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Comment count is 106
Old_Zircon - 2015-09-05

"transphobia" tag please.


TheOtherCapnS - 2015-09-05

Nope. The innocuous and plot-related line from Star Wars predates its adoption by transphobic bros.


Old_Zircon - 2015-09-05

I'm fairly confident that as a meme that's not the case, but either way I think it's funny that the people who made this had no clue that it has that connotation now.


TheOtherCapnS - 2015-09-05

Okay, the last thing I meant to do was defend a truth ad. Almost by definition anything they produce is comically out of touch. So yes, that tag maybe belongs given the fact that truth ads should only exist as a punchline in an episode of Kimmy Schmidt, but I really feel like that usage peaked around 2010. Maybe I am being naive by asserting that these days it just refers to something dangerous...


simon666 - 2015-09-06

I'm pretty sure everyone on this site is old and out of touch with college aged kids. Truth may be out of touch, but we have no damn way of knowing.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-06

The fact that you clowns are getting offended at a Guilty Gear character reference is pretty strong evidence of that.


garcet71283 - 2015-09-06

When I first came here...I was a college kid.


Now I'm 30...


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

Stay classy, Caminante, stay classy.


Nominal - 2015-09-06

Holy fuck is that reaching to find something to be offended over. Not since "throwing an arm up to defend your face against a basketball clearly indicates MRA infestation of the NBA" anyway.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

Caminante speaks the truth. Most of the times I've encountered the "Trap" meme, it's been in reference to Bridget.

I have to dispute the proposed "transphobia" tag. The word "trap" is typically used by Bridget fans; it's a term of endearment, and it carries decidedly positive connotations! This positivity continues even when the word "trap" is applied to individuals other than Bridget, e.g. Bill from Tokio Hotel, Poison, and Bailey Jay. Trying to label the term as a transphobic slur reveals a profound lack of experience, both with the word and with the people who use it - people who like talking about traps aren't trap-haters, they are trap FANS, as encompassed by their aphorism, "Everyone is gay for Bridget".

Furthermore, there are no clear references to transexuals anywhere in this commercial. As ever, context is key, and even if one insists that the word "trap" can be construed as "transphobic" when applied to transexuals, it certainly wouldn't constitute transphobia when there are no trans-individuals involved at all.

In short, the word "trap" is no more "transphobic" than the word "loli" is "pedophobic", or the word "bro" is "androphobic". Heed Caminante! Stop being old-man clowns.



With that said, you guys are partially correct about the age of of the meme and its usage having peaked. My fellow poesters raise some good points about being old and out-of-touch- just going off the top of my head, I can't really say whether or not kids still recognize the sexual connotations of the word "trap".

Fortunately, we don't have to rely on our own experience, because search-term data exists. According to KYM and Google Trends, interest in the Admiral Akbar meme spiked around December of 2010, before dropping rapidly and leveling off. There's been a slight upturn in interest over the last few months, but people are definitely not as into "It's a Trap!" as they were five years ago.

HOWEVER, search interest in phrases more specific to transexual fetishism is on the rise. The phrase "anime trap" (the meaning of which is pretty unambiguous: a person looking for "anime traps" is almost certainly interested in transexual anime characters) has been rising steadily since "trap's" initial adoption by 4chan, sometime in 2009. "anime trap" is currently three or four times more popular than it was in December '10, the heyday of the Admiral Akbar meme! As such, I think it's fair to conclude that people are still extremely aware of the sexual slang, more so than ever before.

The one caveat I have to mention is that the available data is not broken down by demographics. We have no way of knowing if *young people* - that is, teenagers and early college students, the target audience for the Truth campaign - are searching for delicious traps, or if all that traffic is coming from people who are slightly older - the first generation of Anons, now in their mid 20s and 30s. Still, I think the stable popularity of the Admiral Akbar meme, as well as the ever-rising popularity of the word "trap" as a specific reference to transexuals, is a pretty good indication that kids today know what it means.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

Anyway, moving on to the commercial itself, most of these memes seem to be pretty old and played out. I'd like to check some of the numbers to see if the Truth campaign is genuinely out of touch; does anyone know when they filmed this commercial? Is it brand new, or more than a few months old?


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

Overly Attached Girlfriend peaked in June 2012 and fell rapidly; she is now at less than 10% of her initial popularity.
{http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/overly-attached-girlfriend}

Ermahgerd peaked in August of 2012 and wore out her welcome in less than a year; she now barely registers as a meme, at less than 5% of her initial popularity.
{http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ermahgerd}

Puking Rainbows peaked in April of 2012; its staying power has been better than the others, and remains at about 15%.
{http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/puking-rainbows}

The other memes I can't locate search term data for, but Jospeh Ducreux has been a meme since 2009, and with the exception of a brief cameo by Youtuber "Nigahiga", none of the things included in this video seem to be popular nowadays.


