Tattoo Nose Ring Marketing

Have marketers been captured by their own behavior?

Vivaia is a Chinese ladies' shoe brand.  And the below image is a screenshot from a video ad I captured on Youtube.  The shoes look fine and I have no doubt they are affordable, and maybe even a good deal.

But here, could we just focus on the marketing itself.  Rather than use a beautiful young model, this is obviously meant to appear to be just an ordinary consumer talking about these shoes in her kitchen.  Right?  We see this a lot today.  So that is not very interesting.

What I do find interesting is that the company has decided to use a tatted-up lady with a nose ring.  Which to me signals that the company believes their core consumer audience are tatted-up ladies with nose rings.  Right?  Because God knows if you are trying to appeal to ladies with no tats and no nose ring, the last thing you are going to do is use a tatted-up lady with a nose ring.  Continues below....



So either the Chinese company believes this to be the right strategy because this look truly represents their audience, or the company believes this to be the right strategy because they only believe that this look represents their audience.  That is, they have either read their market correctly or they only think they have.

And look at the age of this presenter.  These shoes are clearly marketed to middle-aged ladies.  So here is my question, how many middle-aged women look like that?  And if you were to do a poll or focus group, how many would approve of the tats & nose ring mien?

Really, I am just wondering.  But what really scares me is that maybe the Chinese company is correct.  And this ad campaign is not as stupid as it looks to me.

For context, here is a wider screenshot:

Now, I would be remiss if I did not point out that if you go to the Vivaia website, there is not a tattoo in sight, much less any nose rings.  It is an absolutely beautiful site, that markets ladies' shoes with beautiful young models.  Just as one would expect.

This means, that the video ad that I have seen on at least three different occasions, is directed at a Youtube audience, and perhaps other selected sites.  This would make sense if I was watching Youtube videos that appeal to tatted-up ladies with nose rings.  And I just don't think that is the case.  Quite the opposite in fact.

So if the target market does not find this appealing, why are the marketers doing this?  Could it be that the marketing people themselves are tatted-up ladies with nose rings?  And they assume this is a more common practice than reality supports?  Does it become sort of a marketer's projection or self-delusion?

But it gets worse.  In researching this piece, I visited the Vivaia website.  I found their shoes to be appealing.  The kind of thing my wife might purchase.  So the tatted-up lady with the nose ring not only misses the target market, but intentionally or not, she is actively working to reduce it.  Why are they doing this?  I need Rory Sutherland to explain it to me.

It is bewildering.

𓐵

Boghossian and Weinstein on Arday and Related Topics

Burn it all down

The irony, as these two point out, is that Jason Arday could be the singular individual who could save the academy.  Sadly, he will choose not to do so.

Boghossian has a non-profit which encourages people to stop donating to their own alma mater.  Seems long overdue.  I like Weinstein's idea:  Send ten percent of whatever you would have otherwise donated, to your alma mater, to Boghossian's National Progress Alliance.  Surely, they will make better use of it than Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Michigan, Wake Forest, UNC, and the various other religious institutions and their Bolshevik priests, formerly known as academia.

𓐵

Weak Muslims and a Cowardly West

Boghossian:  Europe is in hospice

Muslim culture and ideas are clearly weak.  But the West is so cowardly that it will be overrun by the adherents of this weak and insecure religion.  This is not the fault of the Muslims, but rather the fault of cowardly westerners.  I would add that it is too late for Europe.  Short of mass re-migration, Europe as a Western society is done.

In the US, we will watch Europe fall.  But the question is:  Will we learn the appropriate lessons?  It is doubtful.  Because we have the same type of cowardly elites and leaders that they have in Europe.  The only difference, the only reason we are behind Europe's Islamization, is our fortunate geography.

No matter what we think about the Chinese government, for all its numerous faults, they will resist Islam.  Japan as well.  It is interesting to consider:  What nations will be free of Islam in a hundred years?

Here's Arynne Wexler doing her thing:

𓐵

Entitlement Culture

The tow truck driver knows more about entitlement than any lefty academic

The race-based entitlement that academics peddle is questionable at best.  This is what true entitlement looks like.

It is worth pointing out that the illegally-parked vehicle owners are not the customers of the towing company.  No, the towing company's customer is the property owner.  I think that all the back and forth with the vehicle owners is just for good Youtube content.  I mean, why else bother?  But for us, it does offer a great peek at American entitlement culture.

And sadly, you see this in all public facing businesses.  This is just an extreme example.  In any case, I would argue that entitlement has gotten worse in the last few decades.  I wish some academic would study the causes.  But they are so wrapped up in race and grievance that they pay no attention to the actual entitlement all around us.

Just pay attention; entitlement is everywhere.  People are entitled to tips for no real service.  Others are entitled to tip nothing for actual service.  Parents are entitled to take their unsupervised, misbehaving children everywhere.  Passengers are entitled to take the seat of their choice on airplanes.  So-called influencers are entitled to free stuff and service.  And if we back up just a few years to the time of Covid, just think about the entitlement that people had to tell perfect strangers what to do.  Going to the grocery store was walking through an entitlement minefield.

