The senior members reading this page may well remember the Edsel from the Ford Motor Company. It had a revolutionary vertical grill. Many likened it to a Ford sucking a lemon. Obviously, someone thought that it was a winning design.
The Edsel, however, is not unique in raising the question, "what were they thinking?"
This page will be devoted to the things around us that when looked at raise that question.
I was in Ace Hardware the other day and they have an ultrasonic pest repeller. This is a gadget that is supposed to generate a sound to chase away various types of pests. What was interesting about this is that it had 2 speakers on it. Stereo for mice and rats?
During the early part of the 20th century there was a dance called the jitterbug. There is currently an ad campaign on TV for a cell phone of the same name. This phone appears to be designed for technophobes and people with vision, cognitive and dexterity issues. The phone has large buttons which are easy to see and has operator assistance available for programming in the phone book. As a bonus, they include a car charger. What were they thinking when they decided to include a car charger for a product targeted at people with either vision, mobiltiy or cognitive issues? One of my concerns in life is people continuing to drive when they no longer possess the faculties to properly operate a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, a fair number of elderly drivers do not surrender their license until some accident forces them to do so. I know of what I speak in regards to this. So let them jitterbug on, but not behind the wheel of a car. Take out the car cord and throw in a bluetooth.
There is a new program on one of the major networks entitled "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad". When I heard the title, all that I could think of was the commercial "my dog's better than you dog, my dog's better than yours, my dog's better cause he eats Kennel Ration, my dog's better than yours". When I was a kid, the favorite line in relation to fathers was "my father can beat up your father"; now there's a TV show for you. A combination of American Gladiator and "My Dad ...".
2/24/2008 - Here I am watching vintage re-runs of Bonanza (so old that they still have Pernell Roberts as Adam). The first commercial break comes up. The ad features the Buttertons (somewhat like the Chef of The Past). They just love to have everything soaked in butter. The ad which deals with the bad effects of is for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter". The next ad in the commercial break is for The Red Lobster lobster fest. The ad starts by extolling the joys of having you rich savory lobster dipped in, you guessed it, butter. You can't make this stuff up. Maybe they should have done cooperative advertising and had the lobster dipped in I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
3/5/2008 - Hummer is now running a commercial that starts out showing a fierce storm ravaging a city. It goes on to say that when this happens people go from A to B. Next it states that others go from B to A and shows a Hummer wading through flood waters in the middle of a storm. IMHO this is totally irresponsible advertising. No matter how "sturdy" a vehicle you are driving, it is NEVER a good idea to go out in these kind of conditions. Hopefully no one will try to put this to a test in a real life emergency.