Dumbest Woman in Congress Upset by Pepsi Commercial

When I saw this commercial Sunday night I thought it was pretty stupid, but I wasn't offended. Of course I consider myself a normal human being and I don't go out of my way to be offended or participate in grievance theater.

But sure enough, here comes the dumbest woman in the Congress to whine about it.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) took to the House floor Tuesday night to criticize what she called a "demeaning" Pepsi ad that aired during the Super Bowl.

In the ad for Pepsi Max, a black woman sitting on a park bench gets angry with her husband after an attractive, white female jogger sits down next to the couple and smiles and waves at the man.

After the man smiles back, his girlfriend or wife gets angry and whips her Pepsi Max can at him. The man ducks, and the can hits the attractive jogger in the head. The ad is titled "Love hurts."

I guess this should be the lesson for Pepsi. In order to avoid any "controversy" or "outrage" from the simpletons out there, be sure you have commercials with only black people or only white people. Don't ever mix the two races together or you'll be under siege by the race-mongers.

Jackson Lee said it was ridiculous for the soft drink maker to air the advertisement during African-American history month.

"In this month of African-American history where we're trying to celebrate what is good and great, it certainly seems ridiculous that Pepsi would utilize this kind of humor," she said. "It was not humorous. It was demeaning — an African-American woman throwing something at an African-American male and winding up hitting a Caucasian woman."

Uh, Ms. Lee. It's OK to call us white people. I, for one, am not offended.

Jackson Lee said she has a sense of humor and believes in the First Amendment. She also said the Super Bowl is a great time for "fellowship" with family members.

Really? She has a sense of humor? Probably explains why she wears her hair the way she does.

Forget Kool-Aid, Obama's Selling OJ

Via the LA Times, who got it from TMZ. It's not clear whether this is a gag, but considering all the folks who want to cash in in Obama, led by Obama himself, it wouldn't surprise me. I figured he was the perfect pitchman for Kool-Aid, but apparently his adoring sycophants and the media drank it all.

We've written here before about the compulsion of Barack Obama's campaign and transition team and inauguration team to send out e-mails seemingly every day pleading for more money and more money, even weeks after he won the whole national election.

It's called donor fatigue.

Now, less than a week before his presidential inauguration to move into the White House with his family and mother-in-law, Obama has been exposed by the funny folks over at TMZ.com as someone using the presidency to sell orange juice with his daughter, Malia. They're even taking a vote over there.

Many other adverstisers are lining up as well. I'm surprised Obama doesn't trademark himself and ask for a cut.

There are Barack Obama Inauguration Hot Sauce, sold for $6.99 by the Kentucky company TooDarnHot.com; a “Hope and Change” necklace for $24 at Chico’s, the women’s clothing chain; and Barack Obama Topps trading cards priced at $1.99 per six-card pack.

There is Obama toilet paper, a tribute that features his likeness, sold for about $8 by Jeremy Rupke, who lives outside Toronto. His advertisement says, “This roll would look great on the desk of any Democrat.”

The rolls are “very popular right now!” Mr. Rupke wrote in an e-mail message. (He warned that the paper is just for show. The ink is toxic.)

There are more than three price points on Obama soap alone: $20 Hope on a Rope soap; $9.99 for Obama Bars declaring, “This is our moment to clean up America”; and $44.99 for an inauguration gift pack sold by the Obama Bar online store. The pack, with eight Mini-Bama bars, is going fast, said a co-owner of the store, Salah Boukadoum.

“We’re happy to see that Obama is already doing his part to stimulate the economy,” Mr. Boukadoum said.

Biggers brand are also getting in on the Obamapalooza.

President-elect Barack Obama decided not to sign corporate sponsors to help pay the projected $40 million cost of the official events around the Jan. 20 swearing in. So many marketers are working other avenues to get their brands before the millions of people who will attend the festivities or watch on TV. Among them are such well-known names as Pepsi, Ikea, T.G.I. Friday's and Dunkin' Donuts. From the airwaves to the streets of Washington, D.C., big-name marketers are trying to find ways to ride Inauguration Day enthusiasm.