With the return of the television series, Dexter, after such a long hiatus (rebooted this November 2021 from Showtime as Dexter: New Blood), it is inevitable that so much of what we will see will hearken back to the past, uncanny as a visitation by a ghost as our memories are conjured up magically by… Continue reading The Return of Dexter Notes
Tag: television
CALL FOR PAPERS: From Carmilla to Drusilla: Vampires Across Popular Culture (dl: Feb 15, 2018)
International Vampire Film and Arts Festival | 7-10 June 2018 | TRANSYLVANIA The third annual International Vampire Film and Arts Festival will take place in Sighisoara in Transylvania, Romania, on June 7th-10th, 2018. And to celebrate their popular fiction dual degree collaboration, WRITE TOGETHER — in which students earn an MA studying at Edinburgh Napier… Continue reading CALL FOR PAPERS: From Carmilla to Drusilla: Vampires Across Popular Culture (dl: Feb 15, 2018)
When Hot Dogs Attack
You may have seen this hilariously strange new ad for Tums Smoothies during the political convention season (2016) on TV. If so, you’ve “Felt the (Heart)Bern” in a way that probably made you do a double-take the first time you saw it: A pack of naked hot dog people, attacking a lone male camper in… Continue reading When Hot Dogs Attack
The Clone Chores — aka. Return of the Maytag Men
Last June, I shared some observations about how das Unheimliche is employed in Maytag advertising that features the newest model of their Maytag Man spokesman. A year later, this great advertising icon is back in a new tv ad that has doubled-down on his inherent uncanniness…by framing the character as but one clone in a… Continue reading The Clone Chores — aka. Return of the Maytag Men
Maytag’s New Maytag Man – Renewing an Icon with Uncanny Magic
If you watch commercial television, you may have been surprised to see this year that the Maytag Man has gotten an extreme makeover. The Maytag Man — aka “Ol’ Lonely” – is one of those classic icons of advertising — as commonly known as Ronald McDonald, the Michelin Man and the Energizer Bunny — due… Continue reading Maytag’s New Maytag Man – Renewing an Icon with Uncanny Magic
We Like Double: the Ford Fusion Hybrid Superbowl Ad
One of the first big budget TV commercials to air during this year’s Super Bowl programming was the “Nearly Double” advertisement for the Ford Fusion Hybrid, starring Rob Riggle & James Franco, which claims to “make history” by airing two commercials back-to-back, or following up the first commercial with a second one that is “double… Continue reading We Like Double: the Ford Fusion Hybrid Superbowl Ad
The Transformative Power of Horror Film in Education
“The Transformative Power of Film” — online panel — 2pm est. TODAY — I’ll be discussing horror in the classroom:meridianuniversity.edu/index.php/comp… — Michael Arnzen, Ph.D (@arnzen) September 13, 2012 I’ll try to update this entry with the archives afterward, if you can’t attend. The panel, hosted by Christine Jarvis, and featuring Drs. Paul Armstrong, Michele Paule,… Continue reading The Transformative Power of Horror Film in Education
The Trophy Talks Back: Mike’s Hard Lemonade “House” Ads
The series of “House” party ads that Mike’s Hard Lemonade have started running are pretty effective and funny in the way that they domesticate tropes of the uncanny. In my favorite, the host of the party answers the door bell, and a headless deer simply stands on the doorstep, breathing. The mounted head in the… Continue reading The Trophy Talks Back: Mike’s Hard Lemonade “House” Ads
Animated Weeds and Supernatural Pesticides
Lawncare season is in full bloom, if the television is any indication. More and more, I’ve been noticing advertisements for riding mowers, hedge trimmers, and all sorts of products targeting the green thumb. But one popular subgenre of these gardening ads have been employing the medium in a way that is undeniably uncanny: commercials for… Continue reading Animated Weeds and Supernatural Pesticides
You Don’t Eat Your Own Kind
My favorite Bizarro comic of recent days involves Mr. Peanut — that dapper mascot of Planter’s nuts — in a scenario that makes plain the inherent contradiction of advertisements that employ cartoon mascots to represent the very same products they sell. What IS the appeal of these imaginary spokespeanuts and mascots and similar characters in… Continue reading You Don’t Eat Your Own Kind