browser window real estate left.

A Physically Handicapped Cat as a Creamer

Here is another sample of “made in china” brutal tableware creativity: a physically handicapped cat with tear off paw to serve you as a creamer.

Physically handicapped Cat as a Creamer

Design Fail factor: 9 (out of 10)

Washington Mutual Logo transformation and their possible future

Re-branding of “Washington Mutual” into “WaMu” should have serious reasons. One of the reasons perhaps could be that most of the bank’s mortgage clients (who “no qualifying: OK, no credit history: OK, bankruptcy: OK”) could hardly read and pronounce “Washington Mutual” in English. The word “WaMu” of course is easier to read and remember.

The next logical step will be to do re-branding into “WM”:

WaMu logo transformation

Logo shrinkage follows the bank financial situation (check out the ticker symbol – they are actually traded as “WM”):

WaMu chart

Links:
Washington Mutual, Bank (www.wamu.com)
Waste Management, Garbage company (www.wastemanagement.com)

WM truck

Maximum Security Apartments

Maximum security apartments?

The name “Iron Gate” sounds secure. Too secure. Suspiciously secure. I am curious, does this apartment complex have electric fence and gun towers as well?

How it appears:
1. Good name for state penitentiary facility. For example: Iron Gate maximum security prison (like Pelican Bay, San Quentin, Corcoran, Folsom, etc).
2. Surrounding neighborhood safety sucks

California Disaster Potato Chips

California disaster chips

I bought this bag of potato chips at a nearby gas station just because of it’s brand name.
Wow! Let me take it from here. Here is an idea for the company to expand product line with the following:

• “New Orleans Chips: Mama of all Floods”
• “Southern California Chips: Wildfire on 1000 acres”
• “San Francisco Chips: #1 Earthquake and now Final”
• “Texas Chips: Hurricane Ike”

Possible initial Design idea: “The Earthquake taste of our chips will knock you down”.

Where the Fail is: In California, the word “earthquake” means “disaster“. However this is good name for a first aid and survival kits.

What is the fun to play with McDonald’s food?

McDonald's Toys

The McDonald’s marketers’ idea is obvious: they want kids to start learning what McDonald’s is from the early age. Once kids grow up they will start playing with the real McDonald’s food, gaining weight themselves and letting McDonald’s gain some hefty profits.

And what is the fun to play with food anyway? Like Tom Hanks’s character in the movie “Big” asks: “What’s the fun to play with buildings?”

What is the fun to play with McDonald's food?

‘Bad Ass’ Advertisement

Bad Ass Advertisement

I took this picture at Lahaina, Hawaii. This is one of many gift stores with huge variety of made-in-china kinda crap like ‘Aloha’ fridge door magnets, cheap shell necklaces, post cards and macadamia nuts.
The idea to put used (yes, they are quite used!) “Bad Ass” shorts on display is funny but from marketing perspective it seems that it isn’t. I was hanging out nearby for an hour or so watching how this works on shoppers. Most of the vacationers definitely noticed the shorts (a few of them even took pictures) and then proceeded to do their shopping elsewhere.

Conclusion: Good idea for an alternative art gallery or a night club.