Maybe She's Born with It....

I just discovered something yesterday - the meaning behind a casual marketing slogan that I have never truly paid attention to. Countless times this simple sentence has washed over me while watching television: "Maybe she's born with it; maybe it's Maybelline." Do you know what that means? I didn't. Until now. But I will inform you.

The ad begins with an image of a beautiful woman. She's all made up and looking at the camera, communicating something like, "I haven't eaten at Burger King in 13 years...and I had a twizzler for lunch." And of course, her hair is blowing in the wind....which to be honest, I've never really understood. Why are all these models congregating in places where there are gusts of wind. How is all that wind getting indoors? Did someone leave a door open? And furthermore, does wind-blown hair make you want to purchase lipstick? Apparently.

And then the voice-over: "Maybe she's born with it." Now, here is the first question that this is intended to raise: "Maybe this person is naturally beautiful." Maybe she was born looking like this. Maybe. But just maybe. The second sentence, however, clearly answers that question...."Naaaah. Maybe it's Maybelline."

She's not naturally beautiful; it's the make up. Here is some atrocious baglady that we pulled off the streets. But slap a little Maybelline on her and - ta da!! You have a wind-blown, pimple-less star!!

Is she born with it? No way. It's the Maybelline.

A Long Blog Sabbatical

Well, this is a bit awkward. It's been....quite a few months since I've done this. I feel like I'm trying to relearn how to use a badminton racquet after years of inactivity. It just feels and looks awkward.

But as I attempt to shake off the rust, I felt that today's observation warranted a comment or two. And the observation was this: two gentlemen emerging from the forrest from a hunting trip. I happened to be driving down the road at the exact moment that these two young men walked out from the woods and into the open. And I was able to check out what these two gentlemen were wearing.

From top to bottom they were covered in camouflage. This seems appropriate. The dark greens and browns of their apparel blended them into their environment with ease, making unsuspecting animals unaware of their position. And yet, over the top of this camouflage was a bright, neon orange vest, sort of like the types that crossing guards would wear. And this seemed appropriate too. Hunters don't want other hunters to shoot them; so they make their position obvious.

And herein lies the problem. Hunters - do you want to be seen or not? Neon orange vests over camouflage is sending mixed messages. See, the hunter is really in a predicament, I realized. He has to be inconspicuous so as not to scare off his pray. And yet, he has to be completely visible so as not to become another hunter's prey. He is caught in this perpetual tension of needing to be both visible and invisible at the same time.

And so what is his solution? Wearing neon orange over camouflage. He goes for visibility and invisibility. And cancels out both. (But how would that work? (How can you be both visible and invisible at the same time??))

All I know is - Dick Cheney capped someone who was hunting. That guy probably wasn't rocking out the orange vest.