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Amazon Warehouse had 15% off, so my husband and I got a great deal on a new TV 
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Jul 16, 2015 05:56
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hyperhazard posted:Amazon Warehouse had 15% off, so my husband and I got a great deal on a new TV Got a Samsung 850 Evo 1 TB SSD 70 € off, I'm content with the sale, but that was something I already planned to buy anyway.
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Jul 16, 2015 10:20
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Zaphod42 posted:Yeah, which is why Walmart took over. I was once at a Walmart in Rawlins WY that had no staff, complete aisles of empty shelves, and no blaze orange gear in the middle of hunting season. I asked someone where a sporting goods store was in town and they didn't understand me. I described what one was and they looked at me like a deer in the headlights. Finally I said "a place that sells guns". They became very animated and said there's one "down the road". I asked, "which road?". They replied by pointing aggressively to the west without speaking. It turned out that the road was I80 but apparently the didn't have it together to remember that.
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Jul 16, 2015 17:44
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f#a# posted:Pop quiz: what's wrong with this promo image for Trump that was deleted? I could get behind this. The man has vision.
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Jul 16, 2015 22:25
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Phlegmish posted:I could get behind this. The man has vision. Except it seems to be obscured by both the literal and figurative stars in his eyes.
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Jul 17, 2015 03:21
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Zaphod42 posted:Yeah, which is why Walmart took over. How much did you end up stealing?
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Jul 17, 2015 03:27
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This is more about just one specific commercial, and more of a weird marketing move than a dumb one. Close to ten years ago there had been a commercial for some kind of birth control, I forget the brand name, that featured a bunch of CGI animated women doing synchronized swimming and singing a song with the days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Every-Day!! Aaa-aahhhh...) that was pretty catchy, a little annoying. Anyway, it ran for a while and then one day was replaced with the exact same commercial, but with real women instead of CGI. The exact same motions, exact same shots. I wonder if that was the original commercial and then it got rotoscoped or something with the CGI, it was that exact. I was curious about why that was done, though. I wondered if maybe the original CGI version was too uncanny valley for viewers and people found it off-putting, but it didn't seem that bad to me when I'd seen it. Birth control commercials in general are a great topic though. Yaz pretty much was the poster child for "friends excitedly advertising really intimate products to friends" advert styles, until at some point there were severe health risks associated with the product that weren't disclosed in the ads and all of the ads got pulled (IIRC).
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Jul 22, 2015 21:58
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sweeperbravo posted:This is more about just one specific commercial, and more of a weird marketing move than a dumb one. Close to ten years ago there had been a commercial for some kind of birth control, I forget the brand name, that featured a bunch of CGI animated women doing synchronized swimming and singing a song with the days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Every-Day!! Aaa-aahhhh...) that was pretty catchy, a little annoying. Anyway, it ran for a while and then one day was replaced with the exact same commercial, but with real women instead of CGI. The exact same motions, exact same shots. I wonder if that was the original commercial and then it got rotoscoped or something with the CGI, it was that exact. I was curious about why that was done, though. I wondered if maybe the original CGI version was too uncanny valley for viewers and people found it off-putting, but it didn't seem that bad to me when I'd seen it. Nuvaring! Funny, I remember seeing the real-life women commercial before I saw the CGI ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFLAzbEP4T4
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Jul 22, 2015 22:19
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Lumberjack Bonanza posted:My most Walmart experience at Walmart was probably about eight years back, the time when me and a few buddies were trying to get one of their moms to buy alcohol for us. We gathered up the funds for a handle and gave her the money, then mingled toward the exit as, we assumed, she would head toward the register. My most Walmart experience was back in 2004 or so hanging out in the video game aisle when barrel shaped redneck dad and his son come on by. Son picks up whatever pokemon game was out for the system and hands it to his dad. With the most hickish accent the dad responded with "Son that look dumb as hell...do they have any hamtaros for the gamercubes?". That dude was an awful parent.
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Jul 22, 2015 23:47
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sweeperbravo posted:Birth control commercials in general are a great topic though. Yaz pretty much was the poster child for "friends excitedly advertising really intimate products to friends" advert styles, until at some point there were severe health risks associated with the product that weren't disclosed in the ads and all of the ads got pulled (IIRC). Hard to remember, but I could swear that one of those awful "excitedly overshare to the girls about birth control" ads had the lady start listing off the health risks without missing a beat.
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Jul 23, 2015 01:10
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Yeah, it was at a party and then they cap it off with "you sure know a lot about Yaz" "I didn't go to medical school for nothing!" *laughs* Also, for the live action/rotoscope debate, I remember the live version first.
