Friday, July 20, 2007

That sinking feeling

Bus riders are a captive audience, a fact that has not escaped the MTD. Posters line inside of each bus. Some are advertisements, many are public service type ads, often in Spanish, clearly targeting lower income riders: "Stay in School," "discount health services available at...," "Bargain Network has great benefits for single moms," etc. Myself, I'm partial to the posters with local kids' poems...

And then there's this one (with apologies for the poor quality phonetography):


The text is "What You Buy Today... Was On A Ship Yesterday" and "Moving Ships...Drives America's Economy"

Huh?

I'm having a hard time with the logic behind this ad. And who would sponsor such an odd message? I figured it must be the Ship Captains' Union, Order of the Ancient Mariner, or maybe the Pirate's Club.

But hey, it's Uncle Sam! Specifically, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Apparently from the Committee to Encourage Consumption of Imported Stuff. Golly, what could be more American than that?

Actually, I can think of quite a few things. Buying less, buying local, and buying American all spring to mind. What the heck is this campaign really about? Is this an effort to spread some good PR after all the damning reports that showed how much ships contribute to smog in our area?

Does anyone have any theories?

8 comments:

Marty said...

Not to mention water pollution. The slogan is almost worthy of one of my favorite sources for imports, engrish.com. : )

Chryss said...

Gawd, that bizarre "Moving Ships Drives" construction... very Engrish indeed! I'm still not sure what they are trying to say...

David Pritchett said...

Maybe your phonography is too blurred?

That is sponsored by NOAA, as clearly shown by their agency emblem.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that deals with most issues related to the ocean.

Why such an agency needs to advertise is a more puzzling question. Maybe it is a Bush Administration conspiracy to encourage an even wider trade deficit with China?? That is where most of those Shipes come from, full on the way here and nearly empty on the way back to China.

Phelan said...

yep, I was going to say it might have something to do with China. So much of what the US government is doing now-a-days has something to do with China, or so it seems.

But to be one honest, I have no clue. I makes little sense.

Garden Wise Guy said...

Queenie: This is off-topic but want to get back to you. Thanks for the disturbing gem you left at my gardenwiseguy blog about Scotts and Miracle Gro. You ain't kidding about one more thing to hate about them.

I'll create a link to the "Sued By Scott" site at my blog and help them spread the word. I'll also stop by one of the stores that carries their products and help their bottom line as much as I can.

Keep up the good work and dissemination of your world view. It just keeps getting more and more important. BG (aka GWG, aka Nicky Goodstix).

Chryss said...

I emailed NOAA to see if I could get any official answers about the campaign, but haven't heard back yet. I'll be sure to post again if I get anything...

Thanks for the kind words, Wise Guy!

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