Judging by the cluster of 2012 memes, my guess would be that either a) the intern responsible for this ad was on 4chan back in 2012, and has fond memories of that year's memes, or b) the year 2012 was chosen by committee, possibly because current college freshman would have been just starting highschool when these memes were popular, and should remember them.

It clearly didn't work. Nearly every comment left is a joke about "cancer" and wanting to smoke because of this video.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

The tl;dr summary of my findings: the Truth Campaign is out of touch.


Nominal - 2015-09-06

Eventually this site is just going to be Homer endlessly replying to himself.


"HOWEVER...."


Old_Zircon - 2015-09-06

Portal of Evilhomer.


infinite zest - 2015-09-06

It's kind of sad that commercials you'd be more likely to see on The Hallmark Channel like Purina, Wendys and Honey Nut Cheerios have more up-to-date memes, like Grumpy Cat and Doge, for folks who don't know what a "meme" is, than an ad marketed toward the "4-chan-more-like-4-years-ago" demographic.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-06

>>Anyway, moving on to the commercial itself, most of these memes seem to be pretty old and played out. I'd like to check some of the numbers to see if the Truth campaign is genuinely out of touch; does anyone know when they filmed this commercial?

I suspect that it was a conscious decision to go for "classic" memes that are still recognizable. Memes make their way slowly from 4chan to the so-called "civilian" internet, so an attempt to track what's happening now would wouldonly seem desperately trendy to some, baffling to others. To the kids in the target demographic, I suspecr this is slightly nostalgic.

Anyway, the future Andy Warhol spoke of in 1968 has come and gone. Now,, everybody is famous forever. The internet never forgets.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-06

>>>Overly Attached Girlfriend peaked in June 2012 and fell rapidly; she is now at less than 10% of her initial popularity.

KYM tracks SEARCH popularity, which is easy to get for any possible topic and that's got to be WAAAYYYY skewed, since it seems intuitive to assume that, once you know about something, you're less likely to search for it.

>>>It clearly didn't work. Nearly every comment left is a joke about "cancer" and wanting to smoke because of this video.

There are twice as many likes as dislikes, and three and a half million views in a little more than a week. EPIC WIN!

I think it's always a mistake to assume that the comments are representative of all viewers, or people in general. The most and strongest comments are bound to be from smokers who don't like being told what they already know. Smokers always say that an anti-smoking ad makes them want to smoke, in part because just about everything really does make them want to smoke.

I picked up smoking at 17, and didn't manage to quit until I was 25. And I was struggling with it for nearly all of that time. It really is a goddamn trap. This is an honest message, conveyed in an attention grabbing way.

I think that's all that counts. No one's going to decide to continue smoking because the memes are old, but they would have decided to stop if the memes were more current. In fact, I imagine that no one's going to decide to stop smoking because of any PSA alone. There needs to be a serendipitous interaction with the viewer's environment. It has to set up a discussion, or influence a reaction to a situation. it's a complicated paradigm, and it's impossible to track accurately.

Nobody cares what I think, but I like the ad: the pacing, the reaction shots, the overall weirdness. Needs Boxxy, though.


infinite zest - 2015-09-06

Yeah disputing the meme isn't the point.. like I said before I picked up smoking to take more breaks at work, or just so I wouldn't be standing on the corner for 10 minutes just staring at people walking by (it's completely normal if you have a cigarette in your hand but otherwise it's weird) and I was part of the "Smoke Free Class of 2000," with ads that weren't funny or ironic, just pictures of black lungs. And for fuck sake, there was a regular at my store who had a trachaeotomy tube and smoked 4 packs of newports a day, sometimes taking out and emptying his tube right on the counter. And my reaction was still "christ I need a cigarette.." I assume otherwise I would've just gone into the back room and puked. So anyway scare tactics don't work, but stating a simple fact about smoking is stating a simple fact about smoking.

Kinda unrelated, but I never understood why "it's a trap" became such a quoted line, like "beam me up Scotty" or "may the force be with you" etc.. it's just kind of like saying "look out!" or "where are you going?" I dunno..


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

>> KYM tracks SEARCH popularity, which is easy to get for any possible topic and that's got to be WAAAYYYY skewed, since it seems intuitive to assume that, once you know about something, you're less likely to search for it.


But popularity is exactly what's relevant to our discussion. If you're interested in a meme, you'll keep searching for it, even though you know what it is already.

