Posted by: James St. James contact

Lazy advertising meme is back

The 40-Year-Old Virgin effect is being used again for the upcoming Pastor Shepherd television series, in which, ho ho, a down-on-his-luck freeze-dried pet salesman becomes a cyber-evangelist and hilarity ensues. The tiresome technique is slightly altered this time, though, by having the star stare directly into the camera with the wide eyes and goofy grin, instead of slightly above and to the right of the camera. Also, the halo effect is now much more pronounced, probably to indicate godliness. But the whole thing still annoys the crap out of me. And even if the whole "freeze-dried pet salesman turned cyber-evangelist" thing didn't ensure my NOT WATCHING this show, the unpleasant signage on every bus stop does. BTW, we need to come up with a name for this annoying trend in advertising. Any thoughts? "The 40-Year-Old Virgin effect" is a bit long. (t/y Steven)



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