Plops, Polyps and Fig.

There is a fun advertising campaign in Finland for the Plussa Card which is one of those 'you give us your shopping habit info and we give you discounts' cards. A guy dressed up as a big orange ball in what has to be the easiest acting gig ever attempts to seduce potential customers by smiling and saying "Plop plop, plop plop plop...." and watching other orange balls undergo mitosis. He charms a woman in one of the commercials and a few weeks later you see her in a Ms. Plop suit and conclude that she has been assimilated into the Plussa borg. It's cute in a Taster's Choice serial romance commercial from the early 90s kind of way and, similarly some of the best entertainment to be had on TV. It is rather annoying when in the infectious "plop plop plop.." creeps into your mind and stays there like a bad Barry Manilow jingle. Between the Plop Man and the "Syökää kanaa!" pig from McDonald's, I'm going to be forced to subject myself to a week of Supertramp and Christopher Cross to dislodge them.

Today I saw Polyp Man™ in Ignatz' blog and immediately thought of Mr. Plop. Polyp Man™ is the mascot of Colorectal cancer awareness at the American Cancer Society. Polyp Man's tagline is "Get the test. Get the polyp. Get the cure." Shouldn't they reorder that to put the polyp first? Polyp Man™ gives new meaning to 'butt ugly'. I will expect to see the book I was a Rectal Polyp! someday laying out the evil Polyp Man™ underworld of the ACS in the style of Sedaris' Santaland Diaries which exposed the horrors of living the life as a Macy's Elf at Christmastime. I should think that Mr. Plop has a promising future as a rectal polyp when Plussa changes campaigns. Instead of saying "Plop" he could go to all the 'extended care' homes and say "Polyp!" over and over again until folks would go get tested just to escape the talking anal polyp. He could also be the new Mr. Fig Newton who, in the 80s, spawned a dance club craze inspired by the commercials where he danced like a sober white guy while singing "ooey gooey rich and chewy" in brown tights and balloonish brown fig costume. Who are these guys who dress up in tights, smile and dance around to get our attention. Is this the natural progression of clown evolution? Is there a conspiracy of advertising vampires and the manipulation of the populace via catchy jingles and guys in tights? Hmmmm....I feel used. Plop, plop plop PLOP!.

31 Mar 2004 at 0:29, Helsinki