The List Mark II
Ok CVS is now on the List. What is this list? These are places I will not shop at of my own accord (if the old man tells me to run down to the pharmacy to pick something up for em, I'm not about to get in an argument about principles. Sometimes a person has to pick his battles). It's a short list so far. Each member has a special place in my heart (not the loving part, the unadulterated loathing part) so I'll give a little detail.
First there is Wal - Mart. The smiley face advertising makes me angry. The patriotic advertising makes me angry. I rage against the commercials with seniors saying just how wonderful it is to be a Wal - Mart Associate (They have no employees, they have associates. I'm not sure what the difference is. I think associates are suppose to be happy about being paid little, mandatory unpaid overtime, and part - time status). I wanted to scream at everyone person praising the generosity of Wal - mart during the Katrina relief (For a relatively small cost in products they had their name plastered all over the news in a positive light and gained the life long loyalty of all who directly benefited. Those loyal consumers will more than pay back what they gained in relief). I the better part of a decade in a small town watching all independent business dry up as the town when out of its way to make wal - mart happy with incredible corporate welfare. You can bet I'm going to see the Wal - Mart Movie.
Next on my list is Old Navy. Last year the Old Navy Christmas commercials pushed me over the edge. I don't need the corporations working on my catholic instilled guilt, I have a mother for that sort of thing. Now I find myself resenting their clothing. The shirts and pants bear no outward logo, but just by looking one can tell an old navy piece. They have branded a style without logos, limiting my ability to dress without advertising. Their clothing is the wet dream of the marketing gods and I despise them for it.
Now we come to the current addition: CVS. I walked into the local CVS two days after Halloween on an errand for the mother (she needed a pencil sharper as she too has fallen under that number puzzles soduku spell. I still resist). I wasn't looking up as I first walked in, lost in thought (contemplating great mysteries (ok maybe not)) when I heard Christmas music. I looked up to see a plastic Santa dancing and singing in the doorway. To my further horror, the monstrosity had a microphone attached, so that one might sing along with Santa. All the windows were filled with Christmas lights and green pine like plastic was draped about the store. To top it off a snow globe made out of the same sort of rubberized plastic one gets with a cheap beach ball sat atop the merchandise, motor running shooting fake snow about it's contents. To my dismay I found myself oogling the chocolate display. There were monster chocolate kisses for less than a dollar. I had one in my hand, and if it hadn't been surrounded by red plastic bags decorated with candy canes, I probably would have brought it up to the counter. The Christmas impulse buy almost had me. Sadly all the orange bags of Halloween candy were shoved into a cart near the front of the store with a sign that said: 50 % off. The candy was still perfectly good, just the plastic on the outside was all wrong and to go.
So that's the list so far: Wal - Mart, Old Navy, CVS. I'm sure that with the marketing blitz starting this early, it will only grow larger.
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First there is Wal - Mart. The smiley face advertising makes me angry. The patriotic advertising makes me angry. I rage against the commercials with seniors saying just how wonderful it is to be a Wal - Mart Associate (They have no employees, they have associates. I'm not sure what the difference is. I think associates are suppose to be happy about being paid little, mandatory unpaid overtime, and part - time status). I wanted to scream at everyone person praising the generosity of Wal - mart during the Katrina relief (For a relatively small cost in products they had their name plastered all over the news in a positive light and gained the life long loyalty of all who directly benefited. Those loyal consumers will more than pay back what they gained in relief). I the better part of a decade in a small town watching all independent business dry up as the town when out of its way to make wal - mart happy with incredible corporate welfare. You can bet I'm going to see the Wal - Mart Movie.
Next on my list is Old Navy. Last year the Old Navy Christmas commercials pushed me over the edge. I don't need the corporations working on my catholic instilled guilt, I have a mother for that sort of thing. Now I find myself resenting their clothing. The shirts and pants bear no outward logo, but just by looking one can tell an old navy piece. They have branded a style without logos, limiting my ability to dress without advertising. Their clothing is the wet dream of the marketing gods and I despise them for it.
Now we come to the current addition: CVS. I walked into the local CVS two days after Halloween on an errand for the mother (she needed a pencil sharper as she too has fallen under that number puzzles soduku spell. I still resist). I wasn't looking up as I first walked in, lost in thought (contemplating great mysteries (ok maybe not)) when I heard Christmas music. I looked up to see a plastic Santa dancing and singing in the doorway. To my further horror, the monstrosity had a microphone attached, so that one might sing along with Santa. All the windows were filled with Christmas lights and green pine like plastic was draped about the store. To top it off a snow globe made out of the same sort of rubberized plastic one gets with a cheap beach ball sat atop the merchandise, motor running shooting fake snow about it's contents. To my dismay I found myself oogling the chocolate display. There were monster chocolate kisses for less than a dollar. I had one in my hand, and if it hadn't been surrounded by red plastic bags decorated with candy canes, I probably would have brought it up to the counter. The Christmas impulse buy almost had me. Sadly all the orange bags of Halloween candy were shoved into a cart near the front of the store with a sign that said: 50 % off. The candy was still perfectly good, just the plastic on the outside was all wrong and to go.
So that's the list so far: Wal - Mart, Old Navy, CVS. I'm sure that with the marketing blitz starting this early, it will only grow larger.
More Laters
posted by Rich Rosenthal II at 1:14 AM
3 Comments:
Hatehatehatehatehate CVS.
I agree with you on the list (well - we don't have a CVS here, so I don't know what that is). I despise Wal-Mart because it stands for just about everything that's wrong with our consumer society - crappy products made by underpaid children in third world countries; horribly gouged suppliers; employees who are treated like cattle; ravaged local economies; and the pink track suit people who shop there with their loud, fat, nose-picking children.
Old Navy is basically just a Wal-mart that only sells clothes.
Not that I really have an opinion or anything.
Don't forget the slut of all coffees: Starbucks.
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