Advertising Bullshit- Case 1: Corn Pop Caper (695 hits)
Category: Business & FinancialRating: 0.25 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by myredmirage95 (View user info) at 2008-07-27 01:53:05 EDT
Case 1: Corn Pops box advertising
Problem: Bullshit advertising or misprint/typo?
Suspects: Printers, advertising
A few days ago my mom got me a little 8 pack of cereal like I had when I was a kid because she doesn't want me to grow up and I immediately grabbed for my favorite of the pack: Corn Pops. As I was nibbling away I just so happened to notice this wonderful little advertisement on the front of the box reading... "Big Yellow Taste"...(see picture below)
As I sat nibbling, I couldn't seem to grasp what they meant...big yellow taste? When did yellow start tasting like something? What other colors have tastes that we don't know about??? This is just fucked up!!!
As always, when things are fucked up, answers are what is needed...like answers to such questions as "What idiot decided yellow had a taste???", "If it really does have a taste, what is it supposed to taste like cuz I'm not getting anything here?", "How much is that previously mentioned moron making per year?", and "Are you hiring because I'm pretty sure I can come up with some better bullshit than that!"
So I then sent the following email to the company regarding this "Big YELLOW Taste!" claim made on the front of every box.
"I really enjoy your cereal Corn Pops, but I recently noticed the advertisement on the box that claims "Big yellow taste". I'm just curious...what is yellow supposed to taste like? I seriously want to know. I'm not being silly or meaning to waste your time but seriously, what makes your cereal taste "yellow" and what exactly should I be looking for to compare this product with other yellow colored products like bananas or squash or some cheese products? Please get back with me about this so I can have a better understanding at your advertising aims."
After waiting 3 days I received this reply...
Ms. Dunn,
Thank you for contacting regarding our Kellogg's Corn Pops ™ Cereal. We appreciate your interest in our company and products.
In naming our products, we try to choose words that describe the cereal and can be protected by a trademark. Big Yellow Taste ™ is referring to the appearance of the product. When we talked to kids about the cereal in focus groups, they used this phrase to describe it. Since it is a kids cereal, and it had been referred to in this way during the development stage, we decided to keep this phrase and register it.
We appreciate your interest in our company and products.
And there we have it. The reason for the most idiotic and bullshittiest advertisement in the world of cereal. CHILDREN!!!
Can't you see some snot nosed child sitting at a table munching on some corn pops and saying..."Num num numm mmm...it tastes like um...yellow?"
OMG!!! Seriously, what kind of fucking drugs were these kids AND those testers and advertising agents smoking??? YELLOW?
Yellow is a COLOR, a description of APPEARANCE of an object! SERIOUSLY!
The kid was probably describing the pretty color and then moved on to the cereal being TASTY.
Honestly, I've never went into a restaurant and said "Wow, that steak tasted really brown!" or "That orange tasted really fucking orange!!!"
...sigh...
The criminals in this case: advertising agents, consumer researchers, CHILDREN, parents and K-3 English teachers.
Victims: Every fucking body with a brain and with a love for the pops.
Case closed.
User Reviews
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-07-30 14:19:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
After a three year hiatus you come back with this? You're supposed to be eating Special K, Ms. Dunn, not Corn Pops. (Silly woman, Corn Pops are for kids.) What amazes me is that they responded to your letter. Kudos for that.
Submitted by Lib (user info) at 2008-07-29 13:08:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think corn Pops are the devils work
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2008-07-28 20:41:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
doodles corrective rating.
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2008-07-28 10:32:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
i like corn pops too.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-07-28 05:47:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I thought your argument was weak.
Diluted rant.
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2008-07-27 17:59:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Making people pay $5.00 for less than 1 pennys worth of grain and sugar is advertising at it's best.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2008-07-27 15:33:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Nuts. I was totally going to suggest that their focus groups had synesthesia. Oh well, someone beat me to it. Either way, yes, it's irritating.
Submitted by Sinistral (user info) at 2008-07-27 14:24:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Maybe they have synesthetia.
Submitted by Linus (user info) at 2008-07-27 11:53:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This has an intangible quality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
Submitted by billrhine (user info) at 2008-07-27 11:31:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2008-07-27 09:09:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Really this was awful.
Submitted by Replen (user info) at 2008-07-27 04:52:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I've always hated the use of "funsize".
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2008-07-27 04:29:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
kids think in those terms. They ask for purple flavor soda and yellow flavored cereal.
If you really want to get behind a cause, try getting used-car dealers to stop calling their cars "certified preowned vehicles."
Submitted by pandora (user info) at 2008-07-27 03:14:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I'm very old, and I think I remember that "Big Yellow Taste!" slogan from the early 70's. Back then, there were a lot of hippies in advertising, and they took a lot of drugs, so I'm certain that many of them could taste yellow.
Submitted by tatersninja (user info) at 2008-07-27 02:30:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Kids are retarded.
Just plain retarded.
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2008-07-27 02:00:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Language evolves.