Honestly, if I had seen this ad when I was that kid’s age, I might’ve started smoking even earlier, just to get some action. But then again, I’ve always been precocious. Oh: and trampy.

I quit, by the way. (Smoking, not being trampy.) As a matter of fact, I stubbed out my last cigarette six years ago this very day. Celebrate, w00t, raise the roof, call me on my videophone, etc.

P.S. Yes, I have other issues with this ad — not the least of which is its implication that sucking dick is a terrible, terrible thing. The shot is inherently, outrageously homophobic, informing viewers that gays are pederasts, being submissive is bad, and so on.

In fairness, there IS one shot of a girl (and a faceless man sans jacket), which seems appropriate, since girls also smoke. But of the three ads in the campaign, two feature boys. So, in a nutshell: WTF? As much as I love the French — and I do — they’re not always known for thinking things through.

[via Towleroad]

Press embargoes are ridiculous. The thought of a publicist emailing you loads of precious news, then insisting that you can’t talk about it for another two weeks — I mean, JUST SEND THAT SHIT IN TWO WEEKS. Don’t make me sit on it, prepping a post and setting it to publish one minute after the embargo expires. That’s torturous and annoying for people whose lives revolve around beating their competitors to the punch.

Of course more often than not, the embargoed “precious news” is crap “pseudo-news” that no one will ever write about anyway. Still, the PR kids pester you to agree to the embargo, which makes the experience just as terrible. In all, the embargo system is a lousy one and journalists hate it. In fact, many of the better media outlets refuse to honor embargoes. I salute them.

Of course, now that I look closer, it appears that writer Steve O’Hear created the video, not the PR staff at XtraNormal. And that may be true — but only because XtraNormal didn’t think of it first. 

[via BoingBoing]

[via BoingBoing]

Activists have long been preaching that the best way to win LGBT equality is for people to come out of the closet. And to a degree, that’s true: John Doe’s views on LGBT rights are more likely to weigh in our favor if he’s personally acquainted with a friend, family member, or co-worker who’s gay.

However, as we’ve learned from people like Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin (who may or may not have actual gay friends), the simply act of knowing someone from the LGBT community doesn’t automatically make you an advocate for LGBT rights. And so the slant of the attack is slowly shifting to economics: the financial facts of equality.

Whether we like it or not, that’s the sort of argument that works well with elected officials. Sure, you can argue that LGBT equality legislation is “important” or the “right thing to do”, but taking the argument out of the bedroom (where conservatives like to place it) and putting it into the bank account can be far more persuasive.

As someone who works in the arts and advocacy, I can vouch for the effectiveness of this approach. For years, we told legislators that arts education made for happier kids, we even talked about the arts’ positive impact on SAT scores, but no one at the capitol really started listening until we were able to say, “arts events and arts program provide a 7-to-1 return on the government’s investment: for every $1 the state puts into arts funding, we generate $7 for our communities via gallery sales, dining out, hotel stays, small business purchases, and so on.”

This particular ad from RockForEquality.org doesn’t go quite that far — it still relies partially on the “equality is the right thing to do” argument, and I also think it takes WAY too long to make its point. However, viewing LGBT equality through the lens of finance makes it much harder to argue against:

So yeah: this short film has been making the internet rounds. Me, I think it’s pretentious (shot in black and white, backed by a crescendo of strings), it’s predictable (oh, that was all a dream!), and it’s the most derivative thing I’ve seen all year. It’s like an over-long DeBeers commercial. As The Gays are fond of saying about theme parties: it’s been done before, and better.

But whatever: don’t just take a bitter queen’s word. Judge for yourself:

After gum-flapper John Mayer told Playboy, um, EVERYTHING, he may have found an opportunity in the strangest of places. In between off-color comments and applauding Jessica Simpson’s sexual enthusiasm, Mayer confessed that his dream was to “write porn.” Vivid Entertainment, the adult film company that brought you Paris and Kim as you never wanted to see them, wants Mayer to to join the porn squad. TMZ reports that the Vivid’s founder, Steve Hirsch sent a letter to loud mouth mcgee, eager to sign him on as a writer. One of Hirsch’s points just has to be quoted. Has to be.

“We believe your incredible talent and passion, which have touched so many, can translate into a highly erotic adult film. Your understanding of the dynamics of relationships would undoubtedly appeal to both men and women.”

[SocialiteLife]

Yeah, that’s from the TV series Fame, which was Glee‘s early-80s equivalent. And yes, they’re performing an “updated” version of Othello. (Or maybe Soylent Green.) I can only assume that Glee re-runs will be just as painful to watch 30 years down the line.

I was never a fan of Elvis, but this wins some kind of prize in my book:

Yes, that’s a letter from the Census Bureau telling me to expect another letter from the Census Bureau. Which makes about as much sense as holding a meeting to schedule another meeting (which I do all the time, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying).

Now, I understand what the Census Bureau is trying to accomplish. I get the train of thinking: “If we tell the public to expect the 2010 Census in the mail, they’ll be on the lookout, won’t throw it away. They’ll be more likely to respond.” But going about it this way is kind of like preaching abstinence to a room filled with only prostitutes and nuns. (I think that’s a good analogy anyway. We’ll see.)

People who actually read their mail (i.e. nuns) are going to open the official census questionnaire when it arrives anyway. They may be slightly more alert now that they know it’s coming, but I’m guessing the effect of this heads-up letter will be minimal.

On the other hand, people who don’t read their mail (i.e. hookers) aren’t going to open this letter, so they won’t be on the lookout for the actual census questionnaire — which doesn’t matter, because they’ll probably just throw it out anyway. (NB: I’m not making a value judgment about prostitutes, but the ones I know lead such busy, interesting lives that they have little time for pedestrian matters like mail.)

For future reference, Mr. Robert M. Groves: spend your print budget on envelopes with a little spot color — maybe a bright red, yellow, or orange. Something people will notice. That’ll save you the cost of mailing letters to every household in America twice.

Here are seven of the top ten search phrases that led people just like you (well, hopefully, not just like you) to this very spot:

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Very very very very very very old ladies glory holes 

Which raises a very important question: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

And also: Why aren’t you searching for “vagina handbag montessori” anymore?