All you're really saying here is that we should expect search popularity to drop after an initial surge in interest, and of course this is precisely what happens. How much interest remains, and how far it has dropped, gives us a measure of how popular the meme is currently.


>> There are twice as many likes as dislikes

That's a pretty poor showing. Youtube users are far more likely to "Like" a video than "Dislike" it, particularly when the video's subject matter is not immediately controversial (i.e. it doesn't deal with religion or politics).

For example, Justin Bieber is a pretty commonly-reviled figure, yet his latest uploaded video has garnered an L/D ratio of 1,000,000/60,000 (16.6) in a little under six days. The Amazing Atheist, another controversial figure, recently uploaded a video attacking Anita Sarkeesian which earned an L/D of 20,00/1,500 (13.3). Hell, even Davis Aurini averages at least 4/1! Which means that, just going off of the L/D ratio (which is most likely skewed by the Truth Campaign's own social media PR team), this Truth ad has been more poorly received than Justin Bieber, The Amazing Atheist, and your good friend Aurini.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

No "transpobia" tag. This ad has nothing to do with the "Its a trap" meme about transsexuals. They're saying that smoking is a trap.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-06

>>But popularity is exactly what's relevant to our discussion. If you're interested in a meme, you'll keep searching for it, even though you know what it is already.

Not necessarily. You think I search for Boxxy? When i want to find out what's going on with catie, i check her Twitter profile. When I want to see what the cvfans are up to, I go to CatieWayne.com. (That's been pretty dead since Catie started tweeting.)

Fans of Lainia Morris (overly attached girlfriend) probably go straight to her Twitter, her facebook or her youtube pages, and all of these things show up automatically in their feeds.

>>Overly Attached Girlfriend peaked in June 2012 and fell rapidly; she is now at less than 10% of her initial popularity.

And yet she was interviewed by NPR in April of 2015, and it wasn't exactly a "where are they now?" angle.

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/13/399414335/overly-attached-girlfr iend-meme-star-turns-online-fame-into-comedy-career

>>Laina Morris is the real person behind the Internet meme known as the "Overly Attached Girlfriend." She has deftly exploited her Internet fame, turning a spoof entry to a Justin Bieber contest into a full-time career of putting comic videos on YouTube.


>>That's a pretty poor showing. Youtube users are far more likely to "Like" a video than "Dislike" it, particularly when the video's subject matter is not immediately controversial (i.e. it doesn't deal with religion or politics).

If you're a kid who smokes, being told that you shouldn't may be considered EXTREMELY controversial!

Forget I mentioned it. Like/disklike is only a small fraction of total views, and every case has its own dynamic. The only number that means anything is views.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

Nominal, why is it every time you open your mouth I end up feeling less and less respect for you? Just because a connotation exists and is brought into light doesn't mean the fun police is here.

Oh, and for your example of paranoid schizophrenia, it's kind of poetic there. I mean, there has even been an example unironically displayed transphobia on this website and your entire conjecture is about IGNORING a fucking problem entirely as if it'll go away.

My stars go to Evilhomer for the reminder of the other attached context to the meme.

Also, Nominal. Maybe you should work on yourself? Because you were constantly bitching about censorship and how there is no dialogue and now you've completely turned around as if no opposition is necessary.

In short, fuck you kindly and keep note of the whole term of "racists do not know they're racists". It doesn't mean that you're a bigot, but it's pretty damn obvious you're a fucking heel for something.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

Relax Joe, the real heels are nerds like Truth who try to make young adults into nonsmoking dweebs.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

Oh, and to remove any pretentious ambiguity, Nominal, there are better examples to use and the one that springs into mind that could be properly used here is Kony 2012.

Cena, I would gladly accept that but acceptance of ignorance in lieu of the name of humanity is as much subjective as it is fleeting. I would gladly calm down, but I'm constantly seeing doors opening, closing, whether it's progressive or hiding; and that's not the vicious part. The vicious part is knowing that politics are constantly being played whether small or huge and historically they have been used against minorities.

It is completely fine to bring up the term "do not fix what isn't broken", but my fear revolves around that thin skin of "why me?" that comes up in any social circle that devolves into an internal monologue of "Well fuck you, you [epithet/slur here]. You [epithet/slur] really are shit" that's unnecessarily covered by "do not fix what isn't broken."

tl:dr version: just because it's punk doesn't mean it's free of bigots.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-06

>>Nope. The innocuous and plot-related line from Star Wars predates its adoption by transphobic bros.

