VIDEO: Arnzen Lecture on The Popular Uncanny at Neumann University
Many thanks to my friend, Dr. William Hamilton, Neumann University (near Philadelphia, PA), and Dave Bullis of BullWitt Media for inviting, hosting and producing the video for this lecture last October. It turned out fantastic! You can watch the entire event above or full-screen it directly on youtube. The video is almost an hour-and-a-half long,
Weird Advertising Characters
Just joined a flickr photo sharing group called “Weird Advertising Characters” (w/thanks to AdWeek and Laughing Squid). Some fascinating history of popular uncanny icons in here — living embodiments of products that should not be. Filed for future reference, added to my flickr account, posted on my delicious page…and shared with you here. Related flickr
The Trophy Talks Back: Mike’s Hard Lemonade “House” Ads
The series of “House” party ads that Mike’s Hard Lemonade have started running are pretty effective and funny in the way that they domesticate tropes of the uncanny. In my favorite, the host of the party answers the door bell, and a headless deer simply stands on the doorstep, breathing. The mounted head in the
Thing Addams, Photographer
I was very excited to stumble on this TV commercial from 1985 for the Nikon One Touch instant camera. Their slogan? “It puts great photography at everybody’s fingertips.” Their mascot? A dismembered hand, of course! Thing (sometimes spelled “Thingg”) — the ambulatory hand that lives in a box and serves as a literal “handyman” to
Animated Weeds and Supernatural Pesticides
Lawncare season is in full bloom, if the television is any indication. More and more, I’ve been noticing advertisements for riding mowers, hedge trimmers, and all sorts of products targeting the green thumb. But one popular subgenre of these gardening ads have been employing the medium in a way that is undeniably uncanny: commercials for
You Don’t Eat Your Own Kind
My favorite Bizarro comic of recent days involves Mr. Peanut — that dapper mascot of Planter’s nuts — in a scenario that makes plain the inherent contradiction of advertisements that employ cartoon mascots to represent the very same products they sell. What IS the appeal of these imaginary spokespeanuts and mascots and similar characters in
06/18/2013 at 8:43 am 
06/11/2013 at 2:11 pm 