Today we see people using smartphones without headphones or earbuds.  Some blast music in public on their bluetooth speakers.  Patrons refuse to get off their smartphones when dealing with a cashier, waiter, etc.  Or on public transportation.  The social expectation of respect for others is dead.

Truly, the only way to avoid disrespect for others is to avoid public spaces.  We do try.  And here is something interesting:  There is a class dynamic to this entitlement problem.  Counterintuitive though it may be, higher class environments have less entitlement.  In my observation, entitlement culture is a lower class problem.  And it is intentional.  The mid and upper classes know that it is best to take calls outside, or not at all.  Lower class people have a need to inflict their noise and other entitlements on the people around them.  Why is that?

Anyway, it is getting worse.  What is going on?

𓐵

The Unhinged Alphabet Show

When did "pride" become so hateful?

Arielle Scarcella:  At what point does "pride" stop being about pride, and start being performance art for the unhinged?



It is a show, and if you do not approve of the show, there is something wrong with you, not the shameless, deranged performers.  Scarcella says that "pride" is not about pride; rather, it is performance art for the unhinged.  In other words, it is a freak show.  But I think it is much worse than that.  I submit that the show is about asserting power and dominance:  You cannot stop me and you should keep your mouth shut.

Beyond that, a large part of the Alphabet Show is sheer narcissism.  It is:  Look at me!  Look at me!  Look at me!  They should not worry; try as we might, they cannot be missed.
𓐵

Cultural Insanity

Are the alphabet people crazy?



I lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for many years.  And there is something about academic communities that attracts unstable people.  I will let someone else explain why that is, but it is a fact.  So living in this sort of place, you encounter lots of crazy people.  It is just part of the life there.

And one thing I noticed about these people, whatever their individual problems, you never know what is going to set them off.  And almost all of them have the potential to become violent.  So it is best just to stay away from them.

This has become my attitude with so-called trans people, and really, with much of the alphabet community.  These people are often crazy and it is just a good idea to stay away from them.  You can easily sense the violence lurking just beneath the surface.

For instance, this guy strikes me as having the potential for violence.  I mean, he is seething; you can tell he might erupt at any moment.  I do not want him in my restaurant (he likes to film himself in restaurants), interacting with my staff, and near my other customers.

I think the problem here is one of perceived respect.  The alphabet people demand the respect that they feel society owes them.  And if they perceive that someone is not sufficiently providing it, well, their response is unknowable.  This is made all the more unpredictable because, it is true, many of us do not and cannot respect them.

But the perceived lack of respect is only the first layer.  When this is not forthcoming, the alphabet people move to control.  You will call me by my preferred pronouns, or else.  You will allow me to swim on the girl's team, or else.  You will not consider me a pervert if I had anonymous sex with two hundred men so far this year, or else.

This or else is typically some form of social control, or group outrage, or cancellation.   It is interesting to note that they demand respect from others and control of others.  Surely they would have an easier road if they left the rest of us out of their lifestyles?  But again, when this effort fails, the response is unknowable.  The threat of violence is always present.

Now, is the problem all of the alphabet people?  I do not think so.  For instance, the lesbians and the bisexuals seem relatively normal.  And some percentage of the gay community seems normal.  Although what that percentage is, I have no idea.  But if you are a gay man, playing dress up and dancing for little kids, you sir, are not normal.

The remainder of the alphabet people do seem some degree of crazy.  While there is no definitive list of the various types of alphabet people, Grok makes a start.  You will note that "furry" is not a sexual orientation or gender identity.  Good to know.

My sincere advice:  Stay away from them.

𓐵

Five Open Questions

I have long been a supporter of Israel.  See here, here, and here.  There are others.  I continue to believe that Israel has the right to exist and the right to defend itself as any other nation.  But today I have some questions that I can no longer ignore.

1.  Who killed JFK?

2.  Who killed Charlie Kirk?

3.  What happened on 9/11?

4.  What happened to the USS Liberty in 1967?

5.  Why were Israeli Defense Forces pulled off the border with Gaza on 7 October 2023 in the exact area where Hamas attacked?

Kennedy was assassinated 63 years ago this November.  Why not release all of the files?  I do not know the answer to that question.  But surely one possible answer is that doing this would cause harm to Israel.  Yes of course, even today.  No matter what you think of this theory, I think we can all agree that Kennedy was not killed with Arlen Specter's magic bullet.  If Israel was not involved, release the files and let us see what happened.  I am talking to you Donald Trump.

And do we really believe that Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a 22-year-old, trans-furry goofball, with an old hunting rifle that would have taken Kirk's head off?

Engineers say the World Trade Center buildings should not have fallen on 9/11.  Certainly not Tower Seven.  Are they lying or is the government lying?

The USS Liberty, a gray naval vessel flying the American flag was mistaken for an Egyptian warship?  By Israel?  Really?

The point of this post is not to probe each of the above questions.  There's more than enough of that on the internet and I invite you to do your own research.

No, the point is:  The US government is lying about the first four of these questions.  Not sure why, but it is clear they are lying.  What would cause them to do so?  At some point the cumulative dubiousness of these open questions becomes unavoidable.  And they all seem to trace back to Israel.