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Jul 23, 2015 01:59
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Choco1980 posted:Yeah, it was at a party and then they cap it off with "you sure know a lot about Yaz" "I didn't go to medical school for nothing!" *laughs* Big Grunty Secret posted:Nuvaring! Funny, I remember seeing the real-life women commercial before I saw the CGI ones. Choco1980 posted:Also, for the live action/rotoscope debate, I remember the live version first. I wonder if it happened to just be me with weird timing, then. I don't know what channel I would have seen the commercials on primarily but it's probable this was around the time I stopped watching a lot of kids' channels and started watching more generic/grown-up programming, so maybe I just came in after they had already been showing the CGI and then they briefly went back to the live action for some reason after a while. IME it was like a good period of time in between the two versions, as well. Like at least a few months between me seeing the CGI and then the live action, one of those things where you actually question your memory because you kind of forgot the first thing existed. Still I wonder why two versions were made. If the CGI did come after the live action, was it so they didn't have to pay the actresses in the live action every time the commercial aired anymore? I didn't think that was how ads worked but I literally know nothing about the process.
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Jul 23, 2015 02:48
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I came across a store that had 5o+ versions of olive oil. That's all. All kinds of flavors and everything, but how can you pay rent like that?
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Jul 24, 2015 09:00
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Not a stupid decision in marketing, but Taylor Swift's new album cover isn't going over well in China. T.S. 1989
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Jul 24, 2015 09:14
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There was a new burger place that opened nearby about 5 years ago. Was going for the whole 50s style thing. I went there one day and tried to order an olive burger and was told they couldn't make those. Only what was on the menu. The menu wasn't much more than: Hamburger Cheeseburger Hot Dog Fries Pop Shakes I ended up just getting cheeseburgers which weren't all that great anyhow. Place closed about a month or so after opening. Was talking to a friend and he said he went there quite a few times and ate all kinds of things. Apparently there was a "secret menu" but you had to go online, find their website, (which wasn't mentioned in the restaurant or on any of their stuff) and jump through a few more hoops to get the list of code words. I guess it was meant to be a fun game for the local college kids or something? Apparently olive burgers were called "BOBs" (Best Olive Burgers). And that's what you had to ask for. Or you simply could not get them. The thing was, either the employees didn't know about the secret menu, or they were just told to refuse special orders without the codes. And when like 80 percent of your menu is "secret" and you won't do special orders, nobody's going to eat at the place that just has maybe 10 choices total.
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Jul 24, 2015 09:22
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That Robox posted:I guess it was meant to be a fun game for the local college kids or something? Apparently olive burgers were called "BOBs" (Best Olive Burgers). And that's what you had to ask for. Or you simply could not get them. The thing was, either the employees didn't know about the secret menu, or they were just told to refuse special orders without the codes. I can't believe they went out of business.
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Jul 24, 2015 09:29
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thewireguy posted:I came across a store that had 5o+ versions of olive oil. That's all. All kinds of flavors and everything, but how can you pay rent like that? There's an olive oil store like that in the city one of my friends live in that has self-serve free sample jars of bread and all of the olive oil jars with taps and we just help ourselves and leave. It's great when you're hungover, but I have no idea how they make money.
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Jul 24, 2015 09:33
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That Robox posted:There was a new burger place that opened nearby about 5 years ago. Was going for the whole 50s style thing. I went there one day and tried to order an olive burger and was told they couldn't make those. Only what was on the menu. The menu wasn't much more than: I think the real question is why would anyone put olives on a burger.
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Jul 24, 2015 09:39
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That Robox posted:There was a new burger place that opened nearby about 5 years ago. Was going for the whole 50s style thing. I went there one day and tried to order an olive burger and was told they couldn't make those. Only what was on the menu. The menu wasn't much more than: What the hell is an olive burger? Just olives on a hamburger? Anyway, out over in Seattle the best fast food place around is Dick's Drive-In and they've got even fewer option on the menu than that. Sometimes you just don't want a lot of stuff to pick from.
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Jul 24, 2015 09:44
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Wanamingo posted:What the hell is an olive burger? Just olives on a hamburger? Yeah pretty much. Green olives. Melted cheese. Usually mayo. Really one of those things that doesn't sound like it would work, but it does. Pretty common at bars and burger places, most even have it right on the menu.
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Jul 24, 2015 10:35
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I have never heard of an olive burger or seen one on a menu. Is this one of those regional things you think is normal but is actually super weird?
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Jul 24, 2015 10:37
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It sounds bad, but I don't much like olives.
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Jul 24, 2015 10:49
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cyberia posted:I have never heard of an olive burger or seen one on a menu. Is this one of those regional things you think is normal but is actually super weird?  Looks like it's just a Michigan thing. 