I don't understand any of this, but I'm sure the line "It's a trap." can be heard in a shitload of westerns from the 30s and 40s, and probably read in the titles from a silent movie or two.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

Damn, I has no idea this video would be so controversial. I figured there would be a handful of replies mocking the use of tired memes. It's like I'm back in my heyday as a right wing jerk. 5 selfie stars for that.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

What the fuck is it with people saying that previous annotation annuls any fucking demographic usage? If there are enough "transphobic bros" to be using the phrase with transphobic intention then there's obviously a big enough demographic who would perceive and relate "It's a trap" with the expectation of a transexual trying to dupe straight and/or homosexual people into having sex with them, then there is obviously enough people in the group to have someone to refer them as a fucking demographic.

If every single western plot line had transexuals as villains, then yes it would be a completely legitimate thing to relate the line itself as transphobic. If the entire canonical plot line of Star Wars 4 - 6 was about Darth Vader trying to seduce and screw Luke and Leia while ducking into a bedroom to change "clothes", then it would be fine to associate the line as transphobic. But since the marketing never allows LGBT with out a higher restrictive rating, the references never make it into film and/or mainstream media for completely different reasons than prevention of inciting hatred towards a minority.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

It's not the video, Cena. It's the demographic and the unfortunate circumstance of people shrugging off a circumstance that comes up all because it's unrelated.

Truth has the benefit of the doubt for being out of touch and I would not be surprised in the least if it was just them being out of touch, but none of their commercials have been for or against LGBT, partly due to having their own formula and one that doesn't seem like it would benefit LGBT directly if they included, so it's no clue whether there will be a pattern showing up or not. But knowledge that there a people using the line "It's a trap" with a transsphobic tense changes everything about future ads from them.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-06

Joe, There's only so many times I can roll my eyes and make a jerkoff motion at your comments.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

Yet again Big Anti-tobacco is hurting people through their reckless propaganda. We need to stand up against them!!!!,!!!!!


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

Is that less or more than how many people play Guilty Gear?


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-06

So has everyone forgotten that Truth videos can be put under the white people tag? Or am I just being lumped with SJW's just because I'm trying to make a point about how small things, while not harmless by themselves, can be representative of a bigger problem? Or was this site always full of obnoxious, social stunted and self-congratulating idiots?

Seriously, I just looked up Caminante's reference, because EVERYONE LOVES ANIME ^ ^;;, and I didn't feel the least bit flattered that a boy who looks like a girl is given a title of "trap" among the community. It's going to take a lot more to convince me that a character with associations of being a transsexual with the DeviantArt traits of "nice and understanding" is any merit when the commune of pillow fuckers who would even know about that considers it a "trap".


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-07

Shoebox Joe put his nose to the grindstone, did some hard-hitting investigation, and he still ended up sounding like a sanctimonious child.

Not the cute kind of sanctimonious child, either (AKA tsundere).


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-07

Just to bring up a question, Caminante, where's the proof that the game "KILL THE FAGGOT" was a joke with no interest in sending a message? Or if there was a message, what was it? Because any hard hitting journalism you have of that game that would change the entire juxtaposition of misterbuns reply to you, you self-interested schmuck.

http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=144634


Cena_mark - 2015-09-07

There will be no "White People" tag, because this commercial has a very racially diverse cast.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-07

So does Guilty Gear. It even has a trap.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-07

A trap with a yoyo.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-07

I think calling transgender people "traps" goes back to the whole transphobia thing that started all of this.
Is Bridgette really transgendered. Her reason for living as a female came out of a superstition as opposed to actually feeling female.


fluffy - 2015-09-07

It's a fucking Star Wars reference. Jesus Christ, people.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

No, fluffy, that's a gross over-simplification. What this is, is a reference to a meme that was a reference to Star Wars, a meme which, shortly after it's adoption by 4chan, gained new life as a reference to trans-individuals, an additional meaning that - for the majority of internet nerds - has largely superseded the original one.


fluffy - 2015-09-07

I am aware of its use as a transphobic "joke." That is not its use in this.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-07

It's not transphobic, though.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

It could be transphobic and it could be not transphobic; I maintain that the transphobia-value must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and depends upon context and the speaker's intent.

By the same token, this meme could be a joke or not be a joke, dependent again upon context and the speaker's intent.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

For example, when Caminante brings up Bridget being a trap, I believe that he is using the meme as a non-transphobic joke - non-transphobic, because he clearly has a great deal of affection and respect for Guilty Gear, and a joke, because I do not for a minute believe that Caminante is "gay for Bridget" (Caminante is interested in pre-pubescent girls, not older adolescent males in drag).

