My current favorite ads I pass on my commute to work are a couple of XM Radio billboards. Black backgrounds, product, liberal negative space, and the pitch… “The gift that keeps on receiving”, and something like “Another pod? This is the mothership.”
I think they get their message accross effectively.

Least favorite? A Telus ad on the skytrain. 3/4 ‘head shot’ of a rabbit with the tagline “Re-think the pole dancing. Music phones.”
…errr, I just don’t get it. Pole dancing? Is that a reference to the North pole? Telephone pole? Strip club? …Why was I thinking about pole dancing and what do music phones have to do with it? Is the rabbit connected some how?! So many questions!!

This happened again last night in WalMart. I grab the keypad, swipe my card enter my pin no, then…
Well what I want to do at this point is choose checking or savings. Ah, the keypad is asking if I want any cash. And this is where the peeve comes in. I’ve been pressing buttons on a keypad, each with an indication on them, and now they’ve very cleverly turned the tables on me and hidden the buttons with which I’m supposed to be answering their question with buttons that have ‘on screen’ labels. I’m to indicate ‘1′ or ‘2′ or ‘checking’ or ’saving’ depending on how their buttons are set up by realising that these buttons are no longer what they clearly say on them, but the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ now printed under their question.

Yes, I’m one of those people staring blankly at the keypad while you wait in line behind me muttering under your breath before the cashier has to lean over and kindly indicate my next choice for me. Yes,…thats me. Idiot in checkout #2.

This is interesting…I guess it’s unfortunate but I can understand excising antiquated terms like ‘pretty’ and ‘handsome’ and ‘gentleman’ from a children’s book in favor of more generic, less specific descriptions but what I found a little harder to understand was the addition of ribbons to the head of every second character to ensure enough young girls are represented. Hacking up Richard Scarry’s illustrations to ensure enough dads in kitchens is pretty bloody annoying as well…

(An attempt to make myself a little more current and politically correct)