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Jul 24, 2015 12:03
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thewireguy posted:I came across a store that had 5o+ versions of olive oil. That's all. All kinds of flavors and everything, but how can you pay rent like that? There's a place like that not far from me. Apparently they do tasting parties for their olive oils and balsamic, which I could see bringing in ok money. A lot of older folks vacation or have cabins nearby, and there's not a wide range of low-key afternoon activities to choose from otherwise. They also make extra cash selling fancy pourers and containers for their bottles—it seems like a lot of their trade in general is based on gift stuff like that. And people that really, really like olive oil/balsamic. I'll admit to spending some money I don't have there. But then I'm also a gigantic sucker for a good black mission fig balsamic, so.  They've been in business for awhile so I guess it's working?
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Jul 24, 2015 13:13
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Wanamingo posted:
Well I am from Michigan, and somehow I never knew that.
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Jul 24, 2015 14:37
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Ego-bot posted:Not a stupid decision in marketing, but Taylor Swift's new album cover isn't going over well in China. Oh my god.  That Robox posted:There was a new burger place that opened nearby about 5 years ago. Was going for the whole 50s style thing. I went there one day and tried to order an olive burger and was told they couldn't make those. Only what was on the menu. The menu wasn't much more than: FoxTerrier posted:olive oil store I always wondered how mattress stores manage to stay in business. You only need to buy a new mattress maybe two or three times over your whole life, and it's not like cars where one person might own more than one for the most part. How many people are really going into a mattress store on any given day? I know people *need* mattresses so it's not like the stores are some unneeded frippery but I just wonder how the places stay in business and can afford overhead/paying employees.
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Jul 24, 2015 14:42
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sweeperbravo posted:With things like this I always assume the place is a front for something else. I always assume it is one of two things: 1) hobby shop for wife of a rich-ish guy 2) passion project for someone with no business experience and doesn't mind working 16 hours days and not drawing a salary.
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Jul 24, 2015 14:45
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sweeperbravo posted:Oh my god. 5 guys has a pretty small menu but they have a dozen toppings to pick from right on the menu, you don't need to know the secret handshake if you want something fancier than a plain cheeseburger.
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Jul 24, 2015 14:49
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sweeperbravo posted:Was it a 5 Guys? When I went there for the first time recently that about describes their menu. Actually I don't think they even had shakes. The "secret menu" of 5 Guys is just that they let you custom order whatever dumb poo poo you want and upcharge for it. A grilled cheese sandwich with an entire hot dog in it and the receipt cooked into the bread? Sure, whatever, just keep the line moving. Though since ordering a grilled cheese and paying 50 cents extra for them to put a burger patty in it is technically a patty melt it's now BUZZFEED'S TOP 20 SECRET MENU LIFEHACKS: #4 WILL MAKE YOU POWERBOMB YOUR DAD Contrecoup has a new favorite as of 14:57 on Jul 24, 2015 |
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Jul 24, 2015 14:55
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That Robox posted:Well I am from Michigan, and somehow I never knew that. Yeah me too. Most Michigan regional things a pretty well known and accepted as "ours", but olive burgers? Huh. Also I've seen the oil only boutiques before. My step-mom's crazy over flavored oil and buys a lot of it. (She is the sort with more money than sense and buys too much fancy crap). Pretty sure she's the prime demographic for those places. However, the mafia front idea is probably not unrealistic either. I've heard the mob has a stranglehold on the olive oil business, and you have even odds of the purity listed on the bottle to be a lie and wind up with counterfeit oil.
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Jul 24, 2015 15:00
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sweeperbravo posted:
It was some strange one-off thing, not a franchise or chain. Had a weird "leave it to beaver" 50s style look. Was called Oh My! Burgers and Fries! Or something like that I think. Only went that one time.