However, when Gmork uses the word "trap" (I believe he has before), it would probably be meant as a transphobic, non-joke; that is to say, he's definitely afraid of transexuals, and the idea of being "tricked" into having sexual relations with one is not a subject of jocularity for him. It's actually quite triggering.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-07

You give me far too little credit, homer.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

I give you plenty of credit, but you're not fooling me.

I guess you could say, I am not falling for that "trap".


Aelric - 2015-09-07

Hey, remember ten years ago when we had a character limit on comments? Pepperidge Farm remembers...


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-07

Cam, you do realize that an ambiguous context is never a good thing, right? It's a lot more difficult to believe that someone using the word fag with the defense of Louis C.K. is in any way understanding of LGBT when just a simple matter of inflection of bigotry reveals What makes you think that it's any different for the use of "trap"? It literally is the same that the proposed new definition is just a smaller part of an already bigger context that is readily available and becomes more toxic and underhanded when understanding the perceptions of bigotry and allowing more faith in acceptance then in understanding.

I can admire the proposed dark, whimsical humor involved for that definition, but I doubt anyone on the receiving end of that name is delighted in the thought that any social advances that already have complications are given a name that's synonymous with negativity.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-08

* It's a lot more difficult to believe that someone using the word fag with the defense of Louis C.K. is in any way understanding of LGBT when just a simple matter of inflection of bigotry reveals that idiot, moron, retard, etc. are extremely broad terms and were already clearly intended in the original description. What makes you think the phrase trap towards transsexuals or transgendered is any different? What makes you think a positive connotation will annul the fear of judgement, rejection that they are most likely aware of being a difficulty with their position? No amount of spin, whether it's some fundie christian trying to spin the horror and difficulty of a "lifestyle", or a "delightful" surprise, and I mean "delightful" will be subjective as hell depending on your sexual orientation, is going to remove a part that is fundementally a part of socializing and is made explicitly worse by considering it a trap when really the only reason it would be a trap is if you were scared shitless that if you revealed anything up front that you'll end up being face down in a river an hour after opening up.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-08

Comparing the word "trap" to the word "fag" just because it offends you is a deeply insensitive thing to do, no matter how melodramatic and verbose you are about it. I can't imagine how my traps you've hurt with this kind of talk.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-08

The word trap implies that transgendered folks go around seducing straight males, just to give them a horrible surprise.


Gmork - 2015-09-08

5 stars for this being one of the most worthless comment threads ever to appear on this site.


Gmork - 2015-09-08

"Joe, There's only so many times I can roll my eyes and make a jerkoff motion at your comments."

This. I didn't even know "It's a trap" had been commandeered by the tumblr crowd.

The things people assume are common knowledge say a lot about that person. In this case Joe is assuming everyone who says "it's a trap" is even aware that it was used as an anti-trans meme.

Sorry, some of us have never entered "tumblr.com" into our browser and have no inclination to do so.


Gmork - 2015-09-08

" for the majority of internet nerds - has largely superseded the original one."

Nope. Just because you unironically visit 4chan doesn't mean other people have such low standards.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-08

Oh hey! Gmork knows there's something with tumblr! Gmork knows there's something with tumblr!

Thanks for the info, guy!


EvilHomer - 2015-09-08

OK, Gmork, I'll bite. Which internet nerd communities use "It's a Trap" as an obscure Star Wars reference, instead of as a reference to transexuals?

Remember, the statement you are taking issue with is "for the majority of internet nerds - has largely superseded the original one". In order to challenge that statement, you must establish, not only that Star Wars Trap nerds exist, but that they constitute a larger social bloc than Anonymous's Transexual Trap community.


Shoebox Joe - 2015-09-08

Oh man, Gmork, you certainly got me pegged for closed mindfulness. When did you read my name in the thread?


Miss Henson's 6th grade class - 2015-09-05

It's a shame. Maybe I misjudged 'em, but I think that the Truth campaign has done some very effective ads before this one. At one point, I remember reading that the tobacco industry, who is pretty much forced to contribute to them, was complaining that the ads were a bit too effective.


infinite zest - 2015-09-06

Yeah, the bodybags campaign was pretty accurate. I smoke, and actually started when those ads were around when I started college, doing it mostly because I could take regular breaks at my shitty college job. A few years earlier and those commercials might've had an actual impact on me. This kinda makes me want a cigarette.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

That's sad that you had to smoke to get some extra breaks
We all need time to step outside. Once in Alaska the sun came out for the first time in weeks. I asked my chief for a "sunshine" break and he made fun of me. It would have been much easier to ask for a smoke break.
The LT. who ran the shop would ironically say she was going out for fresh air every time she smoked.


