Semantics

As Aldous Huxley recognized in his book "1984," semantics have a lot to do with persuasion. The right word or phrase can often win the day in a political food fight or an advertisement. Here are some recent examples of such for good or for bad:

Little blue pill = Viagra

 The Swamp = Washington, DC

White male privilege = reverse discrimination

Diversity visas = visa lottery

Male enhancement = bigger penis

Dreamers = (often adult) children of illegal immigrants

Principled press = Meryl Streep's idea of newspapers

Leading from behind = following the flow

Undocumented citizens = illegal immigrants

Strategic patience = modern term for lasse faire

Earned Income Tax Credit = a form of welfare using tax refunds for taxes not paid

Performance in the bedroom = sex

The Energizer Bunny

After many months in the shadows, former president Bill Clinton is returning to the limelight by making a series of commercials for Pfizer and its E.D. product, Viagra. This parallels Bob Dole's similar cashing in almost 20 years ago promoting this same product. However, Bob Dole's payoff was peanuts compared to Slick Willy's ... as it is rumored he will receive 10 million dollars for his series of five ads.

These TV ads are already in production and each will feature Clinton in various romantic settings and a silhouette of a female partner ... none of whom resembles Hillary. These five females all appear to be years younger than Clinton and two have black hair and a body type that closely resembles that of his most famous paramour. At the end of each of these commercials there is a short glimpse of the toy  Energizer Bunny marching along beating his base drum.

And the fad outs of these commercials all include the song, "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow" and a long shot of the Washington monument.

Bad Ads

There are a number of television ads that make me want to throw the remote thru the TV screen. And what is even more unfortunate, is that many of these commercials are repeated ad nauseum. Here are my top picks for the worst of the worst:

- My Pillow -- two years in development and endorsed by the National Sleep Foundation

- Socolove Law -- suffering from Mesothelioma? $30 billion has been set aside. You may be compensated ...

- Prevagin -- improve your memory with an ingredient found in jellyfish

- Flexseal -- we made the entire bottom of this airboat out of screen and covered it with Flexseal ... YAHOO!!

- Pulaski Law Firm -- have you taken Xarelto? Call 1-800-BAD-DRUG

- Progressive Insurance -- enough with Flo already!

- Viagra  -- if your erection lasts more than four hours, see a doctor immediately

- Lear Capital -- when the debt bubble bursts, it's the time that you should own gold

- Publishers Clearing House -- win $5,000 a week not just for life ... for ever

- Liberator Medical -- call for your free catheter sample pack