Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
I finished another sprint triathlon although I ALMOST vowed to never do it again a couple of months ago. I had an embarrassing swim and the rest was very mediocre. But this one was much different! Short distances on the swimming and biking were good for me. My brother-in-law and I ended very happy with our results: we finished in the top 10 of our age group. Here is a picture of us after we finished, posing with our medals.
Have you done any sprint triathlons? What was your experience? Chime in below!
Hello and thanks for reading today’s blog. I post every single day at 1pm central and today’s thoughts are about the fiasco (is there a word for something that’s bigger than a fiasco?) of Bud Light sending “one single can” to social star Dylan Mulvaney. In a nutshell, Dylan was celebrating Dylan’s 365th day as a woman and went online to show off a beer can with Dylan’s face on it. Backlash ensued, as you probably know. As I stated in this post a few weeks ago, Budweiser said it was (paraphrasing) just one can you guys, one moment in time not meant to be anything more than a small gesture. What’s the big deal?
Well, that was a lie. This week Dylan posted a video where Dylan shares that the promotion of this single can was in fact a paid endorsement deal. Dylan explained that Dylan is upset Bud Light didn’t come to Dylan’s defense when the sh*t hit the can. Get it, fan/can?
So basically, Bud Light paid Dylan to promote Bud Light to all of Dylan’s followers. What Bud Light didn’t see coming is a tidal wave of rejection, of which they’re still under water. This same week, the CEO of Bud Light made rounds on news shows trying to clear up what all went down… meaning… trying to salvage the wreckage (is it too soon to use this kind of language after the whole OceanGate, ummm, fiasco?) of a once profitable brand. He dances around all kinds of answers.
Still no apology.
So as it sits now: Bud Light is shunned by customers it once had AND it’s shunned by Dylan (and probably Dylan’s fans, too). People have been fired. Bud Light cases still sit on store shelves. I’m not sure there’s an end to this where Bud Light doesn’t declare bankruptcy or whatever brands of larger corporations do when they keep spending money and eventually have no money to spend.
Also, Dylan is the dictionary definition of a narcissist. Not that anyone was wondering.
Is anyone surprised Publix has done it again? Just in time to celebrate everyone’s (well, everyone who’s normal 🤪) favorite season – summer – Publix has a new commercial and it’s great… or is it? Take a look then scroll down for the name of the song and more info…
The Float. That’s one adorable commercial right there. From the begrudging young freckled child to the last shot of an evening pool party, the commercial has all the elements of summer we enjoy here in the south. But what caught my attention the most is that root beer float.
Might have to get some vegan vanilla and make it happen to celebrate Independence Day. And let’s address the elephant in the root beer room… Everyone knows the best part is drinking the root beer after the ice cream is gone…. Right? Riiiiiiiiiiight?
The Music. The cheery song playing along with the ad is “I Won’t Grow Up” by the Peter Pan Ensemble including Mary Martin, Robert Harrington, Joseph Stafford, and Kathy Nolan. Here’s the full track from the 1989 re-release of Peter Pan, and a live performance, as well.
Where does this fall on your list of favorite Publix commercials? Comment below, and see you tomorrow at 1pm central…
On the first day of January way back in 2020, I began a writing journey that has been going for almost 1,276 consecutive days (I’ll explain more about the posts not being consecutive in a bit). I posted a blog that day (this icky creature crawling on my neck!)… and then I kept writing, and writing, and writing, and writing some more and now it’s been over 3 years of daily posts. Crazy.
Even halfway through 2023, I am obsessed with posting daily. It’s something I enjoy, something I look forward to, something that keeps my mind active because posting every day requires me to think and make decisions, research and judge what is interesting or fun to write about.
I’ve also really liked including my photos in posts whether it’s about camping or tying in my Texas canyon photos to a Hyundai commercial. Maybe that would fall under the category called integrated marketing? While I’m writing about a car commercial, at the same time I’m promoting my photography. Seems like a natural thing to do!
Oh, but I had mentioned that I’ve written every single day but because of an event I can’t talk about, I took down a few posts in 2022. So if you were to go back to all my posts, you’ll see gaps. It’s unfortunate but just know that I definitely had posts for those days, up until the moment came when it was agreed upon for me to remove them forever.
As most people know, Bud Light celebrated famed TikTok star for being a woman for 365 days. I’m hoping for less fallout as I’m calling on awesome paper tablet company reMarkable to send me a tablet with my face on it! Folks at reMarkable, will you join me in celebrating day 1,276 as a daily blog writer? I’ll even give an in-depth and honest review AND post it right here on my site. What’ya say?
Brand deals aside, thank you for taking time to check out my site, my photography, my satire, and if you’re looking for a gift for a tiny loved one, check out my books!
I heard the line, “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” from a news anchor in London referring to the social media guy who’s causing trouble by body walking into people’s homes and other dumb so-called pranks.The news anchor was interviewing the guy, or TRYING to interview him, but the young fellow was being stubborn, annoying, and apparently disrespectful, too. The news guy told security to escort him out of the building after saying, “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” I thought to myself…
YES!!
I need to use this phrase more often. Here’s a clip of the interaction…
There’s so much bad rubbish out there and we should always be on the lookout for what it is and how to get rid of it. The Supreme Court of the United States has gotten rid of some bad rubbish, as reported in the news this week. In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the admission process for students applying to Harvard and the University of North Carolina, I thought the title was rather fitting. I saved a few screen grabs of the ruling after reading parts of it. If you want to read the entire thing plus the dissents, click here.
Admission to college should be based on merit over skin color, which is how the Supreme Court views the process, as well. For anyone whose knickers are in a bunch over the Court’s ruling, as I understand it a person’s experience with a particular race can be a factor in determining their qualifications for the school. It’s just that their race simply can’t be the most important deciding factor anymore. Here it is in the written statement:
There was dissent from the judges who aren’t on the side of conservatism. From the newly appointed judge, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, she basically said that race should remain be a factor for the sake of diversity on campuses.
In (probably) all areas of life, let the best ideas, applicants and people take the spots they’ve earned. If the field of finalists happens to be diverse, even better. But diversity for diversity’s sake alone is dumb and more clearly, violates the 14th Amendment. I’m siding with the Supreme Court decision in this particular instance because equal protection, as guaranteed in the 14th amendment, includes people of all races. One should not be rejected (or accepted) because they are (or aren’t) a certain color.
On a somewhat lighter note… Let’s start a list. What is other bad rubbish we can rid from our lives?
Too much time on my cell phone
Debbie Downers
Political fights
Negative thoughts
Selfishness
Ludicrous conspiracies
Candy and unhealthy food
Anger (for things we can’t control)
Overthinking
Regret
Feel free to add to the list by commenting below and say good riddance to bad rubbish!
Out of the Wilderness 