Caminante Nocturno - 2015-09-06

I guess the Numa Numa kid didn't return their calls.


15th - 2015-09-06

I'm quitting very soon, wish me luck. It retrospect it was a trap. A sweet, mild and relaxing trap.


15th - 2015-09-06

Unrelated, but where did memedumpster go? This place sucks a bit more without him around. He was one of my favorite commentators....


Nominal - 2015-09-06

He had a meltdown during the blacklivesmatter Bernie Sanders video where he went all chaos owl and starting mockingly replying to everyone with "yeah those uppity niggers" regardless of opinion or context.

I really hope OZ was joking that making Ackbar references makes you a Bigot. He could be the next meme to pull a meme over a meme.


Old_Zircon - 2015-09-06

NO i WAS BEING TOTALLY SERIOUS AND AM DEEPLY OFFENDED OBVIOUSLY


Nominal - 2015-09-06

I honestly hope meme recognized his long standing anger issues and decided to take a break from the internet to go work on himself.


Old_Zircon - 2015-09-06

He had been talking about it off and on for a while before then so it seems likely.

I, however, continue to live in deep denial of my laziness issues.


infinite zest - 2015-09-06

I was going to quit when I turned 30, or to be more specific, when my wife at the time turned 30, but that was around the time our relationship was going tits up and I was working 70 hours a week (salaried for 40) due to company layoffs, so that wasn't gonna happen.

The ban on smoking in Oregon has helped a lot (I think besides a few states in the South it's universally banned) because even if you're at the bar you still have to sit out in the windy rain during the winter, umbrella or not it's not fun. I had a bit of a revelation last night.. there's this cool barcade that I just discovered does free plays on Friday and Saturday nights. Like, 6 player X-Men Arcade and other games, 20+ pinball machines, DDR, and 1.50 PBR tallboys! But that also means there's a line out the door. If you go out to smoke, you go to the back of the line, so it comes down to which addiction is more important. Finally, the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" makes sense to me, but replace "winners" with "campers." :)

I still think it'd be cool to do a big poe convention again. I'm facebook friends with a couple of you guys and sporadically reply or post in the poe FB. There was one a couple of months ago not too far from me up in Washington, but by the time I found out it too late for me to get off work, etc. Something that was planned several months in advance somewhere would be a perfect excuse for me to take a much needed vacation too :)


15th - 2015-09-06

You guys met up? Did you try to guess who was who?


infinite zest - 2015-09-06

I didn't go.. closest was someone on here who knew my local bar and asked the bartender if I was around; sadly I was on a different schedule. But for Portland people I'm at the yamhill most nights. Come see me but avoid the bathroom


Ugh - 2015-09-06

yes, hello, i'd like to place an order at your advertising firm for one order of unironic "le Reddit army is here xD"

what do you mean ceiling cat is out of stock, uh... *flips pages*

no i dont think we can use a gross of "teh," let's just stick with things that get upvotes, m'kay?


Ugh - 2015-09-06

a jort clad man in a ponytail runs into the office, his trilby held down to his scalp by his hand

"is it too late"

"what do you mean"

*peels bandage away from ankle, revealing tattoo of ugly charmander being painted on easel by another charmander*

*reddit alien closes eyes and fades away*


Old_Zircon - 2015-09-06

The trilby really is the new fedora, isn't it?


Nikon - 2015-09-06

Someone set us up the lung cancer. You have no chance to survive make your time.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

Hey Cena, what do you think of smoking? Is it cool, or is smoking for dorks?


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

Smoking is cool, but I'm not cool enough to smoke.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

Oh, come on! It's not cool and you know it!

Smoking hurts your cardio, makes you more susceptible to fatigue, and reduces your night vision. Your mission readiness is severely impaired by smoking, and impaired mission readiness is never cool.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

You're sounding like a company man, which is really uncool.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-06

:o

Are you ditching your John Cena gimmick?! You will have to change your name to Cena Not Mark.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-06

Hold up a second. I know Cena is rather squeaky clean nowadays, but he was also a heel, thug, and gangsta rapper. Cena has a dark side, and its surfaced many times in the past.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

Does he smoke? Did he smoke? I'm sorry, I guess I missed the part where OG Cena, Company Man, came out into the ring and started chain-smoking his way through a pack of Newports.