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Jul 24, 2015 15:04
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Choco1980 posted:Yeah me too. Most Michigan regional things a pretty well known and accepted as "ours", but olive burgers? Huh. I've never got the point of people buying flavored oils. Usually the only valid use for them is in a professional restaurant that used it to add a specific flavor to a dish to make it a work of art. Most home consumers buying it just dump it into their mac and cheese and talk about how next level their cooking is. Truffle oil is a big one, people see "truffle oil" on fancy menus and go out and buy a $40 bottle of it to sit on their shelf and rarely ever use properly. Gabriel Pope posted:5 guys has a pretty small menu but they have a dozen toppings to pick from right on the menu, you don't need to know the secret handshake if you want something fancier than a plain cheeseburger. 5 Guys has burger patties, hot dogs, and fries. All the toppings in the world are great but if you don't want a meat burger you're not going to eat there. Since the prices in CA skyrocketed at the 5 Guys (cheeseburger is $7.50) I haven't gone back because In n Out is 1/3 of that price and still tastes comparable. pentyne has a new favorite as of 16:13 on Jul 24, 2015 |
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Jul 24, 2015 16:10
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Yeah, not too long back I took the kid to one here in Mich and left feeling like I ate a greasy spoon for like, triple the price. Ironically, In n Out DOES have secret menu selections, though not much. There's the animal sauce (basically frying onions in bic mac sauce) you can have on things, you can make your shake a neopolitan (they already have all 3 flavors) and you can go beyond the number of patties and cheese listed as long as you pay for it. Supposedly someone once ordered a 100 by 100 (as in, a hundred patties and cheese slices on one sandwich)
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Jul 24, 2015 16:23
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sweeperbravo posted:I always wondered how mattress stores manage to stay in business. You only need to buy a new mattress maybe two or three times over your whole life, and it's not like cars where one person might own more than one for the most part. How many people are really going into a mattress store on any given day? I know people *need* mattresses so it's not like the stores are some unneeded frippery but I just wonder how the places stay in business and can afford overhead/paying employees. I don't know how expensive the overhead is for a mattress store, but there's a shop in Milwaukee (http://www.hassless.com/) that has no staff. Someone (presumably the owner) comes in, opens the doors, turns on the lights and leaves. If you want to buy anything, there's a big phone number on the wall where you call in to the owner directly and he'll come in and do all the paperwork. Presumably the merchandise is all chained to the floor or otherwise secured, and I would hope there are security cameras so no team of guys just comes in and robs the place blind, but that whole scenario seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
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Jul 24, 2015 16:30
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sweeperbravo posted:I always wondered how mattress stores manage to stay in business. You only need to buy a new mattress maybe two or three times over your whole life, and it's not like cars where one person might own more than one for the most part. How many people are really going into a mattress store on any given day? I know people *need* mattresses so it's not like the stores are some unneeded frippery but I just wonder how the places stay in business and can afford overhead/paying employees. In college/university towns (or in any decently-sized town), you can drum up a ton of business by offering free delivery and installation. Nobody wants to move tons of poo poo into his or her new apartment only to have to turn around and haul a new mattress and box spring up several flights of stairs. The guy that runs the mattress store up the street from me is a tricky fucker. In addition to all the high-end poo poo for his showroom, he buys tons of low-tier mattresses from his supplier, then runs ads in the newspaper, on Craigslist, and on a Facebook account with a fake name: "Hey, I got this queen-size pillow-top mattress, it won't fit in my bedroom so I need to get rid of it. I paid $600, you can have it for $300 OBO because I need it gone. Brand new, still in packaging. I can bring it to you if you want. Call 555-5555" Every time he gets a call, he pretends to be some random schmoe who didn't measure his bedroom, and when they agree to buy the poor soul's mattress, he throws one in the back of his personal pickup and delivers it. Clever, if a teensy bit disingenuous 
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Jul 24, 2015 17:47
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GOTTA STAY FAI posted:Clever, if a teensy bit disingenuous
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Jul 24, 2015 18:02
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Ego-bot posted:Not a stupid decision in marketing, but Taylor Swift's new album cover isn't going over well in China. Thanks, Taylor. Taynks.
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Jul 24, 2015 18:02
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sweeperbravo posted:I always wondered how mattress stores manage to stay in business. You only need to buy a new mattress maybe two or three times over your whole life, Change your mattress every 3-5 years, it makes a difference to your sleep if you buy a decent one. Also gross. quote:and it's not like cars where one person might own more than one for the most part. There are three mattresses in my house, not everyone is a single person. quote:How many people are really going into a mattress store on any given day? I know people *need* mattresses so it's not like the stores are some unneeded frippery but I just wonder how the places stay in business and can afford overhead/paying employees. I'd guess the markup/profit on mattresses is obscene.
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Jul 24, 2015 18:09
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Ego-bot posted:Not a stupid decision in marketing, but Taylor Swift's new album cover isn't going over well in China.  Woah. Chinese censors are infamously touchy about anything even vaguely sounding like that topic. I can't believe no one caught it.
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Jul 24, 2015 18:16
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Mizuti posted:
1989 on the Chinese calendar was a long, long time ago. Think it's like 4,700 something right now. They don't run on the Gregorian calendar. Or at least didn't. Yes that's a touchy subject but I kind of wonder how many of the censors realized that happened in 1989 by the Gregorian calendar? On this side of the pond how many people can remember off the top of their head when Tienanmen Square happened? It probably just never occurred. I had to actually Google search that to figure out what was wrong with it. ToxicSlurpee has a new favorite as of 19:06 on Jul 24, 2015 |
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Jul 24, 2015 19:04
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