October 26th, 2009 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Oct
26
October 26th, 2009 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Oct
26
July 2nd, 2009 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Jul
02
Other responsible please? What… like other men?
January 8th, 2009 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Jan
08
A few months ago, the mail pixies delivered to me an advertisement for a miraculous product. A veritable panacea for all 21st century ills, it can help you with anything.
The product becomes even more amazing when you read the other side of the leaflet.
Amazing! However, nowhere does it actually tell you what this product is. Even if you visit the Web site you won’t be any the wiser. All you with find is some very suspicious before and after photos and a form so that you can provide your contact details.
That raises a huge red flag for me. You see, Big Pharma has built a billion dollar industry on the principle of developing cures of maladies, and then telling you all about them through advertising. Karl tells you nothing. If all of these claims of nutritional miracles were replaced by claims of night-time performance improvements, with no other details of the nature of the proffered product, would you even consider calling Karl? No? Well, I hope you wouldn’t consider calling Karl at all until gave you at least a hint of the medical foundation of his wares.
Until then, here is some advice for free: If you are fat, eat less fried chicken. If you are thin, eat more fried chicken. If you are happy with what you weigh, drive through and keep doing whatever you are doing. Uncomfortable? Well, get a better chair.
December 30th, 2008 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Dec
30
A few days ago, I found this in the window of my local computer shop, Computers @ Bayside.
The product was an ATI Radeon X1300 Pro graphics accelerator. Unfortunately it proved really difficult to take a good picture through the glass, so I didn’t get a good shot of the whole box. However, without doubt, that sticker says, “Lekker 3 Years Warranty.”
The local importer of the Taiwanese Gigabyte range of products is Rectron, and they have a pretty close relationship with the manufacturer, so it is possible that this is part of some kind of custom packaging for South Africa. It could, however, have been applied by Rectron, or by Computers @ Bayside. Whatever the origins, it’s a very cool find!
December 8th, 2008 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Dec
08
It’s a funny thing. There are people that humour me and actually make a comment on every blog entry I post. I appreciate them because they make the effort to appear interested, and I hope that one day I will reward them by having something consequential to say.
Nobody commented on my last post. Nobody even mentioned it in conversation. It was like the post never existed. I have pondered the possible reasons for this, and I think it is because one of the signs that I photographed and posted mentioned the Hajj.
This really took me by surprise. The people I know are, in general, rational atheists. I’ve never known them to avoid the discussion of a religious topic, nor to quail at the thought of offending anyone. Moreover, I’ve never known any of them to avoid commenting on something as awesome as the Pick ‘n Pay service desk sign.
I do believe that I understand, though. You see, when anything Islamic is mentioned in the same breath as anything humorous, people become uncomfortable. For the record, I would like to diffuse this discomfort.
I would never mock the Hajj. The striking thing about the sign I posted was, to me, the unaccustomed lightness with which it dealt with a subject that is usually shrouded in mystery and awe. I was further fascinated to think that, aside from its profound religious significance, the Hajj serves as a sort of “meet ‘n greet” for the Islamic world, bringing together different people and different ideas from all around the world that would perhaps never meet under any other circumstance. The Hajj is one of the aspects of Islam that must inevitably give it strength and unity.
While I may not subscribe to Islam, or even respect it, I would never mock it. When offensive pictures of its significant figures are published on the Internet, I will not be the culprit. When Islam is derided and its followers described as deluded, the words will spill from neither my pen, nor my keyboard. When some event causes religious tensions to overflow and blood to run in the streets, it shall not be by my hand. I make it a policy to treat Islam with a disengaged respect.
Because I am scared to do otherwise.
November 28th, 2008 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Nov
28
Andrewdotcoza would like to acknowledge those who work tirelessly to create the signs by which we are directed and protected in our every day lives. Among these people are some who sprout well honed clarity that we, all too often, don’t even notice in our diurnal scurrying. Then there are those special individuals will be recognised today.
In the It Is What It Is category, we recognise the following sign and the person that ensured it is the first thing you see when you walk out of domestic arrivals at O. R. Tambo International Aiport in Johannesburg:
In the Shafting The Customer category, the far-and-away winner is Pick ‘n Pay, for their new in-store design for the service desk, of all things:
Finally, in the International Symbol of WTF? category, the following travellator warning, also from O. R. Tambo International Airport, wins the day:
November 22nd, 2008 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Nov
22
We all know that South African “Family Christian Bookstore”, CUM Books, should certainly win some sort of award for decorating shopping malls with giggleworthy words.* Sometimes, however, they take things too far. Beyond, as it were, the bounds of good taste.
*: I propose the Gigglesworth Award for Naughtily Named Spiritual Emporia.
November 4th, 2008 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Nov
04
During a recent trip to Johannesburg, I found this under my windscreen wiper.
It doesn’t need too much explanation, but I do find it interesting that this class of advertising is a lot more sophisticated than what you get in the Cape.
October 31st, 2008 | by andrewdotcoza | old season
Oct
31
This exceptional example of herbalist advertising came to me through the kind efforts of Kyknoord.
There you have it. The “Last Solution” to erectile problems. Lets hope that Dr Hasifah is less trouble than the last chap that proposed something like that.