I mean, let's be real for a second here. Cena was never much of a heel: he had the whole Scotty 2 Hotty thing going on (laaaaame), but it's not like he ever drop-kicked Vince McMahon, shit in a diva's handbag, or ritually sacrificed Stephanie as an offering to Satan. John Cena's always been a "good boy" at heart, and he's the LAST person who would ever dream of doing that most evil of acts: smoking.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-07

He didn't smoke, but he hit people with his chain and his album has a lot of profanity. He's an athlete, he has a good reason not to smoke.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

>> He didn't smoke... He's an athlete, he has a good reason not to smoke.


Thank you! That's what I've been saying all along!

Smoking is terrible for your physique, and therefor cannot possibly be cool. If smoking is cool, then so's eating donuts, and playing chess instead of doing pushups.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-07

But cool people DO smoke. Smoking is just plain cool. When Europeans first came to the Americas they saw the natives smoking and knew it was cool. It makes people look like dragons. Any who it was so cool they brought tobacco back to Europe to show their friends how cool they became through smoking.


Cena_mark - 2015-09-07

Smoking will make you 21% cooler.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

Yes, but smoking isn't what makes them cool. Smoking is a coolness inhibitor. Some people may be soooo cool, that they remain cool even IF they smoke - people like Snake Plissken, Ahnald, and Tank Girl - but the smoking makes them lose cool points. They'd be *even cooler* had they decided to put down the deathsticks and live in a healthy, responsible manner.

Nor does smoking make people look like dragons. That is a myth! A "trap", if you will. What smoking does is make people look like people, people who just had a dragon spit fire all over them, so now their insides are all burning up, and there's smoke coming out of their mouths.

You cannot mistake a person who is smoking for a dragon, because smoking does not give you scales, wings, or, if you are a Chinese person, a cool beard.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-07

Yes to your first comment, not yes to your second (which was ninja'd). Smoking does not make you 21% cooler. It makes you 21% lamer (10% lamer if you smoke cigars, 6% lamer if you smoke pipes).


il fiore bel - 2015-09-06

Getting pretty tired of seeing all these ads all over TV, this and The Real Cost (or maybe they're the same thing). I don't know why they think people are so stupid about what's in cigarettes.


Old_Zircon - 2015-09-06

Because it's easier to put out a bit of information so that when people keep smoking the blame can fall fully on them because "they should have known better" than it is to actually meaningfully reign in the tobacco industry, especially given the potential legal precedents that could be set.

PSAs like this are the public safety equivalent to abstinence-only sex education.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-06

>>PSAs like this are the public safety equivalent to abstinence-only sex education.

That's a terrible analogy. If somebody really wants me to explain why, i will, but I shouldn't have to.

Of course, Homer is going to want me to explain why. He never misses a chance to give me homework. So here goes.

Abstinence-only sex education is long on preaching, and short on imedical nformation. These campaigns do usually involve medical resources, and even the preaching is based more on real medical consequences, not moral bullshit.

Also,"abstinence-only" is a much more sensible approach to cigarettes than sex.


il fiore bel - 2015-09-07

There may be some real statistics that come from years of study, but there just also seems to a lot of unrealistic presentation/scare tactics, a whole lot of shaming, and zero helpful alternatives to the problem.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-07

>> but there just also seems to a lot of unrealistic presentation/scare tactics, a whole lot of shaming, and zero helpful alternatives to the problem.

I've already spent as much time as I care to defending this masterpiece, but I find all of this completely baffling. "A whole lot of shaming going on?" LOLWUT?

Whatever, dude.


il fiore bel - 2015-09-08

"Left Swipe Dat"
(feat. Alphacat, Fifth Harmony, Grace Helbig, Harley Morenstein & King Bach)

[Hook: Becky G]
This must be some kinda joke
If you think you're my type (not my type)
Poof you're gone in a cloud of smoke
I just left swipe
Bye bye
I just left swipe

[Chorus: Fifth Harmony]
Left swipe dat!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
Yeah!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
Left swipe dat!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
That's that stuff I don't like so I gotta
Left swipe dat!

[Verse 1: Becky G]
Look at you, with your shirt off flexin'
You're buff but you puff hashtag perplexing
Yeah, you work out, you're in shape okay
I like the six pack abs, but not the six packs a day

[Verse 2: Harley Morenstein]
Came across this photo of this green-eyed hottie
Whole nine, pretty face, tight waist, nice body
But I couldn't overlook one small fact:
She smokes like an old man at a race track

[Hook: Becky G]
This must be some kinda joke
If you think you're my type (not my type)
Poof you're gone in a cloud of smoke
I just left swipe
Bye bye
I just left swipe

[Chorus: Fifth Harmony]
Left swipe dat!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
Yeah!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
Left swipe dat!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
That's that stuff I don't like so I gotta
Left swipe dat!

