Tuesday
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9/18/03
Proudly Sponsoring...
As I’ve mentioned before, I like a good storm as much as the next guy, and perhaps even a little more. But since I’m here in southern New York, my only real source for hurricane fun is the Weather Channel and CNN.
So, while getting my fix this afternoon, I flipped by CNN and found a wind-swept reporter standing in front of an official looking sort of vehicle as he spoke to two official looking types in yellow slickers. As the surf pounded behind them, they sounded very knowledgeable about wave action and storm surge, and apparently had gone to the trouble of setting up special anemometers to try and catch the strongest wind gusts. They sounded a little disappointed, though, because they were hoping for at least seventy-five mph., but had only registered gusts in the low sixties.
It seemed to me that the whole thing had an oddly recreational tone to it. I looked a little closer. The SUV had a big shiny "Lowes" home improvement logo on the hood. The yellow slickers had the word ALERT in big letters on the back and little "Lowes" logos on the front. Slicker number one continued on about storm surge while slicker number two tried to keep his hood on. The reporter looked fascinated. I looked disgusted.
In all fairness, I missed the beginning of the segment, so for all I know they started with a disclaimer to the effect of: "As much as what we’re about to show you may look like legitimate news reporting, it’s really only a stunt sponsored by the fine people at Lowes." But you know, I kind of doubt that they did.
Anyway, I looked up the official six-year list of names for Atlantic storms, but I didn’t see any list of sponsors. Let's hope Home Depot has learned its lesson and doesn’t miss out on the next one, which is named Juan.
|
.
9/18/03
Proudly Sponsoring...
As I’ve mentioned before, I like a good storm as much as the next guy, and perhaps even a little more. But since I’m here in southern New York, my only real source for hurricane fun is the Weather Channel and CNN.
So, while getting my fix this afternoon, I flipped by CNN and found a wind-swept reporter standing in front of an official looking sort of vehicle as he spoke to two official looking types in yellow slickers. As the surf pounded behind them, they sounded very knowledgeable about wave action and storm surge, and apparently had gone to the trouble of setting up special anemometers to try and catch the strongest wind gusts. They sounded a little disappointed, though, because they were hoping for at least seventy-five mph., but had only registered gusts in the low sixties.
It seemed to me that the whole thing had an oddly recreational tone to it. I looked a little closer. The SUV had a big shiny "Lowes" home improvement logo on the hood. The yellow slickers had the word ALERT in big letters on the back and little "Lowes" logos on the front. Slicker number one continued on about storm surge while slicker number two tried to keep his hood on. The reporter looked fascinated. I looked disgusted.
In all fairness, I missed the beginning of the segment, so for all I know they started with a disclaimer to the effect of: "As much as what we’re about to show you may look like legitimate news reporting, it’s really only a stunt sponsored by the fine people at Lowes." But you know, I kind of doubt that they did.
Anyway, I looked up the official six-year list of names for Atlantic storms, but I didn’t see any list of sponsors. Let's hope Home Depot has learned its lesson and doesn’t miss out on the next one, which is named Juan.