I include the fifth question because it is so very odd.  So odd that it stinks.  Could the Israeli government have known about the impending attack, and therefore chose to let it happen?  And why would they do that?  Is everything that happened in the subsequent months and years the answer to that question?  Could the Israeli government be that evil?

Should we not now reconsider the first four questions based on our consideration of Question Five?

It is interesting to note that the US response, in the immediate aftermath of all of these incidents, was to act in a way that benefited Israel.  So allow me to just ask the obvious question bluntly:

Could it be that the Israeli government engineered all of these incidents in order to engender support from the American government and the American public?  Or to influence US policy in the Middle East?

I know, I know, such a question is antisemitic.  But like the term racist, the term antisemitic has been abused to the point that it no longer means much.  Criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitic, any more than criticism of the government of Congo is racist.  Or criticism of the government of France is anti-Gallic.

The point of calling people antisemitic is not to call out genuine bigotry.  Rather it is to stop inconvenient questions.

Call me whatever you like.  But answer my damn questions.

𓐵

Covid Update

Weinstein:  We are dealing with monsters

Referring to the entire episode (the virus origins, the pandemic, and the hapless and heavy-handed response), Weinstein labels it mass murder and calls for a Nuremberg trial.  This was and continues to be organized crime on a global scale.  Everyone involved should go to jail.

But we all know that no one is going to be held accountable.  The only way that the world might demand accountability is if the death toll were to skyrocket all these years later.  Part of the problem is that very few who received the mRNA so-called "vaccine" want to admit, to themselves or otherwise, what an ill-conceived decision that was.  And how many people allowed their children to receive this?  Who wants to admit that kind of error?

So the criminals remain largely in place.  And without doubt, they will do it again.

𓐵

What Do We Want For Our Country?

Is widespread prosperity the goal?

When I was very young, my even younger brother asked our two grandfathers, What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?  Now, one grandfather was a Democrat and one was a Republican.  And here we all sat together for this little conversation.  My Republican grandfather answered first.  Well I would say that we all want the same things, but we disagree on how to achieve them.  Obviously he was being diplomatic, but this left a lasting impression, and I more or less believed it for many years.

But I can no longer believe this.  I am 59 years old, and I have been following politics and culture since I was in high school.  If the above sentiment was ever true, it is certainly not true today.  Dear reader, let me ask you:  Do left-of-center types and right-of-center types (I no longer use the party labels) want the same thing?  Perhaps it is just me, but I do not think they do.

So while I appreciate what Peter Boghossian is doing, and I appreciated what Charlie Kirk tried to do, my question is this:  What is the point of these conversations when the goals are so diametrically opposed?  It is kind of like slavery:  At some point, there is nothing left to talk about.

The problem is that not only do we have different goals.  But we have different perceptions of the goals of the other side.

I think we can boil it down like this:

    The right would define their goal as:  Widespread prosperity

    The left would define their goal as:  Universal equality

    But how would the left define the goal of the right:  Prosperity for few

    And how would the right define the goal of the left:  Power for few

So where is the truth?  Well the truth depends on where you sit.  Yes of course I believe in absolute truth.  I believe the right-of-center types are correct, both in the description of their goal and in their perception of the goal of the left.  But any left-of-center type will make the exact opposite claim to truth.

The left may be delusional, but you have to remember that the left is a religion.  And like any religion, their doctrine is their truth.

So like 1860, really, what is there left to talk about?  I am not calling for war.  But it seems to me that we must admit reality.  These two sides will not, and perhaps cannot, be reconciled.  We can have a separation, which has already begun.  I predict this will accelerate.  But a chaotic civil war at some point seems just has likely.

𓐵

Pharmaceutical Evil

Ethical drug companies are anything but ethical

And of course, governments assist their villainous behavior.  Today, post Covid, we must acknowledge that the pharmaceutical industry is much worse than the tobacco industry.  If for no other reason than it affects more people.  But the truth is these firms are knowingly working against public and individual health in order to produce long term customers for their recently patented, expensive drugs.

Over the decades, I became skeptical of Big Pharma.  At first, I think it was all the creepy ads.  But later I noticed how physicians seemed to morph into little more than drug dealers.  Paid by us, their patients, and/or our insurance companies, but also handsomely paid by Big Pharma as well.

And by the time Covid came along, the grift was up.  At least for me.  But sadly not for most.  And today, the racket continues.  If during or after Covid, you were late to recognize the grift, only to do so in hindsight, welcome.  I myself did not learn about the complete lack of proper testing for any vaccines, until after Covid, and after I received a number of recommended vaccines for international travel.  But at this point, if you do not see the grift for what it is, you are recklessly naive regarding your own and your family's health.

As for the mRNA so-called vaccines, we still do not know what that was about.  What we do know absolutely is that they were not designed as a vaccine against Covid.  Are there any other vaccines that do not immunize against their target disease?  Any?  As Bret Weinstein recently pointed out, if these drugs were not designed to create immunity, perhaps they were purposefully designed to create some future vulnerability.  What other reason could there be to insist that every person on this planet receive multiple doses of this poison?

Pure evil.

𓐵