[Verse 3: Grace Helbig]
Mr World Traveler, your trips look expensive
Sittin' on a mountain top lookin' all pensive
I was just about to ask, how's the air up there?
But based on this pic, guess you don't really care

[Verse 4: AlphaCat]
Lots a chicks in the pic, not sure which one's you
Them cigarettes take y'all from 10s to 2s
And one thing's true 'bout your whole crew
None of you cigarellas gonna be my boo

[Bridge: Harley Morenstein, Grace Helbig, AlphaCat & KingBach]
Smoking with a tiger?
Left swipe dat!
While you're on a hang-glider?
Left swipe dat!
Smoking while acting healthy?
Left swipe dat!
Smoking all stealthy?
Left swipe dat!
Smoking with a duckface?
Left swipe dat!
At a monster truck race?
Left swipe dat!
Smoking at the prom?
Left swipe dat!
Even in a photobomb?
He don't care!

[Chorus: Fifth Harmony]
Left swipe dat!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
Yeah!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
Left swipe dat!
Gotta gotta gotta swipe it left
That's that stuff I don't like so I gotta
Left swipe dat!


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-08

Oh.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-06

I'm not sure that seeing this will change the lives of individual smokers, but I do feel that it makes a difference to not let the tobacco marketing roll on unchallenged.

But fuck it, anyway. How many smokers prevented will it take to make this worth the effort, particularly on the cigarette companies' dime? How many lives saved? 4? 5? Almost 4 million views in a couple of days, and it'll probably be up for years. We can't say this won't save a few lives. There may be better places for the money to go, but there are certainly worse places.


Hooker - 2015-09-07

We're supposed to rate the video and not the fucking awful comment section, right?


Bus_Aint_Comin - 2015-09-07

i smoke newports. this ad is absolutely horrendous for reasons having nothing to do with me being a smoker. the words "ham-fisted" leap to mind. i've never heard ANYBODY respond to a request to bum with "You're a SMOKER?"

nobody mentioned the ad's use of "trap" music (go ahead and ask me about trap music, i dare you)

also, yes JHMF there is a lot of shaming going on. These youths are being portrayed as callow at best, blindingly stupid at worst. people who smoke "socially" (to say nothing of actual smokers) are too dumb to see the "trap". This is called shaming. when addicted people are made to feel stupid instead of mistaken and in need of help. guilt= i fucked up, shame= i AM fucked up.


EvilHomer - 2015-09-08

What are your feelings on trap music?


EvilHomer - 2015-09-08

I'm assuming trap music is stuff like Twisted Sister, Malice Mizer, and Tokio Hotel.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-09-08

https://youtu.be/V-wBtz_N2E4


EvilHomer - 2015-09-08

Now I want to see this video redone, only with a bunch of Nazis, shouting "It's a Trapp!"

John, you like making videos. Eh? Eh?? National Socialism, could be fun.


Bus_Aint_Comin - 2015-09-09

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGTbiXEeb_c


Bus_Aint_Comin - 2015-09-09

but also "trap music" is a term for artists like gucci mane or young jeezy, which has pretty much nothing to do with the electronic music genre i just posted. this had been frustrating me for years. gangster rap "trap" is called this because the image of the inner-city-crack-kingpin-as-rap-superstar became endemic throughout rap music (probably as a lasting legacy of notorious b.i.g. and other early gangster rap) in the early 2000's, and ghetto kingpins call crackhouses the "trap" (for a variety of reasons, almost all of which are obvious), and thusly any act associated with dealing drugs is called "trapping". The music they listen to while cooking up crack or packing grams is called, inevitably, "trap music".

the electronic music genre was originally an outgrowth of Dubstep (please don't lets have the Dubstep argument right now). DJ's interested in massive basslines found producers of that other "trap" music (artists like Zaytoven, Mike Will Made It, Lex Luger, et al) and immediately saw potential in the massive basslines and tight drum kits (mostly based on the classic tr-808 with a few tweaks). They began remixing american gangster rap in an electronic style- this cross-pollination has been happening for some time in both England (where Dubstep is an outgrowth of Grime, which is their Gangster music) and in America. The DJ's began producing tracks with a similar feel to ghetto "trap", but with sensibilities of electronic dubstep and grime... and they decided to call it "trap".

my feelings on edm trap are that there are some good drops but they are rare and the fans are a complete disaster.

my feelings on ghetto trap are that it is a very important stage in the ethnomusical development of the american ghetto from a post-colonial perspective.


fluffy - 2015-09-08

I can't believe how many comments this fucking video got.


Albuquerque Halsey - 2015-10-15

What the fuck


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